And a Thirty Aught Six

So it's been a year...

2007-10-31T16:58:00.000-04:00

And I haven't posted squat. Oh well. I saw something too funny not to post. It's the quote of the #TIMEINTERVAL:

As a matter of historical fact however, Yamamoto was dead before the plane went down. I believe the Japanese report was that he was struck by at least one 50 caliber slug in the strafing run prior to the crash.

Ouch. Hard to catch a .50 round and not snuff it. Another reason John Browning kicks Mitt Romney's butt in the "my favorite Mormon" contest.

By a commenter over at Volokh's place, in a discussion about the scene in Cryptonomicon about the raid on Yamamato's aircraft.

My Shame Slightly Reduced

2006-09-21T15:42:00.000-04:00

I said here that I didn't have a gun chambered in 7.62x39. Well, I fixed that last weekend. On the way back from some squirrel hunting/scouting for deer season, I stopped by my favorite gun store, Guns and Ammo Warehouse (their website seems to have died). First, I drooled all over their 1911s, especially the mucho-expensive Wilsons, then noticed an SKS for $115. It was a little rough, but by the time you pay for shipping from somewhere like Aim Surplus, the price is tough to beat. However, the chamber had some rust in it, and the bore was pretty ugly. So, my wallet went back in my pocket. However, they had another one in back. So, I took a look. The previous owner scratched his initials in the stock, at least, that's what I assume the letters are. But the rifling is good, and the metal, especially internally, was in great shape. My wallet then cursed the friendly sales-guy, and I ended up with a 7.62x39 rifle, finally. Now I just have to find time to get to the range, if I ever get all the cosmoline out. But with hunting season coming up, I've still got to settle on a .30-06 load. I'm thinking 54gr 760 behind a 165gr soft point. (Note: I wrote that load from memory. It is, if I remembed the numbers correctly, safe in my gun. It's probably safe in yours (it's at the low end), but it isn't necessarily safe in your gun. Check a manual, blah, blah...) And then I have to get the rifle zeroed for the load I end up with. Also, I could stand to get a little more practice with my new bow before the season starts up in a couple weeks. So, plinking away with a new toy doesn't have quite the little-kid like urgency it would usually have.

Snakes In A Theater

2006-08-23T20:43:00.000-04:00

No, really.

About that lever gun...

2006-08-21T10:25:00.000-04:00

I really need* a lever gun. I went to the range on Saturday with my wife to sight in "her" 7x57 mauser and so she could shoot it a little to practice. Also, I wanted to put a scope on my somewhat-newly glass bedded '06 mauser and try out some 165gr loads. Oh, and I had a new toy (a really cheapie 1911) to try out. All went well, my wife kept all her shots at 100 yards on the black (about 6") shooting off the bench and sitting. And at 50 yards, kept all (but one--about a quarter inch off) of them in the black (same target size). So, she's in good shape for deer season. Oh, did I mention my wife wants to come hunting with me this year? I love my wife.

So, as we're about to leave, a guy sets up on the bench next to us with two of his relatives from England, so, naturally, he takes them to the range. I offer my 1911 (with a .22 conversion kit on it) for them to try. They loved it. Then they shot a few of the guy's lever guns: a Henry and a Browning Lever Rifle in .358 Win. Then the guy let me shoot his guns. They were tons of fun. Oh, and I got to shoot a S&W .44 mountain gun and a 9mm Sig (I can't remember the Sig model numbers).

Did I mention I need to get a lever gun? The Browning felt great and is beautiful. But it really needs a tube magazine. It just doesn't quite look right without it.

Anyway, to cut off my rambling, if you don't have a lever rifle, you really need one. The .22s are lots more fun than a semi-auto or a bolt gun. Although, my CZ 452 isn't going anywhere. The bigger ones (e.g., .30-30, .35Rem, .358Win, .444, etc.) make great hunting rifles. I'll be getting one (not sure what yet) just as soon as ye ol' wallet can handle it.

On a side note, if you want to develop a flinch, I can think of no better way than to shoot some light 120gr 7x57 loads through your wife's rifle with a nice butt-pad and (amazing) timney trigger. Then switch to some mid-power 165gr .30-06 loads in your mauser with a rock-hard (wooden?) butt plate and terrible original military trigger.

*okay, really, really, really want.

My shame...

2006-08-15T12:57:00.000-04:00

I don't have a gun chambered in 7.62x39. Or a lever gun.

Jay G in comments over here:

No lever gun or SKS/AK? Hie thee to the gun shop, post-haste, lest Baby Vulcan spit up on you. ;)

Yeah, I know. But I just bought a new bow for deer season (if this one place works out, I can bow hunt from 17 Sep - 31 Mar this year--with basically no season bag limit), and I've got my eye on a CMP Garand. (Yes, I know, my name, and I don't have a Garand...) And this summer I bought THREE deer rifles. All mausers, two .30-06 and a 7x57--total cost, about $400ish. :) So a .30-30 is a little farther down the list, although it'd be about perfect for a deer gun out here. And, and, and... excuses, excuses.

That's my problem, yeah, my list of guns I want is way too long.
Garand!
SKS
AK (x as many variants as I can get)
AR (x as many types I can get)
Lever gun in .30-30
lever gun in .357 or .44Mag
SMLE
'03 Springfield
"nice" 1911 (to go with my Springfield GI, P12-45 and the cheap beater I got)
NAA mini revolver
KelTec P3AT
A modern bolt-action. One that I don't have to fuss with to get to shoot well--Don't get me wrong, I love fussing with old rifles, but it'd be nice to have one that I didn't have to mess with.
A CZ side-by-side shotgun for my wife ,probably in 20ga -- they're "cute"
A CZ S/S or O/U, leaning toward O/U for me
T/C Encore
A certain custom gun from a certain custom gunmaker that I'm not telling you about until I actually have it--lest y'all go and buy it first. :)

Now, I sure don't need most (heck, I don't really need any of the above guns--maybe the shotguns for clay games, I've got a hole in the collection there) of those guns; I'm quite pleased with the ones I've got at home. But there are just so many niches that I like. Someday, maybe, I'll focus on one category that particularly interests me. Right now, however, that category is "things that go bang."

And into the political

2006-08-11T10:29:00.000-04:00

With my whopping 7 hits per day, I'll join in this pledge:

Any organization* that wants to run a political ad criticizing any politician in that window can do so here. Not only will I run the ad free, I’ll do a post on the ad on the front page.

*I reserve the right to nix organizations that don't pass the smell test, e.g.**, NAMBLA.

Seen at Uncle's.

**i.e., for example. (Sorry Uncle, I couldn't resist)

Oh, and I've got a couple of new guns to post pictures of (and some old ones, too) so, if I ever get off my lazy but and start posting instead of just reading other people's blogs and wasting their bandwith by commenting, you might get to see them.

I didn't know a .22 could do that...

2006-07-26T19:26:00.000-04:00

Certainly not a .22 with me at the trigger... I was at the range today testing some 7x57 loads. (My mauser does not like Remington Core-Lokt) While I was there, I played around with a 1911 and .22 conversion kit. Shortly before I left, I took out this:

A CZ-452. This model is the "trainer," I believe. Basically, it's the same rifle as the Lux (with the hogsback stock) but with beechwood (If I remember correctly) instead of walnut. The rifle cost me about $200 new (about $150-$200 less than the Lux) a little over two years ago. I've never heard anyone say anything bad about the CZs. I didn't have much time before the cease-fire was called, so I only shot four rounds at 100 yards. The scope was last zeroed with a different loading at 25 yards. The group was shot off a rest with some high-velocity .22LR. (Zapper is the name, I believe) It's only four shots, but well, here it is. Remember, it's at 100 yards with a .22LR:

Did I mention I really like this rifle? That's a .72" group (center to center). If you're in the market for a .22 rifle, you could do a whole heck of a lot worse than this one, and not all that much better.

I'm alive

2006-07-19T17:20:00.000-04:00

I'm still here... just haven't been doing much in the way of posting. Plenty of commenting on other blogs, but no posting. However, in the unlikely event you read this, but not the Geek, here's a great post. Be sure to read the comments. Remember, when it comes to being a traditionalist, there's always someone more of a luddite than you are.

Build something idiot proof...

2006-05-19T21:40:00.000-04:00

...and they'll just build a better idiot. I am that better idiot. Mixing glass bedding epoxy consists of mixing a resin and a hardener. Simple. Sometimes a 4:1 ratio, but this is one of the "idiot proof" ones that uses a 1:1 ratio. But, being that better idiot, I put the measure of hardener in the mixing tub, then opened the resin container to add that one. Then, I put it down to make sure the measuring spoon was clean. Then I picked up the hardner again. Since I haveWell, as they say, build something idiot proof, and they'll just build a better idiot. I am that better idiot. n't done this before, I didn't think anything of the fact that the "resin" looked a heck of a lot like the hardener. So, then I mixed it a while, added the micro balloons, and put it in the stock. Then I set it aside overnight. In the morning, I twisted the guard screws to make sure they weren't stuck, they weren't. Then I started playing with the left over. And got a little worried that the epoxy hadn't hardened overnight in the open tub.

Anyway, I just spent quite a while cleaning the hardener and balloons out the stock and remixing it properly. I hope it works.

I'll have to take some pictures of the process next time.

Oh well, the rifle only cost $100, so, if I dork it up, I'll be bummed, but it's not exactly a family heirloom.

W.E.C.S.O.G, here I come!

2006-05-16T13:32:00.000-04:00

I noticed in disassembling the new mauser that the recoil lug is either missing, or the stock has the cut for the recoil lug shaped for a different rifle. The lug doesn't touch wood. So, I guess this would be as good a time as any to glass bed the rifle. And, while I'm at it, to install one of the Timney triggers with the safety. Midway had them on sale for $65. However, the package won't arrive until next week, when I'll be away on a business trip. So, when I get back, I'll have to post about how it works out. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm a little aprehensive about bedding an action that has the guard screws screw into the recoil lug. It seems like that creates all sorts of new ways to screw up.

The new rifle

2006-05-13T22:36:00.000-04:00

Guns and Ammo Warehouse in Manassas, VA is an excellent gun shop. One of my favorite things about it (other than the loads of 1911s, probably about 40+ on display at any given time, and about 20 are some very nice Wilsons, and the free coffee/cokes/donuts, and the nice selection of used rifles) is the "bid wall." The bid wall is a silent auction (think Ebay) where folks put up guns for sale, but one condition of selling is that the starting price has to be pretty good. (I think they use the rule of thumb of less than 2/3 the price of a new one.) Every Saturday at 5, they close the bidwall, and whoever's the high bidder at that point, buys the gun at that price. I make a habit of swinging by there most Saturdays to check out what's for sale, this week I found a mauser that looked like it was one of the same lot of Czech VZ-24 mausers that my two .30-06s came from. The opening price on the bid wall was $100, so I bid, and ended up as the high bidder. The barrel on this one is much shorter and lighter than the aught sixes, and it's chambered in 7mm mauser. I'm not quite sure where the barrel comes from, it's not so much contoured as stepped. Now I'll have to mount a scope and see how she shoots. Watch out bambi.

Meet Anastasia

2006-05-13T22:15:00.000-04:00

Anastasia is a New England Westinghouse manufactured Mosin Nagant M1891, dated 1915. (Although I've heard that all Westinghouse M1891s are marked 1915, even those made in 1916 or 1917) During World War I, Remington and Westinghouse manufactured the rifles under contract for Czar Nicholas II. Not all of the rifles were delivered to Russia after the Russian revolution, and many of them were delivered to the US Government and rebarreled to .30-06. Anastasia, however, did make her way to Russia. At some point, the Finns got their hands on her, (probably captured during or before the Winter War) and put the tiger-striped stock on her, crossed out the old sight markings measured in arshins, and stamped SA (Finnish Army) and a few other proof marks on the receiver. The picture really doesn't do the stock justice, it's in perfect shape, hardly a ding anywhere. The rifle's a few inches longer than the M91/30, and noticeably heavier. Shooting this rifle has less felt recoil than shooting another of my Mosins with a slip on recoil pad. Oh, and I bought the rifle for $150 from an otherwise overpriced store. They usually sold ordinary mosins for at least that much.

Anastasia was made in America, shipped to Russia, captured by the Finns, and eventually returned home, named for an emporer's daughter who was rumored to have survived execution, showing up in various places around the world.

Ground Control to Major Tom...

2006-05-13T19:14:00.000-04:00

I'm here... somewhat. I just picked up another one of the Mauser's friends. This one has the same stock and action, but with a different (and much shorter and lighter) barrel and is in 7x57, a.k.a., 7mm Mauser. So, now I have to buy another set of dies, more brass, probably some new powders, and a new diameter of bullets. Awww, shucks. I'm hoping I can find a load that works, with a decent hunting bullet in the 120gr range, that's moving under 2500 fps or so. I figure that'd make a nice deer rifle if my wife decides to come hunting with me this year. Any advice for bullets that would work well at this speed, or loads that would get me there would be greatly appreciated.

Pictures to follow. And you won't believe the price I paid. Also, pictures of the Westinghouse M1891 are also coming. I'll probably take the pictures tonight and post them shortly.

Just a piece of friendly advice

2006-05-06T15:28:00.000-04:00

You know how every political scandal gets "-gate" affixed to it? Well, if you're a politician who's going to do something shady/illegal/immoral/unethical please make sure that it in no way involves "gate" or "water". Don't be like Hillary and make shady deals in the Whitewater Development Corp., ("Whitewater-gate" writes itself) Don't be Richard Nixon. And, if you're going to procure bribes and hookers to a congressman, do not, under any circumstances, do it at a little hotel called the Watergate. Please. Thatisall.

How cool is this?

2006-05-03T19:07:00.000-04:00

I'm the #2 result for "Ain't many troubles that a man can't fix, with seven-hundred dollars and a 30-06" on google. Oh, and #1 is, of course, Jeff Cooper's Commentaries.

And more fun from the referral logs: Georgia defines a machine gun as "any weapon which shoots or is designed to shoot, automatically, more than six shots, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger." So, I guess that means Dr. Strangegun might be able to build his automatic revolver in Georgia and not run afoul of Georgia law. He'd end up making some new friends at the ATF, but Georgia wouldn't mind.

Picture, pictures

2006-05-03T13:01:00.000-04:00

Continuing the theme of bandwidth doesn't cost me anything...

I missed the Cherry Blossoms this year, but here's a picture from there last year of a rather plump duck. (I had just gotten a quasi-macro lens, so I had to play with it)

Next up is a picture of the folks who run the bed and breakfast my wife and I stayed at for a good portion of our honeymoon in Montana. They run Elijah's Rest in Laurin (pronounced "Luray" with the accent wherever you darn well want to put it), near Virginia City, the local army surplus store, he's on the search and rescue squad--he got a call while we were there and borrowed my little GPS unit-- and he's the local pastor. The picture is of the two of them immediately after church. The tent is the church. And yes, he does dress like that for church. If you look carefully, you can see his holster and belt. The cartridges are real (they're his bear loads) but the gun is a pellet gun, at least when he goes to church. Sorry for the poor picture, it was bright and sunny out, and the background is blinding white... it's the best I could do.

This next one is from "North America's only bed and breakfast and wolf sanctuary" err... in the wild, yeah... that's it...

The last picture is of Jackson lake my wife took on our honeymoon.

Shooting helps with shooting

2006-05-03T12:35:00.000-04:00

The picture below is one of my favorites that I've taken with my digital camera. It's of the inside of Hoover Dam, of the Nevada side turbines. It's an 18mm lens, (an 18-70mm, zoomed all the way out) at 1/10 second, hand held. I'm pretty pround of the picture, too. It's got a little blur to it, but considering it's at 1/10 of a second, shot "offhand," I'm pleased. My aunt (a rather gifted photographer) didn't believe I could take a picture like that without a tripod. I explained it was from shooting rifles, and since she doesn't really like guns (she's become quite the Manhattanite), the conversation ended there.

To help with holding your camera steady, practice offhand with a rifle. Anyway, without further ado, here's the picture (click for ginormous size):

And, because I'm not paying for bandwidth, here's a picture my aunt took that I rather like:

Oh, a photography/shooting story involving my aunt: When I was a little kid (probably four--that's how old I am in all my aunt's stories about me), I, well, resembled Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes. I was talking to my aunt about hunting, or something like that, and she said that she likes to shoot animals, too. But she used a camera. I replied very matter-of-factly, "but that's not as good."

Operator headspace error

2006-04-29T16:38:00.000-04:00

I went to the Chantilly gun show today. I had planned to look for a .357 revolver or a pump 12 gauge with my buddy (he's not sure which he wants to buy first) and to try to sell the fraternal twin (slightly lighter wood color) of the mauser pictured a few posts below. Well, my buddy had a little run-in with a mexican food place last night and, well, the details aren't important, but let's just say he wasn't going to be very far from the toilet. So, I go to the show to sell the mauser. No takers. Well, one dealer was really interested, but he wanted to trade some of his knives and assorted crap and a little cash for it. I didn't need or want any of his assorted crap. He had a few decent hunting knives, but I'm all set on that front and would prefer the cash. So, I haven't sold it yet. I'm thinking I might just end up hanging on to two almost identical .30-06 mausers. My life is so hard.

Then, as I'm walking out, I see a guy selling lots of old black powder revolvers and rifles and go over to drool on the merchandise. On his table, quite out of place, I might add, are the headspace and timing gauges for an M2. (You know, the .50 caliber machine gun... designed by John Moses Browning himself) A little background: My boss is an old artillery officer who has two responses he uses whenever someone makes a stupid mistake: "Life's tough; it's tougher when you're stupid" (from The Flying Leathernecks) and "operator headspace error." An "operator headspace error" (or operator/user headspace and timing error) is the result of incorrectly adjusting the headspace and/or timing on a gun like the M2. Depending on the adjustment, the gun will either fire normally (fully automatically), fire semi-automatically, not fire, or blow up. So, that's where the phrase comes from, and blaming the error on "operator headspace" just sounds funnier than "user error."

I managed to buy the gauges pretty cheap, put them in my pocket, continue walking out, and drive home. However, now that I'm home, I can't find the gauges. Dagnabbit. They would been quite a laugh at the office. Oh well.

I did end up with 1000 150gr .308" bullets (FMJ, boat tailed, too) for $50 and 500 pieces of primed .30-06 brass for $40. And I picked up some dies, too. So, all told, not a bad show. And I've still got more than half the weekend left.

(Note: first paragraph edited for clarity and a few typos. I really need to proofread before I hit "publish.")

I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue...

2006-04-29T08:42:00.000-04:00

I have lousy timing. I start my blog, then immediately head out for an almost two week business trip. So, I haven't posted in a few days. (I'm off to a great start, huh?) I'm back now, and about to head off to day 2 of the Chantilly gun show. Posting to follow.

Gas problems that aren't caused by beans for $200, Alex.

2006-04-25T10:03:00.000-04:00

Jay Tea, over at Wizbang, discusses the current increases in gas prices. In it he expresses his wish that the oil traders (speculators), who neither consume nor produce oil but rather just buy and sell, take one in the shorts for driving up prices.

I left the following comment there (a couple of typos fixed from original comment):

Speculators perform a valuable service: They incur risk that other market participants don't want to bear. Many companies not in the oil/gas industry have oil or natural gas as a large portion of their costs. They want to have some kind of assurance that if the price spikes, they don't go out of business. So, they buy futures, often from speculators who bear the risk (I'll deliver X barrels of oil to you in Y months at Z price, regardless of the market price in Y months.) The company reduces its risk, and the speculator expects to make a profit. Both players in the market get something they want: the speculator a chance at a profit, the company reduces risk.

Full disclosure: I once worked at a division of a power company (electricity generation) that bought coal and sold electricity on (relatively) open markets in large part on the futures markets. Such markets would not exist without these speculators.

I don't mean to imply that there would be no long-term contracts without speculators. Rather, the market is more liquid with them and sellers and buyers are offered more choices in their methods to reduce their risk.

For interesting reading that I don't have the time to comment on: That 70s energy policy, a few articles from Tech Central Station on proposed oil policies that were tried in the 70s, and the effects of those polices.

Google has found me!

2006-04-25T10:01:00.000-04:00

I for one welcome our new search engine overlords. I'm number 5 on google for: crosswind effect magnus. I hope the searcher from Florida found what he wanted to know about the Magnus effect.

Ahh... blogger

2006-04-24T11:48:00.000-04:00

Well, I think I've already discovered why so many folks hate blogger.

Testing to see if a post will go through...

An old gun..

2006-04-23T20:53:00.000-04:00

I had mentioned the Mosin Nagant in "the poor man's .30-06" earlier, and I intended to post a picture of one of my Mosins. However, the rifle I want to post about is a New England Westinghouse manufactured M1891 that was captured by the Finns, and I don't have a picture of the receiver stampings. So, I'll save that one for later. It'll be worth it, I promise.

Instead, let me present Edward Mueller's (I probably butchered the spelling) battle rifle:

It's a Schmidt Ruben k31 in 7.5x55 Swiss. The k31 is a straight-pull bolt action rifle. Instead of a normal turn bolt-- where the bolt handle is turned up, then pulled to the rear, pushed forward, then turned down to lock--the k31 bolt is simply pulled to the rear, then pushed forward. It cycles extremely quickly for a manual-action rifle. The craftsmanship is remarkable. It's got the best trigger I've ever tried on a military rifle. Since the Swiss never manufactured corrosive ammunition in 7.5swiss, the bores tend to be in great shape. Additionally, the Swiss army practices --most Swiss men must qualify with their rifles annually, giving them an incentive to keep them in good working order-- also help to keep the rifles in good shape.

Many k31 owners put a small card with their name and address on it under the butt plate, as mine did. This one was owned by an Edward Mueller, and when I get a chance, I plan on sending the man (or his family) a letter to thank him for keeping such good care of it.

For about 100 bucks you'd be hard pressed to find a better rifle.

(I'm posting this now without proof reading for time reasons. So, forgive the typos or sentences that don't make any sense. I'll fix them later. Edit: fixed typo in first sentence under the picture.)

The origin of this blog's title...

2006-04-23T20:46:00.000-04:00

...comes from Jeff Cooper's commentaries. His son-in-law is the one who coined the phrase:

When our daughter Lindy married Joe Wisdom he brought to the alliance among other things six hundred dollars in hard cash and an old sporterized 1903 rifle. A phrase slipped out of the woodwork and into my ear that might fit into a Country Western-type ballad. To wit:
"Ain't many troubles that a man cain't fix with six hundred dollars and a 30-06."
Since the saying needs another syllable in order to make it bounce properly, I raised the six to seven and thought we might use it to start off something that Johnnie Cash might sing..

His daughter also added a poem based around the line.

Obscure ballistics force of the day...

2006-04-21T09:25:00.000-04:00

In external ballistics a number of forces act on bullet flight, making for a royally nasty set of differential equations to solve. The basics, such as gravity and aerodynamic drag (including crosswinds), are conceptually pretty straightforward. One that I find interesting for some strange reason is the Magnus effect. The magnus effect is what makes curve balls curve. Topspin on a ball makes it fall faster than it otherwise would (provides "lift" downward), backspin makes it fall more slowly than it otherwise would (provides "lift" upward).

Things get interesting when dealing with bullets. Since they spin around the axis of travel, the aerodynamic forces caused by the spin cancel each other out. However, add in a crosswind, and things get interesting.

Take your standard bullet fired from a right-hand twist barrel. (Imagine a barrel, take your right thumb, point it along the direction of your imaginary barrel, and curl your fingers toward your palm. The bullet, which is traveling in the direction of your thumb, spins in the direction your fingers curl.) Looking from behind the bullet, the spin appears clockwise. (The right side is moving down, the left side is moving up.)

Now, add in a cross wind coming from the right.

The wind hitting the bullet from the right sees topspin. The right side of the bullet is spinning down, creating "lift" to push the bullet downwards. (like a curveball) This causes the bullet to fall faster than it otherwise would, causing the bullet to hit the target lower than it otherwise would.

A wind from the left sees the bullet as having backspin, which has the opposite effect. The spin creates lift, and the bullet falls more slowly than it otherwise would, causing the bullet to hit the target higher.

The magnus effect on a normal bullet is small, small enough that it is almost always disregarded in small arms ballistic calculations, (Field artillery is another mater.) but, for some horribly geeky reason, I find it rather interesting.

Meet the FNG

2006-04-20T12:23:00.000-04:00

Since I'm not the FNG (Friendly New Guy) anymore, meet the new guy: Reason. A self-described "Christian libertarian." I thought I was the only one. And he's showing me up. Seven posts in less than 24 hours.

He hits on a pet peeve of mine. Words mean things. Irregardless, Could care less, i.e./e.g., will/shall, while/whereas, alot, me/myself/I, etc. I forsee a rant coming...

Okay, short rant. Two sentences:

Bob likes golf more than she.
Bob likes golf more than her.

Any difference? Actually, yes. Both sentences leave off words.

Bob likes golf more than she does. (or "...than she likes golf.)
Bob likes golf more than he likes her.

So, in two sentences, one using the subjective case pronoun (she), one with the objective case pronoun (her), the choice of case makes meaning quite different.

An example of the other pronoun pet peeve of mine is "give the ball to myself." Folks must remember their parents and teachers telling them that it's incorrect to say "it is me." So, they don't like ending sentences with "me." But, "give the ball to I" doesn't sound right, either. So, by golly, they pick the one that's left. Myself. And don't get me started on "functionality." A nice pretty noun: function. But we want an adjective. Okay, functional. But, now we want a noun again. Rather than removing the adjective suffix, let's add another suffix to make a noun. Hmm... how about functionality? (At least it's better than functionalness, I guess.)

The joys of local news

2006-04-19T20:20:00.000-04:00

After watching 24 on Monday night my wife and I watched the first few minutes of the local Fox affiliate's 10 o'clock news. They opened with a story on two (possibly connected) crime sprees in Prince George's County, Maryland and in DC. The reporters and cops they interviewed kept mentioning that the criminals had "automatic weapons." However, in each crime they mentioned, no shots were fired. I don't know about you, but if someone were pointing an AR/AK/M14(M1A) at me, I seriously doubt I would care or could tell if the selector switch had a third setting. And, barring shots being fired, would have no way of knowing if it were automatic or not. But, the guns probably looked scawwy so that made them automatics.

Then, they started talking about the crimes in DC. The robbers had "machine guns." Not "assualt weapons." Not "assault rifles." Machine guns. I had visions of someone driving around DC in an Escalade with an M2 mounted on the roof. I had to laugh.

Then, well, I remembered something about DC. In DC, any gun that can fire more thn 12 rounds semi-automatically without reloading is a "machine gun."

From § 7-2501.01:
(10) "Machine gun" means any firearm which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily converted or restored to shoot:
(A) Automatically, more than 1 shot by a single function of the trigger;
(B) Semiautomatically, more than 12 shots without manual reloading.

So, that GLOCK 17 you have? It's a machine gun. My 1911? It's a machine gun. (It's semi-auto, and they make magazines larger than 12.) Your 10/22? machine gun.

"Machine gun" they keep using that word, I do not think it means what they think it means.

Pictures, pictures!

2006-04-19T08:57:00.000-04:00

As promised, here's a picture of my as yet unnamed mauser. (My wife names our guns, not I.) Click for bigger.

And she shoots rather well. Front supported, mainly playing around, I'm quite confident this thing can shoot better than this... The shots at the bottom are a four or five shot group (looks like four, I vaguely remember five). The four at the top are adjusting the (cheap tasco) scope. I'm going to have to replace that one before this fall. (suggestions welcome)

And here's the mauser's twin:

Well, I finally had to do it...

2006-04-18T10:13:00.000-04:00

I love the .30-06. There isn't much of anything the '06 can't do. And most of those things it can't do (like cheap plinking or squirrel and rabbit hunting) can be done by a little .22LR. Sure, there are cartridges that do a particular thing better than it does; however, none has the versitility of the aught six. But the problem is, I didn't have a .30-06. Just a couple of 7.62x54R mosin nagants, the "poor man's .30-06."

I had been meaning to pick up a .30-06 some time this year, on account of the greatest cartridge's centennial. However, I planned on getting a Garand. Well, funny thing happened on Friday at the gun store. I was out running some errands, and swung by the gun store, just to check out the bid wall. (A silent auction for guns, auctions expire on Saturdays, so I have to check them out each week. Oh, and the store has free snacks)

Well, a while back they bought about 30 sporter mausers from an estate. Most were vz24s, with a few swedes thrown in. Well, I've spent the past few months drooling over them. So, this Friday, I see that all used rifles are buy one, get 10% off; buy two or more, get 25% the total. Since I went at closing, I drove home and thought about it. I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to spend the money right then, so I mentioned it to my wife. Who, instead of convincing me to save my money, suggested that I get two of 'em. So we went back first thing in the morning and bought two lovely .30-06 rifles.

So, BAG day was celebrated, as was the centennial of my favorite cartridge.

Note: first paragraph edited for clarity--I had deleted a sentence or two while writing it, and as a result it didn't make any sense.

Testing...

2006-04-17T14:02:00.000-04:00

Ain't many troubles that a man can't fix
With seven hundred dollars and a thirty aught six