Gratuitous praise and a good question: “Hey Mad Ogre (the supremely awesomest guy ever to walk the face of the earth), I want to ask you some advice about my next firearm purchase. I currently own a Remington 700 chambered in .270 for all my long range shooting/hunting, a CETME (Spanish made G3)for medium to long range shooting, an SKS for short to medium range shooting/plinking, and a ruger 10/22 for plinking. However for my next purchase, i would like something compact that i can use for short range/home defense, but i want a little bit more range that allowed by a pistol. I have considered an M1 carbine or a CX4 Storm for their compact size and superior range to a handgun, but i am open to other options. Do you have any advice or any better recommendations for me? Your fan, Hunter PS you are my freaking hero! You are like the coolest guy Ive ever seen. I love your blog and your articles. Keep 'em coming!”

Thanks for the email, Hunter. Let's see here... you have a pretty good line up there. The biggest hole I see is that you don't have a shotgun. Don't overlook a good pump action. The Cx4 Storm carbines are pretty damn slick. They feel good in the hand, easy to work with, and are pretty accurate as well. Unfortunately I don't feel that they have all the bugs worked out of them yet. In my links section there is a link to the Beretta Forums. Go there and do a little research. Lots of guys love their Storms, but lots of them are having problems with them. If you want this to be a Home Defense weapon - it's just not there yet. Maybe in a year or two they will have everything ironed out. An M1 Carbine, loaded with soft point hunting loads... oh hell yes. A. It's a classic. Always has been. Always will be. B. It is hitting harder than a .357 Magnum. C. It's easy to make your hits with. An M1 Carbine is always an excellent choice, I don't care what anyone says to the contrary. If you come across a good example of one, take it. Another option is the Marlin 1894 Carbine in .357 Magnum. Very slick handling little lever action... very accurate. Marlin has another couple options here... The Camp Carbine, which can be found in 9MM and .45ACP. The .45 version uses standard 1911 magazines, and the 9mm uses other common pistol mags. They look less threatening with the brown wood, but are very fine defensive weapons. I think any of these suggestions would look right at home in your rifle rack. The little Kel-Tec carbine would also do well. It's ability to bend over backwards gives it a good advantage in portability.

An example of something I get a lot of. Someone wants a little attention from the Ogre, sends me an email. Someone from lauerweaponry.com sends me a link to www.duracoat.net. Okay, so I check out Duracoat.net... and what pops up? A page about duracoat on lauerweaponry's website. Come on man, if you want me to review your stuff, send me a sample. If it's as good as Microlon or CorrosionX, I'll talk about it. If it's not – I'm not going to mention it. If you want to send me a kit, I'd like one in Olive Drab. Thanks. Looks like repackaged GunKote with an airbrush to me. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. We don't know.

If you laugh at this, you are going straight to hell. This is pretty horrible, but considering all the stress about it... it's time to ease up.  Awful, wrong... but I had to laugh.  See ya in hell.

Evening:  SCUMBAG OF THE YEAR: MICHEAL SCHIVO. Congratulations to Micheal Schivo for finally successfully killing his wife Terri. Well done sir. Now, if you don't mind, if you would be so kind as to give back the money won in the lawsuit that was to provide for the care and support for Terri, then we can call it evens. Well, considering that from the moment you got that money onwards, you didn't authorize any care or productive therapy for her... what the money was supposed to be paying for... You even went so far as to deny and forbid any therapy for her. Yeah, so if you could just kindly repay that money, that would be swell. Thanks. You bastard. Terri is in a much better place now, and we are happy for that. Our hearts go out to Terri's Mom and Dad who did everything that they could. The only person who is worse that Micheal Schivo, is his attorney George Felos. Felos also get the nomination for the creepiest man not behind bars award. His statements or as repulsive as they are outlandish. Denying Mom and Dad from seeing Terri as she is about to die... that is asinine beyond measure. Absolutely heartless and tasteless. These two men will have to answer for their actions. Justice will be served for Terri, if not in this life.

The Horde's Sgt Lowe has a good take on this: “Now that Terri Schiavo has died, the left finally got their victory over the right they craved so badly. They can go celebrate in the streets, light cars on fire and cheer, and tell America that having morals is wrong and that the founding fathers meant that the constitution protects Americans from having them.”

Morality and Common Decency are truly in short supply in today's Politically Correct America. We are all diminished by this circus.

Our hearts also go out to all the Horde's Catholics who are about to lose their Pope. Bright side is that you will get another, which is more than what Terri's Mom and Dad can say.

Speaking of Tasteless. It has been decided that MadOgre.com is Tasteless and Gross:

One of The Horde found this today when he was at work and tried to check in: Proper response to this? Nothing over the top. Perhaps just this. I am slightly offended by this... I am neither Tasteless or Gross. I am quite cultured as far as ogres go, and I am regarded as having excellent taste in all areas of refinement. That, and I am only gross in the privacy of my own bathroom, thank you very much.

BAG Day is coming quickly upon us. BAG Day is the annual Buy A Gun Day, or April 15^th as it is otherwise known. People have asked me what gun they should buy. This is already answered on the FAQ page. Let me refresh your memory:

Q: Ogre, I want to go buy a gun. What kind of gun should I get?
A: You should go buy an Marlin Lever Action in .30-30. No... Kidding. How am I supposed to know what kind of gun you need to get? I don't know you and you didn't specify what the gun is to be used for. Thus you will get my default gun answer. If you have to ask... then get a Shotgun. Get a pump action like a Mossberg 500, or a Remington 870. The pump-action shotgun is the most versatile gun platform you can get. Specific applications can be achieved with a few modifications from stock form.

Jane Fonda regrets her betrayal? Regrets taking that photo of her with our nations enemy and one of their anti-aircraft... well thats nice. I notice that she does not regret the betrayal of of the POWs who slipped her messages, and then gave the messages to the enemy captors which resulted in harsh punishment and beatings of the POWs. She doesn't say anything about that. Jane Fonda, your apology is NOT accepted. And I might add, it NEVER will be.

Thanks to the fellas over at AmBack, I have a couple new pictures that I have to add to this page right here.

Forgive me, but I must put a pause on the Blogging thing tonight. I've got to complete my article for Concealed Carry Magazine as it is due tomorrow. Considering that I only have 1 paragraph right now that I will probably just delete – I had best get to it. This article is on the Springfield Ultra Compact that I have mentioned before. It's proving to be a very difficult one to write. For example, I can not find any words that rhyme with “Springfield”.

Tuesday, March 29th, 2005: Late Night:  I've told you guys... use Mobil 1 full synthetic oil in your engines. I've also said, use Mobil 1 filters. You want to know why? This is why. Check this out. This is what you get for using the cheap stuff... for buying the bargain stuff and just grabbing whatever filter is on the shelf. This is nasty. Be warned. Your engine should not look like that. No engine should look like that. But if you are using cheap oil and filters... or you are not changing them regularly... your engine probably does look like that. That is a mess. That is just unsanitary. If you think your engine is like this inside... I'd run an oil flush through it. Then a can of B-12 Chemtool. Then 2 or 3 cans of SeaFoam. Change the oil to The Mighty M1, and then hit it with Microlon. And after 200 miles, change the filter again. Of course if your engine got that bad... it might just need a rebuild. Valves and lifters and rings and oil pump... That's just horrible. Guys, don't skimp on your oils and filters. Just don't do it.

Rumor has it that the Border Patrol is putting out 500 new agents. I've got two takes on this. 1. It's about damn time. 2. It's just a start. Here is a website I want all of you guys to bookmark. Ranch Rescue. Take some time to read through this site. Seriously. The Media Coverage section, the facts, the stories... it's horrifying and it is real. They call it the silent war. Looks like it is not going to be quite so silent any more. But this is it... this is what the openness of the borders gives us. A whole lot of problems. We have got to take control of our own borders, and enforce our policy there. Send these jackholes the message, “You Don't Mess with the USA”. Those thugs standing there with the banged up G-3 rifles... Guys, this is what scopes are for. Tag these goblins out before they even knew they were being watched. Sure they have a right to stand there on their side of the fence... but a nice DMZ along there would really help things out. Wouldn't it? I've heard of stories of truck loads of armed Mexican military guys running escort to trucks full of drugs crossing border as deep as 50 miles. That's beyond the pale. This crap has got to be stopped. And Bush needs to stop pussyfooting around about this. MARCHING ORDERS: WRITE YOUR CONGRESSMEN. WRITE YOUR SENATORS. Bring this issue to the front of the lines. The media is watching the Blogosphere... if we all pull together can create enough chatter, it will be headlining in a matter of days before the Minutemen Project gets into trouble.

Email: “Hi there, interesting approach, this 'show me your gun and I tell you who you are' thang. OT Heat, and maybe also the initial 'Dirty Harry' movie: What do you think about those 'hostage rescue' shots taken by the protagonists in terms of responsibility/doability? It is a long time since I fired my last shot, and I never became an even halfway proficient marksman during my 12 months stint with the Bundeswehr, popping of less than maybe four dozen rounds with the G3 and less than a single clip of 9 mm with the P1 handgun, so I never quite got the hang of it. - Ragbert”

Thanks for the email Ragbert. A Hostage situation is a nightmare. Not only do you have the threat of hitting the hostage - most likely in the head - but there is the chance that your shot doesn't actually stop the badguy and the badguy kills the hostage. This is why such a thing should only be done by a professional who knows his weapon, his ammo, and the actual limitations of his skill. Let's take a look at the HEAT situation. The Officer, being a veteran cop and the lead detective takes down the thug who is holding a girl in front of him. The space between the badguy's snotbox and the girl's head leaves a lot of room for the shot... The cop armed with a carbine, knows he has a shot. His carbine is probably powerful enough to deliver a stopping shot. So he takes it. As shown, it's a good shoot. But change the situation, give the cop a shotgun or a pistol... then probably not. The range would be too great for a shotgun to be trustworthy for this shot, and a pistol, even if you have the accuracy, might not have enough power. Then the cop would have to work his way closer. Every situation is different, so you would have to look at every situation on its own merits. I use movies only as an illustration. You don't want to take your tactical ideas from movies... that would be retarded and generally a very bad idea. Especially some movies like “Speed”. Have you seen that? That movie put out the tactical solution of “Shoot the Hostage”. That's just asinine. Movies are entertainment, and so are my “Guns Of” articles, which only examine the choices of weapons the characters are using and if the production chose wisely. Don't take them too seriously, my articles or the movies.

Man, there is so much I want to talk about, but I just flat out don't have the time. I've got to get me another iPaq or Axim so I can write some content on the go.  Remind me to take a photo of my rifle rack.  I've had a lot of questions about it, and I've been meaning to post a photo of it.  Add that to the To Do list.

Early Morning:  Kind of a neat thing I stumbled on. I've mentioned that we have been looking for a good CRM package to help manage things at work. One of the CRM packages we've been looking at and tested out is called Salesforce. We really liked Salesforce, but it was missing a couple things that we really needed for the way we worked and the way we wanted to work. So we had to take a pass on it. After our trial period ended, I got an email from them stating that I can sign up for a free “personal account” version. “Salesforce Light” so to speak. What's cool about it, is that it is all web based and works well with Firefox. Nothing to download and install. If you are a self employed guy or a consultant or just a guy juggling a lot of different things, this might be able to help you. Check it out. I know a lot of The Horde is out there with a lot of stuff on their plates... keeping track of it all can be a challenge. This is a powerful tool that you can use anywhere that you have internet access. Use it with your PDA and everything. Home, work, road. I really like it. The free personal edition has it's limits of course, but it is free. Let me know of you like it.  I know my Dad could really use it. I know Eric at HBE Leatherworks could use it, Rob at Jackash Custom could use it, and damn near every one of my Horde Officers could probably use it too one way or another.

I think I got this Icon thing down, what I asked about the last time I posted. But I'm not happy with the little icon I have. It's just a little .50 Caliber Desert Eagle, but I'm not sure that it really fits. I need something more Ogrish, but I'm out of ideas.

I'm sure some of you have heard about the artillery shell exploding in Pleasant Grove, Utah. Evidently UDOT shot at a mountain... and missed. How you can miss one of the biggest mountains in Utah, I just don't understand. So if you are at a range, and the guy next to you couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat, ask him if he works for UDOT.

The Minuteman Project is going to be taking off here in April. President Fox of Mexico is against it... and so is MS-13. I've tangled with these cats before and they are no joke. They are fully capable of starting some really bad shit. My suggestion to the Minutemen is to bring a couple shovels with them. The desert down there is a pretty wide open expanse of land. If a couple MS-13 guys ended up under some of it... I don't think that would be such a bad thing. You Minutemen guys, I wish you the best of luck. If I could, I'd be down there helping you out. Be very careful. All these MS-13 guys have to do is to start some crap, and you guys will be under extreme scrutiny. Whatever the gang guys do – it will all be your fault. But stay strong because no matter what – you guys are in the right. It's our side of the border you are watching, it's our right to defend it. The threats President Fox has made, and these gangsters have made... if anything else – it should tell our Government that things need to change. Drastically. I would very much like to see the borders tightened up, but Bush is talking about opening them up even more. I'm just wondering about all this... as open as the border is... if Bush isn't concerned about security... why bother with borders at all? Pretty much the rule of thumb for badguys is to just fly into Mexico and Canada and drive into the States. All this talk about airport security... meaningless if the badguys can just walk right in like they can now. Like how the do now. Pretty sad state of affairs. I've got no problem with the people of Mexico, and I've said so. Even when those moronic soccer fans chant “Osama”. You know, these Mexican guys down there can ruffle our feathers, but anyone of them would ride in the back of a cargo truck for a change to get in the USA. Fox too. Screw Mexico. Let's put up a damn DMZ, block it off completely. Tired of the illegal bullcrap and President Fox trying to tell us it isn't illegal. Like hell it isn't. If they were legal, then why not just go through the border check points? If you have to skirt the law, then you are not following the law. Why Bush is such a pushover on this issue, I have no idea. But it is infuriating.

This weekend and where I've been. Friday at 1:00 I had to take off on short notice to a little place called Blackfoot Idaho. I am not going to go into it, but I had to go. I'm not so sure I am glad I went, but I really didn't have much of a choice. I'm a little irked about a few things regarding this, but I'm not going to get into it. Let's just say that it was a very long weekend. The drive up to Blackfoot is a long and boring one. The most interesting things along the way are the Flying J truck stops and how incredibly slow the people that work there are. The house we went to, used to have a large empty field in front of it. I took the new Remington rifle with me so I could plink off the front porch. Well, someone when and built a huge ass house there, right in the way. This made shooting off the porch a less than ideal pastime. I am glad I am back. We got back very late Sunday night just exhausted. Still playing catch up.

I've got a lot to talk about this week, but a lot to do as well. Updates will come as I can post them.

Friday, March 25th, 2005: 1:00PM:  Looks like I have to head straight up to Idaho.  I'll not be able to make it out to SLC this weekend as I had planed.  Sorry guys.  We'll plan something later.

Thursday, March 24th, 2005: Bush is against securing our borders. He is against the Minuteman Project and calls them Vigilantes... calls them criminals with the same word actually. Instead of working to securing the borders, Bush is actually wanting to open them up. I find this to be most counterproductive.

12.7MM Liberty. This should be stamped on barrels and used in conversations when we are referring to a certain large caliber cartridge and the arms that fire them. You see, with the extreme level of ignorance of the General Population and the mega-stupidity of the media, we will phase out the evil and dreaded military caliber “.50 BMG”. Much like some who consider 5.56MM NATO a “High Powered Military Caliber” yet .223 remains a fine sporting cartridge for squirrels. 7.62MM NATO is another evil military caliber, yet good old .308 remains a sporting cartridge for hunters to bag deer with. I suggest that 12.7MM Browning as a sporting cartridge for North American Big Game and for marksmanship competitions. I would very much be interested in a Barrett rifle chambered for 12.7MM Liberty. I suggest ammo makers and those that reload this cartridge do so with new packaging. Brightly colored Red White and Blue packaging with the image of Moose, Elk, or big Brown Bears... maybe with some hints at Alaskan adventures on the packages. There has been talk in the past of a different cartridge altogether, perhaps one that is a bit shorter... but I do not think this is necessary. Just a simple renaming will do just fine in today's popular America and will go far enough in pulling the wool over the Media's eyes.

Looks like my AR-15/M-16 article is up on the radar over at Pirate 4X4. Oh hell... more hatemail will be coming up shortly! Yeah, I guess it's about time. About every 2 months someone “discovers” it and posts it on some big forum and then the emails start flying. I just have to laugh.

There is a new version of Linspire out now. Linspire 5-0. If anyone has an ISO of this, I'd love a copy. Hint Hint Hint. The download I put out how to get for free... that trick doesn't work for this new version.

Another question... In Mozilla, the book marks here on my sidebar... some have cool little icons and others don't. I want a cool little icon for MadOgre.com. How the heck do I make one? Okay, speaking of Mozilla, you guys need to head over to Mozilla.org and download Firefox verison 1.0.2. This is pretty much just an patched up version of Firefox that is closing up some potential security holes. (before they have been exploited)

The AnarchAngel needs to sell off a couple guns and things. Head over there right now and take a look. That 686 snubby would make for an outstanding carry gun. If I had the funds, I'd be all over it. Hurry up and buy it, our man needs to make rent in a few days. If you want, you can buy that 686, send it to me, I'll do an article about it and send it back to you. He needs to make rent, and I need article content! Right now I'm working on one about the Springfield Ultra Compact... a gun I would very much like to love. Think of it as Angelina Jolie with sewer breath and shockingly serious body funk. Tends to ruin the appeal. (I might have to put that in the article) I took out the little Springfield earlier today... Still jamming up after a detailed cleaning and lubing. I'll be getting back into it tomorrow. I have a spring I'll swap and see if that makes a difference. I've not been able to get over to my gunsmith this week... But looking at it, it seems fine. Why it's doing this, I have no idea. The extractor looks fine and feels like it has proper tension and everything. Might be the mags.

I took the Remington 597 out earlier this evening and busted out 10 fast shots. Well, make that 4 fast, one stoppage drill, and then 6 more fast ones. I downloaded the owners manual PDF off Remingtons web site (Its so cool that they put these up there – all gun makers should be doing this, but they don't) and will be getting into the internal workings of this thing later tonight.

I got an email in support for the death of Terri Schiavo. Most of the argument stems from the fact that this case has dragged on for 15 years. That is true. But what is also true, is that for these 15 years this lady was basically denied anything that would help her. She was denied therapy that could have helped her. She was denied visitors. She was denied damn near anything and everything that this “husband” could deny. He has a stake in Terri's death. He wants her dead, he wants her gone. And his story about this changed overnight. This is all very sketchy. While Terri will die, I am confused about the law in question. The legal argument was regarding the feeding tube being removed and the desire to have the tube reinserted. Okay, that's one thing. But how come her mother is barred from giving her daughter a drink of water? How come people have been arrested for trying to give Terri a drink of water? What does that have to do with a feeding tube? There is a great deal of cruelty being done, just because Terry can not verbalize clearly. There is a stray cat that comes around my house... If I was to starve it to death, I would be arrested. Yet it is just fine to do this to a human being in Florida because there is a number of people there who wants this woman dead. This is beyond pathetic. This is outrageous. There may be no justice for Terri in this life, but there will be in the next, and more than one person will be held accountable. “If you do it unto the least of these, ye have done it unto me.” This woman has been abused for the last 15 years, worse than any animal would have to endure. That alone deserves investigation. Ann Coulter has a good take on this one.

HBO is going to make a movie about Radio Air America and all it's problems. Let me guess, Al Franken is going to be shown as a brave and misunderstood hero of the Freedom of Speech, fighting a hopeless battle and would be successful if people just listened to him. You know, they wouldn't have a problem selling their product if there was anyone out there who wanted to buy it. I wonder how many people are not even going to watch this movie. Not having heard Al Franken's take on Terri, I can only wonder what that might be.

Regarding Brutus. I had to put the top back on Brutus tonight. As I finished tightening the last bolt, it started raining hard, and then snowing. (looking out the window, it's back to snowing) I wish it would clear the hell up. I'll be running out to SLC tomorrow and it would be nice if I could do it 200 pounds of topper lighter. It would be nice if I just had a soft top for it. But MAN are they expensive! For the good ones at least. Spendy but worth it. Anyways. Yes, tomorrow I'm heading out to SLC. I'll call you SLC guys when I get out there. I will be there the whole weekend. Anyone in SLC that wants to hook up, send me an email pronto so we can make plans. Gotta swing by Correia and Pvt Pyle's too... maybe we can all go get some buffet or something like that, what do you think Steve? Carl, can you make it down? I wont be heading that far (Ogden) north. Last weekend was a fast and sudden trip with no time to mix it up, which was unfortunate. So lets have some fun!

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2005: Thank you to all those who have expressed sympathy regarding my grandfather. But do not worry. We are not saddened. We are proud of him. He is 80 years old and has lived a good life. He is the example of the phrase “The Greatest Generation”. He has served his country during WWII in the Army over in Europe. He served his Community, helping run the newspaper in Roanoke. He has served his Faith by serving missions for the LDS Church which he is a member, faithful to this day. And he has served the greater good of mankind as a leader, him and his wife, in the Red Cross, having spent the last umpteen years going out to disaster locations and directing aid services. It was my honor to attend an recognition banquet in his and my grandmother's honor for his service in the Red Cross. He is one of my heroes, and I would be so lucky as to have lived so well a life. Death is another phase of life, and he is not afraid of it. His place in heaven is assured, and well deserved. But he is not gone yet.  We only pray that he maintains his comfort and dignity.

While talking to him, he told me several stories. One of which will touch all of us shooters. He had found 2 prime examples of the Mauser 98K which he wanted to send home. Unfortunately they were too long to shop. Not wanting to damage anything metal, he cut 2 inches off the buttstocks, thinking that he could just get new stocks. As he was packing them up, he came across two prime examples of the Walther P-38 he got off a German officer. These pistols were deeply polished to a high gleam, blued to perfection... and oddly enough, sporting mother of pearl grips. These pistols were carefully wrapped up and placed in the package and shipped back home. Unfortunately the contents of this wonderful package never made it home. The package was evidently “lost in the mail”. Uh huh. More like some asshole shipping clerk found himself a nice collection to take home. The rifles are one thing, but this odd pair of Walthers, I would love to recover for him some day. So if anyone comes across a matched pair of polished P-38's with Mother of Pearl grips... as Paul Harvey says, you now know the rest of the story.

I was just thinking that Mass Murderers and Rabid Pit Bulls at least get the grace of a Lethal Injection. An innocent woman should at least rate the same dignity of a clean death if she is to die. This is the most inhumane bullshit I have ever heard. Some of the Blogosphere say that while they are disgusted in this case, the Government shouldn't have the right to step in. I disagree. They have every right and they should step in. Most of The Horde has served in the Military and has sworn an oath to defend America from enemies foreign and Domestic. I submit to my readers that this woman is a part of that America and her constitutional rights are being violated, chiefly the right to life and due process. There is a great deal of questions regarding the husband who seems more than eager to see his wife die... actions he has made and comments he has made. This deserves to be looked into. Especially since he is the only one to say he has heard her say she wanted to die, and everyone else disagrees. She deserves the benefit of protection by the government. If not, what else is it for?
The Liberals illustrate daily that they are far more bloodthirsty than any Republican War Hawk. The major difference being that the War Hawk wants to kill the enemies of our nation (and rightly so!) while the Liberal wants to see the deaths of innocents either under Saddam, or here within the USA. I think all of us who have taken the Oath (which never expires by the way regardless of your status in service) should make careful note about our definitions of Domestic Enemies.

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2005: As I promised, some photos.  These images were taken moments after firing the groups.  The range was almost 10 yards I think.  Something like that:

As you can see, the Springfield Ultra Compact doesn't have a shot group, and instead of an empty magazine, you see the rounds that would have been fired.  This was a great disappointment to Steve and I.  More so to Steve, who has carried the gun has his CCW until he got the little XD.  I had another image, of the big HK USP, but the photo didn't turn out.  Odd for digital isn't it?  The image looked like it was on a glass plate, and the plate broke into pieces.  Very weird.   Our apologies to Colorado State.  We have nothing against them.  BYU was giving these out to promote the football game, and they make perfect targets.  If you want a full sized high rez image, just send me an email about it. 

Here is the HK SMG rocking and rolling.  Very nice.  Check out all the brass in the air.  This cat ripped off the whole mag full and did a pretty good job keeping the group minute of torso. 

Regarding Microlon: This came in from our man at Microlon: “As regards the Microlon engine treatment, your question now is "how long will this last?" and the answer is "forever". The only ways to now removes the Microlon resin from the engine's metal surfaces are: heat the metal to about 725 deg F, or machine beyond the depth at which the resin has imbedded itself into the metal. Failing these two extreme measures, the resin can NOT be removed. The only thing Microlon actually does is reduce friction (dramatically) at metal-to-metal contact points. Everything else that happens is nothing more than a side-effect. Turns out the side-effects are very beneficial ones. Engines run cooler and quieter (low friction); they run more efficiently (improved gas mileage and lower oil use, and far less emissions). The liquid components of Microlon clean rust, scale, sludge, varnish and carbon deposits from your engine. The resin prevents these things from recurring. Which is why you want to keep an eye on your oil filter, all that crap has to go somewhere, and the filter is the only place it can go. So, for as long as you have the Bronco, you'll continue to see these benefits. And we guarantee it, in writing, for 3 years.”

Sounds pretty damn good to me. I'll probably swap out the filter again in a few weeks just to be on the safe side.

Take everything you know about physics, gravity, aerodynamics, and inertia... and forget them for just a moment.  I want one of these little planes.  No other plane short of an OV-10 Bronco will do for me now, but an OV-10 can't do this stuff.  Wow!  Link goes to the American Backyard discussion, just follow the link in the first post, save it to your computer, and once downloaded, prepare to be stunned.

Monday, March 21st, 2005: Evening: A brief explanation of my absence. This weekend I went out to SLC, I left suddenly and didn't even pack an overnight bag. I had to visit my grandfather who is a patient at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. I went out Saturday and once I got into the area, I didn't have the guts to go visit. I was nervous about what I would find... so I put it off a bit... I stayed overnight with my good friend Steve. We did a little shooting at RangeMasters and went to catch “THE RING 2”. In the morning I went to the Huntsman Center and found Papa. When I first walked in his room, I didn't recognize him at all. He was sleeping... but he was much thinner than the last time I saw him, all his hair was gone, and he was as pale as a ghost. I stepped back out of the room and pulled his chart which was by his door. I had to check the name to verify that this was indeed my grandfather. A nurse was a little upset that I was looking at these medical records and she tried to take it away from me. I nailed her with a full power glower and she back off with the grabbing. She said “That's for George Hill.” And I said “I'm George Hill, so get lost.” She nodded and went about her business. I was done with it anyways... so after she left I put it back. I heard my Grandfather waking up and could hear the bed raise up into a sitting position. Then TV came on. So I knocked and went back in. He recognized me on the instant, and for this I was glad. We talked from 9AM until 1:30PM when some aunts and an uncle came in and started clucking over him like a bunch of fussy hens. Our visit was a good one. Papa is doing well and is in no pain. His spirits are up and he is being very well cared for by the staff there. I've never been more impressed with a medical center. Never. If you get cancer – that is the only place to go. Papa's window view was nothing short of spectacular. Hopefully Papa will be able to go home soon, as soon as his blood count comes back up. He will have a nurse come visit him daily. Personally, I'd rather have stayed there at the Huntsman Center. The food was good there. The Coconut Cream Pie there was the best I've ever tasted. Papa might have 6 months left... or 6 years... So his condition is much better than I thought. I was most worried about his comfort and dignity, but these are the two priorities there at Huntsman. Whatever the patient needs. I am very grateful.

Shooting at Rangemasters was good. They took out the interactive shooting range and replaced it with steel plate poppers. I like this arrangement much better. But I would have liked it a lot more if they had angled the front plates a bit better. Or at all. Splash back was clearly evident... Steve was nailed in the cheek with a stinger, and I caught one on my lip. Ouch! Nothing better than flying metal shards! I took some photos that I will have to resize and post... I'll do that shortly. Give me some time on this. I took more than a few pictures... one shot of some cat rocking and rolling with an HK UMP .45 caliber SMG. Photo shows 5 empty cases in the air... it's pretty sweet. We had our own fun... Steve picked up a new Remington 1100 from a friend of Larry's which has been modified for serious 3 Gun competition. Very nice. A sweet shooting. I busted out 10 shots of full power slugs and it was quite tame. Not bad at all. And the 1100 was putting them right about where I wanted. Let's just say that you wouldn't wanted to have been the paper target there. With the steel poppers we laid out all our handguns with loaded mags on the bench... punched up a preprogramed pop up pattern (say that ten times fast) and went to work on a fast 50 round string. I ran it, then we reloaded and Steve ran it. Steve, you could tell, has done this before. The gun of choice for this work for him was the HK USP Match .45, with his little compact XD pulling up in second place. We had a Glock 19, but neither of us liked that rear sight. I did well with the HK, the XD, and of course my P-01. The pistol that was most disappointed with the Springfield Ultra Compact. This is a stainless 1911 Officer's ACP with night sights and hogue grips. Oh, it was comfy to shoot, and very accurate as well... but the thing could hardly fire 2 rounds in a row. I tried to take photos of Steve shooting it, but only caught 6 different shots of him clearing stoppages. I'll post up some photos later... Actually, I think this would make for a good magazine article. I am not sure what was causing these failures... Be it ammo or the gun... but all the jams were failures to extract so I'm fearful that it was all gun related. Either the extractor isn't right something else. Steve let me take it home with me to get sorted out. Once home I stripped it down and gave it a detailed cleaning using Hoppe's Elite Cleaner and Microlon to slick it back up. It feels better, but I'll have to take it out with a box of Factory Fodder to see if it was just gummed up too bad or what. At this point, I'm just not sure. If it's still jamming I'll have my gunsmith take a quick looksee and then I'll call Springfield if I have to.

Steve had another gun, this he gave me... God Bless him! A Remington 597 in .22LR. This is a semi auto that I was wanting to pick up last week but put off. Steve confessed to firearm neglect, having kept the rifle in his trunk for some time. The barrel had developed a case corrosion and it was looking ugly, but not too bad. I attacked it with a scrub brush and CorrosionX, and after awhile I had it looking right again. There is still some evidence that the rust was there, but that's it. We are looking forward to function testing out in the field... I say “we” as in my oldest son is looking forward to it big time. I don't think he will let me take it out without him. In fact, he said, “Tell him I said thanks for my new rifle!” The rifle rode back in the Bronco mounted in the roof rack that I put in earlier last week. First rifle to ride in it.

Speaking of the ride... It was quite the trip. Before I headed out, I treated the Bronco to the Microlon Engine Treatment. The stuff, so far, works as advertised. I poured the treatment in, and started driving. (I also poured in the little can that goes into the fuel tank when I topped it off before I left town) The first half hour I didn't notice any difference. But after that, I noticed that the engine was slowly getting smoother and smoother. About 45 minutes later the effect seemed to have peaked and I noticed that I wasn't as deep into the gas pedal to keep my cruise speed. That and instead of cruising at 65, Brutus wanted to cruise as 70. This is pretty damn cool. But the biggest question I had was gas mileage. My gas gage doesn't work, so I top off the tank every 200 miles. I keep track of my mileage and the number of gallons I put in every time. My truck has been doing between 11.3 and 11.5 MPG before the treatment. Last trip out to SLC, I got 12 MPG. So those were the marks. This trip out... Topped off in Vernal, and again in SLC... I got 14.1 MPG this trip out. I didn't think that was possible. But I'm telling you, seriously, 14.1. Color me impressed. But this is just the start. The question is how long does this effect last. I'll be keeping track of it. Two Miles Per Gallon might not seem a lot, but that's a pretty big improvement. Especially for an old 351 Winsor. I would like to see what this stuff could do for a smaller engine. A higher compression engine. When I get my motorcycle, I'm going to order some Microlon for it.

Mrs. Ogre could probably use some in her new minivan, but I'm not even going to kick the tires on that damn thing. She picked it out, financed it, the whole nine yards without my knowledge. She told me the night before she picked it up. “Why are you even bothering to tell me about it at all?” “Well, I want you to be part of the process.” “What process part would that be?” I'm not pleased about this. Not one bit. Anyways, so my Cherokee is now officially retired. She even took it off our insurance. I love that old Jeep. I don't know what I'm going to do with it yet. Maybe trade it for some guns. Maybe turn it into a dedicated trail rig. I don't know. We have that other Cherokee, with decent seats and a Chevy V-6 (It's tranny is dead) that I could use for parts and build the silver one up into a workable, streetable driver and just sell it. I don't know.

The upside for her getting this van is that when I can, I can finance a bike instead of paying cash for a used one I can afford to buy outright. We shall see. We shall see... I'll be able to get the bike I really want instead of one I settle for. So while I'm ticked, I'm not as ticked as I could be.

Where was I? Ah, the trip. There was a downside to the trip. You see, I still have the top off my Bronco... last couple weeks the weather has been great. It was awesome here Saturday. But as I pulled into SLC, so did a bad weather cycle. Rain. Snow. More rain. The back of my rig was packed in snow and the rear seat was soaked. When I hit the breaks water would swoosh up under the front seats. I carry a short little broom in the back of my rig... well, it's a full sized kitchen broom that I busted over my knee. So I can sweep about my rig from time to time, you know, keep it clean and all. It came in handy. Swept out the snow and the water... so it wasn't that bad either. But the rear seat was still soaked though. I'll have to let the sun dry that out. So other than cold and wet, it wasn't all that bad. I've had worse trips... try doing the snowy raining thing on a bike. Some of The Horde and I have done that, and I think we can all agree a topless Bronco is a huge improvement. My heater was able to create a pocket of warmth in the cab area that was enough to keep the hypothermia off. By the time I got back towards Roosevelt the weather cleared up, and this morning the sky was clear and I was wearing short sleeves. Utah weather... gotta love it. (if you don't it will just drive you bonkers)

Regarding the Horde Scout Rifle. I have received tons of feedback on this. Lot's of good suggestions on alternative rifles. One suggestion, repeated numerous times, has really caught my attention. It's an Enfield Jungle Carbine modified to accept AK mags (The short ones work best) and chambered in 7.62X39MM. This is an excellent idea. The Enfield is one of the better battle rifles out there, and can still be found on the cheap. Just Saturday I was looking at a very nice example for under $200. Getting it converted to AK feeding would be something else, but it's a start. AK-Enfields can be had from a couple different sources such as here. I'd rather keep the wood stock for looks, but the synth one would do nicely as well. Really a Scout rifle is a personal matter. What is light and handy and in an easily accessible caliber for one guy might be different for another guy living 300 miles away. Whatever works for you, use it, and Cooper's Steyr be damned. Unless you like the Steyr, then hey, more power to you.

Well, it's late, and I'm pretty tired. I'll work on those photos tomorrow. I've got a lot that I want to talk about... Such as how I want to department of justice to raid a certain hospital to save a certain woman from starving to death just because she can't speak because some assholes want her to die and have flipped off the Federal Government over this. Why do the Liberals want her to die so bad? I mean, hell, they flip out over civil rights, when some Private in Iraq put some underwear on a prisoners head... but in this case, they want this woman to die of starvation and dehydration. What about her civil rights? What about “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”? Isn't “Life” the first one listed? Where is the ACLU in this? The Liberals are consistently on the wrong side of every issue. It's sickening. And in this case, it's murderous. Just because she can't talk... New born babies can't talk either, I guess that's why they feel they can kill them too. I'd be feeling awfully nervous if I was deaf here in America. “Oh, he can't talk! Might as well chain his ass to a bed and starve him to death!” If this lady was a poodle, all the Liberals would be throwing Molotov Cocktails and rocks down there... Why do Liberals hate America and human life so much?

Wednesday, March 16th, 2005:  I've been challenged to create The Horde's Ultimate Scout Rifle. The requirements of this Scout Rifle include a caliber that lends its self to plinking fun while that the same time providing enough power for serious work should it be called upon. By serious I'm guessing that would have to mean able to drop a deer or goblin at intermediate ranges. Plinking fun, I'm taking as meaning “Cheap”. .308 while plenty powerful, isn't exactly cheap. Sure, it's not bad if you buy surplus, but it's still more expensive than what I'd consider for plinking. So how about the “.308 Short”? I'm talking about 7.62X39MM. That seems to fit the bill. You can get it cheap, and it's powerful enough. Once this is selected as the caliber, really the rest of the package falls into place. The CZ-527 Carbine. The rifle comes in with iron sights, gorgeous wood, 5 round detachable mags, and it's only 6 pounds. Not bad. Synthetic stocks could make it lighter, but really that's about right. At 6 pounds, this rifle wouldn't hardly buck at all. With cheap ammo, even a guy like me with a blown up shoulder could shoot it all day long. While most cheap 7.62X39MM ammo out there is MiSurp FMJ's you can buy other rounds for it or you could reload it with a bunch of different bullet types. With detachable mags, you can keep a couple mags of your “Good Stuff” separate and have fun shooting up the military rounds at bottles, cans, paper, old cars, whatever you like... then you are ready to go with your hunter ammo with a simple mag change. And you can't say 7.62X39MM is weak and would make for a poor deer gun. It's plenty powerful enough. With the right bullet's it would do just fine. After all, everyone says .30-30 is the ballistic equivalent of this round, right? And .30-30 is generally consider “The Deer Round”. Right? Well, there you go. So what would I do to it to make it Scoutish? Really you don't have to do anything to it other than add a sling so you can carry it... the Scouts main duty. Top it with a pistol scope? Yeah, you could do that, and it wouldn't look too bad with one either. Well, there you go. “The Horde Scout”.

More than a few emails regarding the link to the Drudge Report. Officers of The Horde have informed me that they use MadOgre.com/News as their home page because of my most excellent list of links. It seems that they are fans of Drudge regardless of my opinion of his pop-up advertising. Very well. As the Horde's Leader, I am also the Horde's servant. A link to Drudge has been remade. Also note, right near the link to Ann Coulter, a lady who is most deserving of every link she can get. She's every bit as smart as she is hot. I've linked to a couple of her articles in the past, but that's not good enough. She's a daily read.

How the hell does Robert Blake get off? You've got to be kidding me. That's crazy. But hey, that's the American Justice System. Not Guilty means not guilty. Just don't go out to dinner with this guy.

I find it very interesting that on the very same day that the Senate gives the green light to drilling for oil in ANWR... that OPEC decides to just all the sudden bump production by 500,000 barrels. OPEC doesn't want the US to get our own oil, they want to sell it to us. But if we have to keep buying it, then we have to keep ourselves involved in middle eastern affairs. This is what they want... The USA buying oil means A. Profit and B. Stability... meaning for future profit. Never mind that they gouge the crap out of us. 56 bucks a bucket. That's insane. Okay Nanook, fire up the pumps! Flood the market with cheap oil. Bring those oil prices down! Oil prices have a direct impact on the price of everything, because everything needs oil. If oil is not in it, then oil was used to make it, and oil was used to transport it to market. Oil goes up, the cost of everything goes up, and with everything more expensive that means fewer items are being purchased, and that means the economy starts slowing down. Cheap oil, more oil, the economy is well lubricated. And China wont be able to buy huge amounts of the ANWR oil either. What? China? What does China have to do with oil? China is buying up oil like crazy. They are filling their strategic reserves. What are those used for? For war. China is getting ready for WAR. And we are feeling the effect of it. And the US Media is just blithely and blissfully ignoring this. Well, they can play dumb all they want. But when Chinese tanks start rolling and one of our carriers starts sinking... the media will just say that it was our fault. And what is our government doing? Well, they are on it. No overt actions, but they are quietly getting all the chess pieces into place. I don't think we are going to take much shit from China, and we are certainly not going to let them take Taiwan. Horde Commander Chase points out why:

“What really worries me most about China is it's proximity to Japan. Japan is a driving force among the worlds free market economies, and I often wonder if Taiwan would be a dress rehersal for Japan the way Spain was for Eastern Europe in WW II. While Taiwan is an economic powerhouse, Japan is without doubt the economic crown jewel of Asia. If China could take it and assimilate Japans economy and technology into their already rapidly advancing (Thanks Slick Willie!) technology, our problem is going to magnify horribly. Add in a dash of expected appeasement from the free world leaders over Taiwan and we de facto give China a green light for Japan. It's time for the JSDF to become a regular standing military once again I think. Let me know what you think. Chase”

I think you are in step, Commander. Well done.

Ah, I see our government is also starting to take our Southern Boarder more seriously. This is good. This is very good. But it's only a start. Until military units start pulling guard duty shifts down there, I wont be happy.

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