Jan 31st, Saturday, 2004: Noonish:  Two emails have come in that illustrate two points of view.  "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" sucked.  I went to sleep.  Just like I did in "Tomb Raider 2".  Yeah, they both had extremely hot babes, but they sucked.  At least "Tomb Raider" was entertaining, as was "Desperado - John"    And then: “After reading mad ogre and seeing as how you bought "once upon a time in Mexico", we figured we should see it.  So we rented it.  It was definitely one of the best comic book action flicks.  Depp's CIA character was the best part in my opinion.  One of the problems was that every gun had those stupid silencers, including the revolvers.  The Mexican army was exceedingly unrealistic too.  oh well, nothings perfect.  Definitely a sweet movie! - Josh”   This is one of those flicks you have to see and decide for yourself.   Just go in with low expectations, knowing that it’s a cheesy action flick, and you wont be disappointed.     And John, if you fell asleep, you missed the other hot brunette police babe… You might have to go see it again.

Another email came in… last night.  This one made me stop and think:  “I am writing to tell you that you have changed my life.   For the last ten years I abhorred guns of any type. This, in part is because my brother committed suicide. I believed all that the media told me. That all gun deaths are the fault of the guns, and that gun owners were irresponsible, ignorant Neanderthals.   You changed that.   Thank you.  Today I went and bought the first gun I have ever owned in my life. Sure I shot as a kid. My father took me to the old strip mine outside of town and we would spend the day shooting with his buddies and my uncles. I liked it just for the fun and the camaraderie. My grandfather even took my cousin and myself deer hunting once.  But I get away from the reason for this letter. That is to tell you that not only have you changed me for the better, but that in addition to that, you have helped me down the road to reconciling the death of my brother.  Now on to the weapon itself. Simple.  A Mossberg model 88 12 gauge. This is an important fact to me since it was a Mossberg 12 gauge that he took his own life with.  I now understand that guns are not the savage killers that the mass media wants us to believe. Personally I think that gun education is an important thing. It is just easier for the media to blame the object rather than a persons ignorance for a gun death.  Oh well, sorry for rambling. If you got this far, Thank you again.  – Frank”   To be honest, I don’t know how to answer this one… Thank you for the email… You have had a lot to deal with and overcome.  I couldn’t imagine that situation in my family.   I don’t even want to try.   Don’t be disappointed if you see me dragging my knuckles once in awhile… I reserve that right.  Besides, it beats skipping.

This morning I received the disappointing news.   One of our very own Horde Officers has decided to buy… hold on… have to wipe something out of my eye… I hesitate to say this… I blame myself… He is going to buy an AR.  I know… I know.  If he lived closer, we would have to hold an intervention for him or something.  Hey, if he wants to buy an AR, it’s his choice.  This also means the Horde might have to adopt a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.    Actually as far as AR’s go, that one has a pretty good configuration.   If I was to buy an AR myself (and didn’t mind all that wasted time spent cleaning it and recleaning it) I would get one in a similar configuration, but I’d opt for a light profile barrel.  The one he is getting is the M-4 barrel, which is a heavy barrel that has a step down for an M-203 attachment.  That’s cool and all… but I don’t want an M-203.  I’d rather have the light weight.  To me, that was the point of the AR… Actually, if I was to get one… what I would really like is my old CAR-15 back, dammit.

Another email:  “Hey Ogre, Looks like you had a wild couple days. I figured I'd throw you one more for the reading if you are bored out of your skull now. I was working late one night and googled up "shotgun vs rifle"  What would you use if you were hunting Bigfoot?  Got some real crazies on this one. Heh, I might be the biggest...totally stupid but might be more entertaining than the SciFi Channel.  Later,  Bryan”   Who do I look like, Doctor Van Helsing?  *sigh*  I’d roll with a Marlin Guide Gun in .45-70.  Fast handling with a good combination of accuracy and size... and it's got enough horsepower to blow a hole right through those wookies.   Backing this up would be a .44 or .41 mag Mountain Gun.  Going a bit more high tech - perhaps a Remington 7400 and a 1911 set up for .45 Super.   Upside - there is no hunting limits on Sasquatch... Bag all you can tag.  Downside - they are hard to find and tent to rescue wounded and recover dead... so tag'm and bag'm quickly, take lots of photos and video, drive the corps to a truckstop or someplace and contact the media quickly.   But what are you doing looking up Bigfoot stuff?  You would have to be like, totally nuts to be doing that.  What’s far more interesting is the old abandoned CIA airfields scattered about.   Besides… that’s where the Bigfoots are. 

Speaking of Van Helsing… Doctor Van Helsing is the character from Bram Stoker’s Dracula.  He is not a freaking action hero… He is a man of Science and Psychology and Medicine… He is not fucking WOLVERINE.   This new movie coming out is total bullshit.   If you want to see Van Helsing in action, rent Dracula directed by Francis Ford Coppola.  Van Helsing is played by Anthony Hopkins and this is perhaps the best version of the character ever played.  Dracula is also well played by one of my favorite actors, Gary Oldman… and again, this is perhaps the best version ever played by anyone.  Also in it is a Pre-Speed/Matrix Keanu Reeves and a Pre-Theft Conviction Winona Ryder… and both do a good job in this flick, surprisingly.  Another upshot is that the goddess Monica Bellucci plays a very sexy, weird and disturbing part... and she shows her magnificent boobies!  Yee-Haw!  Hey, I need to buy that DVD.  This new Van Helsing flick is just looking retarded as all get out.  I’m actually offended by this outrageous remake of one of my favorite literary characters.

While we are talking about movies and stuff… I gotta mention that I just found out that my wife does know who Ming the Merciless is.  She has never seen Flash Gordon before.  *shock* This is insane… Not knowing who Flash Freaking Gordon is?!?!?  I’m going to be renting it for her as soon as I can.  If you have not seen it – I really think you should.  Get the one made in the 80’s with music by “Queen”.  It’s a little campy, but it’s very cool.  In the day, it was staggering.  And it has some of the coolest music ever in any scifi… well, next to Toto who played some music for “Dune” and by the way, I have decided that the old version with Sting is the best version… but you gotta watch the extended version.   I want that on DVD.   

Jan 30th, Friday (thank heavens), 2004:  1300hrs:  The Springfield XD series - always, and I mean more consistently than the tides, gets kudos for things like the ergonomics and the trigger and all that… but always gets knocked for its finish.  The XD’s finish is a good looking flat black finish that is smooth and even… but it is less durable than other gun finishes…  Holster wear shows up quickly and some say it isn’t up to snuff when it comes to corrosion resistance.   I do have to agree that the finish could be better… but it’s not the worst finish I’ve seen one some guns of late.  EAA’s Wonderfinish has got be one of the worst.  Well, it’s good in that it’s pretty tough and protective… unless it peels off in huge flakes or is way too thick and uneven.  It’s the handgun equivalent of an Earl Scheib paintjob on your car.  To solve the XD’s finish problem, there are three solutions.  Solution 1:  Just buy your XD with a Stainless Steel slide… since the slide is stainless, and the frame is polymer… you have no finish worries at all.  Your done.  Buh-bye.  Solution 2:  Just wipe the gun down with a light coat of oil every once in awhile… this has been the habit of all gun owners pretty much since the advent of the gun.  Some of these new modern ultra-awesome finishes has made us very lazy and somewhat stupid I guess.   Solution 3:  Refinish the gun.  Nowhere does it say that you have to live with a gun’s finish.   You can send your slide off to be finished professionally with more finish options than you can imagine.  From poly-coatings to chromes to titanium… anything you want.  For just a slide… your looking at about a hundred bucks for most anything.  NP3, Black T, Roguard, Metacol III, parker… take your pick.  Or you can do it yourself.  Brownells can hook you up with a number of refinishing kits.   I’d love to see someone scrub the old finish off an XD, polish it like a mirror, and then blue it.  That would be awesome.  Of course, with a blued finish, you will still get holster wear and you will still have to stroke it with a light coat of oil once in awhile.

There is a shooting trend that has developed that I find almost disgusting.   Handgun makers, S&W and Taurus especially, are making handguns way too light these days.  Guns that used to weight almost 25 ounces are now closer to just 10.  Even in smaller caliber guns like the little .38s and the 9MMs… they weigh nothing these days.   A gun’s weight adds to the guns shootability.  This is not something that is understood by this whole new generation of shooters who start out with a Scandium made gun or something.   Because these super light guns are less shootable, the owners don’t shoot them as much.  And because they are so light that they become overly snappy in recoil, these new shooters are developing really really bad habits, bad flinching, bad anticipation… it’s really quite pathetic.  They put a target out to 7 feet, blast at it, and are all shits and giggles when they manage to even get one shot into the black of a B-27 standard target.   Shot-groups that range all across the target from top to bottom and everywhere else... no rhyme or reason… You can’t look at the target and say “Looks like your jerking the trigger” because there is no consistency to it.   They might as well be closing their eyes.  Do they know what the sights on the gun are for?  These people go to the range, fire off only one or two magazines or cylinders… because they can’t fire anymore thanks to numb hands from stout loads in featherweight guns… and they call it good.    These shooters need help.  New shooters need to be taught… guided… like an apprentice Jedi or something.  If you are a new shooter – Please do not be so arrogant as to not heed the advice of more experienced shooters.   Do not be afraid to ask for advice either.  If you don’t want to ask that stern looking fellow shooting at the other end of the range – fine… Go ask the range officer or someone else.  They should be more than happy to help you.   Shooting is not just blasting away.  Shooting is more than a sport.  Shooting is a form of Art.   Shooting is also something to be enjoyed.  If you are not having fun shooting, then something is wrong… wrong gun, wrong ammo, wrong stance or grip… something is wrong.  An experienced shooter can help you fix it, and you can start having fun with it.  Just like Golf… I mean hell, you got even more magazines about Golf than you do about guns… more instructional videos out there… more Golf ranges and courses than for guns… Lots of dedication to that sport.  Yet the same guy that is all devoted to Golf, will only give like 20 minutes to actual shooting once every few months at best.   Shame.

Chuck Taylor, self proclaimed Combat Master and firearms expert.  I’m not his biggest fan.  No… In fact, I think him to be a blowhard hack.  I picked up a gunrag the other day and started reading one the articles… It was full of shit… then I noticed the byline and had to shrug.  Chucky T… figures.  He said “The truth is that stopping power is based upon the effect of shock upon the target’s central nervous system.”  Sorry Chucky, but your wrong.  That is only a part of it, one aspect.  Stopping power is a much more complicated subject than that.  Chuck went on to discuss the matters of “Energy Transfer” and all that bullshit.  He says “The debate about stopping power never ends…”   No, there is no debate about stopping power… it’s idiots like you, Chucky, that keep writing gun articles about it that are full of misinformation that serves only to confuse, confound, sell someone’s new magic wonder-bullets, and make you a paycheck.   If you want to read about stopping power, and what a bullet does to the human body, I’ve already written something about that.  I’m not an expert, but I’ve some experience in the subject, and I have talked so doctors who could be said to be actual experts in the matter.  The article about Magic Bullets in the weapons section covers all this.  I think Chuck Taylor needs to read it.  I don’t know who made this guy an authority on firearms… I was at one of his classes a long time ago… before I even knew who he was.  The cat did a remarkable combat draw with spontaneous magazine ejection and fumble.  It was great… once of the funniest things I’ve ever seen… In one smooth move he drew the gun and ejected the mag at the same time almost fumbling the gun… resulting in the mag being flung about six feet out in front of him.   I couldn’t do that if I tried.   It was like a Martin Short thing.  I was not impressed by the man, who strutted about in a semi-para-military outfit that looked like it was a size or two too small.  I thought him a clown.  I’ve taken classes from some other guys, some more or less arrogant, some funny, some scary… but none I considered a clown.   I’ve got another little thing for you… Since after reading that Magic Bullet article, you might be confused about which load to buy to stuff into your gun.  I’ve got a little too for you.  I designed it to be as simple as possible… a quick method to compare ammunition to figure which load might be better.  I call it the “Defensive Power Factor” and it’s blatantly based upon the IPSC’s Power Factor rating system.    Chucky T has another thing that is sort of like mine, but he adds all sorts of bullshit to it that makes it totally unusable… The DPF cuts through the bullshit and gives you a tool you can actually make use of.  If you see an article written by Chuck Taylor… just skip it.  You are better off not reading it. 

1030hrs:  New Blog that looks like an up and comer… he’s just started… but he’s coming out of the gate strong with sharp opinions.  We will keep an eye on this one.  Have I mentioned this one before?  Not sure if I have.  Don’t remember. SGT Pundit.  Good domain name… has lots of potential.   I’m down with the dentist thing.  I had a dental cleaning like two years ago.  My first ever in my life.  It took two hours.  It was torture.  I never flinched or winced… and this pissed them off… but I did break out in a cold sweat after the first 30 minutes and this gave them some degree of a feeling of success and prompted them to try even harder...  They were trying to break me.  They said they would do this in two visits… but they kept going and going, doing it all at once... seeing if they could get me to break.  I didn’t give them the satisfaction.  Fuck them.  I’ve not gone back… I don’t want to go back.  I’m armed and if they come for me, I’m fighting back.  My choppers might not be Bleached Pearl White, but they are in good shape thanks to a sadistic brushing regiment.   This is what pissed them off even more… after the cleaning, they could find nothing wrong.  Oh, they hated me for that.  They were all set for root canals and all sorts of wickedness.  Fuckem.

Check this out, from Boots&Sabers.  Cockpit footage of the F-16 ejection from last year.  WHOA!  There goes a quick 20 million bucks.  Did you see how close that guy came?  That ejection was only .8 of a second before the jet slammed into the ground.  Serious kudos to the pilot, who totally fucked up by starting the loop way too low... but in those last split seconds pointed the plane in a safe direction so that no one was hurt or anything else was even damaged.  He made a mistake, but showed extreme skills in that effort to make sure nobody got hurt... in fact, he risked his life in doing it...  Lesser pilots would have punched out earlier and possibly put others at risk.  Whoever this pilot is... buy that man a beer.  

Email from Horde Member^TM about the Dean Meltdown. “The most interesting aspect of the Howard Dean meltdown may be what Gore and the other "big name" Dems who stumbled over themselves to endorse Dean early on will do now that the rocket has fizzled.  My guess is that it will be somewhat like watching small children running up and down the aisles after entering Toys R Us... "this is my favorite one!... no, this one!"  The real question now is how long it will take for Gore to give Al Sharpton his seal of approval... its the next "Gorelogical" choice.  Not only did he roll snake eyes with the Dean endorsement, the guy apparently didn't even have the gnarlies to give his former running mate, Joe Lieberman, a courtesy call before making the nod.   And the Dems are proud of this guy…- J”  What’s funny about this is that the Media is now taking punches at Dean, calling his meltdown the “I have a scream” speech.  That’s hilarious.  And a perhaps a bit overly harsh on Dean.  If he wasn’t such a lunatic in his ideology, I could get behind this guy.  I liked his energy and his passion… it’s tragic that he is so misdirected.  I mean, Damn, the man has the energy of a WWF wrestler up there and gets everyone pumped.  But the real good that has come of this is that the Media who normally forgets everything someone said day before yesterday, has started to take a look at Dean’s actual track record and where he used to stand on issues.  This is great because pretty soon it will be Clark’s turn and Kerry’s turn.  Clark is so completely full of bullshit that he has ZERO credibility.  None.  How he is even still in this race is appalling.   Then you have Kerry… Throws his metals over the wall at the White House during a demonstrations… Writes a bullshit book about America’s “New Soldiers” who are nothing more than drug addled hippies – his book was utter bullshit and a slap to the face of everyone who has ever served this country.  Yet this is the same guy that wants to be Commander and Chief?  He doesn’t want to lead, he wants to suck Kofi Annan’s dick.  Kerry wants to get into bed with the UN so bad, he’s having wet dreams about it.   Clark?  He already is, that traitorous bastard.  Clark reminds me of someone else, with a very strong resemblance…  Needless to say, I don’t trust him one little bit.  He was booted out of Europe and out of command for some reason… and no one is talking about it… yet.  I’m looking forward to the truth coming out on that one.  I’m looking forward to seeing why the people who booted him absolutely hate him so bad.  Why?   Is what he did so horrible that it’s now classified as a National Security issue?   That’s interesting.   That’s going to keep Clark out in the end. 

The Utah Matrix.   Utah was part of a pilot program that created a multi state information exchange that the local media is calling “The Utah Matrix”… Well, the program its self was called “MATRIX” so that’s not much of a stretch here.  The idea was to put all of your personal information about you into one big super database.  Sure most of the information is “Public Record”, but it’s also none of Utah’s business.  This isn’t just drivers license records, but your insurance, credit, family, tax… all of it… your whole identity… all into one easily tapped source.  I don’t know why they called it the Matrix… this reminds me more of “The Net”.  But a little more disturbing because The Net was fictional and this was-IS real.  The reason I don’t like this is because this is violation of my privacy.  They have no right to farm all of my personal data to put into some mysterious governmental database.  I don’t like that.  I don’t like that one bit.  I don’t give a shit if it is going to curb crime or save the whales… I don’t care.  It’s not Utah’s business.  The reporter said that this database doesn’t contain information such as medical or hunting/gun permits or political party/voting registrations… But you know it can/does/will.  That’s exactly the kind of information they would put in there.  And since the reporter didn’t actually see the database, how does he know it doesn’t have that information?  He was only told it doesn’t have that information.    The reason that this database is so dangerous is not just because it’s invasive into everyone lives… but because such a think could so easily be misused and abused.  You want to know who your political enemies are?  Just search the database.  Who owns the guns so we can go get them?  Just print the list from the database.    That’s just too fucking Gattica for me.   Such a thing should be destroyed.   I would love to see some Government Employee with access to it, who has a conscience, go in and trash this database and totally destroy it.   Power drills to the hard drives and everything.    The State doesn’t need to know everything.    Of course the argument is that this is all “public information” anyways.    That argument is bullshit.   I have metal pipes and wood and springs over here… doesn’t mean I’ll make a weapon out if it.   Time to jump on your local reps to make sure that your state is not in this multi-state information exchange matrix.  Here is the killer thing though… The State Of Utah didn’t even know it was in the program.   Because why?  Because it’s a FEDERAL program.   Tap this Matrix in with the Patriot Act and the Federal Government owns you.

Karl Malone, leaves the Utah Jazz then he gets pissed because the Jazz’s mascot lampoons him in a joke?  He says that he will never forgive the Jazz for it.  The joke wasn’t an insult to Karl Malone.  If you heard it, you kinda understand that it was more of a tribute to Malone and Stockton the two players who carried the Jazz for so many years.  Karl Malone is an arrogant jackass with absolutely no sense of humor.   I’m glad that asshole is gone.

Out of Area.  Telemarketers now have to clearly identify who they are and what they are selling.  This is nice… A good call, and about damn time.   However annoying that those calls are, I don’t have to actually pay for that call should I pick up the phone… and I don’t have to answer that call should I want to answer other calls too.  SPAM is a different matter.  Spammers are deceptive as hell, spoofing email addresses and subject lines and everything… sucking up my bandwidth with their unwanted bullshit… and I have to download it if I want to download my real email… and I have to pay to do it.  Spammers are costing ME money.  Spammers cost Americans MILLIONS of dollars.  If I don’t download everything and clear out my emails from the server, it will be choked in 2 days and real emails to me will be bounced.   I think the FBI should be tasked with the job of tracking down these spammers, dousing them with high octane gasoline and lighting these people on fire.   The computers that they use should be taken and give to the nearest local good cause… such as anyone using a computer that has a 5½ drive on the front.    If I was the President, I would sign an executive order not only tasking this officially, but also putting a personal bounty on the commercial spammers heads… Reward if brought in… Dead or Alive…. Preferably Dead.  A guy with a small business that puts out a newsletter to clients… that’s not a spammer.  The real spammers are the people who send out millions of emails that use scripts to spoof the “from” fields and puts nonsensical bullshit in the subject line to get past filters.   Here is a hint – if you have to try to sneak past filters… it’s obvious that your shit isn’t wanted.   Watch out, I have a can of gas and a box of matches.  Pray I don’t find you.

David Hasselhoff was totally ripped off.  We all know that the Berlin Wall came down because of his singing that song about freedom.  The Knight Rider should totally have a shrine in that museum at Check Point Charlie… Not only that, but there should be a bronze 35 and a half foot tall statue of him, striding across the former border, holding the torch of freedom in one hand, held high, and in the other, a small child representing all the repressed souls that David Hasselhoff personally set free by his magically wonderful song.   This had nothing to do with that one Reagan guy… he was like a president or something… demanding of Gorbachev to “Tear down this wall”…  What did that do?  It’s all David, all the time.  This is just The Man keeping David down.

I got some more stuff for today, but I'll post it later.  It's all gun stuff too so check back this afternoon.

Jan 29th, Thursday, 2004: 1530hrs: You have got to be kidding me.  Sweden has some sick individuals… 200 to 300 animals are “injured” each year?  I thought this only happened in Oklahoma and West Virginia.

Email from LT Glock19: “Hello Dr. Ogre: Howard Dean--is he going down?  YEAHHHHHHHH  This from the Burlington (VT) Free Press.   He can't pay his staffers? LOL - Lt. glock19”   Isn’t that great?  The Mad Doctor approached seems to have totally backfired on him.  This is a common Democrat political result.  It's almost S.O.P. for them.  Maybe if Dean put up some valuable paintings for sale.   Funny how we all thought that that meant Kerry was at the last knot in his rope. Looks like Dean is there now.   Being the biggest lunatic out there next to Clark, I'm not shedding any tears over here.

Lord of the Rings Condensed Script.  You may have already seen this.  If not, it’s pretty funny.   Sample: 

EOWYN: I love you.
ARAGORN: Me? What? Oh. Um...listen, Ellen...
EOWYN: Eowyn.
ARAGORN: Right, Eowyn. You're a fine-looking woman, and I'm sure somebody will say to you someday, "Erin -"
EOWYN: *Eowyn*.
ARAGORN: "Eowyn...you're the only woman for me. Be my wife."
EOWYN: But it won't be you.
ARAGORN: Exactly! It won't be me. I'm glad we understand each other. Well kiddo, I've got to go. The Paths of the Dead beckon.
EOWYN: Don't do it! You'll never survive!
ARAGORN: Nonsense. You're only saying that because no one ever has.

FRODO: Hey, I can remember the Shire again! Small comfort, considering we seem to have about five minutes to live.
SAM: It's a shame. Now I'll never get to marry Rosie Cotton.
FRODO: (startled) YOU want to marry a girl? Really?
SAM: Aye. Why is that so hard to believe?
FRODO: It's just - er - well - you know, I think I must have misinterpreted several things you've said over the past couple decades, Sam. Forgive me.
SAM: No matter. Could you hold me in your arms before we die, sir?
FRODO: See - like that statement, right there. Oh, who cares...
FRODO holds SAM in his arms. They pass out, but GIANT EAGLES rescue them.
WISEACRES IN AUDIENCE: So, how come the eagles didn't just pick them up in Rivendell and carry them straight to Mount Doom in the first place? Why did they have to WALK?
REST OF AUDIENCE: Shhh.

Here is a link all you guys need to bookmark:  Laissez Firearm.  Bookmark that site, and once a day go and read a different article.  Mark was a good guy.  RIP.  He still has the best examination on the Bushmaster M17 on the internet. 

R&R Arms:  Order a box of ammo from these guys… great prices.  Lot’s of other good stuff there too.  Check them out and support them.   

I was asked what ammo I am going to run in the Cougar.  To be honest, I don’t know yet.  I have to see which one works the best.  When finding duty ammo, you go about it this way… you buy a lot of different brands and shoot it up.  The ammo that is reliable goes to step two and the ammo that wasn’t gets to be plinking ammo.  Step two is looking for the most accurate loads.  Take the best 2 or 3 loads and start over.  If you can fire 500 rounds of a specific load with no problems, then that is a pretty good indication that it might be reliable in your gun.  Some of the ammo I’m going to try out, Gold Dots, Hydra Shoks, Hornady Custom… Didn’t I already say this?  Come on now... get with the program.  Read the page here.  Sheesh.

1000hrs: Is professionalism something that is too much to ask for in a small town?  I’ve transferred 3 guns in the last 3 months through the local gunshop here in my town, and every time I go there – it’s ALWAYS a different program.  Every fucking time I walk in that shithole, it’s a different story.  *Counting to 10, calmly*  This morning I go in there to arrange another transfer and I get yet again completely different jazz.  This time, they don’t send FFLs for transfers, I have to come back to talk to “The Boss” so he can sign it and give it to me and I do with it “whatever I want”.  I got a little pissed off at that point.  I explained that I didn’t have to do jack when I transferred a gun just last month, and for the 60 dollar transfer fee I should get at least some degree of actual customer service for it.  Then this guy says, “Transfer fees are only 20 here.”  This is where I go from being a little pissed to being Mount Fucking Saint Helens.  Not only have I paid 60 the last two times, but just the day before yesterday – Yes, that’s Tuesday – I was told the transfer fee was 50.   I don’t like being fucked around with like a hockey puck in their little games.  I’m not the only one either.  I talked to another cat about this joint and he said “They do shit like that all the time”.   Great.   I’ve never liked that place anyway… not since I first walked in.  Not ever.  It had a bad vibe that I felt from the parking lot.  I couldn’t put my finger on it, but the place just crawled.  Here is the catch though… it’s like the only place around here.    There is another little town 30 minutes out.  I’ll have to go out there and see if there is a good gunshop there I can do transfers through.

The real problem when it comes to transfers will be after I retire.  How do you transfer a gun to a ship?  Instead of buying a home or condo to retire to… I’m going to retire to a boat.  A small ex-Navy or sea going tug converted to living accommodations.    I’ll switch between docking near Seattle, and down near San Diego depending on the season… maybe out to the Chesapeake Bay, but not so much… I’d rather not get near a damn hurricane in a boat.   Every few years sail out to Scotland… That’s my retirement plan.  Funny thing is, is that this is like ½ the cost of buying a house and paying property taxes and dealing with the asshole next door.   I think I’m going to name the ship the “Sulaco”.  Either that or the “Demeter”.  I can’t decide.  I have a few years to think about it.  I guess to do the transfers I’d have to do them through my “Home Port”… perhaps in Washington State.  Hmmm… Maybe Texas.  Again, I have some years to decide.

In case you are wondering what gun I am getting in, it’s a Beretta Mini Cougar .45ACP.  This is a little (a lot?) different than what I was originally wanting – I tried like crazy to find a CZ P-01 to trade, but I had no takers there.  Not sure what the Retail is on the P-01, but the MSRP on the little Cougar is $764… I don’t really care about the values like that when I do a trade, but it just seems to me that this is a pretty expensive little .45 and I get this offered instead of a much less expensive gun.  Not that the CZ is a cheap gun by any means… Hell no, they are excellent!  They are just less costly.  Whatever.  I’m looking forward to spending some quality time with the Cougar.  They are interesting pistols to say the least… They use a funky lock system that is rarely used anymore… instead of a barrel that tilts back, this one rotates.  The mechanism keeps the barrel inline and this should mean for a greater degree of accuracy potential.  In fact many Cougar shooters herald the Cougars accuracy along with its reliability.  These are two important factors with me.  The only downside to the Cougar is it’s magazine capacity.  These things should be able to hold almost twice the rounds that they do… but that’s something I’ll discuss at a later date.    

The other offer I was going to take was for a Springfield XD Tactical.  This was my second choice, and then there was another Mini XD that was offered too.  The Springfield XD guns are just fantastic in my opinion.  They are solid, reliable, and are even respectable in the accuracy department… even the little ones.  So the chance of getting the Tactical version was attractive.  I just wonder why they call it “Tactical” when really it’s just a Regular Joe XD that has an extra inch in the barrel and slide.  There is probably a penis joke in there, but I’m not going to look for it.  Anyways, this was what I was going to roll with until the Cougar deal solidified.  There is nothing wrong with the XD series at all – no way.  I consider them to be one of the all time best handguns you can get, period.  All you need to do is decide on which size and which caliber.   9MM, .357, .40… and I understand that the Mini XD’s are going to rolling with .40 calibers by the end of February.  So a .357 version wont be far behind… or maybe available at the same time?  Excellent options for CCW.  You really can’t go wrong with an XD.

Jan 28th, Wednesday, 2004:  John Kerry is now the Democrats front runner… We can ignore Howling Dean for awhile now.  Thank goodness.  John Kerry could very well be the next President of the United States.  What kind of man is Kerry?   We have seen him try to redefine his identity and personality over and over looking for the persona that can make him popular… much like a kid in Junior High School looking for friends.  A man that has only ridden a borrowed motorcycle for 15 feet, can’t flip a pancake, and is uncomfortable around foods like Hot Dogs and Philly Steak And Cheese sandwiches.  

And this is the best guy they are offering at the moment.  

*shakes head* 

Where do they find these people?  I swear.  You got Dean calling himself a “metrosexual” and then you got Kerry… who probably has staff to have his sex for him.  Forget all the other political issues out there and lets look at where he is on guns. 

A.  He voted to ban assault weapons.  

B.  He voted for the Brady Bill.  

C.  He labels Gun Owners as a “Special Interest Group” and it’s funny how he puts it in a negative light considering all the other Special Interest Groups he bends over for.  

D.  Wants to regulate private sales.   (Meaning your property is not really your property) 

E.  Wants to require all gun show promoters to register with the Treasury Department.  (Just what the hell is that supposed to do other than make having a Gun Show a huge nightmare of political red tape to make gun shows impossible to have?) 

F.  He thinks Smart Guns are the answer and wants push these pieces of shit and make them the future of all guns. 

G.  Wants to Ban “Racial Profiling” while cutting crime another 25% by 2010.     

Check these yourself.   Kerry gets a big red letter “F” on his resume.   If he can’t pass this test – he doesn’t qualify to take the others.   Here is why the Gun Control issue is so important… because it sets the tone and attitude for the rest of your civil liberties.  It’s not about Guns… it’s about Control, and controlling YOU.   Look at the precedence’s these would set.  Government regulation of all sales of private property… houses, cars, computers, cell phones… Government oversight and regulation of flea markets, swap meets, art shows…. Or basically any time a bunch of people want to get together to barter and trade…  You don’t think that is a goal of these guys?  They see people swapping junk and they are thinking… “Hey, there is no sales tax getting collected here!”  Among other things they are thinking about.  Like a new government office to oversee these gatherings with required enforcement and the ability to hold up any gathering they don’t like.   Things like Gun Shows are just the start.  Sturgis, Bike Week at Daytona… those would get regulated through the same door and pretty soon you can bet your last dollar that they will get shut down because some bureaucrat doesn’t like them.  What other things are out there?   Home Improvement shows… Boat shows… Bridal shows… All could get manipulated by bureaucrats thanks to graft from competitors making bribes or offering kickbacks.    

It’s all about political corruption and money to these Democrats.  That’s the end goal…  And getting rid of all the guns means we would have no means of resistance and would be slaves to whatever they want to do… Just like the Iraqis under Saddam.  You think I paint an overly grim and fictional picture here?   Think again.  Look at some history books and tell me such a thing isn’t possible, even here in the USA.   John F Kerry should NOT be allowed to walk into the White House even if he was in a Tour Group.   Hey Kerry, why don’t you go to Florida and go swimming?

You don’t see this every day… but in the back of my mind, I’m always afraid of it when I drive past these things.   And these things.   All of this is happening because of the Earth’s magnetic fields starting to reverse.  Has to be.  Either that, or it’s all George W Bush’s fault.   

North Dakota.  Why would anyone really want to live there?   It’s day time, and right now it’s feeling like it’s -52 degrees.  Holy crap.  I know what severe cold is like… I’ve been in Northern Wisconsin during the winter… the U.P. of Michigan… and it gets really really cold there too… but in North Dakota?  It’s colder there… and there is nothing in North Dakota.  Nothing.  Yet people live there.  I suspect these are people who are either really stupid, or they lost a bet with God.   I also suspect a lot of Witness Protection people are there too… the assholes who cut a deal to avoid prosecution by turning over an even bigger asshole… They get sent to North Dakota.  Justice is served with a side dish of Vengeance… a dish best served cold.  I think this is where we should send Kerry and Dean.

Email from Reader:  “Just wanted to say thanks for the review of the XD Sub-Compact. I've been driving my store manager nuts trying to find out when the sub-compact will be available in 40 cal so I can buy one.   Love the site.  – Tracy”   Thanks Tracy.  I think a .40 Mini XD would be ideal. 

An email from reader about my chosen path in higher education:  “Your path is commendable and really hits home for me. My Dad has had undiagnosed PTSD for 35 years and finally got the VA to increase his Disability from 30% to 100%. He suffers hearing loss from being blown out of a truck sabotaged by the VC and was shot by the NVA during the Tet offensive.  As he got older his mood and personality began to change as he talked to more and more veterans who had similar experiences.  He is now getting counseling, proper medication and is finally being compensated for the years of not knowing why he felt so shitty.  As you stated he is being counseled by 22 year old well meaning but sadly unknowledgeable "kids" who have no idea what he is talking about.  The way my dad explains his experience in Vietnam as a M60 machinegunner is like this:  Imagine you are the driver of a carpool who picks up all your buddies for work in the morning and as you drive to work there is a terrible accident and all your friends die except for you.  Now imagine that happening nearly everyday for 2 years, sometimes carloads of people sometimes busloads.  I wish you the best on your education and I am sure you will be able to make a huge difference compared to some of the other counselors out there who can't find their ass with both hands.  Best regards,  JRS”   Thanks for the email J.  I needed to hear this.  I have a big exam on Friday night that I am studying for.   This is why I’m studying.    

Jan 27th, Tuesday, 2004:  I have decided I am going to do another “Guns Of” article.   This time it’s for another movie series… The Guns of El Mariachi (Or how ever you spell it)  El, Desperado, and Once upon a time in Mexico.  The reason I am going to do this is that these flicks have a lot of different and interesting guns… lots of fun… and I’m getting lots of emails asking about it.  That and I just really like these flicks.  Especially these last too with Salma, who has some especially fantastic guns herself.  Ahem.  Anyways, I had to buy the Once upon a time in Mexico DVD last night.  I was going to buy the Aliens Special Edition DVD, but let’s face it… Aliens, as good of a movie that it is, as a distinct lack of any Salma in it.  None whatsoever.  Salma makes a movie Caliente, and that’s what I like in a cheesy comic book action flick.   So this is going to be a project that I’ll have to work on in bits and pieces… but just know that it’s already in the works.   There was no hot sex scene like in Desperado… so that was disappointing, but it was still awesome.  Depp stole the show with another really off-beat character that just worked.  Great movie.

Okay, back to business.  My ISP had to shut every thing down last night, so I have a backlog of emails I’m dealing with.  Gimme some time on this.  Same issue as all weekend.  Not sure what they are doing over there, but they are saying that they almost have everything under control again.   Let’s hope so.  Should I seem to drop off the Web, you will have a good reason why.  Yes, my bill is paid in full, so that wouldn’t be it.  No, this would be me paying through the ass for this wonderful service that has yet to live up to it’s advertising.  Hey, ISP, if your reading this, I’ve NEVER had the connection speed that you said I would have.  Never.  Not too happy about it either.   This is a damned DSL connection and I should be getting speeding tickets over here.   Especially with the deal you guys gave me.   You know what I’m talking about.   Fix it!

Lots of offers for the 696 are coming in… Possible Compact Cougar… Compact XD… and the most interesting trade, a like new condition Colt CCO… So this is getting very interesting.  I’m looking to see how these offers want to work things out.  I am looking for a straight across trade, so if these cats think I am going to drop extra coin… that’s a deal breaker.  I don’t need extra cash on top of the trade gun either… I’m not trying to be greedy.  I just want a square trade.  I’m not sure which ammo I would roll with if I get the CCO or the Cougar in .45… 4 inch barrels would mean I would probably go between 185 or 230 grain loads.  Hornady Custom, Federal Hydra Shoks or some 230’s from Black Hills… you really can’t tell until you get the gun and see which load the guns like best.  Each individual gun will generally shoot the best with a couple particular loads and the trick is to find that favorite load.  Once you find that load, that’s what you carry and you can use the cheep stuff for plinking.

Oh, check this out… after I hung this shingle out, a Horde Member sends me this.  50 Rounds of .44 Special for only 14.74… and it’s reloadable!   Had I seen this before, I wouldn’t have put the 696 up for trade!  In fact… if I don’t find a nice Win-Win deal that is just right… I might not trade it off at all.  Let’s look at this load.  240 grain slugs… heavy… It’s a Cowboy load too… so that means it would shoot like a real pussycat from a beefy 696.   If you have a .44 Special, this is a good deal for some good ammo… go for it.  Buy some up.  I like Magtech ammo… the .357 Magnum 158gr HPs are a good load for small game hunting and personal protection work.    Anyways, I’m not in any hurry to make a trade just for the sake of making a trade… I’m looking for the right trade for a Win-Win for both parties.    Keep your offers for your pair of Bersa .380s to your self.   This is no slight to Bersa… they seem to have really come up in quality this last, 8 years or so… I am sure they are fine handguns.  I just don’t want one.  Capische?   Since when does “Cowboy Load” mean sissy little girly load?

Okay, I’ve got a 2,000 word paper to write.  Back to work.

Jan 26th, Monday, 2004: 1600hrs:  I’ve had some internet connection issues since last Friday.  I went and talked to the cats at my ISP and they told me that some guys using the service had some viruses that flooded the pipeline and shut everything down.  This was going on almost the whole time all weekend.  I couldn’t do jack and it was pissing me off.  All because some wankers didn’t feel the need to run Norton or MacAfee Anti-Virus.  If you are connecting your computer to the internet with a broadband connection – You damn well better be running some anti-virus shit because if you don’t, you are being very foolish.  Not only that, but your lack of Safe-Computing can and does effect everyone else.  So to you slackasses that caused me to lose my connection – I owe you a bitch-slap.  Gimme a call and make an appointment and I’ll fit you in for your slap as soon as I can.   Punkasses.   I pay too much money for my connection to be seeing “Resolving Host” errors.

Emails about the 696… let me sum them up… No, I will not ship the gun to your home address directly.  No way.   No, I wont consider your collectable matched pair of Hi-Points with consecutive serial numbers.  No, I don’t want your Lorcin and a hundred bucks.  Give me a freaking break!  This is a very nice gun and I’m looking for another nice gun… but the offer for 6 CZ-52’s was almost tempting.  Almost.  Again, look… I love the 696.  I am not trying to dump it.  If I had a progressive reloading press set up here at my house – I’d NOT be selling it.  When I got it, I was expecting time to go do some reloading but things got crazy and I was never able to do it.  Ammo is over $1.10 a round out here and I can’t afford to shoot this thing.  The offer for the XD in .357SIG – Extremely Tempting… Very nice… but again… I wouldn’t be able to afford the ammo to shoot it as much as I want to shoot.  I’m looking for a 9MM or a .45 because for 12 bucks you can buy 100 rounds of the stuff.  That’s better than anything else out here save .22 ammo.  I’m jonesing for a Beretta Cougar .45 or a Cougar Compact or a Mini Cougar... (see a pattern there?) or a Compact 1911 by Colt or Springfield…. Commander would be cool, but I’d rather have an Officer’s or sub compact or maybe a Detonics Combat Master .45 (See another pattern there?)  I’ve got a couple offers I am considering, but I’m really looking for the guns higher up on the list.   I was asked about cash – how much will I take for it?  I don’t know… Maybe the best offer.  I’ve not set a price.  There is a .45 Compact by Springfield here locally that is looking really good, and it’s asking 550, so if you want to make a cash offer, there is a starting figure for you.  I'll collect the offers for a day or two and take the best one.  My goal is to get a nice gun that I can go shooting with and carry every day.  Another email just came in… NO, I don’t want a Witness .45!  If your going to make an offer that is not on my list – make it an interesting offer.  When I say interesting… I mean really interesting.  A custom knife is not interesting.  Pair that custom knife with a gun lower on my list… then your getting interesting.  I don’t mean to be a dick about it, but I don’t want a POS gun your just trying to dump.

Email came in from one of our newer Horde Members.  He suggested more discussion about ammunition, and my preferences.  Now that is a solid suggestion worthy of a new page article for the weapons section… because my preference all depend not just on the caliber, but the barrel length and sometimes even the gun.  Let me sum it all up pretty quickly right here… Typically I like my loads to be heavy for the caliber for best penetration.  However when the barrel length starts to shorten, I like my ammo to lighten up a bit to maintain enough velocity for better expansion reliability.  Now, to me expansion is a bonus, but I like to stack the deck to get that bonus when I can.   My ammo brand preferences… again, that depends.  But this time it’s not just for caliber, but also for the purpose because some bullets are better at some things than other.  Like a bag of Golf Clubs, there are ideal clubs for each shot.   Then again, after saying that, there are some rounds that are 24/7 do everything all the time rounds that are always good choices.   I’ll have to write this article up…   should be a fun one.

Email from Carlton Meyer over at G2Mil about my take on the USS Pueblo: “They should have done that a long time ago.  Now its just pointless.  The Chinese will take care of the North Koreans soon.  Carlton“    Not soon enough, my friend… not nearly soon enough.

I wish I could post all my emails… but I just can’t.  I love talking guns and will answer any gun question that I can… since my last update I’ve had questions about everything from a CCW guns for little ladies to 7MM Weatherby Magnums for Elk.    Some of you have noticed that my postings have been a bit thinner lately… This is because of school.  Again, for the new readers, I’m back in school… changing my life.  In case you care, I’m going down the path for Psychology specializing in Traumatic Stress disorders.  I want to work with Veterans… Veterans with PTSD or DESNOS… and the reason for this is because most people who are working with the Veterans have no idea what the Veterans have been through.  I do, because I’ve been there myself and I know what they are going through and I know that those guys just can’t really talk to these cake eating therapists because they have no clue.  As a result these guys are not really talking to the therapists… Try telling someone what Chocolate tastes like… You can’t do it.  You can say things like “Sweet and creamy and rich” but that’s Vanilla too.  This is why I’m heading in this direction.  But to be honest, switching to History and Literature is very tempting too… cause that’s a personal love of mine.   Anyways, so thanks to my studies, I’m not posting as much here…. But I do answer all the emails that don’t get filtered out. 

Jan 25th, Sunday, 2004: 2100hrs:  I have this S&W 696 that I would be willing to trade... As much as I love it and the .44 Special cartridge - I just can not shoot it as much as I want to. I love shooting and for the price of 100 rounds of 9MM or 45, I can only get 20 rounds of .44 Special. I thought I would have more access to reloading, but time has always been against me. Love the gun - but I just cant get out to shoot the thing. It's a painful catch 22. Like having Monica Belleluci for a girlfriend but you can only kiss her once a day.  Here is what I am looking to get:  Springfield 1911A1, Colt 1991A1 in Commander or Officers sizes. Detonics Combat Master .45.  Beretta 92 Compact, Elite II, or Cougar .45 Compact preferred but other flavors would be cool.  CZ P-01 or Blued 97B with the old style bushing... but the 97 is lower on my list right now.  Springfield XD, 9MM, preferred Tactical or Sub Compact... but the regular is cool too.

I caught a little FOX NEWS this evening and I am wondering where Howard Dean is getting his information that the Iraqi People are NOT better off now that Saddam is out of power.   Let’s see… they are not longer having to fear secrete police coming in and dragging them off to torture chambers never to be seen again… they no longer have to fear that their cute daughters will get kidnapped and brutally raped and murdered by Saddam’s sons… Prisoners no longer have to fear they will be put into a C4 Vest and made to run out into the desert to get blown up… They no longer have to fear being put feet first into a shredder machine… But OH WAIT!!! They don’t have AT&T long distance telephone service anymore so it totally SUCKS to be them now!!!  That BASTARD George W Bush!  *Shakes Fist*  At least with SADDAM, they had AT&T!!!   Howard Dean is a fucking lunatic.  You look at his eyes when he speaks… they are like googly Cookie Monster eyes sometimes.  The guy is completely off his rocker.    

BOMB the USS Pueblo!   I had no idea that the USS Pueblo is still, after over 30 years, in the hands of North Korea.    For some reason I thought it was returned or something.     Bush needs to demand it’s immediate return, and if its not returned – it is either taken back by force, and I mean by some serious fucking brutal force here… or nail the ship with cruise missiles or laser guided  bombs or both… and blow this ship into teeny tiny bits so that there is not one little thing left floating.  It is OUR ship… Sovereign USA property being held illegally by a country that is outwardly hostile to the US, yet is under US aide just to continue living… we keep them from starving to death and every breath they breath is Anti-American… FUCK North Korea.   As Captain Kirk says, “Let Them Die”.  Bomb the Pueblo and deny the enemy there little trophy.  OMG they have made it into a freaking bragging museum!  FOX NEWS showed all the bullet and shell holes in it!  And yet this ship is still on the Navy’s active service roster!   I say we send in a flight of B-2 Spirits and nail that bitch with multiple 2,000 pound bombs and then drop leaflets saying “FUCK YOU” in 20 different Languages… and if they so much as open their fucking mouths – we cut off all food shipments until the SUN goes Super Nova.  Fuck North Korea. Fuck North Korea. Fuck North Korea. Fuck North Korea. Fuck North Korea. Fuck North Korea.   

1500hrs:  I've been thinking about this church gun ban.   You all know my feelings about guns... If you read MadOgre.com regularly, you know my feelings about the Church.... To say the least, I am conflicted.   Here is what I'm going to do - I'm going to ignore it. If I feel the need to pack my heater with me to church, I well. This is what CONCEALMENT is all about, right? No one else has to know... no one else will know. You cats with the Kel-Tecs and the Guardians will have an easier time of it... but this is the only way. I think now more than ever, you SHOULD carry in church. Especially if they just made a nationwide official announcement that LDS Churches are now safe targets for the badguys to hit... and in light of increased hatred against Christians of all flavors - heck - just say Americans Period... we are in a dangerous world. To quote Jack Nicholson, this world has walls and on those walls are men with guns. Not all the men have to actually stand on the wall. Some are sitting in the rows, with arms folded and heads bowed like a penitent Air Marshal.   I find this to be a slap in the face… not just that the Church did this, but that they are filing the paperwork to make me a criminal should I pack at church.  It was over ten years ago that my SIG SAUER protected the Prophet and his wife… yet he feels I shouldn’t protect my wife and children…   This has me greatly upset.  I'm not the only one. 

Wouldn’t it be funny if NASA rolled one of these Rover’s over to the UK’s Beagle probe and too some pictures of the Rover parking a wheel on it?  Man that would be hilarious.  If I was at NASA Mission Control, that is totally what I would do.  Get some laughs out of it… so at least we would get something out of it.  This new Mars Rover thing has already sent back some photos… more red rocks again… fewer than at the other Mars Rover site, so NASA will probably ponder on this for a couple decades.   If NASA really wants to see red rocks, they need to come out to Southern Utah… we are swimming in them.  NASA could bring the kids and a picnic basket… make a day of it.  Wont take 7 months to get there either.   Fun for everyone and it would save the American Taxpayer billions of dollars. 

0900hrs:  With luck, I might be acquiring a Beretta 85 with wood grips.  (I know I put that picture in with the Beretta 92 article, but it’s really an 85) This is one of those guns I have always admired but never got around to actually getting one.  The only downside to the 85 is it’s caliber, .380Auto or 9MM Kurtz, however you want to call it.  I’ve got a thing for Berettas, I just love them.  Beretta, Springfield, CZ, and SIG are perhaps my favorite gunmakers (not in that order).  Anyways, hope this deal goes through, I like the 85… not big on the caliber but Pro Load rolls some ammunition in this caliber that hits like standard pressure 9MM so it isn’t that bad.

Two emails about the Airlite .44 Magnum:  “Love the blog... anyways:  You're right about that 329PD stupid-light 44mag.  I work at a gun shop/range in MN, and we had a S/W rep come up for our open house last june.  He brought one, one of our guys put 3 cylinders through that thing.  That's 18 rounds through a 28oz .44mag with hardwood grips.  He had a very pronounced right-hand tremor happening after that session.  One certainly wouldn't care about recoil if you got rolled by a bear or something more thugly, but I’d take a little more weight (or maybe a nice stainless 4" taurus .41 Mag) and save myself a lot of punishment.  The .500SW Mag was a lot easier to shoot, but the muzzle blast was ferocious.  Thanks, Ern”  And then the other one here:  “I agree wholeheartedly.  I just bought a airlite .38 M642 and it is PAINFUL to shoot with .38 special target wadcutters.  When a gun weighs 8 ounces there is nothing there to keep the recoil off your hand.  To clarify I am no wuss when it comes to recoil. I shoot hot .357 out of my Taurus 66 and .44 mags out of my 629 all day long. The beefy grips and all steel construction absorb the initial recoil  and take a  "sharp smack" and turn it into a big push.  Would I carry a scandium .357 or Airlite .44mag ? Probably. The weight difference and scaled down dimensions would make a huge difference in carry-ability.  Under extreme stress of a goblin encounter I probably wouldn't even feel any recoil until afterwards when the paramedics would have to get an extra stretcher for just my hand.”  The common theme in my emails about this is that it would be a fine carry gun, but you don’t want to shoot it.  The recoil while under stress, true, you might not even feel it then… but still.  Personally I’ll take a stainless Mountain Gun and live with the extra weight because I would be able to shoot it recreationally and not just in emergencies.   28 ounces on a .44 Magnum.  Judas Priest. 

Underworld Email:  “Decent rental flick, but the lead "Deathdealer" (hell, everybody in the movie) never bothered to with the sights, and they all had the Hollywood "bottomless magazine."  Yes, they showed reloading (occasionally), but never before the shooter had run through at least 50 rounds first, usually in one continuous blast.  (Shooting an escape hole in the CONCRETE floor?  PLEASE!)   I give it a "5", tops.  Kevin”   Yeah, but she looked good twirling around with the guns, didn’t she?  If I was to rate Underworld… even with it’s faults, I’d give it higher than a 5… maybe 6. 

I’m still collecting my thoughts about this Church Gun Ban situation.  My church has officially banned all concealed handguns just the other day.  You know my feelings about my church and you know my feelings about my guns… to say the least, I am conflicted.  Most likely I will continue to carry when I feel like carrying.  Soccer Mom bitching or not.   I’ll discuss this perhaps later… but right now I am just seething. 

It’s snowing today, and the forecast shows it will continue to snow through Wednesday.  CRAP!  I hate snow!  Sure it’s pretty and makes you feel all cozy with the book and a hot chocolate thing… but CRAP!  I hate snow!  Evil, foul, wicked stuff… looks pretty, but can kill you.  Much like a Coral Snake.  (That’s the poisonous one, right?  Like I care.)    I gotta change the tires on the two Cherokees now.  Swap wheels… the one we are driving around in has little worthwhile tread and the one that is dead has practically new tires on it.  Same with the dead Subaru.   CRAP!  Where is my floor-jack?

Jan 24th, Saturday, 2004: 1100hrs: I’ve mentioned “Underworld” before.  I said that I liked it.  And I do… however it could have been much better.  I liked the Werewolf characters when they were in the human form.  The wolfy form of the creatures were not just lackluster, but completely disappointing.    If you want to see some really cool werewolves, you really need to watch “Dog Soldiers”.  That flick has good gunplay and gun handling, but also the hands down creepiest werewolves I’ve ever seen.  Stuff of nightmares kinda werewolves.  Underworld’s werewolves were pretty much just really buff guys that growl a lot.  They also totally rip off “Aliens” in the whole “they can run along the walls and ceiling” thing.   These things could have been much more original.    Same thing with the Vampires.  “Death Dealers”?  Gag.  It’s a bit cheesy, don’t you think?  And the leather trench coats?  Come on… I think most all of us can honestly say we have seen enough black leather trench coats lately.   Having said that, I have to give the movie props for just about everything else.  Good casting, and in most cases good acting as well.  The Direction was pretty good too, for the most part.   The DVD is nice.  Good special features, but I’d have liked to seen deleted scenes… if there were any.   I bring this movie up because it’s a popular rental now… lots of people watching it.  Lots of people asking me what the guns are.   Come on, people… You should know these!  Beretta 92’s converted to full auto, and then two Walther P99’s that are of course converted to full auto as well.  The Werewolf guys are using a mix of guns from Desert Eagles to Czech Skorpions.   If you have a specific question and your life just can’t continue living without knowing… get a good clear screen capture of the gun you want identified and send it to me… I’ll get the ID for you.   Or I might just tell you to get bent. 

I sent some letters out this morning to all my Utah State reps… You can find yours… just click the button over there on the right for the Gun Owners of America.  This is what I sent:  “I find it highly inflammatory that in Utah, if you want a Concealed Carry Permit, you have to go through the Department of Public Safety’s Bureau of Criminal Identification.  Utah State’s very own State Constitution in Article 1, Section 6 says: “The individual right of the people to keep and bear arms for security and defense of self, family, others, property, or the state, as well as for other lawful purposes shall not be infringed.”  Look at that again… individual right to bear arms for protection…  The state recognizes that gun ownership is an individual right!  Forget about the “militias”… it’s about “you”.  Let California jackasses argue about Collective Rights… in Utah, it’s all about the power of One.  I like that.  However what I do not like is the fact that Utah not only requires the additional expense of criminal background checks and issuing cards, but does so out of the Bureau of Criminal Identification.  So Gun Owners who want to exercise the right to carry as granted in the State’s constitution have to register like a Sex Offender?   I consider this a great insult, and an injustice to the good and honest people of the State of Utah.   I urge you to promote and support legislation that allows the citizens of the State of Utah “Vermont style” carry.  Vermont and Alaska both allow it and have good proven track records of it.  What this means in a nutshell is that if you are clear to purchase a handgun, then obviously you are clear to carry it and are allowed to do so… carrying it concealed without the necessity of a separate ID card.” 

I added a few things to the individual rep regarding voting history, but this is what I sent to each of them.  Find your Reps… send them your own messages.  Monday I’m sending them all another message about the Assault Weapons Ban.

Email came in asking me about the S&W .44 Magnum Airlite as a EDC/Home Defense gun.  Think about this .44 for a second.  .44 Magnum.... Airlite.... .44 Magnum..... Airlite...   Magnum.... Light....   An Airlite .44 Magnum.   Sure, it would do just fine as an HD gun and you could pack it around all day long in a CABO holster and forget it's there.   But when it comes time to shoot it - Judas - It's going to be a handful!   You are not going to be enjoying long range sessions with that thing.  Super hot and heavy hunting loads?  Painful.   In my opinion Magnums need to be beefy.  Beefy for strength and beefy for recoil absorbing weight.   If the gun is too light, your shooting is going to suffer.  The painful recoil will teach you to flinch and to anticipate the recoil and to even blink... these things ruin one's hand gunning skills.  I've seen big tough Marine guys flinching like little girls... when firing .44 Magnums… it's just a physical reaction like a hit to the knee-kick reflex.  This in turns destroys your ability to engage targets effectively past 15 yards.   I'd suggest instead of an Airlite, perhaps a .44 Mountain gun, which is beefier, or a 4 inch 629 which is beefier yet.   The Airlites are meant for guys that are actually just shoot .44 specials in them...  And that's fine.  I love my .44 Special... but why bother with the extra size of the Magnum when you can just get a .44 Special in a more size appropriate package?  The thing I like about the .44 Magnum is it's ability to put a heavy hit on a target way out there... and if you can't do that... then I see no point for all the added horsepower.  And I really don’t think one can do that effectively with an Airlite, even if you are Chewbacca.

Jan 23rd, Friday, 2004:  Noonish:  I have an idea… I’m going to do a page called “Ogre Eye for the Queer Guy”.   Have you seen the show “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”?  I’m going to do pretty much the opposite of that, adding in the essential touch of Ogre.  I got this idea last night as I was… Now hold on for a second.  I’m about to talk about something I pretty much only do maybe once every 4 or 5 years here, so don’t get bent out of shape…  Mrs Ogre and I was shopping for shoes online.   Yes, I am firmly confident in my sexuality, manhood, and lack of any metrosexualness… so I can admit that with the assistance of my beloved bride, that I looked at Ebay searching for shoes.   I am wanting a pair of “tennis shoes”.  I want something that is not boring looking, but not so Buzz Lightyear.  What I found was a either Flash Gordon or Gerald Ford and nothing in between.   Is it too much to ask for just a normal looking shoe that is sporty without looking like a clown shoe?  I mean my hell, everything looking like something a Japanese cartoon might wear.   I didn’t pick or bid on anything.  They were all too awful.

Speaking of Awful.  Something Awful has a killer “Photoshop Phriday” today.  Very funny.  They are doing a Part 2 to the Painter of Light thing.    Very clever.

Science has found that the parting of the Red Sea was actually possible.  Interesting.  I totally agree with the Scientist’s statement about God using Science.   Personally, that’s a belief that I’ve always held… to perform his miracles and the creation, he used science to do it.    Just thought that was an interesting bit of news.   Perhaps even more interesting than “We might have found some trace elements indicating the possibility that there might have been water on Mars”.  Excuse me, but don’t they make this announcement every year?  I’ll be impressed when the Mars Rover requests a towel. 

This morning I had to exercise my "Moderator Powers" and ban someone from a discussion forum.  I used to do that a lot, but this is really the first time I’ve done this in over a year.  I’m not happy about doing it, and I wish I didn’t have to.  But when I tell someone to get over something and move on… and they instead push pack with threats and insults… I really had no choice.  This is under my skin today.  It’s bothering me, and making me wonder if I was too quick on the trigger.  Maybe I was, but I feel justified.  Still not please with doing it.  I don't like doing that because it's divisive to the Firearms Family.  We are all on the same team weather we agree on other issues or not.   

Email from Reader: “Chase's Email on looking for a CZ85.  May be of some benefit to let the Blogs know that the best place find a CZ (used) for sale is the CZ Forum classifieds.... Most all sellers are devoted CZ owners, lots of advice and  help.   Prices are usually decent because most of the buyers and sellers are knowledgeable about what CZs are worth....  In addition you can get feedback on CZ retail merchants from forum members.  P.S. Thanks for confirming that Ted Kennedy is still alive.  I just assumed he was one those wench chasing animatronic pirates from Disney World whose latex skin had melted.”  The THR Trading Post is another good source.  As for Ted Kennedy, he may have only been moving because Clinton’s hand was up his ass… We are not sure about this, and inquiries are being made.

The interesting news today is about the National Guard.  The Guard is expecting an Exodus.  I have mixed feelings about this.  #1 is my patriotism saying that these guys are lucky to have the honor of being able to serve in Iraq during this historic endeavor.   Then #2 is the feeling of “Well, no kidding… these guys are being shit upon by the Army and by employers at home.  These guys are dedicated soldiers… but at the same time they are only Part Time soldiers.  They have homes and families and jobs… and these soldiers are losing those things.  There should be repercussions against companies that terminate employment or benefits while they are away.  Then again if you do that, companies will be reluctant to hire a Guardsman… more so than they are already.  It’s a tough situation and I have no answers… but I suggest some very nice incentives for staying on.  Why?  Because the US Military needs the guys who have been there and done that… When you have an exodus like this, most of the people leaving are the experienced NCOs.  The very guys you need when you have a crunch time.  Loosing them is damaging to the Unit and the Unit’s ability to perform any task – even a roll out inspection.

Jan 22nd, Thursday, 2004:  1100hrs:  Mythology is an interesting subject… but the Classic Greek and Roman mythologies that is the common “Mythology” you hear about is the most boring.  The cool mythologies come from the Norse Mythology.  If you get the chance, study it a bit.  It’s definitely the most interesting.  If you are a Lord Of The Rings fan, you have probably picked up on some of it already.  All of modern fantasy stems from Norse mythology.  Dragons, Elves, Dwarves…  all Norse.  Tolkien studied Norse mythology and used it to create Middle Earth… and everyone else writing fantasy took from Tolkien.  Odin is Gandalf's Daddy.

Earth’s magnetic field.  So I was watching NOVA late last night.  Here is what I learned… the Earth’s magnetic field is about to flip polarity, north to south.  This happens like every 200,000 years and it’s about to flip again now.  Okay.  The Earth’s magnetic field protects our atmosphere from erosion by the solar winds.  Mars lost it’s magnetic field thanks to a rapid cooling of it’s planetary core, and without it, the solar wind striped Mars of it’s atmosphere…. That’s why Mars is now a dead planet.   What the hell any of this has to do with anything in the lives of any mentally stable human?  I don’t know.  It’s interesting, but ultimately meaningless because it has no direct effect on our daily lives.  *ring* “Hello?”  “Hi there, you are late on your power bill.”  “Ah, yeah… power company… Look… I’m not going to pay you anymore because Mars lost it’s atmosphere because it’s planetary core cooled off.”  “Uh… but…”  “Hey, man… in about 300 million years the same thing could probably happen to Earth!”   “Bummer.”  “Yeah, no kidding… that’s why I can’t pay you anymore.”  “Oh, okay.”   *ring*  “Hello?”  “Hi there, this is the Library.  You have an overdue book.”     Really I don’t think this would matter at all to any of our normal daily lives.  The only thing that could possibly make a difference would be a comet hitting Canada.  But I somehow suspect I would STILL get a phone call from the Library about an overdue book.

Jan 21st, Wednesday, 2004:  Noon:  If you are thinking about taking courses online... Don't bother.  Online courses are completely fucking useless.  Big fucking mistake taking them this semester.  Should have taken regular classes.  BIG fucking mistake.

0900hrs:  I’m a MAD ogre this morning.  I didn’t get the truck.  Someone else snatched it, damn it.  This is probably for the best.  I don’t need a classic old truck that looks like it never left the showroom… I don’t need a nice Alpine CD player in a truck.  *sigh*  I was only 1 thousand bucks short.  Dang it… ONE!  FUCK!  Oh well, it wasn’t a club cab like what we really need, and it wasn’t even a 4X4 so I guess it’s for the best.  Just need to keep hunting.  I’ll find the RIGHT truck. Moving on. Reluctantly...

Did you guys watch the State of the Union speech last night?  I did, and I am glad I did… George W Bush’s speech was solid.  It was awesome to see all the standing ovations.  Funny how the Democrats seemed to be sitting on their hands almost the whole time.  They applauded a few times… even stood up a few times.  But you could hear crickets most of the time from the Left side of the room.  I loved the close-ups of Senator Kennedy shaking his jowls and rolling his gelatinous eyes.  That guy is one giant sphincter.  Hillary Clinton had to stand up and clap when Bush finished a sentence about how we are all better off without Saddam.  She looked like she just got scolded by her Daddy.   You’ve heard the line that “Good News for America is Bad news for the Democrats”.  This was so totally apparent last night.   “The economy is strong!”  All the Republicans stand and applauded, and all the Democrats looked like they just got kicked in their teeth.   The partisan and anti-American spirit that even my unpolitical wife felt from the Democrats was so tangible… so real… it pissed her off.  I was expecting it and told her to watch the Democrats… didn’t take long for her to get pissed either.   Welcome to Politics, Baby.    After the State of the Union, there was the “Democrat Response”.  This pissed Mrs. Ogre off even more.  She observed the Democrat jackasses contradicting themselves and flat out lying just to be counter-point to Bush.  I heard several times, my lovely bride saying “BUSH NEVER SAID THAT!”  and “YOU JUST SAID THE OPPOSITE!”   Her eyes are open now.   Hopefully she isn’t the only one who watched this last night… because if you had been sitting on the fence, you are now probably on one side or another.   What is so disturbing is the ease in which the Democrats will make things up and flat out lie to you.   That’s disturbing.

Email from Reader:   “I was cruising around Gunbroker turning over rocks in hope of finding a nice CZ 85 (not gonna go through GB, just looking for a model I can appreciate enough to track down locally) and stumbled upon this.  Shit like this worries me.  1. This is the same jackass you had the "Rami" issues with on 8 jan 04.  2. There is no livestock at the gun dealers I go to.  3. The bottom half of this abomination is obviously from an L1A1 most likely from Atlantic or CAI. Neither instills much confidence in me.  4. "Jawja" boy expects $1600 for this weapon. For that many ducks I can probably have Krebs build me a custom RPK.  5. The upper looks like it may have been an Ingram Model 10/11 in a past life...but I'm not really sure. (I consider myself to be current on most things gun, but to assume I'm all knowing would be both ridiculous and arrogant)  6. The guy just gives me the creeps looking at him, and thanks to Madgore.com I know how he does business too.  I realize some of this may seem nit-picky at best, but alarms are ringing in my head just looking at it. I also thought it was freakish enough to pass along. – Chase” 

This slimebag doesn't surprise me anymore.    That gun is probably very illegal in that it was probably built without licenses.  I don't trust the dealer, and I don't trust the gun.  You identified the 2 base guns just fine.  But for the life of me, I can't see the motivation for putting the two together.  This is like putting a Honda Civic motor under the hood of a Lincoln Towncar.   The stock L1 lower receiver is heavy and would ruin the balance of the final product.   The accuracy and reliability of this Morph is probably nonexistent.  Not only that, but the welds on the gun are the shittiest I have ever seen.   This guy is laughable... a total joke.

Jan 20th, Tuesday, 2004: 1300hrs: I went by to go look at that truck again.  Man, I'm wanting this rig.  It's a 1981 Ford F-100 shortbed.  Here is a photo of another one... the one I'm looking at is red, but looks just like this one.  These are some good looking trucks, in my opinion.  And the general vibe on these trucks are that they are real hotrods.   I love it.  Not really finding a lot of information about these trucks... I've learned that it's called a "Ranger" like the smaller trucks.  But then again Ford put "Ranger" on a lot of different trucks.  I think this is a good sign... my Dog Ranger will look really good sitting in the back of this truck.  I'm not sure about the color red, but I hear the red ones go fasters...

1100hrs:  This morning I read the Drudge Report…  Has a sound clip of Howard Dean.  What a freaking maniac!  What the hell is that “YEAHHHHHH!!!”  What is he doing now?  A David Lee Roth tactic?  Freaking lunatic.    

Remember when I mentioned Walter Cronkite’s idea that cars should only have a top speed of 20MPH to keep old people from plowing through people?  Check this out.  Fark is doing an “If Old People Ran the World” photoshop contest.   Freaking hilarious.  If you are on dialup, it’s still worth checking out.  Some of them are just amazingly funny.

Our friend Sylvia has published her book.  Congratulations!  This is some cool news.  Check out her site, and order her book. 

Email about the truck:  “Good luck, I hope you can get it.  I wasn't much of a Ford fan until I got my '83 F250 4x4.  You are right, there is something about the front end of this vintage of Ford.  Not too square, but with a nice set of angles that seem "just right".  This type of truck is a perfect match for your fine dog(note to self, need to get another big dog to ride in the back of mine).  The 351 is a good compromise motor.  Compromise in that it is much better for moving a full size truck than a stock 302, without the abysmal 8-10(OK, I put my foot in the carb A LOT, so I really get about 5) MPG you get out of the 460.  Parts won't put you in the poor house either. - Zane” 

Another email about the truck:  “I traded a PC for the exact same kind of truck a couple of years ago. It had been equipped with a headache rack, brush guard, rifle rack and fifth wheel trailer hitch. That truck was damn near indestructible.  The only thing was the exterior had been painted with a roller brush and white flat latex paint. Easy to touch up though. Since my son arrived though it wasn't the best choice for a family vehicle, so I gave it to my dad who uses it to ram dead trees into his bonfire pit and let the kids ride around in the back with hay bales as a treat. - JRS”

Okay – you guys are making me want this truck even more!  I’m trying to swing it… I just have to be patient.  I’m also thinking I want a topper shell too.  When I was growing up, that was what an SUV was.  Kids, gear, dogs, everything was in the back of a pickup with a topper.  That’s how I always went camping…  Hell, even my DAD, “Mr. German Sedan or it’s crap” had a pickup with a topper.  I’ve never had one.  Seriously… never had.  Crazy, huh? 

Email about Romeo and Juliet:  “I read your post on The Guns in the Matrix and loved it. I was wondering if you have any thing similar for the 1996 Romeo and Juliet movie. The guns and modifications are very interesting and unique. Can these items be purchased or are they all custom items? Examples include the Virgin Mary pistol grips, family seal magazine lock plate, and see-thru magazine. I thoroughly enjoy the website, thanks for your time. Sincerely, Christopher”  Thanks for the email, Christopher.  These guns were designed by the costume mistress...  The grips were just painted, and the family crests were made on little pendants that they "Hot Glued" onto the mag base-plates.  These are not things you would want on your own gun such as they are.   See thru mags - you can cut windows into your mags, but this is less than ideal as your spare mags will catch all sorts of gunk in them... Not cool.  If you want the grips, get some wood ones, polish them smooth, and have an artist do his thing on them... then paint over it in a clear acrylic.  That would work.  But no, there is no ordering R&J grips and accessories.  Thank heavens.

Some more fun for today:  Lord of the Rings mixed with cars over at Something Awful. 

Jan 19th, Monday, 2004: Noonish:  Last week I was feeling pretty ill… all week long.  Woke up this morning feeling like a million bucks.  So right now I’m sitting here sipping a cherry coke, eating some red grapes, feeling great, and listening to Rush Limbaugh on the radio.  Sun is shining, birds are singing, boys are being just awesome… They are all home for the day thanks to a day off from school for Saint Martin Luther’s Day.  Or is it Martin Luther King?  Whatever.

Japan’s military is now in Iraq on it’s first deployment since Godzilla’s last attack in 2000.  They are very excited about this.  The chance to train and fight against conventional enemy forces and not some giant mutated creature is a rare event, evidently. Good luck, Gundams.

Ogre likes Strongbad.  Have you seen Strongbad? I think they can be pretty funny.

John Kerry is now selling all his home’s artwork to help pay for his run.  Here is an idea, Kerry… use Ebay.  You could get some huge numbers, free publicity, and some hype.   It would be a better stunt for you than riding a motorcycle for fifteen feet.

Now this is weird.  3 liters a day?  Holy cow.

Not much to post about today.  Go have a fun.

Jan 18th, Sunday, 2004:  1730hrs:  “Don't be shocked by tone of my voice.  Check out my new weapon, weapon of choice.” – Fatboy Slim.

Walter Cronkite is a dimwit.  He says that carmakers need to make cars designed specifically for old people.  He says that in order to keep old people from driving their overpowered panzerwagons through the local sandwich shop, such cars need to have a top speed of no more than 20 MPH.  He says that they need to have Gas and Brake pedals that are “Clearly Marked” to avoid “Confusion”.   Uh, Walter… the traditional pattern for vehicle control pedals is that the gas pedal is on the far right and the break is the big one right there in the middle.  How in the hell is this even conceivably confusing – even to an old person who has been driving with this pattern for the better part of a Century?   Did Detroit suddenly switch this around recently?   I’m trying to remember the last time I actually LOOKED at my gas and brake peddles when driving… I don’t think I EVER have.  Is this something old people do?  Walter, let me put it to you this way… If old people can’t handle the way it is now – having been unchanged for almost a hundred years – THEN THEY SHOULDN’T BE DRIVING ANY VEHICLE AT ALL!   Look, Walter… Maybe I am a bit angry with you when you started your remarks with “No one needs a car that can go Zero to Sixty in 8 seconds.”   You made me angry because I need a car that can do that… and do it quicker.  You don’t get to tell ME what I need or don’t need.  Not even my Dad can tell me that when it comes to Cars… He told me I don’t need ALL Wheel Drive either.  Then again he lives out there is the soft and gentile Virginian countryside, while I live out here in frozen-hell-wastelands of Utah.  (I lost a bet)  Maybe he doesn’t need AWD, but I sure as hell do!  Walter, maybe YOU don’t need a car that goes over 20MPH, but if I want to make it to Salt Lake City, I need a top speed well over 120… because I don’t have all damn day doing the Horse and Buggy thing.  I’m Mormon, not Amish… and this Mormon drives like a bat out of hell outside of city limits.  There is good news for you, Walter.  Such a vehicle as what you describe is already made, and are even very affordable and rather common place.  They don’t go over 20MPH and they are so simple, there is only 1 peddle to worry about… It’s called a “Golf-Cart”.   With these, there is no danger of driving through a crowded bus stop with an out of control vehicle.  Fair warning though,  if you get on the freeway and get in the fast lane in front of me – you are going to end up under the tires of my Panzerwagon!  

Speaking of Panzerwagons… I am working on the acquisition of an 81 Ford pickup with a short stepside bed, 351 V-8, “dried blood red” paint, and new tires on cool wheels all the way around.  It is in EMMACUTATE condition other than some paint fade.  Even the bed is in great shape.  I saw this truck and instantly fell in love with it – the front end of this style Ford truck just roars “Brutality”.  I want this truck.  Mrs. Ogre even admits that not only is it a good fit for me, but “Ranger will look good in the back of this”.   Yes, yes he would.   I want this truck.   Price is so low, it’s shocking.  I hope I can muster the coin before someone else takes notice of this gem.

Two emails today about the Beretta Elite II for CCW.  I'd have no problem rolling with an Elite II.  But it IS a touch large for a regular CCW piece.  But if you can do it... Roll with it.  Outstanding gun.  The Beretta 92 is already an outstanding and well designed gun... the Elite II is just further refinements.... only making it better.   Go for it. 

Regarding Politician Asshats… Politicians who fear the Constitution should be tarred and feathered the old fashioned way, like the did in the 1800's... and then hog-tied and thrown bodily onto the nearest train leaving the state.  They used to do that to bad politicians... I don't know why this practice was stopped.

Mozilla 1.6 is installed.  Can it be that everything somehow looks better now?  It kinda does.  Cleaner.  Maybe not.  Not sure what improvements I have… but I am liking the email client better than I was before.  Seems a lot faster and the spam filtering is more accurate too.  I give it a thumbs up.

Jan 17th, Saturday, 2004: 1600hrs:  A Fifty Caliber 1911?  It’s true.  Brothers and Sisters… Something wicked this way comes.  Oh my… that is impressive.  If all the 1911 makes start making guns in this caliber, and other guys that have .45ACP carbines were to offer .50GI versions… I think it could really take off.  Especially if the guns start selling and Winchester puts out a bulk pack for the ammo… *sigh*.  Not holding my breath… I’m still waiting for bulk packs of .380, .357 SIG, and .38 Special…   So basically this will end up in the same realm as the .38Casull… really cool… but I am not buying one.  I’m wondering what the ballistics for the cartridge are.  You are probably looking at a 250 grain slug at just under 900FPS.  Impressive ballistics for a personal defense cartridge, but I’m not seeing the advantage of this over the .45ACP in terms of practical application.

Taurus has a new gun out now called the 24/7.  My first impressions have been rather dry when it comes to this gun, but I have to admit the more I look at it, the more I like it.  I had the chance to examine one today and it’s good.  Very good.  I looks better than the new Browning Pro-9 pieces of shiat, and it feels better in the hand.  The sights are pretty good too.  The trigger felt great too, surprisingly so.   I especially like the way the gun indexed for me… good “fit” bio-mechanically speaking.  The cat behind the gun counter was a slack jawed part timer who should have been outside sweeping the highway… so he was unable to answer ANY questions. (Including, “what time is it?”) My overall impression is very positive.  I thanked the sap and took an ad copy.

The advertisement is almost as interesting as the gun.  It has a list of “Features” and the #1 feature is a “Flared Bushingless Barrel”.  I suppose this is different from all the other guns Taurus makes with bushings?  Another one is a “One Piece Guide Rod”, again to differentiate this guide rod from all the other Tauri guns with two pieces… As odd as that feature is, the one that gets me is “Tuned Ejector and Lowered Ejection Port”.  This of course is much better than all the other version of the 24/7 without lowered ports?  I assume those would be the Mil-Spec 24/7’s?  Is it just me, or do these features sound familiar?  You know, if I didn’t know any better, I would say that Taurus is trying to evoke a custom 1911 vibe here.  Interesting... very interesting. 

It’s other features are actually very good… user changeable sights, loaded chamber indicator, picatinny rail (instead of some lame generic rail that few things fit on) and low profile mag release… very nice.  I’m loving the manual safety… excellent… but what the hell are “Indexed Memory Pads”?  I can’t smack-talk them too bad on this 24/7 because unlike so many new guns that have come out lately… I actually like this one.  (The only gun company that has made new guns that I consistently like lately has been CZ with the PCR, P-01 and the 2075)   I look forward to getting a chance to fire one of these 24/7… because it looks like Taurus has just put out a Duty grade service auto on par with the best of them. 

My main questions about this gun center on the accuracy, magazine compatibility, and the long term durability.   This gun is the direct offspring of the PT-111 series and those guns (lets say it nicely) had a little problem… (They would self destruct after 600 round) but all reports have been positive of late so I would guess that Taurus has figured out how to make a polymer framed gun.  Hey, let’s be honest – it took HK some time to figure this out too… While the VP-70 wasn’t suicidal like the early Millennium Series pistols were, the VP-70 was truly one horrible piece of shit handgun.  Bad sights, bad trigger, bad balance… it was… *shudder* like a hand held nightmare.  (I owned one for about a week.  Shot it twice.  Took me a week to get rid of it because I had to wait for the gun show.)

Taurus a pretty dang good example of what a good gun company is.  They support their customers 100% and will take care of them.  Everyone with a problem Millennium got it fixed... everyone that called Taurus that is.    MSRP on these guns are a bit high… but one guy has reported a selling price of $475.  That’s not bad.  If the AWB goes away and these guns are able to be filled with full capacity… and if they are nice and accurate thanks to that “Flared Bushingless Barrel”… then these guns would be an excellent buy if they are not already.

Burn the Floor.  Holy moly!  Have you seen this?  Wow!  It’s a dance video called “Burn the Floor” and it’s pretty hot.  Mrs Ogre teaches dance, you should know this, if you didn’t, now you do.  Anyways, from time to time she reviews dance videos… and she brought home this one.  It’s just nuts impressive how luscious yummy delicious sexy wonderfully stacked built shaped performed these dancer-chicks performers numbers are.  The dancers are all dropdeadgorgeous great and the choreography is actually excellent… but some of the numbers… *dayum*  I can’t say any more for fear Mrs. Ogre will cut my tongue out.

Jan 16th, Friday, 2004:  1000hrs:  The US Army will soon (within 5 years?) be replacing the M-16, finally, with the M-8.  This is a good move.  This is a very good move.  HK’s website has some good information on the XM-8.  They are saying it’s to replace the M-4 Carbine, but since the M-4 is what most troopers are packing these days, you can go ahead and say goodbye M-16.  About damn time too!  I just hope that before this switch is made, they roll it out in the new 6.8 caliber.  Here is some more good news about it… if the AWB dies – We civilians can get one too!  WOO HOO!

X-men Team has the first candidate.  Crazy. 

Excuse me while I laugh my ass off… Clark only has a 3% vote?  That’s frickin hilarious.  Even the Democrats think he is full of shit.  Sells the war to congress, and then tells people he has consistently been against it.  See, this is the problem with most of the Democratic Politicos… they really and truly think Americans are stupid.  The problem is that they are mostly correct.  Sad isn’t it?  Because even if they don’t like Clark now – should he some how get the nomination – all the sudden he will be the best American since George Washington.  They will be behind him 150% and have all sorts of excuses for him.  Just like Bill Clinton, when no one wanted him during the primaries.

Great rant came in that I have to put up:  “WHAT?  Wes Clark was FOR THE WAR?  Ahhhh yes. Revisionist History. Yet another mighty sword to be brandished by the idiotarian lapdogs. They usually keep it right next to Political Correctness. I would guess the little tubes that carried the "outdated and now, incorrect" information down to the incinerators in Orwell's 1984 are not far off. Memories are short I suppose.  Rant here...  Mars is a fantastic example of short memories while I'm bringing that up. Is the new rover going to tell us anything significantly different than the last (Pathfinder) rover? Anything much better than the Viking 1 or 2 probes? Maybe something Mariners 4, 6, 7, and 9 missed? Yet you, and I, and every other tax-paying and productive member of society gets to pay for NASA to hurl an over-glorified, over-engineered, and over-priced REMOTE CONTROL TRUCK freakin millions of miles across the solar system and MAYBE have a chance that it will survive the landing. That cost per kilo happens to be $10k by the way.  Now we get to also pay for Mars Express, 2001 Mars Odyssey, and Mars Global Surveyor?  I'm gonna go out on a limb here and state that between the lost Mariners, Mars Observer, Climate Orbiter, Polar Lander and the successful(?) Vikings, Pathfinder, and this new rover surveyor we will have deposited enough material to establish a base on Mars with minimal effort once we get people there. All they are going to have to do is walk around and gather up the scraps. Throw in some Japanese scrap, among others, and we could have a workable station in no time. I think I'd bring some Duct Tape and a lot of welding rods on that mission, however.  I liked the old way NASA did business. Throw out some specs and wait for bids and prototypes. Capitalism handled the rest. Now, its like you said. "NASA overlooks and scoffs at all new ideas that doesn't come from within". NASA has an 85 billion dollar budget over the next 5 years if I remember right. Undoubtedly, much of this will go to R&D, and the retrofitting of children’s toys intended for interplanetary exploration.   Oh the shit I could do with $85,000,000,000.00 – Chase”

Yesterday was miserable.  I was so sick I couldn’t stand it.  On top of a category 5 migraine headache and a sore throat, I just couldn’t get warm.  I was wearing more layers than Judd Nelson in “Making the Grade” while feeling like Kurt Russell at the end of “The Thing”.  Well, I’m feeling much better today, thank you.  Still a bit groggy, but a world better than yesterday.  Speaking of yesterday, last night I was flipping through the TV channels (I really don’t watch TV very often, seriously I don’t) and I saw my Mother In Law so I stopped.  I didn’t know who this person was, obviously she wasn’t my mother in law, but looked like it.  She had a talk show of some sort and someone in the audience asked her a question.  “How do you feel about Rush Limbaugh’s rehab after your son’s?”  Or something like that.  The lady said “Oh I’m glad it happened!  Rush is a hypocrite blah blah blah… I’m very glad it happened.”  The person asking was a girl that looked just like Andre the Giant in Princess Bride, but with big glasses… and this lady that looks like mother in law is happy about Rush having chronic pain and became addicted to prescription pain killers?  What?  I was thinking “who the hell is the biatch?”  A couple seconds later I discovered that this was Sharon Osborne, wife of Ozzy.  Wait a second, Rush’s addiction stems from dependence upon legal prescription pain killers for his chronic pain… and your ugly brat, Sharon, was treated for his addiction for illegal recreational drug use – stemming from piss poor parenting, you bitch.  There is a huge difference and if you can’t see that… well… obviously this lady is just as burnt out as her husband… she can just speak coherently, some how.   I turned the TV off… I’m not missing much by not watching.  I have a couple channels that I like, and of course that I don’t have.   The Discovery channels, Sci-Fi, and Fox News...  It seems everything else is just total shit.   BTW, my mother in law is much prettier than Sharon.

Mozilla 1.6 is out.  I’m a dedicated 1.5 user… and I think it kicks Internet Explorer’s butt.  But I am not seeing any real solid reasons to go up to 1.6.  They say 1.6 has a lot of bug fixes, but I’ve found no bugs to worry about.  So unless there is a good reason to use it, I’m sticking to 1.5 and I’m perfectly satisfied in doing so.

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