MARCH 2010

3-30-10:  I've come across three very serious debates that need to be discussed.

First off. Shaun of the Dead vs Zombieland. Which one is the better Zombie Comedy. I say Zombieland. It had Characters that where much more colorful. It had more guns. It even had more Zombies. But that's not what I liked about it – it was more original. And that's the important bit. Shaun of the Dead was certainly entertaining, and quite witty. However it was just a George Romero send up, spoofing a number of classic Zombies movies with a twist of lemon in the Earl Grey. I'm quite fond of it, but I think Zombieland did it better and wrapped it in more interesting packaging. The Rules list, the Con Girls... and of course... Tallahassee. Just a fantastic character that really made the movie.

Second Debate: I submit that 1974 was the last year Car's were built with Soul. The main signal that Detroit lost it's Soul was when Ford killed the Mustang and replaced it with that calamitous abomination they called the Mustang II. Mrs. Ogre, when I first met her, had one. It was a wretched thing. She of course loved it and called it her “Mustang”... but it was no such thing. A weak and inefficient V-6 that gave piss poor fuel mileage on top of a complete lack of performance. A drunken Automatic Transmission that seemed to select shift points at random. Seats that were both uncomfortable, binding, and unsupportable. It really was amazing how it got everything wrong. This wasn't just Ford... all the car makers did the same thing. No wonder the Japanese Invasion was such a success. Our cars were completely rubbish and at least the Japanese cars had good gas mileage going for them. Detroit blames the Oil crisis. I blame them for giving up on the American Dream.

Third and Last for tonight: Porting or Not-Porting. My good friend Mike in AF EOD is a big fan of big revolvers. .44 Mags are his passion. He asked about porting to tame a short barreled Magnum he loves to carry. He sent me a link to a video showing a light weight .44 that shot like a .38 thanks to some clever porting. Well, there is your answer to that. His hang up is that so many tactical shooters have said Thall  Shall Not Port. Reason being, the vents can direct gasses and debris into your eyes, clothes and make your spleen jump out the back of your neck or something. Granted, firing a ported magnum from a typical retention position is not going to be pleasant... it' not going to kill you either. One solution is a simple trick... rolling the gun to the outside. Directing the porting away from you. This might make the gun more difficult to shoot from Retention, but that's a training issue. And how many rounds are you going to fire from Retention? How far away is the target when your firing from Retention? I'm pretty sure you will be able to do this, them make movement away from the target to create distance and follow up with more shots placed with accuracy.

The trade off for this inconvenience is that the weapon is more controllable with faster follow up shots allowing you to put more rounds into the target faster and more accurately. Now what's more “Tactical”? The admonition to carry as much gun as you can handle is in its self an endorsement of Porting. Because it allows you to carry a heck of a lot of gun.

3-29-10:  I am not comfortable with much of the mutterings I am hearing around town and around the interwebs... There are a lot of angry people out there and they are only getting worked up. These FBI Raids on Militias hasn't helped anything.  But it illustrates my long standing admonition that one should not join any Militia Groups. Nothing good can come from it, people can be taken advantage of, and you can end up getting a Raid Party thrown in your honor. Look, being prepared is just good sense. The Boy Scouts make that their motto for a good reason. Buy your firearms, your ammo, your food storage, your water storage, and Toilet Paper. That's all just good to do. Train with your Arms. Take some good Firearms Courses. Train with your Buddies. But do not join any Militias. Defending your home is one thing... but prepping to take further action is stupid... stupid and foolish. I strongly advise against that. Focus your efforts on a more effective goal – getting people out to vote this November. 

No... I will not join your Militia Group... and No, I will not join to Inform on any Militia Group.  I want nothing to do with them.  I will allow Militia Members to attend my firearms courses, as individual students... but I will not train a group of Militia Members together as a "unit" or whatever they want to call themselves.

3-26-10:  New guy on the blog roll list... Kyle Defoor.  I've been reading him for awhile and keeping an eye on his blog.  It's solid. 

Email: “Regarding the Healthcare debacle... I disagree that passing such a bill marks anything fundamental, in and of itself.  The least of Federal gun laws is a greater violation of the Constitution, since they are given permission to infringe on the RKBA, and are also expressly prohibited from doing so. The important item to note isn't the passage of the bill; it's the way in which it was passed.  Putting the backroom deals right out in the open and completely ignoring the will of the people, coupled with procedural shenanigans are far more chilling issues to contemplate.  A horribly-corrupt Republic may have some shady things going on, but they will be in the shade.  When the politicians no longer feel the need to even attempt to hide their contempt for the people, that really indicates that the system has moved from "corrupt Republic" to "properly-functioning Tyranny." November is important.  I have doubts whether there's anything left to save, but if we're even going to do as little as slow the collapse, we need to send a message that the experiment with Tyranny is over.  Most of the incumbents need to be kicked out.  Where possible, replaced with better candidates.  Where not, they still need to be kicked out.  Chemotherapy is deadly poison, but it treats many cancers where otherwise surgery is the only option.  Putting in slightly-worse candidates may be a bit of "poison," but if that's the only way to remove a cancerous incumbent, it still needs to be done.  Because we all know what "surgery" would entail in this metaphor, and anyone with the least bit of sense is going to do his/her best to avoid that path. Joe”

This November we will be able to shift the House and Senate back to the Republican Party. The big question though, is can we shift the Republicans back to being Conservative.

I turned 40 years old he other day. I honestly thought I would not live to see myself getting to this age. I find it unsettling when I look at my life goals and measure that against my life accomplishments. Depressing as that is, I take comfort in the great many friends I have all around the world, The Horde, and in my amazing family. Because really, when it comes down to it – nothing else really matters. Looking forward to 50 now. I hope by then to have doubled my Gun Collection. Because my Legacy to my Boys may not be a fat bank account... but they will be well armed.

Had an interesting weapon come to the gun counter... well... the gun wasn't unusual, it was a TC Contender, with a scope on it. We see those from time to time but what we don't see is a gun in this caliber. 7mm TCU. This is your standard .223 Rem case necked out to .284 diameter. I have to tell you, I really liked that round. You see, I'm a fan of the .300 Whisper which is the same thing but blown out to .308 diameter. With the 7mm TCU, this is pretty much the same thing, but doing it's thing just a little faster and with a much better ballistic coefficient. This will allow you to run and gun with a more efficiently suppressed weapon while still hitting very hard down range. If I was a more of a Reloading Tinker, I'd be all over this. But alas, I am not blessed with an abundance of Time or Money so playing with such a novelty is just not going happen for some time.

Why in the hell am I doing this? I mean Running For Office... Why? If I win, my income is going to take a hit because of all the time off from work and the expenses of driving out there, and the required hotels every night while in session... Financially, this just isn't worth it. So why the hell would I do this?

I'll tell you why.

Because I believe in what needs to be done. I'm seeing Utah starting to do the right thing in many cases, but they are still not there yet. Somethings need happen that are not happening yet. Somethings need to be fixed that have not been fixed yet. I believe in this... and that's why I am doing this.

Armed American Radio: AM920 KVEL, our local AM Talker has now joined the Armed American Radio Network. Starting this Sunday, LIVE at 6:00PM. Vernal Utah can listen in. This is fantastic. I'll be on, as usual, during The Roundtable... which is the best single hour of Radio, every week.

3-24-10:  Pro Gun Candidate. I am a very Pro-Gun Candidate. I support Open Carry. I support “Vermont Style” Carry. I also want to remove the legal rules requiring open carried pistols to unloaded. This law makes no sense and actually puts the carrier at risk. But if you have a concealed carry permit, then you can carry open loaded. That makes no sense either. Especially since the Utah Carry Permit course does not require one to shoot and demonstrate proficiency and safety. So what does having a permit accomplish that allows holders to pack open and loaded? These laws just don't make any sense. Open Carry, Concealed Carry... these are two sides to the same coin. There are arguments for Concealment and for Open Carry... but the root similarity between them is the fact that everyone is better off when Good People carry a gun. If you want to carry a gun, and you are not a prohibited person, you should be able to do so with out question. More importantly, you should be able to do so without harassment from others or from law enforcement officers.

Welcome CAMOFIRE to the MadOgre.com family of sponsors. For those that have never heard of CamoFire, it's a Woot-like site that liquidates products from the outdoors industry. I'm in the industry and I look at CamoFire's prices and I just have to shake my head... I don't know how these guys are doing this – but they are doing it and they do it very well. Here is how it works. Every day they have a product. Just one item and they have a ton of them. So they sell it for a crazy low price to get them out. This is where you can take advantage... So check in every day and see what's is on fire that day. You might find something you've been looking for! Or you might find something you could give as a gift. Who knows... and you'll never know if you don't check out CamoFire.

I have to mention Adams Holsters. Luke is crafting some very seriously nice rigs. Beautifully finished, hand stitched leather holsters made the old fashioned way... one at a time. For the rest of March, he's offering Free Shipping. If you are Active Military, you get 10% off. Luke had sent me a very nice leather IWB rig for my P229R. It makes packing the SIG so much easier... so much more comfortable... and conceals it so well, the SIG disappears. I packed it today under just a polo shirt and no one knew I was packing. I liked this rig so much, I had to place an order for another rig for my Glock 23. I was going to get a Galco Combat Master... one of my favorite holsters. But why pay more for Galco when I can get an AH Rig for less money? And it's not just a money thing... AH makes a damn fine rig and Luke is a straight up certified good guy. Check him out, and then when you order something... tell him the Ogre sent you.  Now check this out... Luke has offered to donate a holster for a raffle to help support my political campaign.  We'll set this up later in April... but right now, you can feel free to hook yourself up with a sweet sweet rig for your gun.

3-22-10:  Good Morning American Subjects! This morning we woke up to a fundamentally different country. Here's some things to think about. We are no longer Citizens... like it or not, we've just been made Subjects. The Government controls our health care, they control us. They own you... This can't stand. Come November these Democrats are going to be glad they have this health care, because they are going to need it.... because they are about to fall on their own swords. People are very unhappy about this. People on both sides of the great party divide... it's time for all those people to take action. Actively seek out ways to remove from office anyone that voted for this bill. The Government just overstepped it's bounds and authority... this is a criminal act. Show me in the Constitution where it gives the Government the right to order you to buy something... because if you don't buy health insurance now – you will face huge fines. You could face jail. Because you didn't buy Insurance. You didn't buy. You didn't spend your own money on what you wanted or needed – you have to buy health insurance. You might go hungry, but now at least you can see a doctor about it. Oh wait... you can't... because now we are going to see Rationing. The Doctors are going to be busy with people going in for Splinters, Headaches, Gas, or that Liver Spot. So between the rationing and the people going in for every little thing... your in trouble.
Imagine if the Government said that you have to buy a Government Motors vehicle? If you don't you face fines. Doesn't matter if you needed it or not. If you live downtown and don't need a car... or if you already have a car, you don't have the right car. And if your car has a problem, such as you need new brake pads or tires... you have to buy a Government Motors car... You don't have a choice.
Never mind that there is no way to pay for this Criminal Abuse of Power. This Nation is looking at bankruptcy. This nation is going to have to cut back some huge expenditures... such as the Military. Let's take a look at two nations that have Socialized Health Care. Canada. They have no ability to project military power to enforce their national policy and protect their overseas interests. Look at the UK. Very small scale ability... very limited... they can defend themselves but they can't project force independent of the US. Think we are going to be able to in the future? We are going to lose our National Strength. We are going to have to let our Armed Forces atrophy and decay... because we can't afford to keep up our level of strength. This is going to allow CHINA to become the Number One Super Power.

Congratulations Democrats... Your Criminal Abuse of Power has just RUINED everything that made America Great.  You are going to pay for this. Come November, you are going to be Voted Out. This health care bill will be undone. It was illegal to start with so it will be stricken from the books once we get rid of you imbeciles.

I've read reports of violence already... bricks through party office windows... Guys, I understand the overwhelming urge to go out and break stuff... but don't do it. Don't do anything illegal... all you have to do is to get out and VOTE this November. American Depends on this now... Donate every dollar you can to whoever is running against whoever voted for this healthcare bill. Get your friends out and rally. Get your friends out to the Polls. These Jackasses need to be removed from Office. Kick these bums out.

Working on VoteGeorgeHill.

3-18-10:  There has been a few questions of late regarding Pistol Caliber Carbines. I have been looking into them myself for personal reasons. There are a number of options out there, such as the Hi-Point, the Beretta, the Sub-2000, HK, and the like. Cost and Caliber are some considerations... Another consideration is compatibility with what I already have. I really don't like Hi-Point. In fact, I pretty much just straight up hate them. I hate everything about them. Sure, they are cheap, but I don't care if they were free, I wont have one... any of them. If you like them, great... that's good for you. For me, they turn my stomach. Now the Beretta is interesting, and I like the looks. But I don't like the fact that I don't know any owner personally who love their Storm. Parts breakages, customer service, reliability issues... let's just say that ever Storm owner that I know has or is going to sell off their Storms. Initial enthusiasm turns tepid fairly quick. The Kel-Tecs however, remain popular with their owners years later. Simple is as simple does, I guess. And the Sub-2000 is a pretty simple weapon. Reliability after some tweaking becomes quite good and the weapon handles well. Accuracy is quite acceptable, but it is no Match Grade anything... Price is about 300 bucks and they use common magazines, such as SIG or Glock. Of course, I'd get the one that takes Glock 22 magazines.

Then there is Hera-Arms, with their slick Glock Carbine Conversion. All the talk in the past about Glock coming out with a Carbine has evidently come to fruition. The only downside the to Hera is that in spite of it being super-cool the Hera requires an SBR license for it to be legal. And that means a 200 tax stamp on top of the 400 dollar price and that means a Glock Pistol that is no longer on your hip. I don't know if the Hera is that cool. I'd rather have my carbine that can use my Glock magazines and a Glock on my hip rather than to change my Glock to the Carbine and lose the functionality of the pistol. See what I mean? I mean, sure, it's cool... but is it that cool? I don't know. 400 bucks for the conversion kit, 200 for the tax stamp, and then 500 for the Glock... so we are talking $1100 bucks for “Cool”. Yeah, I know I've spent a lot more money on a lot less cool... but none of that cool allowed the ATF to drop in for a look around any time they damn well felt like it like the SBR license does.

I'm probably going to order a Kel-Tec Sub-2000 in the not too distant future. It fits the bill, simple, uses my magazines, and doesn't make me lose one of my pistols.

At least I know I'm not doing anything wrong: There is a Democrat Lady that comes in to the store for time to time. She doesn't like me. In fact, she pretty much hates me. Which I find amusing because I'm ambivalent regarding my opinion of her. What she said today though just really made me laugh... “I wouldn't vote for you even if you were running as a Democrat.” First off, if she ever said she would vote for me, I'd know I was doing something wrong. Second, I could never run as Democrat because I would expect to actually be allowed to read the Bill I was expected to vote for. “We'll find out what's in the Bill after we pass it” is something that just doesn't fly with me.

Defensive Pistol Course: We have to postpone the course due to ground conditions. The ground is overly saturated and it's raining again. If you drove out there on Saturday it's most likely your vehicle would get stuck. Needs to dry off a little more... We will have this class again in just a few weeks.

3-16-10:  This is one of the most disturbing emails I've ever received: “Ogre, all is lost. I sit here shaking my head in utter bewilderment. I just left the PX here on my COB here in Iraq. I just happened to run into the gal stocking the magazine rack, and asked her why there haven't been any gun rags lately. To which she responded that they were not allowed to sell gun rags anymore because they can't accept the liability. As you can imagine my brain started to spin, then all the gears jammed. I have served in the Army/National Guard for 23 years and I have never felt so ashamed, or utterly defeated. Just so you know those gun rags are the fastest selling thing on the rack month after month. Well I guess that will free up more space for Cosmopolitan, the New Yorker, and United Nations Monthly.

On a side note, I don't read blogs, I don't visit chat rooms or any of that crap. Until I ran into the Ogre in December. I think I have read almost all of your archived blog now. I am impressed and I agree with your M16 opinion. I will be sending you a donation and wish you the best in your run for office. Course you will probably self destruct when you become fully immersed in that kind of stupidity for any length of time, but that's your choice. I will continue to read your blog and watch for signs of your mental break down. My best to you and your family. - OPFOR”

Thanks for the email, OPFOR. I'll try to let the madness set in slowly. Okay, now about this gun magazines... Your report regarding the gun magazine problem has me flabbergasted.  Soldiers, in a War Zone, can not have access to periodicals that follow the Gun Industry.  This is just as bad, if not worse, than Captain Puss'in Boot's ban on knives for the soldiers in his unit.  It makes me think that this administration is going to halt the use of the terms Soldier and Warrior from Army Lingo. But I have to believe that a decision like this comes down from 1 Guy. We just have to find out who that 1 Guy is.

According the local news agency, I am running only against the incumbent, John Mathis. At this time, this is a two horse race. This could change by Friday, when the registration closes... but right now it's just the two of us. It's going to be interesting.

This Saturday's Defensive Pistol Course: We are going to start Right At 9AM, so Do Not Be Late! Time is going to be CRUNCHED and we are going to have to hustle... Because at 1:00 the IDPA group will be shooting in the adjacent bays. Here's the deal... when we wrap up, shooters will be able to go over to the IDPA group and shoot some stages and put to use some of the training I just gave you. So this is going to be an awesome day of shooting! The ammo requirement I gave you... yeah... bring more! If you have not shot with the IDPA group here before, your first time is FREE. Alan Haslem has welcomed you guys to give IDPA shooting a try, so I encourage you guys to give it a shot! I LOVE IDPA shooting... I love 3Gun shooting... it's a lot of fun... and we've got a great group of guys out here. I am really looking forward to Saturday!

3-13-10:  Today was a great day for me... Let me tell you about two guns I sold, because these just made my day awesome. First, was a little 12 year old girl who came in with her Dad. She picked out her first rifle and I got to sell it to her (her Dad) and scoped it up for her. What a special day for her, one that she will never forget, and I had the honor of helping her with that. That was fantastic. But wait, it gets better. A couple hours later, another little girl comes to the gun counter with Mom and Dad... she's 10. She wants a shotgun so she can hunt with Dad. She's 10. She has been earning her own money... not quite enough, so she put it on layaway; a Remington 870 20 Gauge Youth Compact with the Pink Camo stocks. How cool is that? Two guns for two adorable little girls... and you guys know how special little girls are to me... I love my Six Sons, they are my Wrecking Crew... but part of me still wants a little girl. So anyways... this just touched my Ogre Heart. I'm only Stone on the outside.

Zombie Encounter. Ben and I finally got a chance for the first time since last summer... to actually go out and shoot some Prairie Dogs. We found 1. They had been up and chirping, but we had some cloud cover move in and they all went down in their holes again save for this one stupid zombie dog. It was long range... about 300 yards... we both had .17HMR rifles. And there was some light wind. Doesn't have to be much wind with a .17, and we had some. I hit it. In fact, I hit it and it got knocked down, rolled over, kicked in the air a few times... and then the blighter sat back up. Ben took a shot... and he hit it... .17HMR, V-Max bullet. Nailed it. The dog crumpled... and then it sat back up. There is a lesson in that. To kill a Zombie, you have to destroy THE BRAIN! So yes, we hit a P-Dog at 300 yards, in wind, with .17HMR's but we didn't hit the dang thing in the brain.

Yes, I really am running. Maybe I shouldn't talk about the joys of simple varmint hunting on this or any website while running for a public office. Maybe not... but then again – I am who I am and you are going to always get the Genuine Ogre and I'm not going to put on a front and pretend to be someone I am not. I'm running for a State Office to represent my District. I'm just like most other guys that live in my district. I like to shoot. I like to fish. I enjoy the outdoors. That's who we are out here. We are Oil Patch Trucking Cowboys out here, and I am comfortable with that. Now, if I was representing the Liberal Downtown Salt Lake City crowd, maybe I wouldn't be such a good representative... but for my area... I'm just one of the guys. Doesn't matter what Party I run on... people around here know me. They know who I am and what I'm about. I'm a Conservative and my positions will please Libertarians, Constitutionalists, Republicans, and even Conservative Democrats alike... because these are not your run of the mill political issues, these are Utah Issues and these are Local Issues and these are Common Sense Issues. I can win this. But to do that, in order to win, I am going to need a lot of help... Every Penny Helps. If you have a spare 5 bucks, that helps. If you have more, that's awesome. I need a lot of help because this is going to be a battle – but I picked this battle because it's one I know I can win if I have your support. Political Expenses are already mounting. I need donations of money, and I need a new laptop and I need to get a cell phone (which is something I have been putting off for too long) and these are needed the sooner the better.

Armed American Radio: I will be on for the full 3 hours of AAR tomorrow night. So I want you guys to Tune In. If you have any questions for us, feel free to call in, email Mark... follow the contact information on the AAR website. So Join The Conversation.

3-12-10:  I am a political candidate now. It's official. As I said before... I decided that I want to win and the State Senate is not one that I could win yet. I could run... but I did some research and found that the guy in that office right now isn't going to be going anytime soon. I'm running for the slot of State Representative for District 55. I went to the court house today and I submitted my paperwork and paid the fee... I'm a candidate. It's done. I turned in as running as an independent Candidate, but that is no longer recognized in the State of Utah. Why? I don't know. So I put down Libertarian. The Republicans are having their big caucus meetings and there is a lot of political bickering and such going on... which in my opinion is part of the problem the Republicans have. That's why we had McCain when we should have had anyone else. I just can't play that game with those guys. So I'm running as a Libertarian. If I win, the party affiliation doesn't mean much... I'm Conservative with a lot of libertarian points of view. Utah needs some hard core conservatives there and I want to be one of them.

If you want to donate to help me... Any contribution of 50 bucks or more has to be recorded and reported, so do so with your name and address. I want to buy some billboards and print media advertising as soon as possible. Those are not cheap. I need a lot of help.

3-10-10:  I was going to order something Monday... but because of this ID Theft crap, it's just not possible. But if one of The Horde has a copy... I'd like to borrow it.  Magpul Dynamics The Art of the Dynamic Handgun.

Open Carry on the Front Burner in Orem Utah... on the Campus of Utah Valley University. UVU is a school I used to go to way back when. That's the school where I got kicked out of a Philosophy class because the Professor didn't like my politics. But that's another story. In this case, we have a Student who is packing open. He has for a long time, three semesters. But someone called the cops on him. The cop tells him he can't... he can't because someone called the cops. So if someone calls the cops, a gun owner loses his Rights? That's what this cop is saying.

The law in Utah is pretty simple here. You have the right to Open Carry. If you have a permit, you have the option of packing Open or Concealed. If you don't have a permit you can pack Open if there isn't a round in the chamber. Either way – you can pack open. Let's watch the next video.

I'm not going to run down the cop here... he wants to keep the peace... but here is what the cop should have done. “Hey bud, we got a call someone was packing a gun and that looks like it's you. Oh, you have DXG .44 Super Blaster? Those are sweet. Have a great day!”

“You are causing Alarm.” No, he wasn't. He was carrying a ladder and moving posters. What happened was someone didn't like the fact that he was exercising his legal rights, and the cops didn't like fact that this guy was educated about the law and didn't just automatically give up his rights because the cops told him to. I don't think I know the cop... but I'm very disappointed that a Utah cop was stepping on someone who was within his legal rights.

3-9-10:  Bad News: Monday I got my paycheck and deposited it and found we had been in overdraft... deep... turns out we had a lot of unauthorized charges that caused a cascade of overdraft fees that ate up my paycheck. WTF?>!#@!)$@&(*(@^$*^*^&%!^#%*^&(!@!!!! So because of this mess... I couldn't pay mortgage or any of our bills... this situation is what one could call “Screwed”. I'm not happy about this. In fact, because of this, I am having to sell my SIG C3. This will all work out, but in the mean time we're just not having a good time.

Good News! March 20^th, our Defensive Handgun Course is going to be at the Buckskin Hills Range, just outside of Vernal, Utah. Unfortunately, right now driving to the shooting bays would be very much like Mud Bog Racing... lots of spinning tires, mud up to the door handles, and lots of rigs getting stuck. Hopefully by the 20^th, the range will have dried out. If not, I've got to find an alternate location with better access.

Kinda Disappointing News. The question is “Do I want to Run for Office, or do I want to Win?” If I just want to run, I could always make that run for the State Senate. Information has come to light about the level of support my opposition has and the amount of funds he has access to. Quite seriously, there is no way in hell I could win. I could run and make a go of it... make a good showing... but I'd lose. He has about a thousand dollars to my every one. And there are people here that have much more, that want him where he is and will keep him there. Now is just not the time to attack that target yet. In the future, yes, but right now... not a chance.   I want to win... so I'm going after what I have a chance of winning... State Representative. Once there, I can work my way into a position where I can take a better shot at State Senate and nail that one when the time is right. Sun Tzu's advice... and I'm going to follow it. I'm going pick that battle when I'm ready... I'm not going to battle him on his turf on his terms when he has all the advantages. So I am going to run for what I can win and then come at him from out of the sun.

Cafe Rio: I had been craving something... Tortilla Soup. Had to have it. So for lunch I finally went and got some of that amazing soup. Oh man it was delicious! I know, I normally get the steak burrito... but I was craving that soup like mad... and it hit the spot perfectly. I felt good all day after that. Some warm and spicy soup just makes the day better.

3-7-10:  Interesting things happening within the US Army in regards to their rifles. There is an Improved Carbine Competition announced now, and what's more, they did not specify caliber. Hmmm. Interesting stuff considering comes on the heals of FNH losing the SCAR contract. This opens up a couple things I'm hopeful for. First, is the ACR and second is the 6.8SPC. Remington is pushing very hard to enter the military machine. I think their efforts are well placed and the investments Remington has made in the tactical arena are very shrewd. Remington, or Big Green as it's known in the hunting community, has always been about Hooves and Horn hunting. They've done very little with the Military as they have had almost zero interesting in warfighting. Because of demand for an accurate bolt action sniper rifle, they've done that much... but Remington just never had their hearts in it. All the sudden we saw Big Green putting out a lot more tactical rifle options and then they jumped both feet into the Sport Utility Rifle market by bringing in Bushmaster and DPMS and then they buy AAC, the makers of some very nice Gun Mufflers. It was also a pleasant surprise to find that they have even developed there own type of Multicam camouflage specifically for combat and not hunting. Now, a company like Big Green isn't going to make these moves without some idea that its going to pay off.

There are a lot of things here I can't talk about as I don't want to burn bridges of confidence... but let's recap what's going down.

FNH lost the contract for the US Marines for the M249 SAW. FNH lost the contract for the SCAR rifles. FNH had also just given the middle finger to all FNH stock dealers by going to a Distributor Only business model... which means dealers of FNH can no longer buy direct from FNH, and we now have to buy from a Distributor... So this added middle man increases the price per gun to the consumer and dealer alike. In a nut shell, there is no longer any money for the dealer to sell FNH guns anymore. Why bother? We will see FNH sales drop off like Mel Gibson's career. I would no want to be an FNH investor right now. This is going to force internal cut backs at FN, which could reduce their production capacity... which could further jeopardize other contracts for them.

Back to Remington... They have geared up big time and want that Military Contract business. When the Military picks a weapon, Civilian sales for that weapon surge. Special Forces picked the SCAR and all the sudden that became the hottest rifle out there. Individual SCAR rifles sold for as much as six thousand dollars... every SCAR we had on the shelf sold real damn fast. Demand outstripped the supply. And now SOCOM dropped it? The popularity will drop as well. Expect to see used SCAR's in the rifle racks within a year. Remington's offering, the ACR however, has been highly anticipated since it was first introduced under the Magpul banner. People wanted it... and that desire has only grown. The ACR is out under two flags now. Bushmaster for Civilian Sales, and Remington for Military. The fact that they have established this organization shows they are ready for what will come. FNH loses the SCAR contract, the Army announces an Improved Carbine Competition... there is the Open Door that Remington has been planning on. Did they know that door was going to open for them? Maybe they did. At SHOT I saw a lot of Military guys hanging around the Remington booths – something I've never seen before. And some of these Officer's were quite candid about their opinions of the SCAR and the ACR rifles. Officers that talked to me off the record were extremely impressed with the ACR and Remington both. The Military wants the ACR.

Regarding Caliber, the Military knows it needs more of it. The 5.56mm has been running for over 40 years now and only impresses those that don't use it for combat. The Officers I spoke with about the SCAR and ACR also spoke highly of the 6.8 SPC cartridge. It shoots a bigger, heavier bullet which means it hits harder. Just what the Military wants. However this doesn't mean that the 6.8 SPC is going to be selected. But it's an option.

Between the 6.8 (which is a .270 diameter bullet, but much shorter that your standard .270 bullets we all know and love) and the 6.5 that is often mentioned in the same breath, the 6.5 does outperform in terms of trajectory and retained energy... it has a higher BC so it makes for a better projectile for longer range shooting – just what the Army is looking for. But I don't think the Army is going to pick the 6.5 Grendel cartridge. That's kind of a done deal on that count. Now, that doesn't mean the Army couldn't find another 6.5... something totally new could be developed. The door is open... just who and what goes through it is going to be very interesting.

3-2-10:  Looks like FNH has just lost the SCAR contract with SOCOM. Reports have been coming in that this decision was long in coming and FN did not make good to resolve SOCOM's issues with the weapon system. This leaves room for the Remington ACR, which Remington was ramping up for big time and strutting around with some Military Officers who were more than happy with what they have found in the ACR. It's my prediction that SOCOM is going to be running some ACR's very soon and that eventually, the US Army will be running ACR's. Hopefully, eventually we will see the ACR's in 6.8 SPC in the hands of our warriors.

Don't laugh. When I predicted SOCOM was going to drop the SCAR, I got a lot of laughs... well, I'm laughing now. Eat Crow. You know who I'm talking to. I think the 6.8 is going to come along as well. I don't know for certain if the ACR is going to be the gun of the month with SOCOM, but it's my guess that it will be. You don't see a company like Remington jump with both feet in to the tactical game, giving Civilian ACR's to Bushmaster and keeping Remington on the name plate for Military ACR's... Remington is up to something big time. Those guys that saw the booths at SHOT know what I'm talking about. When you see military officers hanging out with guys from Remington, you know something is up.

My Brother and Sister In Law asked “What AC/DC song are you?” Simple... Crank the volume and buckle up:

In mid April I'm going to be going to I.C.E. Training's Combat Focus Shooting Instructor course. The location is Virginia Beach. I'm really looking forward to that. Not only is this probably the best Firearms Instructor course in the country right now, but it's in VA Beach. That means fresh seafood. Yes, I am a foodie enough to consider the trip just for the fresh seafood almost worth it just for that alone. However, getting to work with the I.C.E. Crew and developing myself as an Instructor is going to be fantastic. What is this going to do for us out here? It's going to align Crusader Training with the I.C.E. Combat Focus Shooting, so we will be able to offer that program which espouses everything that Crusader Training is all about. So look for a dynamic change to Crusader's Training Program after that.

Speaking of Combat Focus Shooting... get on iTunes and look up the Combat Focus PodCast. I downloaded them and I'm listening to them all. Let me tell you... this is good stuff. Lots of good PodCasts on there... get them... listen to them. What else are you going to listen to? Pop-Music?

Elk: If more people tasted even half decent Elk steaks or roasts... Beef would be shunned. The good restaurants would not serve beef... they would serve Elk. Buffalo is making some good inroads into fine dining... and Buff is good... damn good... but so is Elk. Just as good, if not better. This stuff is so good, makes you never want to eat a beefsteak ever again. I just did a simple pan-fry of some Elk, with nothing more than salt, pepper, and a little minced garlic rub... it was so tender, I could cut it with a fork. It was so juicy, and I had even fried it well done. Last time I did up some Elk Burgers, it was so good it even shocked myself. Buffalo makes for a slightly better burger on average... but I could go either way. Beef just isn't that good to me anymore. I keep mentioning Buffalo, because its' more accessible to the average person. But if you get the chance to snag some Elk, jump on it.

Living with Glocks: Here I am, having been living with Glocks for awhile now. I have not broken out in strange rashes. My guns have not spontaneously gone thermonuclear. What has happened, is that I've shot and I've hit my targets, and I've not had to think about the gun. Just the target and where my front sight post is. That's all I've had to worry about. Glocks just don't have the drama and slight elements of unknown and doubt. Very boring. They just point and hit. This is almost like arguing that Vanilla is the best flavor of ice cream. Perhaps it is. Now these qualities are also there in any SIG P22X series guns... and I still love my 229... but the Glocks are doing the same thing, but in a lighter weight package. If SIG made a gun like a Glock 23, I may never have given them a second look.

The weather out here is still freezing at night, but during the day, there is a lot of melting going on. This means pretty soon we will be able to get out and do some good old fashioned prairie dog hunting... and I'm really looking forward to that. Break out Killswitch, my beloved .17HMR.

3-01-10: The Princess and The Ogre:  I've had some strange assignments in my career. One of the strangest was the bodyguarding detail of a very high profile VIP back in 1998. Princess Diana. No, not her... her dresses. There was a little shindig going on at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, VA. This was to be a very high brow, upper crust affair. As I approached the Jefferson, I noticed all the cars around the front... Nothing less than 80 grand was allowed, or so it seemed... and the only thing with less than 12 cylinders was an 8 cylinder Ferrari. I wasn't even sure if I could afford to walk through the door. Dressed in black BDU's and strapped with a big HK on my hip, no one stopped me. I had to look official and scary. That was the request. The value of the dresses were in the Millions of dollars... each... so this was a serious thing. Inside I made straight for the security office and got the lay out and the names of everyone on the staff, along with photos. Once I knew who was official there, I went and met with the contact people who were held up in a room at the end of a hall... not a bad location. After I met with the people, who were very uptight, I was informed who could enter and examine the dresses if needed, and the proper procedure for touching one of the Princess's Dresses. White Glove treatment to say the least. I was also informed that I had Room Service on tap, whenever I needed anything, no limit. Hey, that's not bad! Especially when the Club Sandwich was 20 bucks. After everything was settled down, I set up my tools. I small closed circuit TV and camera... this was before the neat wireless stuff we have today, so I did have to punch a small hole through a wall for the cable, but was worth it... I had a good view of anyone walking up the hallway. I put the monitor on the table next to a shotgun and a spare pistol.

It didn't take long before I was kicked back, boots on the bed with linen that had a thread count higher than all the sheets at Ogre Ranch put together. Watching TV, watching the monitor.

Room service was great. Those club sandwiches were tiny, so I had plenty of them. Caffeine was delivered in tankards. Shrimp Cocktails. A lobster tail. And more club sandwiches. I was stuffed. Every time anyone approached the door, I had my face sheets out and I knew the name of who was bringing me food before they got to the door.

It was about eleven thirty when a face I recognized, but wasn't on my sheets approached. She knocked three times. I didn't open the door. “Sorry, you are not on the list.” She begged. “Mrs Rivers, I'm calling hotel security to have you removed... you are not coming in this room.” She through a total hissy fit to include stamping of feet and throwing something that I later found to be a shot glass. “Bugger off!” I yelled through the door and she pouted as she walked away, listing to the side as she went.

It was about two thirty in the morning that the TV had gotten stale and I was too pumped up on the Fien to sit still. I did pushups. I was bored. I felt like a dance. So I stood up, brushed off my black BDU's, looked at the white gloves ( I wasn't kidding) and said screw that... I took the first one around the waist and proceeded to dance... a waltz. I can waltz like Fred Astaire, but you'll have to take my word for that. This was a benefit of marriage to a dancer... she taught me well. I made sure I took the time to dance with each and every dress, up close and tight.

After making sure that each dress was back in its original position and looking just fine, I ordered some desert... some sort of red berry dish that was the most expensive thing on the menu. I had to celebrate the occasion here.

At seven Am people came up the hallway... all Authorized... so I checked names and let them in. Things got hectic in there, so I packed up my gear, pulled in my CCTV and put it all in my jump bag. I was almost done. Just had to wait for my relief. Before he arrived however... a news crew from the BBC arrived and were let in. Not only did they want to shoot the dresses, they wanted to shoot me. So I was asked to stand outside the door, looking brutish. Easy enough. So evidently I was on the BBC in a report about people loosing their shit about some dresses. My relief showed up on time and I was out of there...

The Princess was a fine dance partner.