Feb 2007  

Friday, 2-23-07: 300 – This looks like it could be the best damn movie ever made. I'm all over this flick. Out here in the UB, we are going to have a 300 party. Shooting, food, and then we're going to go see 300. Either on the 9^th, 10^th, or 11^th depending on which day I have off. The visual look of this flick is amazing. Frank Miller is behind this one... Just like Sin City, it was a visual treat. But also just like Sin City, we can expect this one to be extremely violent. It should be awesome.

Speaking of awesome, check this out... the new Wilson Combat catalog, I'm quoted in it. I got the catalog in the mail along with Master Dealer information, and started looking through it. Whoa, there it is on page nine. That kicks ass. Open Letter to Wilson Combat: Wilson Combat has some nice weapons in their catalog, that's not a question. Different 1911's, their ADP, AR-15 rifles, and pump action shotguns. It is not a bad line up. But they need a few more products to really step out and offer something everyone wants. First off, Bill Wilson started out shooting revolvers in competition. I think it is a gross oversight that Bill is not sharing what he knows about a good revolver with the rest of us. A medium frame .357 magnum with the Armor-Tuff finish and a 4 inch barrel, 7 or 8 round cylinder, night sights... that would be awesome. Give the Smith TRR8 a run for its money. A slicked and tricked snubby at 3” or 2 ¾” would also be a great product for Wilson to deliver. A lot of shooters are dedicated wheel-gunners and don't have much use for autos. At my shop, we sell almost as many revolvers as we do automatics. Most of those revolvers are Medium to small units. Wilson has nothing for any of these shooters. They are missing out here. Many shooters like myself have little use for or respect for AR-15 rifles. The direct gas system is a handicap as is the puny .223 caliber that isn't even suitable for coyotes let alone a dangerous threat. Wilson needs to offer something to the shooter that wants a fine tactical gun in a heavier caliber. I would suggest building something off the AK action. I've talked to Wilson Combat about this before, but it needs to be mentioned again. The AK comes to the table with a solid foundation of reliability. They are just not known for much refinement or friendly ergonomics. I think WC could blend all of these qualities into a rifle that would really do well not just in the field, but at the gun counter. Now, an AK using AK mags and AK ammo would be fantastic, but you could also take it up a notch. Hear me out. Some guys don't like .308 because they feel it is too much... 7.62X39 is not fast enough... .243 is shooting a too small of a bullet. Well, why not try out the 7MM-08? It's easier shooting than the .308, yet stepping out there faster and with a flatter trajectory. That caliber in an AK type platform like the Saiga would be IDEAL. Long range accuracy and hitting hard with perfect reliability. Come on WC, build it and serious shooters will be buying it. I'll be the first in line. The last thing I want to suggest is an autoloading tactical rifle. Pumps are solid and there is nothing wrong with them... but a lot of shooters want a tactical/competition gun set up with the extreme high capacity and speed loader ready. The Benelli guns have a great action that would make a good starting point... but since you cats refinish with your armor tuff finish, you could buy Stoeger M2000 actions and take them from there. If you want a gas gun, that's good too... I'll leave that up to you and you can surprise me with what you come up with. Think about this. You guys took the AR, looked at what everyone is doing with them, then you put that out in package that has what they want ready to go. Do the same thing to the autoloading sporting shotguns and roll with it. That's all I've got to say at the moment. Keep up the good work.

I'm loving the new Mac-PC commercials. They have been amusing. The latest one with the Secret Service guy behind the PC, fantastic. It made me chuckle, which is more than what most commercials can get out of me. MS is a bit pissed about them... but they have not been able to come up with an advertisement that offers any challenge to the Mac ads. Here is to hope. So far, out of everything I have seen and heard about Vista, I'm not feeling any desire to upgrade any of my systems. I'll roll with Mac or Linux before I go with Vista. But hey, if Microsoft wants to send me a full version (none of that 30 day crap) of Ultimate... I'll give it an honest shot. Come on MS – prove me wrong. I would have to install it on my Break-Box before I would put it on my Game-Box or my Lappy. And it would have to allow me to upgrade without having to reinstall all my programs. Of course, I ask too much.

thursday, 2-22-07:  Elk Sandwiches: On the plus side of Cabella's, the Elk Sandwiches are at the top of the list. The downside is that they have a way of making everything look great, even if it isn't a great item. And they have a way of making it look like they have more than really have. Brilliant at marketing themselves. They do have a lot of guns, many of them are used trade ins... so yeah, they have a lot, but not as much as I have.  They have a longer display, but mine is two levels, at five rows deep.  They have a rather sad selection of hunting calls. I expected more... mostly only Primos stuff. We've got the same prices on most calls or better... but we also have Johny Stewart, Quaker Boy, Carlton Calls. Let me put it this way. My joint might small, but we do pretty damn good considering our square footage. I'll put my hunting calls and reloading selections up against 'Bella's any day. But I am envious of their in store bistro... the elk sandwiches are awesome. The venison brats are smokin. Still, I took some mental notes about how Cabella's did some things. I hope to bring some improvements home. The elk sandwiches are a bit spendy, but dang... it was a great sandwich. You can't get them in Vernal. That's all I'm saying about that.

I do like Gieco's new marketing push... the cavemen thing is pretty.  It is also usable in other areas.  Such as terrorism.  Thanks to Glenn over at The Pickle for some graphics that go along with what I had in mind.  He's send us three, but I think this one speaks the point the clearest.  Killing unsuspecting innocent people is so easy, even a caveman could do it.  I think this motto could also work with liberal politics.  But I'll let someone else come up with such things... abortions, communist style health care, energy.  You name it. 

Speaking of energy.  There is a site out there that calculates how much carbon pollution you put in the air.  Even though my car gets better than 30 mpg when I drive like your granny, and I live about 20 miles from work... it said that I put out over 40 pounds of carbon emissions just in my driving every day.  What?  That's less than two gallons of gasoline that I burn, yet I'm putting out more than that weight in carbon?  Could someone please sign these liberals up for some basic science classes... please?  Really what they are all about with that sight is that they want to sell you carbon off-sets.  See, you pollute like a maniac and they want you to feel bad about it.  To stem that guilt, you can buy carbon off sets which is like some early catholic practice of buying indulgences.  Even though they have no right in selling forgiveness, at least it makes you feel better about the sin.  Even though these guys can't undo what you do... you feel better about yourself because you gave these liberals some extra cash to support more liberal hypocrisy and crack smoking.  It's really very brilliant.  I suppose I could do the same thing.  Since you can not get out and go shooting, You should send me the ammunition or the cost of the ammunition that you wanted to shoot that month, and I will shoot it for you.  Call it a Liberty Off-Set.  

I had to pick up a rifle from FBMG yesterday... A Saiga 7.62X39MM with a fixed stock Tromix conversion. Great rifle, that. I sold it to a customer sight unseen. I hope he likes it. I'm pretty sure he will, considering I love it. They are a bit more than your run of the mill AK type rifles, but it is money well spend. $615 bucks isn't too much to ask for a rifle of that quality. Very reasonable. I was watching “Future Weapon” and they showed the HK 416 rifle. A very impressive weapon and a great improvement to the AR system... mainly because it isn't an AR any more. Just a weapon working on the AR's lower receiver. If you were to ask how much the HK costs... well, you could buy a couple Saiga's with the Tromix conversions, lots of spare mags and a couple cases of ammunition that just happen to be much more effective than the wee little .223 cartridge. Or if you are one of those nut-job .223 appologists, you could get the Saiga in .223 if that is what blows your skirt up. Or .308. Or 12 gauge. Take your pick. My point about the HK is this... they finally got an AR that can go toe to toe against the AK in terms of reliability. About time.

What's really funny about this... is that HK was finally able to make the AR reliable and yet they still can't get the SA-80 rifle sorted out. I don't know why it is... but that cracks me up. I know it shouldn't. It's not like the Brits need the SA-80 to be reliable anymore now tha they are starting their withdrawl from the war. Now they can go back to Northern Ireland to pop off any Irish that insults the Queen. Small wonder that they are pulling just as Prince Harry is getting ready to go in. Coincidence? Yes, I know this is only a small troop reduction. But it is just the first step. As a wise old Chinese man once said, a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. So as the Brits are proving, so does a retreat. Okay, so they have their assigned areas under better control now so they don't need as much of a presence... why not move those troops to areas that still need a strong presence? They are so great at securing London and making sure you can spit on the sidewalk or drive 3 MPH faster than approved... why can't they bring some of that Stiff Upper Lip treatment to Baghdad? Still, kudos to our UK brothers for doing a tough job and doing it very well. I got the chance to work with some Royal Marines when they came out to Camp Williams some time ago when I was still in. Great soldiers. Great guys too. I'll talk smack about the UK, but it's just for fun. I have a large readership in the UK from all over. Including Wales, which is surprising. I didn't even know they had electricity or a writen language there. Maybe the Brits are just being nice to me... evidently my family owns castles over there and they are afraid I might come over and take possesion of them and restablish feudal contracts. Magna Carta my ass. Plow, bitches! The UK and US have an interesting relationship. Like a couple old friends that have had a few fights in the past but are the first ones to call when something happens. Yet we have our differences. Every time the UK enacts another measure to strangle liberty, we are reminded of why we left. Then everytime we have a news story about Britany Spears or Anna Nicole Smith, they are reminded of why they didn't come over.

Where was I? Oh, Iraq... sorry. The Terrorists just don't get it... if they stopped doing shit on Friday... no more attacks, no more bombs... they just stopped everything. Pretty much they would wake up Monday morning to find all the Coalition forces gone. No one has the stomache for this war anymore. No one wants to stick it out. Everyone is just looking for a reason to pull out as fast as they can. If the bad guys want to win, all they have to do is give them that reason. “Yup, you Christians won. We give up. Buh-bye.”

Before anyone gets pissed about me rolling through SLC without stopping by and saying howdy, I was pressed for time. I had to be back in the UB to take my boys to their wrestling practice. My two youngest are starting the sport. God save us... they will be able to thrash their older brothers in short order. Out of five sons, one is into fencing, three are into martial arts and the other into wrestling... with one of the martial artists also into wrestling. As you can imagine, every night is a Cage Match. Last man standing competition. They wont stop. The upside is that it makes going to church more entertaining. Where was I again? Oh, coming home. I only had a few minutes to roll through town to take care of some errands. Stopping at Cabella's was my indulgence and I called that my lunch stop. I would have had more time but there was an accident on I-15 that crunched my schedual.

The Beretta 21A Bobcat is an interesting little pistol. It looks cool, like a 92FS with dwarfism... it is reliable... and it is scary accurate for a gun of its size. The barrel is only a bit longer than Hillary Clinton's dick and it only has a hint of rifling in it, yet at ten paces it is capable of tagging empty shotgun shells. Amazing. But it has one fatal flaw. There is no extractor. When fired, the empty shell ejects with no problem. But this is a rimfire. Even with good ammunition like Velocitors or Stingers, you will at some point have a misfire. If that happens you can not just do a tap-rack-bang stoppage drill and be back in action. You try that and all you will get is a double-feed, because the dead cartridge isn't coming out of the chamber untill you tip of the barrel and pry it out. I can't recommend the Beretta 21A as a defensive pistol... but it is a fun little pistol. Shame.

A good question came to us in the email: “Here's a question HOW many times can the tacti-rags put a fuqqing AR on the cover and call it ULTIMATE, NEW BREED, or MULTY-MISSION CAPABLE? It's just a fuqqing AR. The only thing that changes is the growing cost. No thanx. - Tom Bombadil”

Tom, I have no idea. The only man alive that can count that high is Chuck Norris, and no one can get that information out of him. In fact, the .Gov and .Mil have created a new level of top secret classification... Top Chuck Norris Secret. Which is when they tell Chuck what is up, and then he kicks everyone in the head that asks about it. As far as these AR's go, I wouldn't spend my money on one. That being said, if I had to choose an AR, I'd probably roll with a S&W MP15. They get their parts from Stag Arms, the same joint that all the best AR makers are getting their parts. The reason I would roll with the S&W, is that I like the way they have their guns set up and I wouldn't have to change anything. For a 3Gun rifle, they are just fine... but because of the caliber and the direct gas system they use, I would not take one into a firefight again. Ever. I'd rather take my .30-30. Seriously. This is one of the reasons I am liking the Saigas... They are serious fighting guns made more civilized instead of being a civilized target gun trying to be a fighting gun... which in my mind smacks of Napoleon Dynamite's little big brother training to be a cage fighter.

Another Email, this one about Zumbo: “MO, I see the comment, the 2nd A is not about hunting fairly often. As a hunter and a 2A advocate, I just want to throw my 2 cents in. The 2A does include hunting. It also includes target shooting, self-defense, resistence to tyranny, and any other lawful or moral purpose, of which hunting is one. The mistake is to state that the 2A is only about hunting. I know a lot of people are mad at Zumbo, and by extension, hunters. I don't know what is happening in Utah, but in MI, I haven't seen much support for old Jimbo in the hunting community. - Sundeen”

I've read a few articles that this Zumbo cat had written. I'll give him credit for having experience and insight into the areas that he is familiar with. When it comes to hunting, he knows some stuff. But when it comes to politics, he is out of his depth. He even has a show on the Outdoor Channel, but I seem to miss it. I'm not going to go out of my way to check him out. See, my problem with him is that he takes the attitude that too many hunters have... that because people want to ban one part of the gun culture, it wont effect me. This is wrong. Because it does and will effect you and everyone else in the shooting community. Gun Control has a simple goal... to get rid of all guns that are not in the hands of their own storm troopers. Hunting rifles have already become sniper rifles in the eyes of the Anti's. Your over-unders are also under fire because they can fire both shots with no delay. Muzzle loaders are restricted as well... In many states you can't put a scope on them that have a magnification greater than 1X. Colorado restricts the type of bullet you are legal to hunt with. That's the deal... they are going to continually chew away at everything they can until they have finally eaten the elephant. Negotiating with evil is a win for evil. Gun control is evil and must not be tolerated. Their should be no negotiating. None. Gun Control is bullshit that reasonably intelligent people should consider beneath them. Zumbo had forgotten about this but I think he has been given a wake up call. Now, about the second. No sir... it is not about hunting or sport shooting. That is no what the Second is all about. The word or implication regarding hunting does not exist in the wording of the Second. The Second is all about defending liberty. Nothing more, nothing less. Hunting was a given... they took hunting for granted. Which is why we don't have a clause in the bill of rights regarding farm plows. Farmers will plow, and hungry people will hunt. Nothing in their about breathing either. It just goes without saying. But they did specify a reason for arms... for the security of a free nation. Read the Second again, and take it at face value. The founding fathers used very clear language when they wrote it. Shall Not Be Infringed. This is not a subject that I am willing to debate. Ever.

Tuesday, 2-20-07:  Heads up. AWB II: There is a bill in the House Judiciary Committee, HR 1022, "To Reauthorize the Assault Weapons Ban and for Other Purposes", submitted by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY). As of right now, there are no cosponsors and doesn't appear to be going anywhere so far. However, we can NOT afford to let our guard down. For us Utahans, there is a Utah legislator on the House Judiciary Committee, Representative Chris Cannon. I've already written him, as well as my own Representative from here in the 1st District. However, every Utah gun owner needs to write this guy and tell him what's up. Utah doesn't want a law like this, and we shouldn't let some New York elitist tell all of us how to live. Representative Cannon's contact info is: Honorable Chris Cannon 2436 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 (202) 225-7751. If you don't know who your rep is, look him or her up here. Find out who and get active.

You may or may not have heard about Zumbo, a blogger/writer guy for Outdoor Life. I can't link you to the articles, because they have been pulled off the net. Error 404 is all you are going to get if you look for them. Anyways, Mr. “a-hole” Zumbo wrote a bit about guns and hunting and how he doesn't care about the assault weapons bad because he doesn't hunt with AR-15's or the like. Guys, this is flat out wrong thinking. The second amendment is not about hunting and it never was. It is and always was about keeping the federal government, and others, in check. The government is by the people and for the people and if the people gives up their guns then the government is neither by nor for anyone but the government. Ask North Korean villagers how well they are liking their government. Ask Cuba. Ask China. Most likely they will not tell you anything on the account of them being under the threat of execution for speaking out. But that is the way those governments like it. This is why we have the first amendment as well as others... all protected by the second. If you can't get that, you shouldn't be writing for Outdoor Life. Or anyone. Jackass.

Monday, 2-19-07:  FACT: Concealed Carry Saves Lives. You guys are well aware of the Trolley Square shooting in SLC, UT. I mentioned it before. What I want to talk about is some of the fall out. All this week, we've been selling concealed carry type weapons like crazy. Small autos and revolvers. Thanks to the Nut Job for helping business like this. I hate to be coarse about it... but I think this is helping Utah. Utah has a serious “It can't happen here” mentality. Well, it did. Not only that, but it also happened a few years ago in Downtown SLC... so it does happen here. Utah is not Northern Ireland or Gaza by any means, but it can and does happen here. We are not isolated. I've lived all over the country, and I've had two attempted muggings... both in Utah. One in the Sugar House area, and one right here in the Uintah Basin. If it can happen here, it can happen anywhere. We have to be vigilant. We have to be ready and prepared and we have to have a plan. If you do not have your concealed carry permit, get one. Trolley Square could have been a lot worse. Thank God for a man with a concealed carry gun. Because a good guy had a concealed weapon, he was able to stop the threat. Yes, the concealed carry guy in this case was an off duty officer, but he was also a citizen... out of his jurisdiction... not even near his own city. He was just like you or I, out shopping and enjoying a lovely night out. He stood in the gap and protected others. This man is a hero. As were the SLC officers who responded and backed up our hero. Good job, everyone.

This shooting was especially scary. Instead of a .223 rifle or just a handgun, this guy rolled in with a shotgun first. Look at the number of dead verses the number of wounded. This shows us something... just how devastating a 12 gauge is. Normally in these shootings you have a larger number of wounded. A shotgun is flat out lethal and demands respect. This is one of the reasons I always recommend a shotgun for home defense first before anything else, especially if the home owner is not a weapons expert. They are easy to use and will instantly put down a threat with authority. This is why police still use them. They flat out work.

Guys, we can't take the second amendment lightly. We have to defend it carefully and vigilantly. There is already a new Assault Weapons Ban on the table. Logic has nothing to do with anything having to do with Gun Control... the previous Assault Weapons Ban did nothing to lower crime or make anything or anyone safer. If you had the chance to look at the Brady Two bill, it pretty much banned anything that could load and hold more than two shots. Even your old favorites that you thought would never be banned. The Remington 870 Express and a lot of rifles that are used for hunting. So don't think it wont effect you just because you are not into AK's and AR's. If Hillary or Obama gets in the Whitehouse in '08, with a Dem controlled congress... it's over. Our second amendment is done. Finished.

Mossberg is not taking this lightly. They are selling their Persuader shotguns in fat PVC tubes ready for long term “just in case” storage. We are going to be selling these packages for I think under 400 bucks... closer to 300 I think. I don't remember. I don't think anyone should be taking this lightly. It's just a matter of time.

For 1.99 a month I hooked up The Outdoor Channel. Damn if that wasn't a bad idea. Now I have a jones for a waterfouling type shotgun... Benelli Super Black Eagle II. I love this channel, and it is now in my top 5 along with History, Discovery, TLC, NGC, and Sci-fi. In all seriousness, I learned more about shotgunning in 5 minutes than blasting for the last several years. Thanks to Benelli for the gun cam that they put on their top shooter's gun so you can see exactly what he's doing, how he's holding and leading... awesome. I've never been a good shotgunner, but because of that, things have clicked. Dusting clays a lot more now.

Ghost Rider. I took my youngest to see it, my little trooper. He loved it more than I did. Eva is scorching hotness and Nick Cage pulls off the Rider very well. Cool show. I'll have to buy the DVD. Did I mention that Eva was smoking hot? Damn, she's fine. I'll admit to never reading any Ghost Rider comic books, so I don't know how this turned out compared to the original work... but it did make for an entertaining movie.

No, I didn't watch the video linked off of Drudge showing Britany Spears shaving her head. If I want to see something like that, I'm going to watch GI Jane, because Demi Moore shaving her head is about eight thousand times sexier. Demi was hot when she did that in the movie. A burned out Pop Tart suffering a mental breakdown isn't nearly close to anything I'm going to watch.

With all the buzz about Steyr selling weapons to Iran, looks like Glock thought that it was a good idea. So they have done the same thing. So far none of the pistols have made it to the terrorists hands, yet. What is it with Austria? Making a buck is one thing, but arming those that would either kill you or enslave you makes no sense to me.

PHOTOSHOP REQUEST: I want a picture of some of these Taliban or Al-Queda terrorists, with Geico's new motto: “So easy, a caveman can do it!” Something along those lines. Yeah, it is offensive.

Furious Friday, 2-16-07:  It is a small wonder that I have hacked off many people about my comments on Steyr. But it is about 50-50 on those that agree with me, and those that disagree or think my opinion is too harsh on Steyr who is just an innocent gun maker. Emails from the UK are indicating that not only has a US soldier been killed by one of Steyr's Fifties, but also one of Her Majesties soldiers as well. Even Kim DuToit was/is in disagreement with my opinion. Look, this is not a case of a criminal getting a gun by criminal means and using it in a crime... which of course does not make Ruger or who ever liable for those crimes. But this situation is different. This would be like Bushmaster selling two automatic rifles to a couple guys saying that they are going to go hold up another Bank of America in L.A. This is a whole other can of worms here. Steyr knowingly sold these weapons to Iran knowing full well they would go into play in Iraq almost as soon as they were delivered, and that is exactly what happened. Steyr knew it, and we asked them not to do it, but they did it anyways. For what? 800 rifles? What does that net them? Maybe a million bucks? 1 Mil. That's a lot to you or me, but for a company like Steyr who could have made much more than that by putting a reasonable price on the AUG rifle and selling to US civilians and Law Enforcement as an alternative to the AR-15. Well, now Steyr is no longer able to sell the AUG to US LEO's at all. 800 rifles? That is what you call shooting yourself in the foot. I hope it hurt. Jeff Cooper would have pitched a fit about this, then wrote a very brief but extremely well worded statement about disappointment. I'm not as refined as Jeff Cooper and never will be... but I can still be just as pissed. This is asinine and Steyr will never get any support from me ever again. Ever. Yeah, I'm pissed. And I have a right to be pissed. You should be too.

The 336W.  Damn I hate Walmart for selling guns. I really do. For example, and especially the Marlin 336W that Walmart sells almost exclusively. Some dealers will also carry the W but only to compete. The 336 is made differently that the 336C. For one, the wood. The C has American Black Walnut stocks. The W has “Walnut finished” which is what? Dark stained Birch. What does this mean? Well, Birch is significantly cheaper. Good walnut is expensive. So that is one reason the W is so much cheaper to buy. Another reason is the finish of the metal. The C is polished and blued and looks great. The W doesn't get the polish and the bluing is just a quick dunk in the tank and Bob's your uncle. The fit and finish of the parts are different and you get what you pay for. I'm not saying the W is a bad gun, it's just not as good as the C.  The quality of the finished product is not the same.  The same difference between a Remington 870 and an 870 Express. So don't tell me you can buy the same gun for cheaper at Walmart, because it isn't the same damn gun. That's like saying the Wingmaster and the Express Magnum are the same gun. Similar, yes, but not the same gun. Damn that pisses me off. Aarrgh. “Oh that BMW M3 is too much, I can get a 3 series over their for a lot less.” Sure you can... because it's not a bloody M3 you mono-synaptic tosser!

Thursday, 2-15-07:  Where was I? Oh yes, S&W. Of all the new guns in S&W's line up that I examined, I especially liked the Compact M&P pistol. Troy the Rep indicated that a .45ACP version is going to be out coming the end of the year if all goes well. Let's pray all goes well because the Compact M&P is – how do I say this? Freaking Awesome. I'm not all that interested in buying another 9MM and the .40 is only marginally more attractive. But a .45 would be IDEAL. The M&P is a good looking pistol with excellent reliability... There is a lot to like about it. I know I'm going to shock some guys with what I'm about to say... I'm liking the M&P more than the XD. The M&P is better looking, fits the hand better, feels better, and the way the gun is shaped it gives you a very high grip with a low barrel height. This makes for a very good combat shooter. The only thing the M&P needs is the .45ACP version and it's coming. The subcompact version of the .45 is going to be too sweet for words.

I know several guys that have said that they still hold The Agreement against S&W. Yeah, I'll admit that The Agreement was an extremely shitty thing to do to the American Shooter. But let's remember something here, at that time, S&W was owned by the Brits. That is no longer the case and in fact, all the big wigs at S&W from that time are now all gone. They have an all new command and control. Guys in the drivers seat now are former US Military and business men from hugely successful American companies such as Harley Davidson. Since that time, S&W has come out with some amazing guns and they have plans for some even more amazing guns. With Winchester cashing in the chips like they did we really have to hold on to our old American gun companies. Browning and Winchester haven't been an American company in some time... Belgian isn't American. S&W is now owned by Americans and they are making the guns that American shooters want. I hear a lot of guys saying that they want a Kimber 1911 but can't afford the premium price. Well, check this out... it's been known but most guys don't realize this... but S&W makes the slides and frames for Kimber. So now they are building 1911's with their own name on them. This is one of the small changes that the new Cadre at S&W made. One of the Head Honchos was actually walking through the factory floor, saw all the 1911 parts and said “How come none of these have our name on them?” Simple as that. A straight forward observation that leads to an answer that only makes sense. Guys, let's give S&W some credit... they made a mistake but have come back strong as a company and are doing it right. Let's support them. If we don't, they are going to go the way of Colt and Winchester and the only ones we can blame for it are ourselves.

Don't get me started about Winchester still making guns... please... they are nothing more than rebadged Brownings built in Japan, Belgium or Turkey... not America. Yawn.

I am disappointed that S&W made a bad choice about getting into the shotgun business. Instead of building shotguns here in the USA, they built a whole new factory in Turkey (which had become THE place for building shotguns) and gave all those jobs to the Turks, not the Yanks. Why they couldn't have had them built here in the US some how, I don't know.

I've got two words for Steyr-Mannlicher. SCREW STEYR. These are the cats that built the AUG military rifle and Jeff Cooper's Scout rifle... They have made a lot of great guns in the past... including .50BMG sniper rifles. Unfortunately they sold 800 of those fifty cal sniper rifles to Iran in spite off official letters of protest that they might end up in the hands of terrorists. Well, guess what? Steyr went ahead and sold the guns and you know where we found them. In Iraq, in the hands of the terrorists. I was going to do a review of the Steyr M series pistol next month. Forget it. Steyr can kiss my hairy white ass. Here is the news report:

“US troops have found more than a hundred Austrian-made sniper rifles which were sold to Iran in a Baghdad raid on insurgents, London's Daily Telegraph reported on Tuesday citing unnamed defence sources.

The .50 calibre weapons, which are capable of penetrating body armour, were part of a shipment of 800 rifles exported by Austrian arms manufacturer Steyr-Mannlicher to Iran last year, the newspaper said.

"Although we did make our worries known the sale unfortunately went ahead, and now the potential that these weapons could fall into the wrong hands appears to have happened,'' a spokesman for the British foreign ministry was quoted as saying by the Telegraph.

Britain and the United States had condemned the sale when it originally happened because of their fears that the weapons, which the National Iranian Police Organisation said it was buying to use against drug smugglers, would find their way to insurgents in Iraq.

The report comes days after top US defense officials said that sophisticated Iranian-built bombs smuggled into Iraq have killed at least 170 US and allied soldiers since June 2004 and wounded 620 more.

According to The Daily Telegraph, within 45 days of the HS50 Steyr-Mannlicher rifles arriving in Iran, a US soldier in an armoured vehicle was killed by an Iraqi insurgent using one of the weapons.”

Steyr can blow me. (sorry about no linking to the story - this came in email) They are arming The Enemy.  They full well knew it was going to happen. I wonder - because I can't find any report of it thank God – if any US or Coalition soldiers have been killed or injured by one of these weapons. Or if any of our equipment have been damaged by these weapons. Because if they have, Steyr should be held liable for this. This is like selling a gun to a known Fellon or a car to a drunk guy. This is criminal negligence for the sake of making a buck at the likely cost of American lives. I'm so angry at Steyr I could chew horse shoes and spit tacks. This is UNFORGIVABLE. Because of this, I'm calling for a Boycott of Steyr. All my brother Bloggers out there, join me in this, please. I don't want ANYONE of The Horde buying a Steyr. And don't let anyone else buy one either.

(Besides, the Steyr Scout was an overratted pile of suck anyways)

Wed, 2-14-07: We had a S&W factory rep out here last Friday and Saturday. I spent some time with him talking about all sorts of things. He also had about 47 different S&W firearms with him, mostly pistols but also a couple rifles. I'm going to talk more about this later when I have some time, but one thing I wanted to point out was how S&W listened to me and built a gun that I suggested a couple years ago... putting a light rail on a revolver. I even did a photoshop. I can't find the thread right now and I don't have time to look for it... but it was either on TheFiringLine.com or TheHighRoad.org. Well, S&W's custom shop has them now and I sold one last Friday for 999.99. Not a cheap gun by any means, but an 8 shot light weight .357 magnum with night sights and a light rail... that's hard core. S&W should give me one for giving them the idea. Of course because they are S&W and I am a lowly moderator on the discussion forum that publicized the concept before anyone else ever did... they are going to say that one of their guys came up with the idea first. Uh huh... after reading my post and looking at the picture I made.

Trolley Square Shooting: My wife and I love the Trolley Square. There was a neat little Celtic boutique there that I was planning on going out to visit. Because of Ranger and the fact that I found out just before I was going to leave for SLC, that the store had closed... so I didn't go. Had I gone, I would have been there at the time of the shooting. Scary thought. Kudos to the Off Duty Officer who put that madman down.

Chevy is getting ready to roll out the new Camaro. Chevy looks to have hit a home run with this thing. This is going to dust Ford's tired and ready for the glue factory Mustang. I'm all for the Mustang... but since it has been the only name in the pony car game for so long now, I think everyone is ready for a change. Chevy is about to cash in on that. But I'm not going to get one. Not that there is anything wrong with it... I'm all about new tech in old school style. I love that. This is why I want to build a chopper with a new Honda VFR engine and brakes. The new Chevy looks solid. The drop top looks even better. Ford's response is to plan a redo of the Stang that undoes all the retro styling that made the current Mustang such a smash hit. Yeah, that's a good plan right there. No wonder Ford is bleeding money like it has a slashed aorta. And what is up with Ford's advertising for their “Edge” vehicle? That is undoubtedly the worst automotive advertising I've seen in a long time. You have no idea what the vehicle really is, what it is capable of, nothing worth while. Just the weird looking ride parked on or driving (slowly) on improbable and impossible edges. This is flat out retarded. Have they ever shown the interior? Under the hood? No wonder Ford is failing. Let's not even bother looking at the car itself... which looks about as fun and interesting as a stubbed toe. Back to the Chevy. No, I'm not going to get one. I'm going in a different direction. Remember when I posted that I was interested in the Pontiac G6? Well, I'm not. I'm interested in the coming soon Pontiac G8. This is what the GTO should have been. And the GTO wasn't bad, it just looked too much like a Grand Am. The G8 looks tough. It looks like something that can hurt you if you don't get out of its way. I like that. The stats on the performance looks great, but well below what the engine is capable of. A $350 chip will fix that in a snap. A super charger would be nuts on that. If I got pleasantly wealthy all the sudden like, I would have to either buy a G8 or a BMW 335i.

Thanks for all the support about Ranger. I'm not going to talking about this again because it is still really quite painful... but thank you.

I really couldn't give a rat's ass about Anna Nicole Smith dying. She was long overdue for an OD so why is everyone acting surprised. The whole deal with the lawyer and the drugs in the fridge... I don't care. I really don't. She was hot when she was with Playboy mainly because Playboy has no audio track. After PB she opened her mouth and all the hotness went away to the sound of a flushing toilet. She's dead and I've not heard anyone saying that they will actually miss her. Her best days were all behind her a decade ago. The only reason she's all over the news is all about the amount of money she had that evidently her little bastard is going to inherit. Since I'm not getting any of it, I don't care. You are not getting any of it either, so shut the hell up about it.

Monday, 2-12-07:  On Saturday I lost my shooting and hunting buddy, my best friend... Ranger, my wolf. For the past five years, he was a part of the family. A defender of the home. He would always send me off to work with a smile and a wag, and welcome me home with the same. Never judged me, never said he was disappointed in me. Just love unconditional, accepted me like I accepted him.

He was hit by a truck while out playing with my sons on a lovely day... it was horrible, especially for my oldest son who saw it happen. But that is the way these things happen. Everything was great one minute, then it is nothing but horror the next. He was the best dog I've ever had. The pain of his death has been crushing. I've never grieved over a dog like this before. Then again, I've never had a timberwolf before.

We had some fantastic adventures together out in the desert. I remember the two of us running across the desert and jumping ravines like a couple hooligans... rifle in one hand, cowboy hat in the other... just running and playing... he made me 20 years younger. One time he went after a rabbit, chased it at hyper velocity until it went down a hole that was surrounded by cactus. Ranger nailed it, still snapping at the rabbit's heels. His snout was covered in cacti spines. He whimpered as I pulled them out as carefully as I could, but laid still with his head in my lap. Trust. There was a lot of trust there. There was also a time when I got hurt, and he watched over me until I could get up. I'm not going to say I'll never go out shooting prairie dogs and rabbits again... but it will never be the same and I can't see how it will be anywhere near as enjoyable.

We still have Raven, she's a wolf, and she's become a part of the family too. She's been very depressed since Ranger died. Quiet. She howled quietly in the night. I did too.

The part that sucks the most is that Ranger is laying in the chicken coop, wrapped up in a plastic tarp because the ground is frozen and I can't dig a grave to bury him. I'll either get a backhoe and use it to dig or I'll build him a pyre. I don't know yet. He deserves something honorable. I'll decide on it later.

Wednesday, 2-7-07:  I was thinking about getting a GPS unit. We stock and sell Garmin units at my work. A 60CSx is a great unit. But it is expensive. Too spendy for me right now for a device I'm not exactly sure why I really need it. But I want one. Now Bushnell has put out a new GPS unit called the Onyx 200. This looks like on the surface to be a decent unit. Especially for only 200 bucks. But it is only black and white. In a few months there will be a color version. Wait for that one if you like this one. The only problem that I have with this thing is that it is a Teaser Gadget. The selling point is it can show Satellite photos of the area you are in. The problem about this is that the unit can only store 12 images that you have to download from the internet and then load the images into the GPS unit. So if you are out in the field and you need an image of a different area, you are out of luck. That's the tease. Especially when you are paying a monthly subscription fee (What?) and you can't access it. What I want in a GPS unit like this is for color of course, but also the ability to tap into Google Earth and get the overhead image right then and there. We have Sat TV and Radio and internet, why not a device that can give me dedicated Google Earth and GPS? I also want a lot more than just 12 images. I want freaking tons of it. We can have 40 gig iPods, and that's fine... but I want that kind of storage for my overhead color high rez images with my GPS data overlay.  Better yet, I want live/real time sat views available if it isn't overcast...  Yes, I know that would require a whole hell of a lot out of the sats, but hey... that's what I want.  And I want all that for 99.99 with no monthly fees.  I don't feel like I'm asking too much.

I know I've said I would get out the Guns of Miami Vice soon... and I am working on it. It is pretty much ½ done, and by that I mean the movie is done and I'm also going to do the Series Pilot to go with it. It's not done yet because instead of sitting down to a movie on my time off, I've been out doing some shit. Since the weather has become more nicer and accommodating, I've been doing a lot of shooting lately. .22, .223, .22-250, .243, .257WM, 7MM Rem Mag, 7MM SAUM, .308, .30-06, .300WSM, .300 SAUM, .300 RUM, .30-378WM... and that's just the rifles. I've been shooting the hell out of my Kimber and my Marine Magnum too. After shooting everything... (speaking of rifles only right now) I think 7mm Rem Mag is probably my all around favorite. .257 Weatherby Mag is 2^nd place and .270WSM is 3rd place. Getting bigger and heavier isn't getting me anywhere. Smaller isn't really either. But if you have to have smaller, .22-250 is the cartridge. .17's are useless. You can't take a deer with it... not enough penetration. Not for a reliable clean kill. None of the .17's. Now while 7MM is my favorite caliber, my favorite rifle remains my little black CAR-30. My Cowboy Assault Rifle in .30-30. If the target is inside 300, I own it. Maybe I'm not able to deliver 5 or 6 rapid hits with a .22 caliber pill. But I am able to deliver a jacketed, ballistic tipped, 160 grain slug at 2250 feet per second, and that my friends, is something you can not turn your nose up at. I've also noticed something about all my long guns. They are all stainless and synthetic. No blued and wood. Even my shotgun is stainless in color with synthetic stocks. As much as I like blued and wood, I just don't have time for maintenance and concern when out in the field.

A brief word about AR-15 rifles. Indeed they are fun. But even the best AR's, in the form of a Rock River Elite A4, can and will Jam when opportunity to jam presents itself. The RR I fired recently ran perfectly for 4 mags full and then just when tits up. Field cleaning and lubing helped at first, but then it went back to being a straight pull bolt action rifle. Only after it was fully cleaned inside and out did it behave again. For about another 3 or 4 magazines worth. And to full clean it, you are going to spend about an hour on it. This is fine if you are not going to shoot much. But this isn't a weapon you could depend on. Granted this Rock River was brand new... still needed to “wear in”. This is supposed to be one of the best AR type rifles out there. I'm not impressed. It's still an AR. Which means it will ultimately fail you in one way or another. If it doesn't fail you mechanically, it will fail you ballistically. (is that a word?) It wants to fail. It's a lazy gun... it doesn't want to be an overachiever... it wants to just ride along with you and look cool. It is not a serious rifleman's weapon. I was just asked what my choice of AR would be... and it's None of them. But having to pick one... my choices would be S&W, Stag, and Rock River. These are the top of the family tree. I'm not going to bother with swinging from any lower branches.

I hate guys that ask to look at the Desert Eagle .50 pistol. First, before anything else they do or say, they have to see the .50 Eagle. I think these are the same sorts of people that masturbate to Soldier of Fortune magazine. I just have to say that, get it off my chest. If you ask me to see the Deagle, there is no way that I can take you seriously. Not unless you whip out your Gold Card and buy it... ahem, and pass the background check. I've sold everything else in the store... I've yet to actually sell a Deagle. But if everyone comes in to buy one that has said that they were going to... I'd be driving a new BMW 335i by the end of the week.

Tuesday, 2-6-07: I'm not understanding why so many people are all quivering in rapture because Rudy has thrown his hat into the ring. He did a great job in New York City, undoubtedly. But NYC is not the USA. Can he deal with the issues on a large scale? Maybe he can. But is he the right man for the job? I think he would do fine, but I'm not going to say he is the best choice. My vote at the moment is Mitt Romney. Romney has the most solid fiscal background of any candidate on either side of the isle. The best thing about Mitt, is that he isn't a politician. He's a business man. The only thing anyone has been able to say about him is that he is Mormon. As if that has anything to do with the ability to run the nation. He approaches his leadership in the same way a good CEO does. How to make things more efficient and profitable. This is what the country needs. Real honest to God conservative values, and not just a conservative name plate. He'll be able to balance the budget, and put the US on top economically. Really neither Mitt or Rudy would be a bad choice... even though Rudy is in favor of Gun Control and for that he should die in a fire... but everything else taken into account he wouldn't be a bad choice. If Rudy was Pro-Gun – he would be unquestioned as the next President. If Mitt wasn't a Mormon, he would be peerless. So here is what I suggest. A serious 1-2 blow to the Left. A Mitt & Rudy ticket. Rudy plays Second Fiddle for 2 terms and then he can take the wheel.

This is just my opinion as I see it right now. I could be wrong.

Monday, 2-5-07:  The one thing that really surprises me about the Global Warming debate is how many otherwise intelligent people fall for it. You take people that are otherwise brilliant in their respective fields, then bring up Global Warming, and they all turn into slack-minded tossers. For example, to believe Man has anything to do with Global Warming, you would have to believe that the great warming in the 10^th and 11^th Centuries were do to the increase in Viking Funeral Pyres.  It's the SUN, Stupid. If you track solar storms and compare them to weather cycles, you will see a correlation. Mankind is nothing more than a smudge on the planet that the Earth hardly notices. We are at Mother Earth's and the Sun's whim and there is nothing we can do about it. So get over it.

The fact that my Liberal Sister has fallen for it is not surprising at all. She has always been Liberal in the new modern SanFran definition of “liberal”. Which means she is closed minded and refuses to educate herself on the details of any given issue, only falling for the responses that “feel right” even when they are far from. Liberals also seem to be a great deal more bitter, spiteful, and seem to identify themselves by what they hate rather than what they accept.  Liberals live in their own world that must operate by a different set of physics from the rest of us. That's the one thing I absolutely hate about Liberals... they refuse to listen to anything at all that might contradict their belief system. So while Liberal Physics is different than Real Physics, it is also a fragile thing prone to shattering. They have our pity, but not our sympathy.

Another example of a Liberal mind, is the Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell who penned a report called “Get the Lead out of Vermont”. The issue he is worried about is the lead in ammunition. That it is unsafe for the environment and that it is also unsafe for shooters because it can be absorbed through the skin. Yes, he gets the Moron Award for the day. Lead is found in nature... it is a natural occurring thing. Touching it does not immediately make you fall over dead like a bite from a Black Mamba snake. We used to make water pipes out of it. Sure, it's harmful if absorbed through the skin by means of a gunshot wound, but really I think any element would have similar effects if not as deep of a penetration. If this AG really wanted to help out, he should cover the issue of hearing damage due to noisy firearms and take suppressors off Bad list so we can buy them for 5 bucks at ACE Hardware like people used to be able to do.

So what is this guy's goal? Just removing lead for some reason? Hello, AG? Bullets are most often jacketed in COPPER! Shooters hardly ever touch lead anymore. His goal is a symptom of the new Liberal Agenda... limit guns by putting a limit on ammunition. In this case the limit is an effect of increasing the cost of the ammunition. Lead is cheap. Lead substitutes are expensive. They also fail to perform as well as Lead, internally, externally and terminally. (the three fields of ballistics) If you can't afford a couple boxes of ammo, you can't shoot a couple boxes of ammo. See how that works? I've shot lead free ammo several times... generally, it sucks. It sucks and it's expensive. This is why they are going to be pushing this sort of legislation a lot more in the coming years.

What can we do about this? What we always do. Bitch about it on online forums until we finally write a congressmen. What can we really do? Buy your reloading equipment and lots of components.

The House of Pain has the answer to England's crime problems. Jump up, jump up, and get down! I'm not making this up. A UK government Minister said so. Note at the end of the article, the Minister guy says “Sometimes that may well work.” Notice that he did not say that it works well... just that it might well work, which means a big fat maybe, sort of. Feh. My .357 Magnum always works well. Yet another example of the Liberal Mind. You try jumping around when some Gang Bangers have you at a disadvantage, they are going to cut you.

Saturday, 2-3-07:  I noticed a thread on Digg.com about gun control. Most of the posts were supporting gun ownership. This was a pleasant surprise, coming from Digg which is based in San Francisco. Maybe I shouldn't be too surprised. Kevin Rose, Founder, was a gun owner when he lived in Vegas. His partner in DiggNation, Alex, is a gun owner. Not gun enthusiasts really, either one of them... but they are not Anti-Gun like most folks in that area. (Yes, I know Alex lives in LA) Some of the members of Digg made some very good posts defending freedom. I was very impressed. Diggers seems to have a much higher IQ than that of Farkers at Fark.com. I don't really know why, but I've been following DiggNation since the start. Download it every week. My only explanation is that I must be easily entertained, and I liked both Alex and Kevin since The ScreenSavers on TechTV.

Our friend Larry Correia has sent his book in for publication. It will be coming out soon. When it does, I will of course post how to order it. This is the book cover. Trust me when I say that ANYONE who reads MadOgre.com is going to want to read this book. A word of warning... Everyone that has read this book so far has done so in one sitting, cover to cover, because Larry hooks you so hard on the first page he doesn't let you go until the back cover. This is when he hooks you again because it is going to be a trilogy. Awesome work, Larry.

Thursday, 2-1-07:  Short update today: I've got a lot on my plate today and tomorrow, so I'm going to be fast and brief. I'm trying to decide if I want to buy a nice little S&W that came in on trade... it's a S&W 67 Combat Masterpiece, solid stainless, pinned barrel, Pachy grips. It's well used, but looks like a fantastic sidearm for going out into the field. The only reason I don't own it already is that it is a .38 Special and not a .357 Maggy. Decent holster came in with it. A nice package for the price. We are going to sell it for almost double what we took it in for, and I can't tell you what that is... but let's just say that it would be a sweet purchase. Oh well. I've got a nice little gift card from my employer to spend on something frivolous... so I'll get something fun. Don't worry about that. It's just a question of what.

Talked to Jerry Ahern yesterday. Famous author, owner of Detonics. They are sending one of their new Combat Master pistols out for review. I'm looking forward to this review. Having owned every version of the Combat Master out there, I feel like I am pretty familiar with the platform. With that background I am wondering what the differences really are if any. The Combat Master is one of the coolest 1911 type guns out there... the first real factory chopped and channeled hotrod .45.

Blood Diamonds. I want to go see the movie, but I've not had the chance yet. A friend of mine is from South Africa and reports that this movie is very well done. He also reports that DeCaprio is spot on with his portrayal of a guy from SA. The story is based on things that are actually really going on. The diamond trade is one of the bloodiest, most corrupt industries out there. Makes the drug trade look like a good honest hard working business.

A big thumbs down to the City of Boston. Comedy Central does some advertising there like they did across the nation... but because Boston officials freaked out and called in the cavalry over Lite-Brite cartoon characters, they want to sue Comedy Central for half a mil? That's bullshiat. They should sue for making crappy cartoons. I think the advertising ploy was actually kinda clever. They freaked out over nothing, and that is someone else's fault? Come on Boston, if you don't want to be the butt of every Comedy Central joke for the next decade, you need to drop it and move on.

Shouldn't “Behead” actually be “Dehead”? Just thinking out loud.

Wed 1-31-07:  Congratulations to the Birmingham UK police for cracking an extremist Muslim plot to kidnap and behead a soldier. This is a big bust for them, but it also puts them on a knife edge... recently there was the report of all the Mosques teaching extremism and Jihad. So the UK is basically sitting on a Jihad bomb with 34% of the young Muslim men wanting to live only under extreme Muslim law. That is a powder keg, by friends. When the police made the 9 arrests (they say there are going to be more and that this is a huge operation) they had a spokesmen give a long flourished and almost apologetic speech about working with the Muslim community. It was undoubtedly the most carefully worded statement I've ever heard from any police agency. They have to be careful there. If they are not, it could easily blow up (literally) in their faces.

The issue of overbearing law enforcement has been a hot topic in my incoming emails. This started with the topic of the 2 border agents who are now in prison for shooting a drug runner. According to the news, this poor wounded drug runner was again caught with another 1000 pounds of narcotics, and his family says that he is always armed. The news reported that the medical examiner stated that the drug runner was shot while the drug runner was turning back to the border agents in a manner consistent with Agent's stories. I'm not happy about this at all, and I think that Bush needs to pardon these agents immediately and I think he is a sniveling coward with no concern for national security for not doing so already. More emails are probably going to come in about the cops who let the lady have a miscarriage because of a traffic stop. The woman was pregnant and bleeding from where she shouldn't be bleeding from while pregnant. Guys, I don't want to hear it. I know there are a lot of bad cops out there, and these bad cops make everything harder to deal with. I also know personally many more great cops who would have forgotten the expired tags on the car and immediately called for medical transport to the hospital. Most any cop I know would have done that. Yeah, I know one or two that wouldn't have, but those guys are not good cops. I want everyone in The Horde to know that most cops are on the job because they want to help people, not to just enforce arbitrary regulations and flex muscle. They take the oath to Protect and Serve as a sacred duty. Many readers of MadOgre.com are law enforcement officers on every level from parking enforcement, federal agent, even police chief. Now, at the same time there is a serious image problem that they have... with the militarization of many departments with more automatic weapons and armor than an Airborne unit. The safety of the cops is apparently more important than the safety of anyone else... and I'm talking about the case of the Salt Lake City cops who thrashed a 74 year old veteran because he couldn't raise his hands upon command. The guy was old and frail and had suffered war wounds that prevent him from putting his hands up like the cops demanded. So they basically kicked his ass. No, that isn't cool. In that case, I want to know why just because they thought the guy might have had a gun, that it means that they have to treat the old vet like a felon? Concealed Carry Permit or not, just because you have a pistol, doesn't mean you are about to go Postal in the middle of Liberty Park. Ironically that is the name of the park where this happened. I believe we need to get rid of all Concealed Carry permits and allow citizens to pack their guns under a concealed carry law like Vermont and Alaska. Anyways, I'm off track. In this case with the old Vet, the cops didn't listen to him for even a second. They demanded instant compliance and jumped immediately to the use of brute force. He's quite lucky... some cops would have just used force right off the bat. Now understand, cops have a difficult job. Look at the Sheriff in Jackson County Florida. Gunmen killed his wife and a deputy while she was getting out of her car at her home. He responded and killed the gunmen, but is left with much less than he had that morning. Our prayers are with him and his deputy's family. Cops are targets. They have to be very careful in ways civilians never have to even think about. If they are safe from physical violence, there is always the threat of litigation. They have to deal with the worst in our society. Like I said before, most cops are good cops and good people and they have my support. When we hear stories about a cop, try to see the situation from the cop's point of view. These instances I mentioned, I can't see how they justified their actions, but I know most cops wouldn't have done what they did. The two border agents on the other hand, I very well might have done exactly what they did – but with better accuracy. They should be pardoned and compensated for their trouble. (One agent's family is loosing their house) I'm also thinking that the prosecutor should be fired. This subject is now closed for MadOgre.com, and I'm not going to post about it again.

Speaking of Cops... A really good handgun for police tactical duty, if not the best one right now – the Springfield XD45 Tactical. The 5 inch barrel version with 14 rounds of .45ACP on board? Outstanding weapon system. Lifetime warranty, great ergonomics, accurate, everything you want in a duty sized gun. If you are a new recruit and you have to get your own gun, or new to SWAT and need a worthy gun – take a long hard look at the XD Tactical. That is my suggestion.

Kimber report: My Custom II, a simple entry level Kimber 1911 with the only change being night sights – 800 rounds now with not a single jam or any hint of a problem. Accuracy has been very good with everything I've shot through it. Better than the last Springfield I had... it is about a 2” gun. Not as tight as Wilsons or other high ends, but it is ½ the price of the big dogs. A great value in my opinion. I still haven't shot the newish Taurus PT1911, but reports have them as being very reliable and reasonably accurate for the discount price. Our friend, Ben got hooked up with a very nice 1911 the other day. A Springfield V-10 with 8 spare Colt magazines. He got a great deal. His gun does need a new recoil sproing, but Wolff Springs has him covered. The V-10 is a compact 1911 with ports, 5 on each side, hence the name of the gun. The bark and flash is impressive, but the soft shooting nature is a bonus. He's a lucky dog.

Global Incident Map: Bookmark this one. Things are happening all around the world. The map is constantly updated every 300 seconds. The icons are selectable and gives you more information.

Zombie Thread Alert: A discussion thread on THR from way back in June of 2003 refuses to die. It has popped up again. I had fun reading it. The subject is that of Tactical Lever Action Rifles. Many guys are against the concept, but others are for it. You might have guessed it, but I am one of the guys for it. Too many guys are stroked by the word Tactical and just have to have black pistol gripped rifles. Such features are unnecessary. Read through that thread and tell me what you think. In this thread I am christened “The Man” when it comes to Lever Action Rifles. A title I shall have to make sure gets carved into my headstone. In that thread on page 5 you see some large (bandwidth warning) images of my rifles with a part of Ogre Ranch in the background. I'm embarrassed at the photo of my shop in the background... you can see that I had two windows broken and nailed up some plywood boards to cover the holes until time I could get the windows replaced. I hate to say it, but those plyboards are still up. The garage is only shelter to Brutus the Bronco, Kenyan the insane gay Retriever, Raven the Grey Wolf, and Ranger the Timber Wolf. They shelter in there when it is cold out. And this winter it has been very cold. Still, I do need to get that fixed. Wont be until spring time or so.

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Copyright G H Hill 1999-2012

“I keep two magnums in my desk drawer. One is a gun that I keep loaded.  The other is a bottle and it keeps me loaded.”