rifles

Ultimate Survival Rifle

Posted on by Caleb

I still get a lot of hits for people searching for survival rifles and that sort of thing, so I thought I’d write another piece on them – that and because the topic is utterly fascinating to me. This rifle that I’m going to describe below doesn’t exist (that I know of), but I could put one together for a semi reasonable cost by performing some modifications to existing rifles.

Concept
The rifle must be suitable for taking game to fill the pot, defense against local predators, which are generally not bigger than coyotes; light enough to hump all over the countryside, and able to place accurate fire out to 100 yards. This isn’t a bear rifle, or a battle rifle, I’m not planning on taking this rifle to Iraq and testing its combat readiness.

Caliber
I’ll probably take some flack for this, but the caliber I would choose for my ultimate survival rifle is (surprise) .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire; or as it is more commonly known: .22 Magnum.
I’ve blogged about my deep and abiding love for the .22 WMR on a couple of occasions. My actual decade of experience with the cartridge is what brings me around to choosing it for my survival rifle. It’s not merely the big brother of the .22 LR, it’s a real bullet with actual jackets that has excellent killing power. Add to this the wide variety of bullet selection, ranging from 30 grain CCI TNT rounds for little animals up to 40 grain Jacketed Soft Points from Remington for bigger game that requires a bit more penetration. While it’s not the perfect load for deer, or the best rifle for squirrels; the .22 WMR cartridge provides excellent power in a very light package. The weight of the cartridge is actually the final deciding factor, I can pack A LOT of .22 WMR ammo around before the weight starts to become an issue.

Action & Magazine
For action type, I’d prefer a bolt action. Hypothetically, I’m going to be sloughing this pea-shooter around the woods, and a bolt action is generally more resistant to inclement weather, dirt getting in the action, etc. Plus, since I’m in a “survival” situation; a good bolt rifle encourages me to make my shots count. The rifle would feed from detachable 10-round box magazines, I’d also locate the magazine release in roughly the same position as the mag release on the M14 family of rifles. Now, I personally feel that if I’m firing this thing fast enough to need a rapid magazine swap I’m probably in deep shit; however it is nice to have the capacity for a quick magazine change.

Stock, sights, barrel, & finish
The stock for my dream rifle is made of polymer, and is (of course) black. While I prefer wood stocks, a black polymer stock is again going to hold up better in the wild than a nice wood stock. The same thought goes into the finish, again I prefer a nice blue steel finish for my guns, but in this case the rifle would be finished in a more weather resistant stainless. The disadvantage to stainless is that it reflects more light – but again if I’m engaging hostile forces I’ve probably already given my position away with rifle fire. For the sights, I want some sort of aperture sight, no glass sights. If I’m off in the woods, I don’t need something that could break and leave my rifle without an aiming method, so sturdy iron aperture sights are the ones for me. Finally, the barrel should be no longer than 18 inches in length. This is long enough to squeeze maximum terminal performance out of the .22 WMR, without being so long as to cause me problems carrying it.

Marlin makes a rifle that is almost perfect, but it’s lacking iron sights and only comes with a seven round magazine. It would certainly do in a pinch, but hey, this was a hypothetical exercise anyway.

Your mileage may vary of course, but if you were wondering what I’d take, that’s it. A bolt action, polymer stocked, fixed sighted, .22 WMR with detachable magazines and an 18 inch barrel. Now if I could just get Marlin or Savage to return my calls…

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Boys will be…

Posted on by Caleb

…boys, unless the government has anything to say about it. The post right below this one about Air Racing, which is about as a “boy-thing” as you can get (it’s fast, loud, competitive, and dangerous) got me to thinking about what exactly is happening to boys lately. Coupled with a post by the erudite Dr. Helen and the equally interesting Anarchangel, I started thinking about my boyhood, and how it would have been different if was a child today.

A brief background, I was homeschooled when I was younger. Contrary to popular belief, I did not grow up to be socially retarded or anything funky like that, I had plenty of interaction with other kids. I figure I was a pretty normal kid, I played outside, got into shoving matches with other boys, was competitive with my friends and brothers, the whole nine yards. Seems pretty much standard fare.

I hadn’t really thought about it until recently, but if was an 10 year old today, my teachers would have recommended that I be put on Ritalin so fast it’d make your head spin. I have all the (mostly bullshit) signs of ADHD – I am (and was) aggressive, have a short attention span, I’m loud and disruptive at times, overconfident, etc. There is not a doubt in my mind that some idiot teacher wouldn’t be able to “control” me, and would thusly recommend that I be placed on Ritalin or whatever.

The problem with that is that I’m not ADHD. I can concentrate just fine if I want to; but when I was a child my ability to focus my yet developing mind hadn’t completed yet. I learned to concentrate through reading exercises and discipline – not drugs.

Something else that has me thinking is how it’s not okay for boys to be, well, boys any longer. Dr. Helen’s post spotlights some issues quite well, and brings up an important point. Boys seek to challenge themselves and others a lot of the time; if the outlets such as playgrounds and recess where those behaviors can be observed safely are removed, we’ll end up with kids playing chicken on the train tracks. I’m saying this to be silly, but rather I’m drawing on my own personal experience. Growing up I did some rather foolish things in the name of thrill seeking or challenging myself.

I’m aware that I’m somewhat rambling today; but there is a point behind all of this. If you are a parent of boys, let them be boys. They want to ride bikes fast and swing from high monkey bars, and generally sometimes act dangerously. There isn’t anything inherently harmful in these actions. Boys will be boys, you only have to let them.

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Air racing

Posted on by Caleb

It’s amazing how a simple conversation can start a lifelong fascination.

Dad, how come that plane doesn’t look like a regular P-51?
Well, that’s because it’s been modified a lot so it will go faster.
Going faster is good, right Dad?
Yes it is, son.

That conversation took place what feels like forever ago between a very young boy and his father. The setting was that young lad’s very first Reno National Championship Air Race which was to become a fixture in that young man’s life. Every other year after that, until my older brother went to college, we attended the Reno Air Races. I love aviation almost as much as I love shooting – perhaps that’s why the only thing I care about in a car is if it goes FAST.

For those of you that have never had the pleasure of attending one of the Reno Air Races, allow me to break it down for you. There are six different classes of race craft, five of which are piston powered. The sixth class is Jet, which is reserved for the Czech built L-39 Albatross. I’ve never seen this class race, as it was introduced after I had left for college and the Coast Guard. The other five classes break down as follows.

Biplane
If I had to pick a least favorite class, it would probably be the biplane class. I couldn’t really get excited about basically stock Pitts Specials flying a 3.18 mile course around 190-210 mph. The good thing about biplane class though is that it does provide a reasonable “entry level” for someone who wants to get into air racing but doesn’t want to break the bank.

Formula 1
The F1 class at Reno is strictly regulated – each plan must conform to a certain set of specifications. They all have the same powerplant, a Continental O-200 which produces 100hp. That is the same engine that resides in a Cessna 150. When I was growing up and going to Reno, the F1 class was absolutely dominated by my hometown hero, John Sharp and his plane Nemesis, which now resides in the Smithsonian. The thing about Nemesis was that it was so well built that it absolutely blew other planes away. I remember once it set a speed record in a qualifier run with the engine cowling removed.

AT-6/SNJ
The AT-6 class pits exact stock AT-6 trainers against one another. The AT-6 class flies about a five mile course, what makes this race exciting (and my favorite class) is because the only modification allowed is removing the back seat, all the planes fly about the same speed. It places significant emphasis on pilot skill and strategy, there have been more hair raising finishes in this class than any other I’ve witnessed.

Sport Class
Sport Class was relatively new to Reno when I went for the last time. It consists primarily of kit built aircraft, based around an engine of 650 cubic inches or less. There are few other requirements for Sport class which you can view on the page. Sport Class is seen by some, myself included, as the future of piston-powered air racing. The old warbirds that populate the Unlimited class aren’t getting any younger, meanwhile the aviation industry is feeding the Sport Class with new airframes and designs every year. According to my sources, this class should have some fierce competition in years to come.

Unlimited Class
Unlimited class is why people come to Reno. The bulk of the aircraft that make up the Unlimited class are heavily modified WWII fighters, although any piston powered aircraft over 4500 pounds empty is eligible to compete. The Unlimited class races the longest course, and goes the fastest of any class at Reno, faster even than the L-39 trainers in the Jet class. Some of the famous birds at Reno include Rare Bear, a heavily modified F8F Bearcat; Dago Red, a modified P-51 Mustang; and Dreadnought, a modified Hawker Sea Fury. The Unlimited class is absolutely fantastic to watch, as these aircraft come thundering around the pylon around 450 mph, engines howling…just the memory gives me goosebumps.

The Reno experience is unlike anything I can describe. I was introduced to car racing after I had been to my first Reno Races, to this day my reaction to car racing is “what, 180, 200mph? And they’re on the ground? Boring.” I can’t think of a better sport that encapsulates everything manly into one big giant ball of hot, steaming awesome.

The races are just part of the show every year at Reno. In addition to the racing, there is a huge airshow/exhibition every year, which brings the Blue Angels, the Thunderbirds, the Golden Knights, the Canadian Snowbirds, Wayne Handley, and all the big names in stunt aviation out. On a side note, if you’ve never seen the Snowbirds perform, you’re missing out. They perform some of the finest formation flying stunts ever, unfortunately they don’t appeal quite as much to American audiences because they don’t go quite as fast.

I challenge anyone who claims to be a NASCAR fan to attend Reno one year, and see if your little cars still seem as excited after watching to AT-6’s battle for position coming into the final lap. Like I said above, Reno is basically the sum total of everything manly; you’ve got the fastest sport on earth, low flying aircraft, military demonstrations, alcohol, and just a few miles away, gambling. The thought of it brings tears to my eyes, and is enough to kill a nanny-stater dead in their tracks.

Fly fast, fly low, and turn left.

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More on Chicago Student

Posted on by Caleb

As you recall, I previously blogged about Allen Lee, the Chicago area student arrested for his homework. I want to keep following this story, because it’s absolutely ludicrous that the school’s administration has decided to ruin this young man’s life.

While I will say that what he wrote is ill-advised, the concept of arresting someone for turning in a school paper which did not implicitly or explicitly threaten anyone or himself drives me nuts.

Here is a copy of Allen Lee’s actual essay, as released in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Blood sex and Booze. Drugs Drugs Drugs are fun. Stab, Stab, Stab, S…t…a…b…, poke. “So I had this dream last night where I went into a building, pulled out two P90s and started shooting everyone…, then had sex with the dead bodies. Well, not really, but it would be funny if I did.” Umm, yeah, what to wright about…… I’m leaving to join the Marines and I really don’t give a F… about my academics, so why does the only class that’s complete Bull Shit, happen to be the only required class…enough said. The model citizen would stay around to vote in new board member to change the 4 years of English policy, but no one really stays around to vote for that kind of local crap, so whoever gets there name on the Ballet with a pretty face gets to do what the F… ever they want with local ordinance. A person is smart, but people are dumb selfish animals. We can’t make rules for ourselves so we vote others to do it for us, but we can’t even do that right, I meen seriously, Bush for President? And our other option was John Kerry who claimed to parktake in Vietnam Special Forces missions that haven’t been declassified…. F…… Bull Shit. So Power Flower Super Mario. Pudge, hook, rot, dismember “Fresh Meat.” Mostly new/young teachers are laid back, and cooperative with students as feedback and input into the curriculum and atmosphere. My current English teacher is a control freak intent on setting a gap between herself and her students like a 63 year old white male fortune 500 company CEO, and a illegal immigrant. If CG was a private catholic school, I could understand, but wtf is her problem. And baking brownies and rice crispies does not make up for it, way to try and justify yourself as a good teacher while underhandedly looking for complements on your cooking. No quarrel on you qualifications as a writer, but as a teacher, don’t be surprised on inspiring the first cg shooting.

The context of the assignment was to write “speed of thought” and “uncensored”; which he seems to have fulfilled. While something like might recommend the student for counseling, or perhaps a conversation with his parents, I don’t see the justification for the arrest.

However, and this is the one thing that sticks out in my mind. The essay as it’s reproduced here appears to also include material which does not portray the teacher in a very positive light. I just wonder if his teacher, Nora Capron, decided to capriciously ruin this young man’s life because he was critical of her teaching style.

I wonder if she’ll try to have me arrested for airing my theory?

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Guns in the mail

Posted on by Caleb

Sebastian seems to have ordered himself a nice looking CZ-82 (the 9×18) through his C&R license. He mentions that he could “get used to ordering carry pistols through the mail”. So could I, and that was actually part of my thought process when I got my C&R license. There are a lot of good, serviceable guns out there that are classified as C&R, which would more than do the job in a bad situation.

The ability to have guns delivered straight to my house without going through a store is pretty handy as well; I keep meaning to get around to starting my WWII service rifle collection.

shooting

Double Action transition

Posted on by Caleb

I carry a traditional DA/SA pistol most of the time. When I’m not carrying my Taurus PT92, I’m carrying a Walther P22. Both pistols have a long double action stroke for the first shot; followed with a shorter, lighter pull for all subsequent shots. I see less and less guns set up with this sort of trigger configuration. The problem with a traditional DA/SA isn’t actually the first shot as most people would believe. The first shot is relatively easy, especially if the shooter is used to shooting revolvers on a regular basis. What creates a lot of trouble for shooting is the transition from the Double Action first shot to the second shot in single action mode.

In both of my carry guns there is a lot of slop in the trigger in single action mode – after the shot breaks if you let the trigger return to its natural rest position, your next shot will have a lot of slack to take out of the trigger before you can break the next shot. This slack has caused me and several other shooters I know a lot of problems when they’re trying to make that second shot – my bad habit was that I would squeeze the trigger too fast and too hard (expecting it to feel like DA mode) and thusly jerk the trigger sending my second round into oblivion.

Here’s a drill you can practice with snap caps or dry fire (if you’re into that sort of thing) that will help you with the transition into Single Action mode from Double action.

With the gun loaded WITH SNAP CAPS (please don’t do this with live ammo) press through the trigger in double action mode. To simulate having fired a shot, hold the trigger in the full reward position while you cycle the slide with your off-hand. Now the pistol should be in SA mode with the trigger all the way to the rear.

From a firing position, slowly let the trigger travel forward until you hear the “click” it makes when it engages and the gun is ready to fire again. If you let the trigger go forward further, all you’re doing from there is letting slack into your trigger pull. When that trigger makes the “click” sound during its return travel, right there is the shortest, crispest trigger pull that pistol is capable of. From there, with no slack in the trigger, press through your single action shot. After that, decock the pistol, reload snap caps into the magazine as necessary, and repeat the two stage drill. Again, the first stage is DA, then cycle the slide to put the pistol into SA mode and only let the trigger out far enough to make the pistol ready to fire again.

Once you’ve done that a lot; you’re ready to go to the range. It’s the same drill, except you’re not manually cycling the slide this time. When you first start doing this drill at the range, GO SLOW. Fire that first DA shot, fully recover, then consciously let the trigger travel forward just enough to reset the pistol. Fire the SA shot, decock and repeat. The goal of the drill is to learn exactly how far the trigger has to travel forward for the 2nd shot (first shot from SA mode). This is one of those skills you can’t really practice enough – once you’re comfortable with the trigger travel drill, start incorporating it into your everyday shooting.

Also, this is my 200th post at this blog. Go me!

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Calling the Thought-Police

Posted on by Caleb

Adam-12, Adam-12 please respond to a code 10-280: Asian Teenager expressing emotions on a school assignment. I say again, that’s a code 10-280, Asian Teenage expression emotions in school.

This is just ridiculous. The story there will probably raise your blood pressure a few points, and I’d like to help.

Lee, 18, a straight-A student at Cary-Grove High School, was arrested Tuesday near his home and charged with the misdemeanor for an essay police described as violently disturbing but not directed toward any specific person or location.

So, he didn’t threaten anyone or anything, he just a “violent” essay? I’m not sure I see the crime there.

Neither police nor the school would release a copy of the essay written Monday.

Oh good, let’s keep the evidence secret, that will really help the perception of this incident.

Cary Police Chief Ron Delelio said the charge against Lee was appropriate even though the essay was not published or posted for public viewing.

Disorderly conduct, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 days in jail and a $1,500 fine, is often filed for such pranks as pulling a fire alarm or dialing 911 unnecessarily, he said. But it can also apply when someone’s writings disturb an individual, Delelio said.

Yes, because Sweet God in Heaven forbid that someone ever penned something that another person found “disturbing”. It’s not like we have an Amendment to the Constitution about that or anything.

Some legal experts said the charge is troubling because it was over an essay that even police admit contained no direct threats against anyone at the school. A civil rights advocate said the teacher’s reaction to an essay shouldn’t make it a crime.

“One of the elements is that some sort of disorder or disruption is created,” said Ed Yohnka, a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. “When something is done in private — when a paper is handed in to a teacher — there isn’t a disruption.”

I don’t really like the ACLU, but in this case they’re spot on. Just because some idiot teacher got her knickers in a wad over what this kid wrote should not make it crime. Almost anything can be taken as “offensive” or disturbing; if you criminalize offending people you’ve now essentially created “Thought Crime”.

The goals this month for Lee’s Creative English class were for students to communicate ideas and emotions through writing. But students were warned that if they wrote something that posed a threat to self or others, the school could take action

Did the student threaten anyone or anything? Not according to his principle or the cops. Explain to me why he was arrested again?

“The teacher graded [the essay] and was disturbed,” Albert Lee said. “She reported it to a department head, who reported it to the principal. The first contact I had was by the police, when they arrested him Tuesday.”

Let’s see – essay written on Monday, student arrested on Tuesday, parents called to inform them of child’s behavior…when? Look, if you’re going to do something about a kid writing a “violent” story for an assignment, maybe you should, oh, I don’t know…call his fucking parents?

And now for the coup de’ grace

The essay may have been a joke on his son’s part, but he can’t say for sure because he hasn’t read it, Albert Lee said.

His own father hasn’t been allowed to read the essay in question. Are you fucking kidding me?

There is so much wrong with this story, I can’t even see straight right now. What the hell are we doing where we arrest a kid because a teacher was disturbed about something he wrote, instead of contacting his parents first? Are we really to that point of Nanny-Stateism where it’s acceptable to arrest children for expressing negative emotions in a controlled environment?

(H/T to Uncle)

hoplophobia/self defense

Shoot them in the leg

Posted on by Caleb

I’m sure that most of you have heard about this story out of Cleveland in which a CCW holder named Damon Wells was accosted on his porch at gunpoint, and proceeded to drill his assailant, one Arthur Buford, “several” times in the chest. This has generated a small amount of controversy, primarily because the deceased would-be robber was 15, and now that a “young life” has been snuffed out everyone is supposed to be sad. I’m not going to address that particular issue directly, instead I’ll include a quote from my younger brother on the topic.

I don’t see what’s so tragic here. A 15 year old attempted armed robbery, and received the just compensation for his transgression. Saying that he had value because he was young is theoretical bullshit. He’s dead, and died from just retribution. His death is no more “sad” than the death of any other human being.

If anything here can be considered sad, it’s that the man who defended himself will have to live the rest of his life with people trying to guilt-trip him with nonsense.

My younger brother is pretty smart sometimes. Now that the whole “he was 15 it’s so sad” portion has been dealt with, I’m going to address a couple of different issues that came up as a result of this shooting. I post on a couple of internet forums in addition to writing this blog; in the last couple of days some things have been said that I find pretty strange. I hope that there will be solid information in here for both non-gunnies and gunnies alike.

First off, I want to look at a few of the statements that have been made by non-gunnies regarding the shooting. These statements are based on misconceptions about marksmanship and stopping power, among other things. Here’s the first one:

I’m also a little concerned about the fact the number in “multiple shots to the chest” was not defined.

Anything above two starts being questionable if the intention was only self defense and not to outright kill the attacker.

I see a couple of problems with the above statement, the first being that it displays a lack of knowledge about the actual stopping power of a handgun bullet, coupled with a lack of knowledge about how people operate in stressful circumstances.

Stopping Power & Threat response
I don’t really like talking about stopping power; however it bears a wee bit of discussion here in light of the “more than two is excessive” line of thought. For a handgun bullet to produce a reliable stop on an attacker, it has to induce a shutdown of the Central Nervous System, which can be produced one of two ways. Either A) Direct trauma such as a brain or spinal cord hit, or B) shutdown due to rapid blood loss because a major artery or the heart is hit. To achieve either option, the bullet has to perform three actions: 1) Strike the target somewhere important, 2) Penetrate deep enough to hit important stuff, and 3) Destroy a wide enough diameter of tissue to wreck the important stuff. So, as I’ve said before “shot placement and penetration are key, but bigger bullets are nice too”.

There are plenty of documented cases of people receiving multiple gunshot wounds and continuing to function for quite some time. This is why police and soldiers are trained to shoot an attacker until it is no longer a threat. That segues nicely into the “actions under stress” component of the discussion as well.

If you’re being attacked, and your “fight or flight” response is on the “fight” setting, odds are that you’re not going to come out of “fight mode” until the threat to you isn’t a threat anymore. This is the sort of action that causes cops in stressful situations to run their pistols to slide lock in a hurry – your hindbrain screams “THREAT” and your body acts on instinct and training.

Here is the second statement that I’d like to examine.

I’m good enough with a firearm that I think I could hit a leg on an approaching assailant.

This is a particularly frustrating statement for me, I get asked this (or similar) questions a lot, usually in the context of “couldn’t he have just shot him in the leg” or “I’d hope that you shoot him in the leg or something”. There is so much that is extremely frustrating about that line of thought that it is hard for me to address it in a rational fashion.

Shoot to “kill”?
There is a misconception that when CCW holders or the police shoot at someone, they’re “shooting to kill”. That’s not the case, rather they are shooting to stop the attacker/bad guy from continuing his/her violent action and to end the threat that person presents. The most efficient way to do this is the “Center-of-Mass” shot, which is standard training doctrine for law enforcement and armed citizens. The COM shot is the most reliable way to shut someone down for the reasons discussed above, it’s sort of an unfortunate side effect that the things that stop a person from continuing as a threat generally kill that person.

High Percentage vs. Low Percentage
If you’re shooting on the premise that you want to stop a threat, you obviously aren’t going to stop anything if you can’t hit what you’re aiming at. Assuming for the moment that a leg shot is a valid stop technique, let me provide an example of why it wouldn’t be preferable.

I’m in relatively good shape – my left thigh is about 4-5 inches wide at its widest point. My chest is about a foot and a half wide (18 inches) from the edge of my right pectoral to my left – and although my “measurements” are based on my scientific method of “that looks about right” and the distance between my hands, you can see that my chest (COM) is 3 times as wide as my leg. It’s an easier shot, because the target is bigger, nevermind that a COM shot is more likely to shut your attacker down than a leg shot.

On top of that, shooting at small moving targets like a leg requires a lot more fine motor control (trigger control and sight alignment) than shooting a moving target that is three times as large. Since your fine motor control degrades under stress, you’re even more likely to hit if you’re aiming for COM than you are if you’re aiming at the leg.

For the gunnies
I carry a gun. I would guess that a pretty big chunk of my readers also have carry permits in the states of their residence. What I find extremely disturbing about the story itself is the media’s reaction. Despite the fact that the DA and the police have decided that the CCW holder was within his legal rights, there is all sorts of outcry from the dead criminal’s family. The news story linked tries to portray the dead criminal as some sort of choirboy, gunned down in the prime of life or some nonsense.

When did we start having sympathy for perpetrators of violent crime? Why is it okay to demonize someone who acted in defense of his own life in the face of violent aggression? To me, this story and the way it’s playing in the media serves as a warning to those that choose to go about armed: even if the law says that you did no wrong
yo
u can expect to be crucified in the press. Doubly so if your attacker was a youth, or if he’s a minority and you’re not, or if you shoot your attacker “several” times.

It is unfortunate to me that in this day and age, we would rather have sympathy for a young man that died reaping precisely what he had sown than express our concern for the man who has to bear that death on hisconscience for the rest of his life.