Ahab likes: 1) Pistol caliber carbines, 2) Bolt action rifles.
Ahab wants: A pistol caliber carbine with a bolt action.
This gun is really cool.
I found it while cruising Gunbroker this morning; according to the auction it’s a CZ24 Mauser that was fitted with a no longer manufactured conversion kit to covert it to .45 ACP. It takes standard 1911 magazines. How cool is that?
Now to see if the budget committee (aka Mrs. Ahab) will okay the capital necessary to make the acquisition.
What should you do when your country is beset by “out of control murders” and criminals walk the streets carrying weapons and believing themselves to be “untouchable”?
Well, if you’re England, clearly the solution is to deprive your law abiding citizens of some more of their rights.
Now as a matter of “urgency,” police should carry out random and targeted stop and search to catch weapon wielding thugs backed up with the introduction of a mandatory five year prison sentence for those carrying illegal knives – the same penalty as carrying guns.
I know that we give England a pretty hard time. It is for good reason though; when we see something like this all I can see is England taking another step closer to “Your papers, citizen?” I have a friend from over the pond who oft reminds me that England never had the “gun culture” that the US has, and I agree with him.
My problem with suggestions like the ones above is that it’s not just about guns. Oh sure, right now it’s about getting guns and knives off the street, right up until the government decides that they want to get something else off the street. Since they can already stop and search you without provocation thanks to “gun and knife reduction”, the door to further search and seizures by the state is wide open.
To my reader(s) from over the pond, I have a question. I’m not entirely familiar with your legal system, however it seems to me that something like random stops and seizures of personal property would be illegal. It is over here; we thought it was so important that we wrote it into our Constitution.
Any light that could be shed on the legal aspect of this would be appreciated. The flip side is that it probably doesn’t matter, because unless the citizenry of England stands up and says “No” to increasing governmental intrusions on their daily life, England will continue to slip away.
Not really “poor” I should say, but rather “working man” or perhaps “man who doesn’t have 1500 smackers to drop on an FN” or something like that. After my first post on the PDW concept, I started looking for ways to have a similar platform…with slightly better ballistics than I’d get from a .17 HMR 4.6mm. While I remain intrigued by the performance potential of the .17 HMR round, if I were going to get a tiny little gun that I could whip around easier than a rifle, I’d go with one of these re-chambered in .17 HMR.
The Kel-Tec PLR-16, it’s a .223 pistol that accepts standard AR15 magazines, and as you can see by scrolling down, can have all sorts of goodies affixed to it. I’d add that handguard you see in the bottom picture, and then put on a forward vertical grip as well. The forward grip makes the recoil more controllable; as for the muzzle flash issue, a pistol like that practically begs to have a flash reducer put on the muzzle.
Top it all off with a nice red dot sight, and you’re ready to give anyone in the Brady Bunch a conniption fit with your own PDW, all for less than a thousand dollars.
I don’t normally blog after noon, especially on Fridays. However, this news story was on my Google front page.
Coach, 40, Weds 16-Year-Old Student
It’s a completely repugnant story. As a public service, I’m going to offer some insight on how this sort of thing comes about, using quote from the story.
During Windy’s freshman year, her 38-year-old track coach, Brenton Wuchae, began taking a more active interest in her, offering to give the 14-year-old rides home from practice.
THIS IS BAD. While I may be paranoid, no 38 year old adult will be giving me 14 year old daughter a ride home by herself, unless that adult is someone that I would trust my very life to. And that’s a pretty short list.
The Hagers confronted Wuchae.”He assured me there was nothing like that going on, [and that] they were just friends. His intentions were purely appropriate,” Dennis said.
HE IS LYING.
The principal of the high school wrote to the Hagers, “I have seen nothing but a cooperative attitude from the teacher, and to the best of my knowledge, he has not had any contact with Windy since then.””School officials can’t be responsible for what happens the other hours of the day, and I would think the relationship developed much more outside of school,” said Brian Shaw, an attorney for the school district.
Way to CYA, school district. Way to cover your ass. Now, while the parents did the right thing by contacting the school district, they really should have been a bit more of a squeaky wheel.
The Hagers contacted police; they even tried to get a restraining order.
I would like to know why that restraining order was denied, I really would. Now, up to this point, the parents seem pretty smart, they’ve been trying to contact the authorities and handle this situation before it gets any worse. So…what went wrong?
Meanwhile, the Hagers say Windy withdrew, refusing to speak to them until she asked them to sign a consent form so that she and her coach — a man more than twice her age — could get married.Although anguished, her weary parents gave in.
“Signing those consent forms was the hardest thing I did in my whole life, but we had to move on, it was going to kill us all,” Dennis said.
You have got to be kidding me. As Mrs. Ahab said when she saw this story, “what parents give in and let their child ruin her life because she is giving them the silent treatment”? That does seem to be the question of the hour.
I cannot for the life of me fathom how their answer wasn’t “No. When you’re 18 you can do as you please.”
I’m going to leave this post on top all weekend. I am completely and utterly disgusted by this.
Update: I want to add a thought that occurred to me the other night while I was thinking about this. I understand that the system seems to have completely failed these parents; they tried to play through the proper channels. I don’t understand why after the system failed the parents, that father didn’t have a “man to man” with the coach. And by “man to man” I mean something along the lines of “If you come near my daughter I will kill you and it will take God Himself to find the body”.
I still want to know why that restraining order was denied.
I’m sure that a lot of you out there are just like me when it comes to holsters: since you’ve chosen to carry concealed, you’re constantly searching for the perfect rig for your death-ray.
If you’re really like me, you probably have a pile of gunleather in your closet, each one having been “the be all and end all” of holsters when you purchased the damn thing. And if you’re like me, you’ve probably had all different kinds of holsters recommended to you by other gun people as “the most perfect holster ever”.
A short anecdote will illustrate the great frustration I have with picking new leather. I was at a local, unnamed gun shop, where I was shopping for holsters. Specifically, I was interested in a good IWB holster for my Taurus Pt92. The chap who was “assisting” me was a swarthy fellow, a good 5 inches taller than I am and at least 100 pounds heavier. He was constantly recommending holsters that “worked really well for me”, with the “me” being him. Because a holster is very much like an article of clothing, what fits him well might not necessarily fit me well.
That’s my frustration with holsters right there. It really is like an article of clothing in that individual fit and feel is important. Out of the dozens of holsters I have purchased, I’ve really liked maybe 4 or 5.
The one thing I’ve learned from my various holster buying adventures is that if I can, I should really try before I buy. This usually allows me to evaluate a rig for the things that are important to me.
The most important factor for me when I’m buying a holster is comfort. I want holsters than when I stuff whatever gun I’m carrying in there that they’re not going to pinch me, bite me, or make me want to rip my holster off and sling it across the room. Comfort encompasses freedom of movement as well; I don’t want to feel like my mobility has been hindered.
The second most important thing to me is concealability. If my rig doesn’t do anything to conceal my carry gun, it’s pretty useless – with the notable exception of some rigs that I use for open carry only.
The final factor is durability, I don’t want my holster to start falling about after two months of use. Durability is pretty hard to evaluate, which is where a lot of the researching things, reading reviews, etc comes into play. But honestly, if I found a holster that was comfortable, concealable, but fell apart after 6 months, I’d just buy a new one after 5 months.
Ultimately, the best holster is the one that meets your requirements. For me comfort is the number one requirement. The most comfortable rig I own that is also readily concealable is actually one I made for myself.
I started with one of these holsters, which I had originally purchased for packing my EAA Bounty Hunter around. I noticed that it fit my GP100 very well, which gave me an idea. I cut the flap off the back, leaving me with just the holster pouch. Since the GP100 is DAO, I didn’t need the hammer thong as a retention device, so after knotting it in the back to make sure it didn’t pull through, it became the part of the rig through which your belt goes to hold it in place.
I punched a second hole towards the rear of the holster and looped another strip of leather through it; that way the belt gets threaded through two points of contact. The outside surface of the holster where it makes contact with the inside of my trousers was roughed up a bit with 240 grit sandpaper. This gave the holster a grip on the inside of my trousers so it wouldn’t slide around. The pressure from my belt acts as the retention for the new IWB holster. I can run, walk, sit, and stand without the holster shifting around and revealing my revolver.
Ultimately, the best holster is a lot like the best gun – it’s not necessarily the most expensive, it’s just the one that works.
It’s what kids do: squeal in delight when they’re having fun.
But to some Long Island residents those squeals were unwelcome noise, and they wanted two neighborhood girls playing in a backyard pool to pipe down.
The complaints fell on deaf ears Wednesday night when Bayville’s acting village justice dismissed a summons accusing the girls’ parents, William and Rachel Poczatek, of violating a village noise ordinance.
I have annoying neighbors. They’re really just awful. They play annoying, bass-heavy music until two or three in the morning, and not just on weekends. They don’t take care of their yard at all; when they mowed a week and a half ago it was the first time this year. They’re generally inconsiderate.
But I’ve never (yet) called the cops on them; mostly because I don’t feel like the fact that their habits get on my nerves are worthy of governmental intervention.
Before the hearing, neighbor Sheila Brown said the children’s squeals were not your usual brand of merriment.
“I have five dogs,” Brown said. “Five dogs don’t make this much noise. This is not something that started yesterday. They have been asked politely, but this is an ongoing issue far beyond children just playing in the pool.”
I am glad to see that she asked the parents to try and keep their kids quieter, but at the same time I can’t imagine that these kids are playing in the pool after dark when people are trying to sleep. Seriously, if the kids are shouting and squealing and having a good time during the day I don’t see the problem.
I just can’t believe that someone thought that kids making noise was worth hauling people in front of a judge.
Mostly because I don’t really want to deal with shit like this.
I would tell you all about getting my face mushed up against a wall for not fully concealing my legally carried firearm in public, but right now, I’m just too sad.
Tennessee, like Indiana has “carry permits”, not concealed carry permits. The difference sounds like it’s the same there as it is here; your permit entitles you to carry a firearm in public regardless of whether it’s concealed or not.
When I lived in Virginia, I would open carry a lot more frequently – VA has a culture of open carry and the VCDL is very pro-active about educating police officers about the law.
That culture doesn’t really exist where I live now. Sure, it’s a conservative area; but it’s relatively dominated by Suzy Soccermom types – you know, the kind that go into conniptions at the mere sight of a gun around their precious children.
I don’t like not carrying a gun; and yet there are times that I don’t carry because I don’t want to deal with the hassle of properly concealing my firearm. Then the fact that I’m letting myself not do something I believe I should do because of the inconvenience bothers me even more.
Hence the genesis of my problem. The law says that I can carry my firearm openly; and it should be as simple as that. Unfortunately, it’s not; and I’m not willing to put up with the hassle of being the guy that educates the civilians and the cops about the law. I guess that’s just not a cross I’m willing to bear for the cause.
Makes me damn proud of my association with Purdue, actually. The short version is that researchers at Purdue, which is known for having one of the finest engineering schools in the country, have concluded a 2.5 year study on the 9/11 attacks. The focus of the study was to examine the structural failure of the WTC towers with an eye towards designing buildings that could withstand aircraft strikes. The full article on CNN.com is here.
The researchers also posted a simple computer model of the attack on Youtube, which I’ve linked to here. I will say, that if you don’t like reading the absolutely inane drivel of the 9/11 “Truthers”, then don’t read the comments on the video.
This excerpt is from the CNN article.
A computer simulation of the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, posted on the Web site YouTube by Purdue University researchers, shows how hijacked planes crashed through the twin towers, stripping fireproofing materials from the steel columns and eventually leading to their collapse.
Of course, this won’t actually do anything to shut up the “Inside Job” movement, who amongst conspiracy theorists have the remarkable ability to jam their fingers in their ears and not listen to reason.
Unfortunately, as proud as I am of Purdue for releasing this study; I also know it won’t do any good with the conspiracy types. Not because I think the study is flawed or anything silly like that, mind you. It’s because you can’t argue with a conspiracy theorist. Since they’re not dealing with reality, any factual evidence can explained away by another government coverup. It must be great to be able to just make stuff up when the evidence stands against you.
I wonder what happened to my troll? He was so much fun.
I never thought I’d find the day when I was agreeing with someone from the “Church” of Scientology, but in the latest whacko press release, John Travolta says that guns are not to blame for school shootings.
Travolta said: “I still think that if you analyse most of the school shootings, it is not gun control. It is [psychotropic] drugs at the bottom of it.
Well…at least he’s not blaming the guns. I find some fault with this kind of thinking though; it’s still looking to blame someone or something other than the sociopath nutbar that actually did the killings. Additionally, it seems like it’s almost impossible to distill a complex subject like school shootings down to one root cause.
I’m generally opposed to the almost haphazard manner with which kids are placed on Ritalin these days; so I agree with ol’ Johnny in spirit – I don’t think it’s a good thing that so many kids are exposed to mind altering drugs at a young age.
The objections I take are that you can’t reduce something like crazy people who shoot up schools down to one root cause. But, like I said – at least he’s not blaming the guns. I think that’s a first, actually. Someone from Hollywood not blaming guns for something.
After my post on the similar ballistics between the new HK 4.6mm and the super popular .17 HMR, I’ve become completely fascinated by the .17 HMR. I don’t own one; I have always eschewed it in favor of my pet cartridge the .22 Magnum. In fact, I somewhat resented the .17 Magnum at its inception, as I believed (correctly) that it would lead to an increase in the price of .22 WMR ammo as demand for it dropped off in favor of the newer cartridge.
All that discontent has passed however; I’m not planning on purchasing in the upcoming months two different .17 Magnum firearms, one rifle and one handgun. Because I have gun ADD and can’t really focus on one individual firearm for longer than 20 minutes, I haven’t quite decided which particular rifle and pistol combo to get.
Here’s what I’m looking at for the rifles.
Ruger 96/17 – First off, it’s a Ruger so right there it has a lot going for it. Secondly, I’ve always liked the profile of Ruger’s lever actions, it looks like a beautiful cross between a 10/22 and a “real” lever gun.
Savage 93R17 – I once got to play with a Savage with an Accu-Trigger. I almost cried. Honestly, out of the box rifle triggers usually suck, even on rimfire rifles. The Accu-Trigger was smooth and crisp; and in a light varmint package like the .17 Magnum…well, let’s just say that my ancient enemy trembles at the thought.
Marlin 917V – I have almost this exact same rifle in .22 Magnum, sans the scope mounts. I’ve never bothered to scope it, as it seemed kind of…wrong. The nice thing about this rifle is that Marlin says I can use the magazines from my .22 Magnum rifle as well; so I’ve already got a couple mags to go with it.
H&R Sporster .17 HMR – Single shot rifles have a certain…pure feeling about them that I enjoy; the greatest appeal of the Sportster is its price point. The fact that I can get a decent rifle without breaking the bank is always, always appealing. Plus it comes with a nice synthetic stock so when I’m dug in come September prepping for an en masse charge by the little bushy tailed bastards; I won’t have to worry about ruining the wood on my rifle.
Now, the handgun question is more complicated; obviously I’m going to have to get a revolver. But that’s about the end of the simple part of the question.
I’ve got a lot of love for the Taurus Tracker series of revolvers, owning one in .357. I’ve been very satisfied with the trigger, the grips, and pretty much everything about it, so Taurus is on the table. On the other hand, there’s a little voice in my head that keeps whispering “single action” in my ear. That of course has got me looking at the Ruger Single Six, pretty much the classic single action rimfire platform.
Then, I idly happened by the North American Arms page. NAA makes their excellent Black Widow (2 inch barrel) and Mini-Master (4 inch barrel) revolvers in .17 HMR. Looking at their ballistics tables for the 17 grain round from the Mini-Master got me thinking about that as a backup gun against the bushy-tailed menace.
Finally, if you’re interested in the .17 HMR and want to absorb a ridiculous amount of data, you should check this page out. The one drawback is that he doesn’t have a lot of information on the 20 grain .17 HMR loads, which are the loads that in which I’m the most interested.
