March 2008

3-31-08:  Al Gore needs his ass kicked. This Global Warming bullshit just pisses me off. There is no Global Warming. That's a fucking joke. On my way to work this morning, I was listening to NPR and the speaker mentions Global Warming as if it was God's own word and unquestionable fact. I had to laugh... because I was driving across a snow packed road at a brisk clip of 15 MPH because it was a whiteout condition. It snowed all day Sunday. All. Freaking. Day. We had 4 inches. This is our freaking 7^th month of winter going on here. I'm going to get a Wood Burning kit, and engrave/burn “Carbon Offset” into a Louisville Slugger baseball bat, and kneecap Al Gore with it.

The EAA Witness Compact 10MM has arrived for my review. EAA has so far been great to work with and I appreciate the cooperation. One of the reasons I wanted to do this pistol for review, is that it is one of the few 10MM options on the market. So many guys mention the that to make a good CCW gun, you have to compromise too much. Well, this is an answer to that complaint. The compact sports a capacity of 12 rounds of full house 10MM horse power. Where is the compromise there? (Insert Evil Laughter Here) My initial impression is that this example is a little rough. It came from the factory both filthy from shooting, and soaked – SOAKED – in a light thin oil similar to a Vinaigrette dressing. Maybe it was just me, but this Italian made pistol smelled faintly of olives. Then again, that could have been my imagination. Either way, I'm now craving dinner at The Olive Garden. Unfortunately there is a 3 hour drive to the nearest OG, so I'm out of luck. The other problem that I have is that the nearest dealer that stocks 10MM ammunition is also a 3 hour drive. So my plan now is that on my next day off, I'm hitting OG, picking up some ammo, and then gnoshing and blasting until I'm tired. Only question now is do I roll into SLC or do I roll into Grand Junction? I'll decide later.

I had a question today that made me ponder. “If you were to be deputized right now and you had to pick a new gun... but it can't be a 1911... DA/SA... What would that gun be?” I'm picky. You guys know just how picky I am. Reliability has to be absolute. Accuracy is highly desired. Capacity and power are also wanted if I'm going to stake my life on it. I looked through the pistol case. First off... we have a lot of gun. A very good selection. We just don't deal in HK, because, well, we don't like HK. They are arrogant sods who've coasted on Urban Legend and Rainbow Six for too long. The pistols that I'd be willing to roll with are actually few. S&W M&P 45, Springfield XD .45, SIG P220 .45... then there is the FNH FNP45. I'd pick the FNH FNP45. Item number 47932 has the Night Sights... that's the way to roll right there. Decent sights, and a very good DA/SA trigger. 4.5 inch barrel, 3 big fat 14 round magazines. That's 42 rounds... this a sign from the Hyper-Intelligent Pan-Dimensional mice... 42 is the Meaning of Life. The one we have in is the black and stainless slide version. It looks good in an ugly, brutish, Ogerish way... like me.  The gun doesn't just look good, but it even feels good. The trigger is very good in both modes of fire. The internal machining is better than – and I can't believe I'm saying this – better than SIG. The gun sports the most aggressive checking ever made. This checkering is so aggressive and angry, that it kicked your Dad in the balls and frightens Badgers into making them act like squirrels. Once you buy that FN' 45, hit that checking with a little file and take that first row of checkering down a bit. But that isn't the big thing. The one thing that really jumps out at you and smacks you in the gob, is the pistol and the 3 big fat magazines comes in the worlds biggest pistol case. I'm not exaggerating when I say that it is the same size as the case that we store an 18 volt DeWalt power drill, recharger, and two batteries. This gun makes no apologies for being Large and In Charge. It rides in its own bloody limo. The one downside this pistol has, is that since it's rather new, there are no really good holster options for it yet. Yet. I love this pistol. We are selling ours, sans night sights, for $579.99. Yeah, that's a good price for it... considering it's something that makes a SIG blush and makes an HK USP depressed, and does it better and slicker than XD's or M&P... I would have no problem packing this pistol in the line of fire.

The other gun we got in that impresses me, is the new Remington 700 XCR Compact Tactical. This gun is not cheap... at a whopping $1149.99, thats a lot for a .308. So what do you get for your money? You get – and I'm dead serious here – the best trigger pull I've ever felt on a production rifle. The bull barrel has unique wide fluting on it that is distinctive. The greenish stock looks great in a militant olive drab way. The target crown is deep enough to be a real target crown and not just a cosmetic touch. The finish is reputed to be the most resistant to elements and temptations... Reports of heard of the accuracy these new XCR's, has it making epic shots of legendary nature... leaping tall buildings and dating super models. Maybe it does. But I wont have one until they make it in a .260 Remington. I've just no interest in the .308 cartridge... but this is one bolt action rifle that would tempt me to buy a .308. Of course, it also comes in .223, but let's not be stupid.

3-30-08:  This is why the UK is screwed. We, The USA, are screwed too... but for different reasons. Namely because of the Democrats... This is the UK's reason right here. They are becoming a nation of pushovers. They are rolling over for the Muslim Extremists, and now they are rolling over for predators. What would this lady do if she came home and found a thug having his way with her daughter? Offer him a cigarette and a cup of Earl Grey when he was finished? Sorry, but in the US, we kill the fox and prevent this from happening again. She has some chickens killed, and instead of taking care of it and protecting her remaining chickens, she gives the fox a cute name and practically invites it back. This this is a model of their national policy – the UK is doomed. Instead of looking at the real problems and addressing them... they are worried about silly nonsense that ignores the real problem. Next thing they are going to ban sneakers, cargo pants, and everything not made of tweed. Combine that with their next big idea... we can just change the name from England to Gattica. Bravo. The UK can mock the USA all it wants... it's one of the last freedoms they have.

Digital Camo: No, I don't like it. It reminds me of Legos.

The alternative to the PS90 is right here. The AR-57 Upper. That is slick as an AR can get. The only down side is that it makes mounting your multiple optics impossible. You will have to do with just one, boys. Still... No, I have no good reason for liking this cartridge other than it's cute, and a step between .17 and the .223 based cartridges. I still think it's an ideal round for furbearer hunting. Fox, Bobcat.... anything you want to keep the pelt tidy.

Now, looking at this layout, I have another idea. Take the mag from a Calico or Bizon and go with a 9MM round... or even more interesting 7.62X25MM. That would be slick and sick. I'd buy 8 of them. One for each for all here at Ogre Ranch.

While I'm at it... I'll take a few of these as well. Holy crap that's awesome. From the same site, I found something the USA should buy. Our fleet of M1 Main Battle Tanks is shrinking. They are not building any more and when one gets thrashed, it goes back to be rebuild. Not everyone that goes back gets to go back out to the front lines. This means we are losing our best battlefield assets... a slow attrition. We can't face China without an MBT. Strikers don't even come close to cutting it. We need the new Merkava 4.

Congratulations go out to Larry Correia, friend and author of Monster Hunter International... He has just been offered a contract for a large publisher. Why? His little self published work of fiction is so damn good that people are buying it up so fast, that it got noticed. Well, not so much noticed, but shoved down their throats. If you have not read MHI, and you have not taken my word for just how damn fun it is... read this review.

3-27-08:  We got in the new TC Icon rifle... not a press sample... not a prototype.... not a Pre Production... but a regular old production gun for the market. So if you go to your shop, you will see the same thing.  First impressions -  The gun is fantastic and worth the price we are asking, which is in the 800 dollar range.  The wood on our guns (we got in 3, so the line forms to the left) is the TC “Ultra Wood” which is in 3 layers with a sandwich of two layers of Carbon Fiber. The wood looks good. Handsome but not stunning... but still very good. I don't like the flat side of the receiver with word “ICON” in big block letters... that's tacky, but no big deal. Doesn't distract too bad. I like the integral weaver bases. That's well done. The trigger is one of the best on a production gun I've felt in a long time... right there with the S&W iBolt which is coming out of the same factory. Of course the Smith's is a custom Timney trigger, so you know it's going to be great... the Icon's is just as good and makes me wonder if it isn't a Timney too... I don't know and I don't want to bother looking it up right now. Damn good trigger and that's all that matters. The rifle is a solid 8 out of 10, but it could be better. Reason's for the 8? The tacky block letter billboard on the side of the receiver drops it a point. The Bolt Handle also drops it a point. Why the bolt handle? Because it's hideous. No, I mean it's flat out stupid looking... and in the hand, trying to work it quickly.... it's even worse. The Bolt handle is so bad, that TC includes a special tool so you can take it off and replace it with a custom bolt handle that just so happens TC sells. WTF? Why not just put the better bolt handle on the gun and not insult the shooter's IQ? I should drop it two points just for that bolt, but I'll stick with just one for now... so yeah, it scores an 8. The other thing that I don't like so much is that the magazine is made of polymer. I can't harsh that too much because the new Browning X-Bolt has that too... and I'll give that X-Bolt a solid 9. Only a 9 because I want it in a Stainless and Synthetic. Yeah, they will make it... but I can only score what I've seen, and that was a blued and wood unit. It's almost perfect. Almost. We'll have to see if it earns a 10 the hard way when I get the chance to shoot one. Back to the Icon... the attention to all the other details is spectacular. The wee little bolt handle aside, the action was one of the best I've ever felt on a new production gun... the metal bits that are not blued, are polished silver and slick in action. The trigger, bolt release. I like the two part safety. Put the rifle on safe and you can still work the bolt. Put the secondary safety on and it locks the bolt. Push the safety off and both safeties come off together. Fast and easy and not in a weird location. To the rear right side of the bolt where Mauser and Remington says it should be. Balance and handling was also great. Other than the bolt handle again – Man, I really hate that thing – I could find no other warts.

Between the Icon and the new S&W i-Bolts, and the new X-Bolt... buying your next hunting rifle is going to be a very hard choice for hunters this year. Between those 3, I really don't know which one I'd pick. That's a tough one. I couldn't make that call right now... I just couldn't. I like each one for different reasons. One thing the Icon has for it is that new .30 TC cartridge. This shell has a slight edge over the classic .30-06, but it does so in a much more efficient, smaller package... more consistent, less powder, more accuracy potential. A cartridge worthy of more attention. But it's just another .30 caliber and that can produce a collective yawn from everyone I know. Still, I like it... but not enough to go out of my way for one.. but worth consideration. It's more potent than the .308 and I like that a lot... yet its in a .308 length so there you go. A valid reason right there.

I sat down with a few different sets of electronic muffs today and tried them out. My Howard Leight unit is the Impact Sport model. We sell them for 49.99. Yeah, we are a solid ten bucks less than Cabela's. I tried them against an 80 dollar pair and and a 60 dollar pair and a 199.99 pair... those were the Walker Game Ear muffs. In all honesty, I like the Impact Sports better than the other ones, and for the money... it's a fantastic deal. I'm sure your local sporting goods store can get you a set. Since I posted my little opinion the other day – well, we've only got 2 pair left. Ouch. No, I'm not shilling for my store... you can get your set wherever you like. I'm just doing what I always do and state my opinion as I see it.

The FNH long guns have really kind of grow on me. Especially the PS90. The more I hold it, the more I come to like it. What I really like about it is the forward thinking that went into the gun's design. I like the top down feeding and bottom eject. This makes gravity a friend and aid in function. No, the design is not perfect, but it's unique and as you look it over, you can see some brilliant concepts going on here. As far as the cartridge goes, I don't really care for it in this package. This is a weapon for serious use and it needs a serious use cartridge. You can make the mags a little wider and the action a little longer, and you could fit .223 in there... and if you can fit .223 in there, you could fit 6.5 Grendel or 6.8 SPC or .300 Whisper. Or 9MM or .45ACP or 10MM... but this little .223 Mini Mag thing is just not a fight stopping combat round. I think 5.7x28MM is a unique enough cartridge that has some real sporting potential. Loaded with a nice V-Max bullet a box of 50 is just a couple bucks more than a box of 50 FMJ .40 cal rounds. This makes it cheaper than most other rounds... cheaper than .223 with the same bullet. This means it could serve the Varmint/Predator hunting community with style and grace. I could see this being an almost ideal round for furbearing hunters that don't want to damage the pelt. Unfortunately the round is only chambered in funky Star Wars guns. I am sorry, but the P90 or the PS90 just isn't accurate enough and the Five-Seven pistol isn't even worth considering for the use I'm talking about. What I would like to see is a simple, handy bolt action. Like this one. CZ could modify the 452 slightly and change the magazine. Or their .17 HMR rifle. Think about this... any gun that you can chamber .17HMR or .22 Mag in, you could make a 5.7mm work. I would buy one. Reason I would be interested in this is that I have no interest in the .204 Ruger cartridge. I don't see the .204 as offering anything I want. Where as this 5.7 offers a good performance middle ground between .17 HMR and .223. I wonder if one could do this in a Ruger Single Six. That would be fantastic.

The Pontiac: The repair bill has soared to $2675. Judas Priest. Anyone want a Kia Sportage? My hell.

3-26-08:  Hillary wasn't lying! Bosnia gunfire footage discovered!

41 Mule Deer in my front yard.  The other night I came home and found 41 mule deer in my front yard.  In the picture I caught about 21 or so, in that one clustered group... in other smaller groups, the total climbed to 41!  The bucks had just shed so there are no antlers going on.  That means I'm going to hit the mountains and go shed hunting next day off. 

Today was a Day From Hell. Postmarked, cash on delivery, from HELL. My FNH S2000 came in... but The Travis sold it. Aarrgh. I sold a nice SIG pistol with night sights... but The Travis had talked to the guy yesterday about the pistol, so according to our tradition, it was his sale. Okay, that stuff was no big deal at all... just annoying. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. Way wrong. Then the PC we use as the register locked up. Hard. So I rebooted. No hard drives detected. Rebooted again... nope. Unplugged, reseated everything, blew out the dust (not that much), and rebooted. Nothing. Ran to Staples and picked up new drive. Installed drive, there it was. Threw in the XP Pro disk... looks good. Then it locks up. Reboot. Nothing. Poppling crackling sounds. No drives anymore. Now the computer is toasted. We need a new computer. It took a couple hours to track down a PC system in town that we can get... but it has Vista on it. I planned on reformating the drive with XP Pro, and reinstalling all the drivers. So I start plugging everything in... and I dont have the ports I need for our peripherals. Crap. So I trade this new Dell Vista box with an HP XP box from another part of the store... To wrap this up, one hard drive turned into two PC's. 15 minutes after we closed, I finally had both machines up and running and networked properly with all the right short cuts and everything. Well, the Vista box doesn't need to be networked, so that was great. The only thing I need now is the printer driver for the little Star printers we use for the receipts. I'll get that tomorrow morning off one of the other systems. Gotta love thumb drives. Everyone happy.

There was a couple ups for the day. Mrs. Ogre finally got paid so our financial pressures are greatly eased and her van is now fixed... we have money to pay the Mechanic. But... now I've got to sell the Kia Sportage ASAP for $2500. Should not be a problem, I hope... because we gotta pay the van off or CAR FINANCIAL is going to come get it. We've been under considerable financial stress.... and Mrs. Ogre didn't let me know all the bad news... That's just one of the reasons we needed some good Karma over here. If we can sell the Kia and pay off that van, everything will be cool and back on an even keel... and we will be 350 bucks a month ahead of the game on our expenses. Situation would be: Groovy.

So if you want a Kia Sportage 4X4 – let me know. Your can roll with this one. $2,500 and it's yours.

Another up for the day, a couple parts came for The Fremen. A couple hand guard rails, and a folding foregrip. The regular foregrip would have been fine... but the folder when folded, allows for stable off hand shooting by resting the folded grip on your hand and tucking your elbow into your side. Extend the grip and it's good to go for CQB maneuvering. With the long rail and the grip in the position I want it, it allows the perfect amount of space and positioning for a tactical light... this was what I was hoping I could make work out – and it worked out perfectly. Rail and grip was only 50 bucks. Sweeeet. Something finally went the way it was supposed to.

Marlin woes again: A couple days ago I posed that Marlin's quality control has gone down hill. Well, I had no idea just how far down it went... let's just say, it didn't go down hill... it fell off a cliff. Check this out.

These are spent .17 Mach 2 cartridges. Notice how they are all badly ruptured? This is what happens when you fire Mach 2's in a .17 HMR rifle. Unfortunately the rifle is supposed to be a Mach 2.

This is how the rifle came from Marlin and we didn't notice it... this was sold during the Christmas rush. So we are partially to blame here. We let it go out the door. That's our sin and we will take care of the customer. In our defense, during The Rush, we sell guns by the truck load. Normally we inspect everything before it goes out.  We've got an HMR barrel on an HMR stock with a Mach 2 action.  The guns in the photo show the HMR rifle as it is supposed to be... the gun on the bottom is supposed to be a Mach 2.  How this slipped passed, we don't know.  Now, since the gun came from the Marlin Factory like this, we of course called Marlin immediately. And guess what Marlin told us... Eat it. WTF? We finally made enough calls and talked to enough people... but their initial response was that we were out of luck. WTF is going on at Marlin? I am extremely NOT HAPPY with Marlin.

3-25-08:  Luxury Movie Theaters? $35 a ticket? “A new way to see a movie”? Give me a break. Theaters are dead. HOME THEATRES are this ticket. Thats' the way. At the Theatre you deal with the actual getting there... and show times that the theater sets that don't work with your schedule. Then there are the other movie patrons... the smelly ones. The overly tall ones. The fat ones. The ones the big hats. The ones with the PDAs and Cell Phones. The ones with the friends that talk... I don't like strangers. I don't trust strangers. And I especially don't like strangers that distract me when I pony up cash for a movie ticket when for half that price I could get the DVD and my whole family can watch it. Ahem... if it's a family flick. I like Horror Films. I really do. The more heart stopping the flick, the better. I want shear terror. You can't see that in a theater. There are distractions to take you out of The Zone, and then when it's over – you have to drive home and still obey all the traffic rules. “Sorry for speeding Officer, but I've just seen a scary movie and I'm freaked out... and I've soiled myself.” That excuse doesn't work. No, you gotta watch it at home. Late at night. Then when it's over you turn on all the lights, eat ice cream and watch Scrubs until you can finally go to sleep. What if it's a romance and your with your girl? You go upstairs and have a shag, you don't try to navigate through people and traffic. That would ruin the mood. The best way to watch ANY movie is to get it into your own house. If you want to go out – go out and do something else... but going out for a movie is dead to me. Netflix, PPV... along with Delivery for Chinese or Pizza. Awesome. When I go out... it's to go out... not to go in. Luxury theaters my eye.

I've read a couple different gun magazines for their rifle reviews: Here's what I found. It doesn't matter what rifle you have anymore. What only matters is how big of a Christmas Shopping List of shit you can hang on it. Both reviews spoke of the rifle for about 1 paragraph while the rest of the review was talking about all the different accessories they put on it and took back off and put different ones one and put the first ones back on... Judas Priest! It's like shopping for a new outfit with a teenage girl! My hell! I'm going to laugh when someone brings out a rifle stock with nothing more than a collection of rails on it and fill them full of shit... so much that it wouldn't matter if they were on a gun or not because the gun would be totally unusable anymore anyway. These reviewers probably wouldn't even notice the actual gun was missing. Before anyone forgets – it's all about the gun – not what you put on the gun. The base gun. The naked gun. The level one gun. What ever you want to call it.. The Gun. That's all that matters. Anything you put on it should be kept to an absolute minimum and when you do add something to it, it should be focused on only what helps you get more out of your gun. They should be enhancements – to enhance your use of the gun. To what goal? To help you put bullets into your target. Nothing else matters.

I think I'm going to settle on Sony's Vegas for my video work. It's not ideal... but it's relatively cheap and it does everything all in one package. I like that. I'm a simple Ogre and complicated things anger me. All the footage we shot yesterday was a total train wreck. If there was anything we could screw up – we screwed it up royal. It's all useless, but I used Vegas and threw it together and uploaded it to YouTube. You are going to laugh. I did. It's a sad sad pathetic attempt at doing something different. This is why so many people stick with the comfort of doing what they know. Because you try something new, you look like a dick. Well, if you want to laugh at me, check it out for yourself. Yeah, I'm embarrassed. But let's go ahead and get that away right now. Like swimming in a cold lake... just dive right in and hope you don't have heart failure.

FBMG is now offering something special. Custom Duracoat finishing. A good finish is like the paintjob on a hot rod... the car isn't done until it's painted... and the gun isn't complete until it's been Re-Finished. A finish can do three things for you. First, it makes the gun more attractive. It has been said that even an old barn looks better painted, and that's true. Second, it protects the gun from corrosion. Third, it can off some functional improvements as in it could have some self lubricating properties or it can be resistant to scratching or marring or it can break up the lines of the gun and make it less recognizable from a distance. I like that part. If it's a really good finish, it can do all of that. I'll be giving FBMG a couple guns to refinish. First is my DPMS AR to do a 4 color desert camo job. The second gun might be a 10/22 or a Buckmark pistol. Or maybe a revolver. I'm not sure. Now, the guy doing the work at FBMG is a gunsmith. His name is Joe and he knows his shit. He's good. Larry and James say he's very good. And rumor has it, he's one of the best. He's refinished an AR for James that is – perfect. I've got to get the same sort of desert camo on my DPMS. I've got to. I don't have a choice in it. In the video I mentioned above, I show you The Fremen. It's a two color krylon job that works, but it doesn't work very well. And while a lot of shooters are using Krylon... and Krylon is probably the most common aftermarket firearm finish out there... it shouldn't be. It scratches off easy. You don't even have to try to get it to look ruined. Just shoot the gun and there you go. The problem is that it is a soft surface. Duracoat is hard. Like a powdercoat finish. This is the way to go for a gun. I've wanted to do this for some time, but didn't want to send the gun out of state. Now FBMG is doing it here in Utah. Draper, Utah to be exact. This is fantastic.

In the video that is taking forever to upload (because it's too big and I have to recut it again) to YouTube... you will notice that I am wearing some earmuffs. These are electronic muff that I picked up for 50 bucks. They are from Howard Leight. They were great. “Whoa wait a second. Fifty bucks for some Muffs? Are you nuts? My 9.99 Muffs work just fine! That's forty bucks I just saved for more ammo!” Yeah, that's true. Now let me point something out to you. I have young guns who like to shoot. I have to be able to hear everything. Questions, movement, weapon manipulation. I can't see everything that happens... and if I am wearing a regular set of Muffs, a can't hear anything. With electronics, I'm aware of what's going on. That increases safety. I didn't think that was important at all until my boys wanted to shoot more often and that got me thinking. Then I go out shooting with The Travis and he had some electronics. Then shooting at the local IDPA matches, a couple of the shooters use them and while we would talk and joke around, either I couldn't hear or spoke too loud because my ears were covered, or I would be flinching because someone cracked one off while my muff were down. And Ben, he got a really nice set of muffs with a 33db reduction... Dude was completely deaf when he was wearing them. Well, with the electronic muffs, none of that was a concern. They worked just fine even for being cheaper units and not the expensive two hundred dollar Walker Game Ears. One thing I liked about them is that they are very low profile. It doesn't look like I'm wearing Mickey Mouse Ears. They are slimmer than my regular muffs. They are just as light as the regular ones, and they fold down into a smaller size. I like that. I could hear the gravel crunching... I could hear the brass tinkling... I could here my baby jabbering in the car 50 yards away. I'm not kidding. I can hear better with my new hearing protection than I can with just my ears. If you shoot or use loud tools – You have got to get some of these Howard Leights. At 50 bucks I like them more than the others I've tried that cost double that. I'm not going to go shooting without them. Hell, I'm even going to wear them later tonight when I go Coyote Hunting!

I stabbed Mrs Ogre with a Spyderco: She asked for it. No, I'm serious. she has what is called a “Bible Cyst”. So instead of smacking it hard with a bible, which is the way it got the name... I honed up the blade on my Spyderco Native, and lanced it. I think it disturbed me more than it hurt her. Well, it disturbed me a hell of a lot. She's laughing about it and I'm totally un-nerved. I don't know how doctors do it. Shit.

You know how you always hate your voice on an answering machine? Well, video is a hell of a lot worse. I shot some video stuff... and it's rubbish. I'll be able to use parts, but overall the collective effort was a cluster-f*****. Ahem... FUBAR. Why? A couple reasons... first off, because we had all the kids, and they were stomping around in the back of a pick up truck. The Mic picked up everything. Its crazy. Then the camera can't handle Utah sunlight. Everything is washed out like the film was bleached. The answer to this is filters. Serious filters. Sigh. Well, I'll shoot more again. I'm still learning all this crap, and we are learning it the hard way so these are lessons well learned, if you know what I mean.

Further questions about ripping the DVD into an Avi format. I've tried a lot of programs... and so far they are all crap. Handbrake which I tried before, gives me errors and wont rip a thing. This is annoying. You guys that do DVD stuff like this all the time, what do you use and where do you get it? Emphasis on cheap as hell. I have something but it has TRIAL VERSION watermarked all big and ugly in the middle of the image. Okay, and then editing the actual video... Windows Movie Maker kinda SUCKS! You Mac guys – cut me some slack here. LOL. If I'm going to make this work, I need real tools.

Who says guns have to be black or silver? No where does it say that in any of the rule books. Bloomberg is just a whiny liberal that isn't happy unless he's bitching about something... and usually it has to do with gun owners or other Conservatives. Reminds me of my sister. His complaints that cops might get killed because a gun is a different color than black or silver... totally unfounded. There is no single bit of evidence that shows this has happened. Give cops some credit. What about all the toys out there that are black or silver? Dont' be a pussy, Bloomberg! This is as stupid a line of logic as I've ever heard. This is like banning red cars because they promote more aggressive driving. Trust me, I've seen plenty of little old ladies driving red cars like they were parade floats. I don't think having a gun that is a little different color-wise makes a bit of difference to law enforcement. A gun is a gun is a gun. The Mayor would just shit himself if he was to see one of my AR's I've got... it's – shudder- camouflaged! The cops wouldn't even be able to see it to confiscate it! The Horror! Mayor Bloomberg, take care of your city and leave gun owners alone.

Speaking of confiscating stuff: Read this carefully. Notice the bit about “Always Think Forfeiture”. Nice little reminder for the Feds to remember to steal your shit whenever and where ever they can. And this is our tax dollars paying for this. The ATF – I don't care what anyone says... they are not here to help you. They want to screw you. “Always”. No, that's not my interpretation of the situation – that's what they are printing on their dandy little Leatherman Micras. How crazy can they get? Who needs the Fourth Amendment anyway? And while we are throwing out the 4^th, we have to toss the Fifth as well, because you can't steel shit if the citizens have a right to due process which is supposed to protect them from being deprived of life, liberty and PROPERTY.

3-23-08:  Windows Vista: We have a couple PC systems that are running Vista. Well, let's just say that the loaded OS is Vista... “Running” is a debatable. The bloody things can not connect to the internet for more than a week before Vista shits its self and locks out the internet completely. The tech support people at the ISP are up in arms. They have no clue on how to get it back up. Neither do I. The box (ahem, the DSL Modem) is fine, and if I plug my laptop (XP) in directly it's fine. But the wireless is screwed up and I still blame the ISP for that because the wireless on my lappy connects everywhere else. Vista is nothing but a headache to us and everyone else that I know that has it. Our friend Steve T has Vista and the last I heard, he liked it. But he is the most UberTechGeek that I know and enjoys getting under the hood of an OS. He's probably loving it just like a Grease Monkey likes an old 64 Ford. Me on the other hand... I just want it to work and Vista just doesn't work. For me, its not a classic car... its an old ratty MG with classic British sports car electrical problems. Okay, enough motor talk... Vista pisses me slam off and no matter of reassurance about how great it is, is going to sway the fact that it pisses me off. I know about 5 PC systems that are going to be replaced with Macs. Including “Hordecaster” my laptop. I'm sure Macs have something FrontPage-like.

Future Weapons strikes again: Dudes asking about the KAC PDW. It's a cute little weapon to be sure. Probably one of the best new packages to roll out in some time. Unfortunately it's cute little 6X35MM cartridge is too unique to be practical for most shooters. It also has no advantage over 5.56MM save for the fact that its a wee bit shorter. I like the gun, but I'm just not impressed with the round... it's ballistic equivalence is just a bit better than .22 Hornet. I mean come on. You want to impress me with this? Make it a 10MM or a .400 Corbon This is all decent and we can debate the merits of the small and mediocre all you want... but they are not going to put this out in a Semi-Auto Only. No civilian sales. If a gun company can not bring it to the Civilian market – I'm really just not interested.

Marlin is slipping hard and fast: We just got in our latest order of rifles from Marlin. Everyone of them has extremely shoddy wood on them. The fitting of wood to metal and even just the finish on the wood is something I'd expect on a Puma. Overlaps, gaps, uneven and unfinished cuts, pitting, and splintering. This is a huge departure from what I am used to seeing from Marlin. The wood its self is also disappointing. but I can deal with less than steller lumber. I mean, look at the wood CZ puts on their .22's. Rather poor, I must say (unless you spend extra for a Deluxe and its awesome) but at least the wood fits the metal.
I'm very disappointed in Marlin - which has always been one of my favorite rifle makers. To let this sort of crap out of the factory is insulting.
If my customers wanted Cheap - they'd buy a Puma. Which I have to say has been improving themselves a great deal. Nicer selections of wood and better fitting. Marlin needs to slam a Red Bull, and wake the heck up... because I've already had one customer say "Why buy the Marlin, when I could get the Puma for 200 less and it's a better looking gun?" I had no answer to that. I wanted to talk about the quality of their metal work at least, but I couldn't even mention that. The action felt like it was full of sand and small rocks. It was bad. Really bad. I had been wanting to buy a Marlin 1894 in .44 Mag for a long time now. I know this... you guys know this... but when we got in these new guns and I picked up that stainless .44 Carbine, at first I was jazzed about it. But then I started looking at it closer. What a disaster. I am going to keep looking for the right one, because it isn't coming from the Marlin factory anymore. Trust me, no one is more disappointed than I am. If this is Marlin trying to do some cost cutting to increase profit – they took a wrong turn down a dangerous road. Because for that plan to work, they still have to sell the guns they make.

3-20-08: Pontiac Montana: Pontiac and I have a rocky relationship. I don't trust them and they always fail me. Well, I don't Mrs. Ogre not to get the Montana, and to get just about ANYTHING else. She got the Montana because she NEVER listens to me about cars. Well, we finally got the pig into the shop and now we have a laundry list of issues that have to be fixed. I've seen rusted out hulks with no engines that are less fucked up than this Montana. Needless to say the repair bill is about double what I was expecting. I'm not even sure what the whole range of problems are – I kind of had a minor stroke when he said the word “manifold”. I think I blacked out. Next thing I remember was I sitting at a Taco Bell drive through... that is the extent of the shock I was in. And we have to fix the bloody thing... we are still paying on it. We can't just take it and trade out of it... because it can't move. Oh well. There goes the bow I was planning on buying today for the archery tourney I was going to go to. (Hoyt Vectrix Plus 29”, 70#) I was also set to put down a large deposit to put a new rifle on layaway, but I'll have to forget that now too. (FNH FS2000) All of my money, and money I don't have is going to be sunk into getting this “but it's so nice” Pontiac back into drivable condition. I have 3 words for this situation right now: Shit. Damn. Hell.

Bad news out of the way: Let's look at something uplifting: “George, I received my Miami Classic system on Saturday 3/14/08. Believe it or not, I made out a little "wish list" and chose a nylon system and also the Miami Classic system as a potential gift from the wife down the line. I was shocked to say the least to find yours in the mail. It humbled me to no end. I just asked if you had a used holster for sale. You are a very generous man. I sent you a thank you letter via U.S.P.S. on Monday 3/17/08, you should receive it soon. ( snail mail is more personal to me ) My wife and I went to our local sheriff's office today and applied for our concealed weapons permits. It will take up to one month to receive them. Then we will be good to go! Paul M”
Paul's email was longer and confidential, but I thought that those of The Horde who contributed – and who the Thanks is really for – would like to know that Paul is going to make good use of the rig. Good... this is good karma. And truthfully, I can use all good karma that I can get right now.

One of my Bro's in The Sandbox reported that they got a little special treat recently. There was a concert going on for the troops and not only did Zack get to go, but he got his bass guitar signed by all the members of the acts.

Disturbed played and Zack reports that they rocked to a shockingly high degree.  I have to admit, I love Disturbed, but I don't have a CD... I shall have to go fix that as soon as I can.  Speaking of Disturbed, that might make some good bumper music for my video reviews which I'll be working on while you read this... S&W 99 Compact, Kimber Tactical Custom II, The Fremen Rifle, EAA Witness 10MM and others are in the works... I think you'll like them.  Some are going to be exclusive to Concealed Carry Magazine, some I'll post here and in the Weapons Section for the enjoyment, enlightenment, and edification of The Horde.

Filter was also there, signed the bass guitar and jammed hard core for our troops.

To lighten the mood Carlos Mencia spoke to the troops in his unique way... over all, kudos to troops for the job they are doing, and kudos for these performers for entertaining the troops.

3-19-08:  Check this out:

Supreme Court: I am not as optimistic as some folk are about the DC gun ban case. It does look like the Court will decide in our favor, but I am rather jaded about weather or not it will do any of us any tangible good. The DC city officials are already working on just what they can do and how far they can do it to restrict legal gun rights in DC. I'm seeing the same restrictions on the newly allowed handguns as the currently allowed rifles. That is they have to be unloaded, disassembled, locked, and locked in a strong box, and locked in a gun safe, and buried under 30 feet of reinforced concrete. How this translates across the country is something yet to be seen. In Utah, it might not amount to a hill of beans. In Illinois, it might make a huge difference. It all comes down to how the Court words its written decision. This is something we probably wont see until late June. So don't get excited just yet.

China: The UN should roll into Tibet and put a stop to Chinese atrocity. Of course China would see this as an act of War and they are not yet ready to take on the West head on. So I'm thinking the timing is good for a throw down now rather than later. It is only a matter of time, regardless of what most people think. China will go to war against us. China just wants all it's ducks in a row first. We shouldn't allow any ducks to line up, but it seems we are preoccupied herding waterfowl for them. The best thing that can be done, and what should be done immediately, is for the Olympic Games Committee to pull the games out of China in protest. Throw the games to Barcelona Spain, Norway, or some place that could use the economic boost. Or how about Rome? Anyplace but China. I've got two words for China: “Fuck China”.

Coverts not so covert: Everyone who reads any gun magazine have seen Kimber's advertisements for the Covert pistols. They are good looking and cool pistols to be sure. But they are hard to actually sell. Because guys will look at it, then look at the Kimber SIS pistols, and they buy the SIS. Kimber needs to make a small change to the Covert to get them moving again and increase the value of the existing Coverts. It's really simple. Make those Crimson Trace laser grips solid black. No one I've talked to who is not currently a US Marine, likes the Digital Camo pattern grips. But as soon as they are discontinued and new all black grips roll out on the Coverts, well, then the existing stocks of digital pattern guns will be snapped up by collectors. It's a done deal. Now, two more things Kimber needs to make happen. First, sell those SIS grips as an after market accessory. Second, make the SIS guns with an optional light weight frame.

Did you catch the news about the Cuban Soccer Team? Well, they came into the USA to play a few games... and half the team disappears. I laughed when I heard this. This is after the new fearless leader takes power. So with all this new hope for Cuba – Cubans still want to bail out. And yet here we are looking like we are going to get Communists in charge of our own government. Well, if that happens, i guess we might as well move to Cuba. I mean hell, if we are going to live under Communist Dictatorships, might as well enjoy the better weather down there.

No screw that. They wont take power over Utah. Utah will become the new Sparta and they'll lose 10 thousand for every 300 of us. Bring it.

3-18-08:  The Browning X-Bolt rifle. Browning has been really slow on shipping out orders... but they did send us out one of these X-Bolts. And it was snatched up before the box was opened. Here is my take on the X-Bolt. It's full of win. I like everything about the X-Bolt save for one thing. I don't like the plastic magazine. The rest of the rifle is as it should be. It feels more like a Remington in that it's a full sized rifle and not a rifle for Kids, Petite Ladies, or Hobbits like the A-Bolts do. The wood is shaped and sculpted into a great feeling and good looking stock. Unfortunately the lumber on our example was lacking in character... I think Browning salvaged pallet wood for it. The action and trigger is a 10 out of 10. A big advantage is new mounting system that Browning has previously used on their Titanium guns. This is a super strong base mounting system. While it isn't the perfect bolt action, it's one that you will want. Those credit card offers you get in the mail all the time – you might want to grab one of those cards just to get this rifle.

S&W M&P Compacts: We finally got them in. Late to the party, but stylishly late... we are offering them at great prices. The 9MM Compact is really cool. I can't believe how tiny the grip is while still packing 12 rounds of payload. It's really quite amazing. For a dedicated CCW gun, wow... it really works. Tiny in a Kahr like way, but a little thicker, and a hell of a lot more round on board. I love them. I can't wait to get my hands on a compact .45 M&P. Now, these little M&P's are cute as hell... so much so... that I might have to have one.

One of the things that bother me about Obama: The way he talks and his mannerisms. He reminds me of Eddie Murphy when he's spoofing White People.

3-17-08:  The Koreans have captured Kim du Toit. For the love of all that is holy, he went and got himself a Sportage. He traded performance for a mild gain in fuel economy and a large degree of cuteness. I would have happily sold him mine for 25 hundred and a high five. Which is pretty much what The Travis wants for his motorcycle. Or, let's put it another way – I'll trade my Kia Sportage for a decent motorcycle.

Leupold has a scope that knocked my socks off: It's a VX-III 4.5-14X40 with a 30MM tube and a side parallax focus. They call it the Long Range. It's fantastic. We are selling it for 599.99 and it's worth every penny. Go to your local sporting goods store, and check it out. I'm in love.

The Fremen needs to have its picture taken. I'll have to do something about that soon enough. I picked up a couple power cells for my Red Dot sight and it's back up and running properly. This shows us two things. First... always have spare batteries not just in your kit, but preferably on the gun some place. Several different aftermarket stocks and regular GI Fixed stocks have storage compartments. This is where you want to keep your spares. Multiple spares. Second... The brilliance of Leupold's Prismatic gun sight. It has a reticle that stays black and visible until you turn it on and then you get the illuminated red stuff going on. This is the way combat gun sights should be.

3-16-08:  I was going to talk about the value of the dollar and the importance of keeping it strong. I was going to, but James has beaten me to the punch and has done a much better job of it:

“Dear George, Yep, it is all about the Dollar. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that the Dollar is really a problem which can be fixed easily, which might explain why none of the candidates in your seemingly-endless Presidential campaign have mentioned it. The problem, as I see it (slips effortlessly into Chief Economist role), is that the USA - like the UK - has steadily dismantled most of its wealth-generating activities over, oooh, say…the last 30 years or so. China is now America’s workshop. The USA now produces precious little that the rest of the world wants to buy except, perhaps for arms and cultural products such as music / films (with the latter at least being frighteningly easy to pirate).

Why then would anyone want to buy Dollars on world markets? Well, historically, the Dollar was seen as a really great “safety” investment, a chance to buy into the stability and power of the American economy, but again this strength has been frittered away. Nowadays, the Dollar looks like a really crummy investment. Part of the problem is with the limping US economy, but there is a branding problem too. Brand America has been trashed over the last few years - excretus est ex altitudine by GW Bush et al. The only people who seem to be interested are the Chinese who, I’m sure, are stockpiling Dollars primarily as a form of economic weapon. At the end of last year, the Chinese had about 1.5 trillion Dollars sitting in their bank accounts - that many US$1 bills would form a stack with dimensions of approximately 131x131x131metres. It’s a lot of money. And it is being accumulated for a purpose – it is a currency “nuke” which could annihilate the value of the US Dollar in a single move if it were released onto world markets, a flood of cash that would sweep America away. Remember the credit-crunch? Well, much of that is down to Chinese cash. The Chinese don’t do anything by accident and I am sure that the credit crunch was intended as just a trial run. Perhaps even more frightening, the money can be used to undermine foreign economies bit by bit by buying up strategic businesses through various investment vehicles, acquiring knowledge and influence in the process. I attach a link to an article I wrote on this last month. Yours, James St Albans, UK”

Thanks, James. You nailed it. Thank you for shedding some light on a drastic situation that is being completely ignored by the media. This is a National Security Issue just as serious as a rogue nuke. America will sink or swim based on the strength of the Dollar. If America sinks, lots of folks around the world will cheer it... and then they would realize rather suddenly that their own economy has taken a kick to the balls. With America falling, the rest of what is called Western Civilization will fall, and that will leave the door open for China to make a huge push into the rest of world. China is the boogie man that lives in our closets and under our beds. Don't forget that and don't minimize the threat that China embodies.

Sunday at the range: Ben and I went out and did a little shooting today. Warming up the barrels of our rifles on a cold wet and windy day. The weather had been nice lately... but last night we got almost a foot of snow. I made it home from work and the rest of my Fam when to see The Pirates of Penzance (local high school production, and our little Siss is in it) but they were not able to make it home after the show. They had to spend the night in town. Snow plows had made it out and cleared the highway so they could make it home in the morning. Anyways, that's what we woke up to this morning. Tons of snow. I hate snow. Where was I? Oh yes... the rifles. Ben picked up a on old and slightly used Ruger Mini-14. The gun came with a couple spare mags and he added a black side folding stock from Butler Creek (my favorite side folder because of the strength) and threw a scope on top to fill the rings on top. Ruger Mini-14's are often criticized for accuracy issues. Ben proved that this is something that is very relative. In practical shooting, he was bouncing cans out to 100 yards with happy regularity. He also experienced Zero Malfunctions. For a defensive rifle, this is the most important factor. The gun has to be reliable. Accuracy is just a bonus... and Ben has that in his little. Best thing about it, all said and done... he is into his rifle for less than 400. Good job, Ben. The Fremen Rifle only gave me 1 issue that I'll talk about in a second. Yesterday I put a riser rail on the gun to bring the Red Dot sight up the proper level... it had been too low for comfortable, accurate, and fast shooting. This rail fixed that perfectly. The Red Dot sight is right there at my eye when I throw the rifle to the shoulder. This allows for almost effortless hitting. The range had a lot of broken clay pigeons laying around on the berms. The Fremen cleaned those chunks right off the hill... just erased them. Then the red dot in my Red Dot vanished. WTF? Oh come on.. the battery is only two years old! Not a big problem. The empty red dot sight became a big fat ghost ring and I could still use the front iron sight... but it wasn't as accurate at long range. Still... both Ben and I are very happy with our rifles. Now the Fremen is not done. Once I replace the dead battery tomorrow, it will be just a place holder for the new optical gunsight from Vortex.

I have to say that the Mini-14 impressed me. Not just the accuracy... but the ejection. I've seen a lot of rifles throw the brass. Nothing throws the brass like Ben's. Good grief... it was like the gun shoots in two directions at once.

Shoes: I've mentioned this once before, a long time ago. So this is a follow up to that. I think I said that I have a hard time buying shoes because I'm a picky bastard and I want comfy shoes that don't look like something out of the Sci-Fi channel. Men's shoes are pretty much in a few categories. Retarded, infantile, Old Man, and Decent. There are very few shoes that I call decent. Well, I found a brand that I like and oddly enough... it's a company that started out here in Vernal, Utah. The guy that started it, Randy Merrell is the dude that you go to if you have a problem with your feet. People come to see him from around the country. I like almost everything they make... and they feel great. Best of all, these shoes are built right and they last. I'm hard on shoes. Real hard. I'm on my feet all the time. And I'm picky. These Merrell shoes are full on win. I've got two pairs and I'll have more next time I need them. I don't see myself buying any other brand anymore.  I recommend them highly.  If you want a pair, you can get them here.

3-15-08:  Get ready for a burst vein in the head: Check this shit out right here... even CNN says this is disturbing. A guy has an AR-15 rifle, lets someone borrow it. While the guy is shooting it at the range, it had a slam fire or something... some sort of malfunction... and the gun fired more than one shot with a pull of the trigger, then it jammed. The ATF raided his ass. He's charged – and convicted of a Felony. WHAT THE FUCK? Here is the scary thing. This could happen to anyone. This happened to me with a 1911 at Ft. Benning. The firing pin could get stuck or something and you get a slam fire situation. The dude is a Vet. Currently, or he was at the time in the Army Reserves. He had ZERO criminal record before this. And now all the sudden he can't own a gun, he's out of the Army for good, he can't Vote. He's instantly a 3^rd class citizen because his gun malfunctioned. I call BULLSHIT on this and the Prosecutors in the BATF should be deeply ashamed and the judge should have thrown the case out. Watch out guys... if your gun has a malfunction – you could be a felon too, just that fast.

Call of Duty 4 Multi Player: On a lighter note... sheesh... that ruined my day. I want to play head to head against The Horde. When I go online I'll try different servers, so it's pretty random... Utah Freakshow, Noobs with Guns are a couple I come back to. I play has MadOgreCom so you guys can ID me. If you have a good server, I'll hit it. BTW, how do you get Team Speak to work? I keep getting socket errors and stuff.

Man, I've got a lot to talk about, but no time right now. I'll have time tomorrow, so check in. I'm going to be talking about money issues... specifically the US Dollar.

I've registered a new domain for a certain purpose that I'll bring up later. But it's totally unrelated to MadOgre.com. Has nothing to do with this stuff... kinda.

3-13-08:  Mall Ninja: What kind of gun would a Mall Ninja get all gooey for? I submit this. This is classic Mall Ninjary. This guy is hilarious. He has, as he says, $8300 into this gun. The title of Sniper Rifle does not apply to this weapon. Sniper Rifles do not have grenade/Flare launchers. Ever. The title Sniper Rifle does show one thing... the dude knows nothing about The Way Of The Gun. He has a basic knowledge of Blackhawk and other gear catalogs... and he obviously thinks this creation is something special. I love the inclusion of his SWAT hat. Because that's exactly what all SWAT guys want to carry... What does this horrific thing weight? Look at that! Since the grenade launcher removes the option of the forward pistol grip, he stuck it on the side... that's a nice touch... again, something all REAL sniper rifles need to have. Now, I'm not saying this weapon system is completely useless... the winner of the auction (and this isn't the first time this douche has put it up) will most likely break it down and use the parts on other guns, thus freeing the light carbine inside to return to be a light carbine. I can think of only two people who would like this... Pre-Teen Counter Strike players, and ZORG.

Lasers: With so many new guns coming out with lasers on them from the factory, a lot of guys are asking if lasers are “all that”. I've answered this question in emails to a few individuals, and at the gun counter... These Crimson Trace grips are great... I like them better than the Lasermax units because they are cheaper and there are more models available. Now, here is my take. It isn't just a gimmick to get a buck out of you... I feel that anything that can help you get on target faster and easier is an advantage. Take every advantage you can get. There are no “Fair Fights” in a gun fight... there are only winners and the wounded. In a defensive situation or in a situation where you have your gun drawn, if the intimidation factor comes in and the bad guy backs down – THAT is what you want. A laser can help keep you from having to drop the hammer. That's the biggest advantage!

SPOT GPS: You've seen the advertisements on the Outdoor channel and others. Starting out at $169 it sounds good. Unfortunately it's a pretty big monthly and/or annual fees on top of it. This is like OnStar for your ass. You carry this around with you, on you, not in your pack, but on your body. Don't leave your base camp without it. You can't call and talk to anyone with it, but you can send your location and status. Your friends and loved ones can check your location and status. I bring this up because of this new movie that cam out... Into The Wild. About the dude that left everything behind and rolled out on his own, forgoing the normal commercial society and civilization. Well, the dude died after that movie was made. He was out on his own, alone, got into a sticky situation he couldn't get out of, eat the wrong thing and poisoned himself... and of course he was only 2 miles from a way out. Needless to say, if he had SPOT, he'd have been rescued. Same story with a lot of guys... like the dude that had to cut his own arm off with a swiss army knife. These are extreme situations... but there are others. There are always stories of guys and gals who live in the cities, who don't know the area they hike into or worst yet, think they know... and they get lost, or hurt, or both. Family and friends realize they didn't come home a couple days later, then they call for Search and Rescue and tell the S&R crews that they think the guy went one way. So the search could be going on in an area you are not even in. Don't think Cell Phones are the answer. They help... but there is more to it. Cell batteries last about as long as a 3 year old's attention span. Signal strength sucks even near a tower down town... so how do you think it will be out in the boondocks? And then is it the right network. Digital or Analog... you might not have a viable option. You might not have any option. And the Climb to Higher Ground trick is hard to do if you are alone, or pinned under your ATV. Speaking of ATV's, SPOT should come with every new ATV just for that reason. Anyways... all I'm saying is this... if you venture out into the vast expanses of untamed wilderness alone like I do... Bring your gun, wallet, cell phone and a SPOT.

3-11-08:  How come not one of the bloody Presidential Hopefuls have mentioned anything about our falling dollar? At this rate of descent, it wont be long before the Peso is worth more than the Dollar. This is one of the reasons that oil hit 110 bucks. The candidates talk about midnight phone calls all they want... but they are ignoring the real crisis. This is like spending a day on a beach, being warned of a tidal wave coming in, and instead of moving to higher ground you argue about which sunblock is better. WTF, Over!?

The only light at the end of the tunnel that I'm seeing here is that some folks are talking about Condi Rice being drafted as the Vice President. This would be an amazing move for the GOP, if they can talk Condi into doing it. She is the – and I don't say this lightly – perfect choice for the position. She is not just a black woman – something that trumps Obama's blackness and Hillary's... er... well... lack of a ball sack. Condi is an incredible woman... she's brilliant on a level Hillary can't even comprehend. Most importantly, and the reason that shows she is the perfect choice – she doesn't actually want the job. She isn't power hungry. Condi is perfect for the post. Two terms as Vice, and a shoe in for POTUS. It's a done deal. 

Pat rants on again.

3-10-08: Get ready to be pissed: The Justice Department needs to grab this lady by the scruff of the neck and bend her over a knee. It is not the privilege of a Judge to impose political ideology. Only to enforce law and safeguard liberty. Instead she does the opposite. She imposes her ideology over another person's liberty, in violation of the very laws she is supposed to up hold... 

Brit soldier fights off 150 Taliban single handedly, saying “they started it”. He will soon be crowned the next Duke Nukem, but he is going to have a hard time flying back home because he can't get through airport with his Balls Of Steel. The upshot is that evidently they deflect bullets.

My whole family is big into reading this new book series out... the first book is called “The Lightning Thief”. Author Rick Riordan seems to have written a smash hit for young adult readers... If you've a kid in the Harry Potter reading age, this is the ticket. Both of my twins have devoured the series in a matter of days. Mrs. Ogre has gotten into it too, and has admonished me to read it as well. I've never seen everyone so into books before.

3-9-08:  Barack Hussein Obama: He will rape and disarm our own military. Listen to this guy... He has no realistic world view. This man is insane. When you have barbarians at the gate, you don't defeat them by breaking down your own gate. Class A Jackass, Weapons Grade Moron.

The Second Saturday in April, our Defensive Pistol Club is having another shoot at the Buckskin Hills Shooting Complex. Right now the range is too wet. That should run from about 8:30 to about 1. Should be great. If range conditions are good, I'll schedule a Defensive Rife class.

3-7-08:  Ruger Single Six: Some time ago I went through all the Single Six revolvers we had in stock, found the one that was the smoothest and best action and trigger. Now, one of the benefits we have at my little gun shop, is that we have sales contests amongst the sales guys... the winners get gift cards according to placement. Well, I purchased the Single Six with my winnings and a variety of loads to test in it. Then I had to wait, in agony of anticipation, to go out and shoot it on my lunch break. Small towns in the middle of the desert means a quick drive in any direction and you can shoot. Talk about memories! I remembered walking the woods and mountains around Roanoke with my first Single Six. The gun was accurate with everything from Standard Target, CB Short, High Vel stuff, and the Magnums... It shot everything .22 Rimfire, and put the bullets right where I wanted it. What's different between this one and the one I used to have? My first one had nice wood grips and a high polished glossy blued finish. It was a work of art. This one has Ruger's production Black finish, that I'm not sure as to what it really is... and it has Ruger's regular old black plastic grips. But some how it doesn't feel any cheaper, or less of a gun. It feels good in the hand... points like an extension of my glare... and it is a heck of a lot more accurate. Or maybe I've just become a better shot? I didn't print it on paper to test the group sizes, forgive me. I was busy bouncing every can I wanted to bounce at every range I saw a can. A prairie dog decided to stick his head up and it didn't even twitch after I ventilated its skull. Rolling along a dirt road west of Vernal, I spied a coyote head down and eating on something. I had last tried out the Magnum cylinder with Winchester Super X hollow points... so I loaded it with the same stuff, rolled down the window, aimed, and drilled it. The dog sat down, looked at me, and fell over backwards. It kicked for a moment and stopped moving. So you might be asking, “Ogre, do you like that Single Six?” Hell yes. Wonderful gun.  Pictures and Review next time I have a day off. 

I've often wonder what happened to my first Single Six.  I left it at home when I went off to Basic Training at Ft Benning, and I've never seen it since.

Speaking of wonderful .22's, the sagely Kim has pontificated over the subject of youth .22 rifles. While Kim put out a very nice selection of options... he is missing out on what is perhaps the best one. The CZ 452 Scout. The Scout is a nice short little gun that come as a single shot.  Not too short and quickly outgrown like the Chipmunk/Cricket (same company now that they merged, but still making both names... I don't know the difference)  The Scout has good clear iron sights and a robust action. As your little hunter learns the rifle, he/she can graduate up to a Repeater by simply replacing the dummy mag with a 5 shot (or 10 as skill improves) magazine. Once he/she gets good with the 5 shot magazine and can break 5 out of 5 clays at 50 yards... you can graduate him/her again up into a scope. By the time he/she masters the 452 Scout, your little hunter will be an accomplished shooter and will be ready to pick out his/her next rifle.

3-6-08:  My thoughts and prayers are with those in Israel effected by the recent violence. What is truly disgusting is the response by Hamas calling the attack “heroic”. There was celebrations in the streets of Gaza and calls for more violence. This was horrid and barbaric, and cowardly. Israel has a right to be angry. Of course it does. This attack was perpetrated by a base hatred of the Jewish people and spurned on by a sickened ideology and a twisted sense of divine duty. The sad part is that Israel will fire a few rockets, fire some artillery. Roll a few tanks... and ultimately will do nothing effective to stop this from happening again.

There is way. The more Israel fights back, the more they motivate the Palestinians and make new young and stupid Palestinian guys feel like it's their duty to randomly attack Jews. The answer is not to for Israel to act like an angry and impotent road rage maniac. Nor is it to wipe out all of the Palestinians in genocidal reactionary hategasim. The answer and the proper response would be for Israel to enact an strict Eye for an Eye policy. Delivered to Hamas in a message that those maniacs can and will understand. For every Jew killed by a Palestinian, 500 Palestinians die. The notion that Israel can eventually make peace and friends with the Palestinians is a bigger fantasy than anything written by JRR Tolkien. So don't be friends. Don't even be polite neighbors. Israel could completely crush Palestine, but there is no need... and there is no need to be compassionate to those who have no human compassion. Simply make Palestine Israel's bitch and if they don't like it, they can move to Egypt. Take back Gaza, take it all back. Give not one single inch and meet resistance with extreme force. Push them all the way out. Then treat every act of terrorism as an act of war and respond in kind with MLRS and air strikes. Yeah, this is heavy handed. But after a couple responses, they wont dare attack Israel anymore. This is the ugly side of “Peace Through Superior Firepower”. But it would work. I'm not saying it would be the best idea... I'm not saying they should do it.  But it would work. That's all I'm saying.

Rifle Scopes: We got in a new Zeiss that just blew my socks off. Its the Conquest 6.5-20 Rapid Z Target. Looking through it, I thought it was going to be about $1,599.99. I was wrong. Price is only $1,059.99. Fantastic. THIS is going to have to be my scope – someday. The more I look through these new Zeiss scopes, the more I become fond of them. Leupold is very near dropping to second place in my personal favorites list. Now, I've always leaned to Leupold for their proven history of strength. Well, this last season, The Travis was on his Elk hunt. He shot an elk at some 700 yards and put his rifle down, leaning it against his truck to watch it with his Swarovski binos. The elk stumbled around like it was drunk for a minute and fell down. The Travis was excited. The Travis jumped into his 4x4 and went for the elk. It after he rolled over his rifle that he realized that he had left the gun leaning against his truck. Tire tracks showed he had indeed ran over the rifle and scope. It's not pretty. But gun and scope are still intact. Still on target. This isn't a test I'd want to try with my own gear, but it shows the strength of that Zeiss. If it can stand up to a Chevy... well... then it will do everything I'd ever ask of it. So, I'm leaning to the Zeiss.

The Tooth: This is a very special and new fresh hell for me. I'm new to tooth pain, having been blessed with magnificent choppers. That little tooth ache I had, well, the tooth was fractured. Cracked. Now it's just flat broken. I've spit tooth shards. This is torture. I now have a better appreciation for the film Marathon Man. Now, it doesn't hurt all the time. I forget about it. Then I eat something, and the pain sneaks up on me... all the sudden like it ambushes me. Just crack me over the head with a baseball bat kinda pain. Let me put it in a way that captures the feeling I have. HOLY SHIT THIS HURTS. I do not have dental coverage. And I can't afford to go to the dentist. So here's what I get to do. Suck it up and move on. Eventually, as I understand, the tooth will hurt so bad, I'll be able to pull it out with my trusty Leatherman and it wont hurt so bad doing it. After it's out, there you go.

You ever feel like this kid? Me too. Sometimes.

3-5-08:  The British media has accused the US media of Fear Mongering. They do that constantly. Well, allow me to call the kettle black. Take a look at this report, and then check back here when you are done. Okay, off the cuff, that is a cute little Colt replica. 3000 Pounds is dang near $6000 in US dollars. The article's title says 300 MPH. The text of the article says 270 MPH, and that it's enough to kill. Well, let's take a look at that. They then say that this translates to 330 feet per second. The Daisy Red Ryder BB gun fires projectiles that are bigger, heavier, and faster, and are notorious for bouncing off paper targets and putting eyes out. Deadly? I don't think so. The bullets would retain hardly any energy... so they would have no penetration. They are worried about it penetrating to the heart? Yeah, it could... of it was about 1000 FPS faster. Out of this little jewel? No. Not hardly. This is a clear cut case of fear-mongering. Now try to aim and fire this thing. You can't... it's too damn small. Sure, it can fire, rotate the cylinder, and is legally a firearm... but it's nothing to pitch a fit about. “Jonathan Spencer, consultant forensic scientist and firearms expert,” Excuse me. No. No he is not. Because he has illustrated that he has no understanding of something called Terminal Ballistics. I am hoping this guy was misquoted. I am guessing that he is. The article its self contradicts its self twice. First I've already pointed out, the velocity they can't understand... and then the size of the ammo. In one place it says it's 4.53MM and then it says it is 2.34MM. What is it? The maker of the gun says that it was only a 10^th as powerful as an airgun. That's about right. The author of the article, Andy Dolan, needs to stick to writing articles about things he knows something about... because the guy just made an ass out of himself. Poorly written fear mongering anti-gun drivel. It was designed to make people fear criminals armed with... not Mouse Guns... but Mite Guns. You pull this on me and threaten me with it – I'm going laugh at you, then I'm going to stab you to death with a Bic ball point pen.

Paul's Holster: I'm holding in my hand a brand new, fresh from Galco, Miami Classic shoulder rig. I've not even opened the package, and will not. I'll let Paul do that. Because of my schedule, I wont be able to get it into the mail until Monday. But come Monday, I'll ship it out via Priority Mail. Paul, we ask nothing in return. This is our thanks to you for your service and sacrifice for us.

3-4-08:  China VS the USA: China has raised it's military budget to 59 Billion. That's a pretty big budget. And it's more than enough to really cause some big problems. With the stuff that China is making and buying, they can do a great deal of damage. Outfit a lot of troops. Buy more than few new SU-27's and MIG fighters. With a budget like this, they can pull the trigger on any neighboring country they want. In a couple of years, they could attack anything they want. They bluster about Taiwan... But they want Japan's ass. Now take a look at the USA military budget. Depending on where you look, the US spends anywhere from 396 to 425 Billion. China will be able to bloody our nose. But in turn, we will crush them like wine grapes and drink the juice. I think they will try something.

Have I been wrong about McCain? I read that while he was a prisoner of war, he was given the chance of release. Instead of going, he stayed with the rest of his men. That shows a deep level of character that I find extremely admirable. Also, I read that one of the prosecutors of the Keating Five, in the Savings and Loan SNAFU, said that McCain should be taken out of the case. His support for Amnesty for Illegal Aliens, and his craping all over the First Amendment, I still find those things disgusting. But maybe he isn't so bad. I'm not saying I want to give the man a hug... but maybe I was wrong about the guy and he'll be just fine as the POTUS.

THIS is why I love TOP GEAR: Right here. The host talking is one Richard Hammond who survived a horrid crash in a jet powered car.

That rocks... But Richard is incorrect in some technical details about the aircraft. Yes, the Eurofighter is an amazing aircraft. But he claims that it is the pinnacle of what an aircraft can do. That it is the best thing in the air. It isn't. The Eurofighter is only a little bit better than and a whole hell of a lot more expensive than an F-16 Falcon. The Eurofighter is almost completely useless against the F-22 Raptor. The F-22 is faster in sprinting and cruising. It can out shoot the Euro. It's almost invisible, so the F-22 can see everything and nothing sees it until it is too late. And the F-22 can turn and burn so hard that it is reinventing all the old Dog Fighting maneuvers, just for the Raptor. Because it doesn't have to do any of them. Sorry Europe. Just be glade that we are on your side. No hard feelings?

It's about damn time: The US Military is finally making the move to a new rifle. Of course SOCOM gets it first, but it's only a matter of time before the rest of the DOD get them too. I am of course talking about the FN SCAR rifle. SOCOM is getting both Heavy and Light versions. When I looked at all the new rifles the last time I went to SHOT, the SCAR impressed me the most. I love the SCAR. Now SOCOM is getting the full system. Bravo. Considering this move, when every military guy asked is saying that the SCAR is so much more accurate and reliable than the M-16/M-4... I wonder what all the AR Fan Boys are thinking. It's funny, they will call me an idiot because I don't like it, yet they will concede my points and give that same tired “It works if its clean” line. Yeah, well, SOCOM just said I was right. I TOLD YOU SO! These things will be going on sale in semi auto only versions for the rest of us Cake Eaters. (I've been out so long now I consider my self one too. Even if I can't have any because of the sugar. Damn it) Trust me guys, you will want one. This is why as much as I love the SIG 556, I have been holding off getting one. I want the SCAR.

3-3-08:  I've been getting a lot of emails about Future Weapons. Guys, that show is just entertainment. Most of the weapons they show are No-Go's. Weapons that will never see actual combat... that's why they are shown. To try to promote dead horses. Like that funky little .45 SMG. The Magpul rifle is now owned buy Bushmaster. It's not going to go anywhere other than into civilian hands... which is fine. But it isn't a Future Weapon. The dude that hosts the show... with those overly dramatic low spoken voice... it gets on my nerves.

Email from Doug: “Smith and Wesson is done with their classic DA pistols?  Every time I have hope that S&W is getting less retarded, they go pull some brand new crap.  First it was those ugly ass rails on the TSW line.  Then the last I checked, their 908, 910, 410 and 457 were all pushing $700 MSRP, and the TSW was gone.  Now they dropped the whole line for someone else's design - the 1911?  So, instead of serious concealment .45's like the CS45 and 457, what have we got?  Wondermetal $1200 1911's instead of a good, solid $600 aluminum alloy compact.  A short-barreled 1911 is tricky to get reliable, but the grandchildren of the 645 were easy to get that way.  The same goes for the magnificent 908 and the CS9.  And don't get me started on the disappointing extinction of the Model 59.  My inner Starsky weeps.  Sure, we've got the M&P and the M&P compact... but it's not the same. - Doug”

S&W killing off those "Gen 3" guns was actually a good thing.  They were decent pistols, but they didn't sell.  Generally unpopular pistols.  They were good... good quality and good accuracy, good triggers... but they didn't fit normal humans. Just because a few guys like them, is no reason to keep pimping them.  S&W was losing their shirts with them.  Smith was making the frames and slides for Kimber since Kimber started making 1911's.  It's about time they got into the business.  This was a good move.  They know 1911's, and have for over a decade.  This was just an exercise in the obvious. Some are 1200 but others are selling for 899 and they have a 100 dollar rebate going on for most of this year. That makes a high quality production 1911 for only 800 bucks. That's fantastic. The M&P series pistols are fantastic.  No, they are not the same... they are better. Over all - S&W has finally pulled their heads out and are finally making guns people want to buy.
I've had more questions regarding shotguns. Specifically the ones from Stoeger. You have 3 main flavors of shotguns from the Turkish division of Benelli. You have the pump actions, the autos, and the side by side doubles. I don't care for the over unders, so I don't consider them. The Side by Sides, you have the Coach Guns and the Uplanders. I love the Deluxe Coach Guns. Brilliant. I will have one. The Pumps, I like them better than the Benelli Nova guns. I really do. All they need are the Benelli Comfortech Stocks. They don't rattle and they feel solid. Best thing about them is their price. Amazing bang for the buck. The autos are great too. Benelli designs and discount prices. They are simple and well made for the money. One of these days, I'll have one. I sell a lot of these guns, and we have not had ANY problems with the loads of these guns that we have sold. All the feed back have been positive. No one has complained about them yet, and I can't tell you how many of them we've sold. Stoegers are one of the best undervalued guns out there.

3-2-08:  Sunday I was unable to hit my email server. Not with Thunderbird, not through the web client. I don't know what is going on, but it should be sorted out soon enough. My apologies. Oh, looks like it's sorted now... (9:30PM)

Click Click Boom: I've got two slightly different versions of the Click Click Boom song to use as bumper music for some video reviews. Thank you all who helped out on this and the two that came through with what I needed. Perfect stuff that. I'm well pleased. Thank you. What am I going to do with that? Well, easy enough, It's going to be my intro music for my video reviews. I think I'm going to need the help of Mark and Willy to get this ball rolling. I can't be the only guy on camera. For those that have read Concealed Carry Magazine, you've seen Mark. For those that have seen the .50 cal ricochet, you've seen Willy.

Hugo Chavez needs to be taken out. His government is corrupt and evil. He supports NARC terrorists, kidnapping, extortion... he's a villain and a bully. He needs to die suddenly and quietly with a .45 caliber brain hemorrhage. Now he's moved tanks and troops to the border with Columbia. Chavez is pushing hard for war with Columbia who for the first time in Columbia's history – is completely innocent.

Do you like NIN? Nine Inch Nails is offering their latest album as a free download. Check it out if you are a fan, or if you are curious.

Call of Duty 4: Since I've been down on the email thing, I've been trying out the multiplayer COD-4. If you don't know what that is, don't worry about it. If you do know, I've been playing around different servers as “Ogre” of course. I've made Master Sergeant some how, even though I suck at multi-player. The tactic of “Bunny Hopping” is completely irritating to the point that it turns me off. If I'm on a server that has bunny hoppers, I leave. That's for Counter Strike players. Not for me. I miss the days of Rogue Spear. While RS might be old school, it had a lot of memories. Speaking of Old School, I have been given copies of Operation Flash Point, and the expansions, and ArmA, the sequal. I'll get into those eventually. Also in that bundle was a game called “Prey”. I don't know what that is all about, but it looks cool.

3-1-08:  I need a hand from someone who knows audio and MP3s. I need a “Bumper” sound bite of Saliva's “Click Click Boom”. The intro and some of the lyrics up to the phrase “Click Click Boom” and then a fade out. Anyone know how to do that?

The Fremen Rifle: I picked up an “Ergo Grip” in tan from FBMG. I liked the feel, but it looked a little off on the all black gun. So it inspired me to go ahead and paint like I had planned to do anyway. So I just went ahead and did it. Out of the 4 color kit, only 2 cans were able to spray anything. It was an old kit... so I've got tan and brown going on... not what I had planned, but it works just fine and does what I wanted, which was to break up the “EBR” look. The handguards are still black... I'm going to do something different with them. I'll post photos when I think it's ready. The StrikeFire scope is going to go on this one. With the 2X power and that 2 MOA dot... it will be perfect. Once I get that, then all I'll need the finishing touch... an AAC M4-2000 suppressor.

I'll get one through FBMG. They have a new location, a much much better location and facility for their business. The new store looks great. I've not been to the new digs before so as I was driving along frontage road, I saw two cop cars and an old Army truck... I thought, “yup, that's the place.” So I pulled in and sure enough, it was. Now, at my store if you ask for a coyote call or a set of Stiener binoculars... we got you covered. At FBMG, if you ask for a Walther P22 to Silencer adapter, “oh, they are hanging right there.” Nice. We have two very different sorts of Gun Stores going on and while there is some overlap, there is not a lot of competition because we cater to two different sorts of shooters. While I was at FBMG, James introduced me to one of his new employees, then says. “This is Milo”. Milo being a character from Larry's frickin awesome fictional epic “Monster Hunter International”. If you haven't read this book, you are missing out. I can't stress that enough. Buy This Book. I've read the book several times, but never got the book actual book for myself. This was an oversight that I corrected yesterday, with autograph of course. The book is delightful... much better than reading it on my laptop. And there are some changes between what was published and the rough draft version that I've read. All these changes are good enhancements that make the story flow. My oldest son took the book last night, I've not seen him yet.... he's still downstairs in his room reading. This is how good this book is... to get this kid to put down his PSP to read something non-stop... you know it's pretty damn good. If I could, I'd buy all my readers a copy. But I'm not Donald Trump, you will have to buy one for yourself. Larry self published this thing, so don't look askew at the above normal price. Every writer I know that has read this, myself included, has said that this is the book they wish they had written. Everyone has ideas for future volumes, so this thing is going to generate a ton of fan fiction, fan films and all that.... there is already a company that wants to do a roll playing game. I would like to see graphic novels and of course really well done B-movies. If this goes to actual Movie makers, there is only 1 director for this. Robert Rodriguez.

After I left FBMG, I ran up to Hill AFB to drop off a Barrett 82, then back to I-80 to Evanston and dropped down through Flaming Gorge to Vernal where I dropped a Rock River off... then home sweet home to Ogre Ranch. It was a long day behind the wheel. What made it worse was that I couldn't eat anything. After I left FBMG I grabbed something to eat and discovered all the sudden like – that I have a tooth ache. More like, I have an IED hidden in a tooth and it goes off when I bite down on food. Nice, yeah, that's just what I needed.

Back to the rifle thing: The reason I'm messing around with AR-15's again is that so many guys around here are buying them up. We don't have a day when we don't sell one. Most of those guys have never been in the service, have never been trained on the AR and are totally unfamiliar with the platform and how to use it. I've taught a couple guys out here and more people want to learn. As soon as the weather warms up, I will be teaching courses on how to deploy the AR-15 effectively in defensive situations, how to take care of it, clean it, and what you need to make it a more effective weapon for you. Now, this wont be an AR Only course. You can bring your AK. FAL. SIG 556. Whatever you have. Marlin lever gun? Sure. These courses are not going to be expensive and they are not going to be long. Around here, guys tend to be very busy. A half day class is long enough for more guy here. Because .223 is hard to get and ammo is going up, these classes are going to be low round count courses. 50 to 100 rounds. Emphasis will be on making each individual shot count as much as possible, and not just spraying lead like some courses I've seen.

As soon as it gets warm. Right now it's 28 degrees out there and I can see snow. I hate snow. I really hate snow.

21 different accents and she does them quite well if not a bit over the top... but you can identify the location before she says it. This was fun to watch. The only one she missed was South Carolina. That was a good Southern Accent if you watch Gone With The Wind seventy five times and have never been to the South. If you actually go to the South, no one talks like that. They sound different in the real south. Less dignified, less intelligent, and more Red Neck Hick. But don't let the accent fool you. The guy you could be talking to might sound like Cooter from The Dukes of Hazzard, but the guy could have degrees in International Law and Business Administration. The guy might be driving a BMW instead of a POS... That's one of the things I don't like about the South... that accent.

Pacifism is a privilege of the protected.

I'm for McCain, but I don't like it one damn bit.

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