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MAY 2007 5-30-07: San Francisco is totally screwed. Being unarmed and possessing no warrior spirit, no instinct for self preservation... they are screwed. Zombies require assertive response. You can not appeal to their better nature or try to figure out why they are attacking you. They do not want to talk about it over a cup of Starbucks. Just like terrorists, the only thing you can do is shoot them in the freaking head. Come to think of it... Liberals are kinda like Zombies anyway.... So really there isn't much difference. The only way you can tell the difference is that while Liberals want to remove your brains, zombies want to eat them. Same end result for the victim. You know who else is screwed? Our military satellites. And the rest of us btw. The Chinese are very adept at finding the chinks (sorry) in the US Military's armor. First one is our Aircraft Carriers. This is what we base our force projection off of. Our carrier battle groups are our keys. China has been working with wargames finding ways to defeat our carrier's defenses. They have new subs which are designed specifically for this task. They have air assets designed to work in coordination with those subs. Couple this with the recent announcement of the Russian's new ballistic missile technology that can “burn through” defenses... we all know that China has a Club Card for Russian hardware. Anything that Russia makes, ends up in China's inventory. This is horrible news. The other chink (sorry again) in our armor is our satellites. We have become too dependent on them. China's first move is to take our satellites out. With that done, we are blind and lost and China will most likely already have us in their sights. If we do not have the ability to defend our sats and take down theirs... then we are really and truly screwed. I don't know where we are on this front, but I would hope we are at the top. I really do. If we can keep our sats and deny the enemy theirs, then we have the advantage. If we can get more F-22's and more JSF's out there and ready to go... then we will have a very good chance. The other thing we have to have the ability to really pull the trigger. The Chinese government is completely nucking futs. They are more than willing to pull the nuke trigger just to save face. Just to keep themselves looking tough. We have to have the resolve to be willing to do the same. China has a fantastic intel program. Better than ours. Ours is 2 or 3 steps behind. China has agents infiltrated into every level... we have dick. We need to know where all their heads of states and military leaders are and where they go when an alarm rings... then we need to be able to strike those locations all at the same time. So far, our head intel guys are a bunch of flaccid losers who have no idea just what a threat China really is. There is a cold war going on, people... every bit of dangerous as the Soviets were. 5-28-07: The operation on my knee went very well. While I am still in some minor degree of agony, everything is looking good for a full recovery. The meniscus tissue that was thought to be torn, wasn't. It was completely shredded. Repairing it was just not going to happen. There was nothing left to repair. Then there was a ton of scar tissue that had to be removed and other "debris". It was ugly. The scope-cam photos look like a horror show. I was in surgery for two and a half hours for something that was supposed to have taken less than one. The drugs I've been given to take for the pain are very powerful and if I take the full dose, I get hallucinations. I'm feeling very 1960's as I type this. Age of Aquarius shit going on right now. Let's put it this way... The Grim Reaper looks like Russell Crow in a kilt and sounds like Sean Connery. Don't ask me how I know this. The thing I didn't like about the operation was that when I woke up, I had a very sore throat because they had an air tube down my gullet and they had a drain system in my knee. The sore throat thing when away after a few hours, but the drain had to be left in for 24. It was a little billows type 400ml container with clear plastic tubing that disappeared into the knee. While it was in, it filled up with my best vintage red. Pulling that out was some grade A harsh tongue biting pain. But now that it is out, everything feels much better. The day after surgery I was able to walk about with the help of my crutches, and without the brace. This is much better than the initial long estimate that I would be down for a couple months. I might be on crutches for some time, but at least I'm not vegetative. I'm very pleased with this. I'm itching to go shooting again. I can't wait to get out and pull a trigger. I'm wanting to spend some time with my .357 Magnum Ruger New Vaquero. I want to file down the front sight post to zero it for 25 yards. Right now I think it's zeroed for about 125. Calibrate it for 25 and maybe silver solder a gold bead to the front. Widen out the rear as well... make it easier and faster to line up. If I was to buy again, I'd probably opt for a Blackhawk instead of the Vaquero... but the Vaq had the look I was wanting since this was first used as a stage gun for the Outlaw Trail theater. Looks were the first priority, so I was stuck with a Peacemaker pattern. Getting a good shooter was secondary. Luckily Ruger's new Vaqs are more Peacemaker-like and I didn't have to get a Uberti or one of those other Spaghetti Western guns.
While I am talking western guns,
I'm being very tempted by Stoeger's Deluxe Coach Gun. This is their short
side by side double barreled scattergun that has a two tone finish... not
only does it look sharp, but it feels like they are solid and well built.
And they have screw in choke tubes which is a huge advantage. So the gun is
small and handy and it can still pattern... I'm loving that. Anyone in The
Horde have one of these dandy little guns? I also want to work with my CZ P-01. There have been a number of emails regarding the P-01. Most about how they picked one up and found that my review of the pistol was accurate. No one has said anything about the P-01 in a negative light. The pistol is damn near perfect. I would probably be more pleased with it myself if it had a light double action trigger system. But that's just my current tastes talking. Right now my P-01 is sporting an M3X tactical light. This is a good addition to the pistol and doesn't alter its nature... only enhances it. The light keeps muzzle flip to a minimum while keeping me away from a nasty habit of wrapping my left index finger around the front of the trigger guard. This bad habit can pull shots off target. Serious shooters prefer a larger caliber than a 9, myself included. But when you can dump rapid and accurate shots into the target with speed, that makes up for a lot of deficiencies in the caliber. Mounted tactical lights or no? Are lights that you can clip to a gun's rails worth it, or are you better off with a more traditional style flashlight? Really this is a matter of holsters. In my opinion, the mounted light thing is only effective if you can carry the gun with the light on it. Attaching the light adds an extra second or two to the draw. A light that you can keep clipped to your belt or pocket can be used just as effectively without giving up time. I had this lesson reinforced during the IDPA night shoot. My light was not mounted, while others used a clip-on of sorts. I did very well using my tried and true technique. Of course this is only my opinion based on my observations. Your observations and opinions might be different. Here's what happened. When the buzzer sounded, the timer began and I started to draw my weapon. At the same time I started to draw my light. I held the light like I would have held a cigar. I brought both hands together. They both came together at the same time, with weapon and light parallel... and I was then able to engage my target. Others who fired the course heard the buzzer, drew the weapon and the light... and then started to try to clip the light to the weapon. A lot slower. And what I don't like is that they would put the light and their hand in front of the muzzle of a loaded and hot weapon to put on the light. That's not cool. The other issue with weapon mounted lights is that they are too bulk for concealed carry. You can pack a separate light with no problem. This light doesn't even need to be concealed. But on the weapon it is just extra bulk that will give you away because hiding it isn't going to happen. For a home defense gun or a trunk gun whatever you want to call your go to gun... concealment is not an issue. A light mounted to the underside of your tactical rifle or better yet shotgun is ideal. Surefire and Streamlight are the two major players here in the tactical light community. Surefire is the more spendy of the two but they do have the reputation to back it up. Reliability and brightness, they are bullet proof. Given the choice between the two options I'm going to take the Surefire units. I'm wondering about other players that make lights... how come we don't have more builders of these kinds of lights? Movie Break: Since I'm healing up from the knee cutting, I've been watching some movies. Mel Gibson's Apacalypto: I can not use words to describe how much I disliked this flick. I thought I would love it considering the realism Gibson put into the project. He had a whole new world to play with, huge set, epic story potential, great actors, and all he gave us was a small stage drama played out in a never ending chase scene. ½ the way through, I was ready for the sudden ending with no closure... because that is how it ended up anyways. Mel might as well have just given it to us an hour earlier and it would have had the same effect. Really, it's all about the script and this one sucked. Everything else can be in place, but if the script sucked, then the whole thing sucked... and that is what happened here. Don't bother with this one, and if you do, you can't say I didn't warn you. If you have already seen this one, you have my condolences.
Seraphim Falls was better. Same
sort of thing here, small stage drama played out in a continuous chase
scene... but it had a better script. Speaking in English helps a great deal,
but I'm not holding that to Mel's movie. Considering both main actors are
from Ireland, they could have done all the dialog in Gaelic or Welsh just to
have added more “feel”. If you want a western that you've never seen before,
well, at least it's one you've never seen before. Unrealistic as hell... the
guy is shot in the arm by what appears to be an 80 caliber ball, but it
penetrates only half an inch so it is easily pried out with the tip of a 14
inch bowie knife. Uh huh. The acting is pretty good though. You felt his
pain. Not as much as you feel the pain of Bear Grylls, the guy from
ManVsWild... but almost. At least nothing is chasing Bear... I'm a little
tired of chase flicks. Next movie I watch is going to have to have the main
guy turn around and start kicking ass head on. I want to see the western
cowboy guy go Chow Yun Fat on the posse that's after him. Politics: Why is this Immigration issue the big issue? Immigration is not the issue. No one cares about immigration... the process is fine. I like the fact that there are hoops that have to be jumped and that it takes some time. I'm fine with that because it gives the .gov time to check things out. I know several guys here that are immigrants and are in the process. One is German... just got his papers and already has his Utah concealed carry permit. The other is from South Africa and has his shit almost done and then he will officially be American. These guys are doing it legally. That's fantastic. But they are not the issue. The issue is those who cross our borders illegally. I'm tired of politicians and the media clouding up this issue. It is Il-Legal. That means Not Legal. That means these jackasses are breaking the law and even bigger jackasses are covering for them. I'm sick of these guys who do not want to assimilate into the American Culture, who think they have a right to violate our laws, use benefits of US Citezenship, and then when they get paid US dollars for working US Jobs – the send the money back to Mexico. That is a financial drain on both ends. The economy is taking a double hit from this. It wouldn't be so bad if they spent all their money here in the us, pumping the US economy... but that isn't what they are doing. They are bleeding it. Hemorrhaging it. They have no desire to assimilate... This PRESS 1 for ENGLISH bullshit has got to stop. Everywhere I look, signs are printed in to sections, English on one, Spanish on the other. As Jules said, “English mother-F'er, do you speak it?” America should have only one language... English... and it should be made official. Every other country that doesn't speak English expects you to learn their language even to just visit. France will actively mock you if you don't know French. Japan will have school girls point and giggle at you. China will just put you up against a wall and shoot you. But people seem to think that Americans should learn their languages so they can come here to violate our sovereignty? I'm tired of this... I'm sick and tired of America being treated like the world's bitch. I don't care if no one likes President Bush... that doesn't matter. They should respect America. I have a ton of readers from around the world... and I hope I don't offend them. But other nations need to respect us and we will respect them. That's how friendship works. I have much respect for my large contingent of readers in the UK, Netherlands, the Mediterranean region, Japan, and Down Under. That's awesome... and most of these readers do respect America as a nation. And in return I respect theirs. I rib the UK a lot, but it's just for fun. And yes I am saying America and not “The United States of America”. I don't care if the Mexicans say they are part of America too... screw them. They say they are American too as some lame reason to justify their violation of US Sovereignty. They come from or live in Mexico, then they should have some national pride for their own nation and not wait till they infiltrate our borders before they start waving their flags. If Mexico was so great, why don't they work at fixing their own country instead of ruining ours? Carlos Mencia can bite my ass. Canadians don't pull that shit. They have some national pride of their own and they don't try to glean it off of US. Sure, it smells like syrup, but at least they have their own. Mike Moore went to Cuba to film his bullshit... Danny Glover went to Venezuela to get funding for his next couple of movies? Why are they allowed to do this? Sure, they have the First Amendment... but Anti-American propaganda during a time of war is treason. They should be stopped at the border and not be allowed back into America and all assets confiscated and liquidated to pay for the health and welfare of the families of families of fallen US Soldiers. If they do get inside the US, then they need to be taken into custody and put on trial for treason. I don't want to hear their BS, they can tell it to a judge. They hate America so much and blame the USA for all the ills in the world, yet both have benefited from the American Way haven't they? Were else in the world would they have reached such wealth and fame? Moore for being a giant crybaby, and Glover for playing next to Mel Gibson. Where else could they have done this? America First. America for Americans. That's what I believe in. Any congressional act that allows illegal aliens to remain within our borders without either incarceration or deportation is not acceptable. America needs to make English our official language. Our Constitution was not written in Spanglish. And don't give me that bullshit about it almost being written in Dutch or German. The 13 colonies fought for separation from England... We were English Colonies due to prior treaty like it or not... we speak English here. I wouldn't even mind if it was said that we speak American... because we don't spell tires with a “y”. We need to secure our borders, every mile, every inch. Rome is burning right under our feet and our congressional leaders are scrambling to profit from it. I watched some Red Dawn this weekend and I realized something. They wont need to parachute in. We'll have them elected before too long... and they will be calling themselves Democrats. 5-23-07: My inner geek has been getting pretty excited lately. With Call of Duty 4 coming into the modern era, that's going to be freaking awesome. Then Blizzard has a StarCraft II coming out for Christmas of 2008... heck yeah. I don't like the long wait for it... but it's coming and that is cool. I was a huge StarCraft fan. Now I'm hearing rumors from mad hatter gamers that Clive Barker has a new FPS horror title coming out too. This one is going to be scarier than Undying. If that is possible. Let me put it this way... I'd pay full retail for both COD4 and SC2, just to trade them for this new Barker. I love the FPS Horror stuff. Silent Hill and those games never appealed because they were not immersive... the weird 3rd Person perspective just ruined it. It's all about the First Person Perspective to really suck you into a game. Then there is the author. Clive Barker is the true master of horror. Steven King is a kindergarten teacher compared to Barker. King lives in the Barney purple dinosaur suit... and Barker is the guy to run him through with a pike. His collections of short stories called The Books of Blood is epic. Donations for the Care Package to the troops have been coming in... but we need more guys. If I had to get the knives I want to include in the package right now, our boys in the sand box would be looking at butterknives from WalMart. Abduction is a huge threat and there are no small concealable blades in the military inventory. Microlon has come through with a big old box of Gun Juice and their precision oilers. Awesome. Other guys are in the process of sending music CD's and movie DVD's. If you want to send burned copies, that's cool. Rip them to MP3's and burn them MP3's to disk... that's fine. Lots of guys over there have laptops and MP3 players. Small MP3 players might be a cool thing to throw in. Let's get some letters to the troops too... I don't have anything like that yet. Keep everything coming guys... there are a lot of grunts in this unit and I want everyone to have something. I'll be buying Otis gun cleaning kits, beef jerky, knives, anything I can. The boxes I send are usually a ton and cost from 50 to 60 bucks just for the shipping Ground. I need some help guys. I talk a lot about firearms and the use of them... but I have never mentioned one very important thing about shooting. Protective Gear. Number one protective gear is going to eyes. I always shoot with eye protection. I always have, and I always will. But I cheat it... my eye glasses, when I get them, I make sure they are safety rated. Tough polycarb lenses. Before I got glasses, I'd use Gargoyles... well... I did until they got stolen. Then I used range glasses. But protecting your eyes is critical. Use whatever works for you, but use something. Hearing is the more obvious one. Even if you don't get shards of metal in your ears, you do get that sound that is pretty sharp and obviously something you want to keep out of your ears. I've got a cheap pair of muffs I got from Wally World... I think I paid 15 bucks for them. I've had them for years. Work just fine. Last Saturday before the shooting event, I picked up a new pair. I was going to get some nice electronic muffs that have the stereo sound, but then I decided I didn't need to spend all that much cash on myself. So instead of 50 or so, I spent 12.99 (thanks to my discount at the store) on a pair of Howard Leight made Leightning L2F's. These are comfy units. They were so comfy I often forgot to take them off after a shooting stage so found myself speaking inappropriately loudly when everyone else had taken theirs off. The decibel reduction rating is at 27. Not the best, but then again the high dollar electronic units are between 28 and 30... so there you go. 27 for so cheap? Yeah, that works for me. If you do a lot of shooting, go ahead and get muffs. I put off using muffs for a long time, preferring to use plugs. Let me tell you, I'm all about the muffs now. I'd rather use cheap muffs than the best of plugs. Plugs might reduce the decibels more... but they are not comfortable or as easy to use. And 27 decibels is plenty for shooting even the loudest of guns... such as a .50 BMG or a .30-378 Weatherby Magnum. So those 12 gauges and .45's are no problem. Thanks, girls. I've some teenage girls in the Sunday school class that Mrs. Ogre and I teach on Sundays. They are sweet girls, but talk a lot in class... giggly. Tonight they dropped by a plate of cookies they made for me. Wishing me quick recovery after my surgery. That was nice of them. The Ogre likes his fresh cookies. Well, I'm going in for surgery, there is no question now. I'll be off-line for at least a week from today. Maybe a little longer. Getting this knee thing done and fixed... this is a good thing. I'm tired of moving like an old man, the pain, and the "whatcha do ta yer leg?" questions. To be able to stand up again without evoking divine assistance... things like that. I want to be me again and not some gimped up bum like I've become because of this damn knee. 5-21-07: Loads of fun: Last Saturday night we had a little 3 Gun night shoot action. I rolled with my Kimber Tactical Custom II of course, my Vector Arms AK-47, and my Remington Marine Magnum. They also had dinner for us. The dude cooking said it was chicken, but the breasts were so huge I could have sworn it was Bald Eagle. Massive bird. Delicious. Before we got started one of the Range Guys said that he has seen a guy hit a paper plate at 100 yards, off hand with a rifle only once. I showed him a second instance open sighted with my AK. It isn't a special talent. The guy was just kind of a dingbat. He also designed one of the stages and it was so bad that I almost didn't want to waste my rounds shooting it. Push two buttons that activate swingers and a drop target. You have less than two seconds... less than... to turn to the targets and fire before the targets are obscured again. You do this twice, turning in different directions. Everyone dropped at least 20 points on that stage. I managed to put a round through the dropper both times, but the stage was just ridiculous. And since my shots were low in the target, I dropped one point each time. This was just about the same performance everyone else got, so everyone walked away thinking we should have all just skipped this one. This guy needs to take some lessons from Larry Correia on stage design. Seriously. The AK ran great, when other guns suffered some minor malfunctions. The only problem that I had with it was that as it got dark, the sights vanished and I had no way of aiming other than instinct. Had I equipped my rifle with a red dot sight, I'd have done much much better. Weapons need sights that work in all light conditions. If you don't have that, your weapon is only effective some of the time. This is not acceptable to me. Other than that, the AK continues to impress me. If Vector Arms makes a better AK than this – that would be one impressive damn rifle. The Marine Magnum actually didn't get to play. It got dark and they were going to throw clays... can't throw clays in the dark. So Maggy Magnum went back into the trunk. Maybe next time. The Kimber Tactical Custom II performed too well. My shots were easily scored because the holes were quite often close together... but one stage, one target only had one hole. The guy timing watched the shot and verified that it was two rounds through the same hole. He was able to see the .45 slug zip through while illuminated by my Surefire light. Had he not seen that shot in that blink, I would have lost points. This is one of the reasons I prefer steel plates. Steel plates don't lie. You hit them, they'll fall. Well, most of the time they fall. 9MM and .40 Cal guns had occasional difficulty on the plates but no .45 did. If you do IDPA stuff or 3Gun... .45 is the caliber of choice. 1911's are always popular, but if you don't have confidence in the 1911, then get an XD, M&P, even a Glock... there are lots of great options... just make sure it is a .45ACP. Ben came out for the first time and shot the courses with a Springfield V-10. The little compact ran great, showing off with impressive blasts of vented gasses... and no muzzle jump at all. Ben found with his pistol the problem that I found with my AK. Black sights don't work at night. If you don't have night sights on your pistol, you are just flat out not prepared. In my mind this is mandatory. Pass or fail. Lasers are nice, but they are not a substitute. Lasers use batteries and they can run out. Tritium doesn't run out for 10 years or more. For the same cost or less, just get night sights. I was very pleased with my shooting performance accuracy wise. This was some of the best shooting I've done in years. Speed was not with me... I took a little longer than I would have liked, but then again, I am going to be going in for surgery on my knee this week. Not that I'm using it as an excuse. Knee or not, I'm still happy with my shooting. Like in any shooting sport, it does illustrate one's weaknesses. Mine is speed. I've never been a quick shot. But I think I balanced that with the fact that I didn't drop points like the speed freaks were doing. I believe that one can not miss fast enough to win a gun fight. My speed in these events will be improve with more shooting. Well, all in all it was good practice and it was loads of fun. That's all that is important. I recommend you looking up your local IDPA group and getting into it. You might have to spend some money getting some bits of gear and some more magazines... but if you take your shooting seriously you should get them anyway. Most of the time IDPA is shot during daylight or on lit indoor ranges... so the night component isn't the norm. One thing I want to mention. A bit of gear that I really like. Xtreme Duty Gear holsters. These are the free holsters you get when you buy a Springfield these days. XD's and 1911's now. I picked up one of these 1911 holsters just to try it out. Works great. Small, not spendy, holds your tactical light on the side. Conceals well enough. I need to order a new G-Code holster as my old one is messed up... I do prefer the G-Code rigs. But this rig will work until I get the new G-Code in. Ron Paul: I'm Libertarian, so is he. But the hard-line libertarian thing is not going to work on the national level yet. That and Ron Paul is a dumbass. His isolationist history shows a clear misunderstanding of international issues. The US needs the rest of the world as much as the world needs the US. Like it or not, our economy is tied to other countries. It would be nice if we could be less concerned about the outside... but the reality is that even if we had no economic concerns with other nations – we have blood bonds. Americans are made up of immigrants from all other nations. We have family out there. We have history out there. My family has ties to the UK. Mrs. Ogre has ties to Scotland and Denmark. Americans are American first of course... but there is more to it. Ron Paul doesn't get that. Or a lot of other things. I'm not impressed with that guy at all.
You see, the biggest problem that I have with Chrysler's ruination of Jeep is that it is playing defensively like all the other US automakers. They are trying to minimize profit loss by parts commonality... when what they should be doing is building cars that outdoorsmen (Jeep Owners) really want. Rigs that give guys hard on's. Rigs that men will go out of their way to buy, instead of compromised, cross-platform drivel that is just like everything else the other guys are making just with a different faceplate. Jeep was born of American ingenuity during WWII... it use an engine they called the “Go Devil” because nothing could stop it. Hell, not even running out of fuel.. the damn thing could run on anything short of buttermilk. If it was a burnable liquid, it went into the tank. You gotta love that. Small but ferocious. I don't know of anything Jeep is making anymore outside of the Wrangler series that qualifies as ferocious. If you like your wife's Patriot, or you have tight panties and pulled the trigger on a Patriot for yourself, I hope you like it. Because your an idiot and wont know any better. Seriously, Chrysler, Don't touch Jeep anymore. You do, and I'm sending in Biff with his paddle and a jar of Vaseline. TAURUS. I'm going to give a little credit where credit is due. Taurus has come a long way and has really improved both their image and their firearms. They remain one of the best companies to deal with in terms of customer service. Their advertisements are fantastic... they look great and seem to be authoritative. But Taurus is not quite there yet. I've had several guys ask me about the 24/7 OSS gun due to an article in the recent issue of Guns and Ammo. I heard so much about this article that I had to read it. Guns and Ammo magazine has zero credibility anymore. I read this issue cover to cover and it is a wad of pure shill and shit. Any desire I may have harbored to one day write for them has evaporated in a white hot flash of realization that the whole publication smells about as sweet as when Mark Tammietti pissed into the Boy Scout bonfire. Revolting. On the cover is the gun with the indication that the gun passed a 60,000 round test. This is why I went ahead and purchased the issue... I had to read this. Well guess what? That is not what happened. Sure the guy says he fired a lot of rounds – through a number of different 24/7 pistols.... but no where did he make the claim that the new 24/7 pistol fired 60,000 rounds. I don't think Taurus can pull that one off yet. I don't see that happening. The 24/7 pistol is for guys who need a pistol quickly but can't afford the extra bucks to step up into a Springfield XD or a S&W M&P pistol. And the 24/7 name? Unless you put on tritium night sights at the factor as a standard option – your pistol is not a 24/7 weapon. Give me a break. If you are going to market that, make it that. Simple as that. Buying American: Regarding the 24/7 OSS... maybe it is a damn fine handgun... even if it has a shitty trigger that makes sponge cake feel crisp. Maybe it could ace 60K rounds of duty grade ammo. But it is made in Brazil. Because of that fact, I'm not going to buy it. Ever. That's just me. Let me explain this in basic and in no uncertain terms. I don't think the US Military regardless of exclusivity should purchase weapons from an alien company... a company not based in the US... own by an American and employing American workers. I don't care how magnificent the weapon is. I'll make exceptions for Belgian machineguns. No one in the US is making a half decent belt fed any more thanks to the Democrats. This puts us in a bind... in that case we have to go overseas. But for rifles and handguns? Let's keep it in country, shall we?
I could die happy never owning
another gun not made in the USA. The US had a fantastic gun industry that
needs better recognition by the Ordinance Board. Even if Alex is a complete asshole, it's a great rifle. One of the best ones out there if only the Military actually took the time to look at it. The problem with the XCR is not in the gun, but in the guy running the company. Someone needs to buy the company, put Alex to work designing wicked crazy shit, and keep him out of public view with a warning sign: Do Not Feed The Alex. They need to hire some guys that are sick with marketing skills (like the guys doing the new ads for Taurus) and they need to get the XCR's in the hands of Law Enforcement all over the country. If they can't get the XCR into SOCOM, then get it into every SWAT arms locker in the country and in the trunk of every patrol car on the streets. Get it into the hands over everyone shooting 3 gun. Make a heavy fluted barrel version with a built in bipod and get it out looking over prairie dog towns. So what if the SOCOM didn't pick the gun. Maybe other groups will... Like the FBI's HRT. There are lots of potential customers and it doesn't look like Robarms is going after any one of them. Another thing Robarms needs to do is to stop shitting on their dealers. Dealers sell guns that the manufacturers put out. If you crap all over the guys that sell your guns, they are going to sell other guns instead. Not naming any joint specifically but when you take the few loyal supporters you have and turn them against you, you need to take a look in the mirror and ask yourself what you did to push them away. Armalite has a nifty rifle out called the AR-180, a civvy version of the old AR-18... a decent rifle by all accounts but it remains an ugly and cheap looking gun. They could revamp the design and give it a more up to date look, and I bet it would do very well in short order. No one wants a gun that looks like the upper and lowers are glued together from two completely different and unrelated projects. It's like an F-18 sitting on top of a locomotive chassis. It doesn't even look like it shoots. Of course it does, it just doesn't look like it should. This is like Hillary Clinton getting some sex... it happens... but you don't want to think about it. Bushmaster has that neat bullpup rifle they used to make. Sure it was ugly and needed a lot of work to make it run right, but it did give the company some experience building that sort of weapon. Why are they not building a new one? Every nation on the planet has a military packing bullpups save the US and Germany (and those buying US or German weapons). Bushmaster's previous failure was that it relied on M-16 parts when they should have looked at way of improving the whole. Gas pistons work. Operating rods work. More lugs than attachment points are not a good idea. I think Bushmaster needs to work on a belt fed replacement to the M-249 and 240. GPMG's need to be home grown too. I don't see why we need to patronize Belgium any more than we have to. The M-60E has be been improved so much, we could very well (and should) go back to that one now. Yeah, I know we've seen the video clip of it rocking through 800 rounds. Yeah, I want one. Gamin Rhino GPS units. What I wouldn't have given to have had those little damn things back when I was in the Infantry. What I wouldn't have given for a certain Second LT to have at least had one. Judas these things have come a long way. Impressive technology. I would have outfitted each fire team in the battalion with one of these things. I might have another female model for some future gun reviews. She is an attractive young lady that is not nearly as young as Kenna. When I say attractive, what I mean is “slammin hottie”. So we shall have to see if she really wants to do it or not, but she has said yes so far and likes the idea. She picked up a Kimber Tactical Custom II for her husband. She's also a real shooter and enjoys hard core off roading on dirt bikes and quad ATV's. Sorry guys, she's already hooked up. If she goes through with it and actually does some photo shoots – you guys are going to totally fall for her. MDF: I went to a fundraiser banquette for the MDF. Mule Deer Foundation. I was there on business and didn't do much in the way of bidding on anything. But I did win a hat. They auctioned off guns and deer and elk tags, as well as a ton of other stuff. Dinner was on them, prime rib that was pretty dang good too. At auction, they were selling things for 3 times or more than actual value... but no one cared. They were throwing money like crazy. Of course it was for a great cause. Unlike Liberal fundraisers, the money actually goes to help the cause. No one does more for real and tangible conservation programs than hunters. No one. Hunters have preserved and improved the populations of everything you can buy a hunting tag for. Everything. More money is generated for conservation and more private non-documented work is done to help the animals by hunters than by any other group. A hunter might kill one animal a year, but his money goes to help the whole species. The MDF guys were fun... not preachy at all... just having a good old time raising money for their cause. And they sure did raise a shitload of it. Note to self. I need to come up with a cause and hold fundraising dinners and auctions for it. Maybe the Rocky Mountain Chupacabra Foundation? Yeah, maybe that would work. Kimber Tactical Custom II: Since I mentioned one of these earlier... I thought I might comment of on mine. I absolutely love it. It isn't just suitable and worthy like the regular Custom II was... no... this one is shear fantastic still. Perfectly accurate and reliable. I've never totally loved one of my 1911's as much as I love this one. I've never geeked out over one of my pistol every time I see it or touch it. The only thing about it is I wish I got the shorter barreled Pro version instead... the Commander sized version instead of Government Model size like this one is. Maybe I'll contact Kimber and talk to them about swapping barrels and slides.
5-17-07:
Another note about the GI Goodie Basket:
Letters to the soldiers are needed. I was
going to say comic books and magazines... but let's throw in a letter for
them too. Let them know that you support them personally. They need to hear
that too. 5th Battallion 20th INF REG, 5920 3rd PLT Alpha Company Camp Taji, Iraq APO AE 09378 With the Democrats running everything into the ground now... it's more important than ever that we show our support for the troops and this war effort. If we don't fight them over there, we will end up fighting them over here. I'd rather hit them on their soil, not ours. Reports are coming in that 28 Weeks Later is a seriously raw and kickass flick. Even the guys at The Totally Rad Show have just raved about it. (I'm hooked on TRS) You know Ogre loves his zombie movies... and as far as zombies go, these fast UK import zombies are awesome. A real tactical challenge. You cant just run to the nearest abandoned cabin and hope to be okay. You have to think on your feet with these new zombies. I'm going to go see it this one, as soon as it comes to town. Or as soon as it hits DVD because it might not come to town here. You see, in my little corner of the world, the local theaters are all owned by the same dude. And that dude is a total dumbass. So if the dude doesn't like the movie – it aint coming. And even if the guy wanted... he only has a 7 screens. I don't think 28 Days Later came... so I am not expecting Weeks to come either. I also like strange flicks with interesting twists... such as one I just watched, “Stranger Than Fiction”. It's out on DVD... check it out. You have never seen a movie quite like it before. This might be Dustin Hoffman's best roll ever. 5-16-07: The boys at Microlon did not let me down... within hours of posting the news of another care package, they threw their hat in the ring and are sending us some of there fine products to go out to the troops. Outstanding. Just to give them a tip of the hat, their stuff works pretty damn good. I like it. Every time I clean one of my guns, I hit the bore with some Gun Juice and it gives me good results every time. There Ultra Blue is quickly becoming a favorite too. It looks like the blue milk that Luke Skywalker drank at Uncle Owen's place on Tatooine, but it's really slick stuff. They designed it for use for shotgun chokes. If you've ever wanted to change chokes, you know those suckers can lock in like they are welded. Ultra Blue makes that job easy. If it can work on that, it's going to be able to work on other metal to metal applications. I've used it on several of my guns, and even a rough little NAA Guardian that needed help... awesome. I'm not sure what it is, what might be in it... but it works. So give Microlon a check out and get some stuff from them. Great guys, great products... a combination that The Horde can appreciate.
Respect: Coming from a Light Infantry background myself, I have a lot a
respect for military small arms. I know exactly what intermediate caliber
automatic rifles can do. I know the .223 out of CAR-15s and M-16A1 & A2s...
I've used them. I've seen the results of them. So don't think you can tell
me something about the .223 Remington or 5.56MM NATO that I don't already
know. Forgive my scoffing. You might be experts with the M-16, SAW, and M9... but that doesn't make you a master of arms. That doesn't even make you close to being a firearms expert. You know why? Because no one is. The gun industry is in constant flux. Firearms history is a deep and rich topic requiring specialization. Values of firearms change every month, and companies will change a gun in the middle of a manufacturing run or even change manufacturing locations. A rifle might be familiar to you but a change of caliber can transform the gun into something different. Some models might be available in left hand, but only in some calibers or made in years previously but not now. New calibers are coming out all the time to try to help spur sales and improve performance. Things change daily. There is a lot out there outside of the thin spectrum of autoloading rifles that feed .223 out of 30 round magazines. You name anything that the .223 can do, I can name you a whole list of cartridges that do it better. Speed, accuracy, inflicting casualties... anything. There is something better for the task, no matter what the task is. If you have only just graduated BASIC and have never fired* anything else – please – STFU and listen. Just because the Navy SEALs don't use it, doesn't mean it is not a good cartridge. I hate to burst your bubble, but you have only just take your first step into a larger world. You have a whole quest ahead of you. A lot of Military guys don't have any respect for Hunters because they just don't have the experience of what a real rifle cartridge can really do. Not even a .243. Or if they have some, they often think .308 is the end all big rifle round. It's not considered a big round by hunters... it's a small one to hunters. It's a short action case. I'm not saying it's a bad round at all... but there is a lot more out there. Take a look. I say the same thing to guys that just got dumped by a girl, so don't take this as a harshing. Hunters often appreciate the result of a torrent of automatic fire... that's great. But far too many Military guys don't appreciate the possibility and potential of even an average hunting rifle. A simple good old bolt action can do some scary things. In military terms that means “sniper”. But in terms of a hunter, that is the means of bagging game in the field at any range out to the caliber's limits in any and all conditions. I'm not saying one is better than the other... I'm just saying that there is a need for mutual respect. Military Shooters and Sportsmen Shooters need to shake hands. Non-firing hands are fine. In the end, we are all Shooters. We enjoy something that most Liberals just don't understand. It doesn't matter what the game that you pursue is... paper targets, steel plates, or venison. Doesn't matter if you have to serve a warrant, follow orders, or fill a tag... we are still brothers in arms. If anything else, we all like the smell of Hoppes #9. Respect all shooters. Even guys who do nothing but clays with expensive over-unders... them too. (*If you have only played with these guns on Counter Strike – don't email me. Ever.) Our unarmed Military: Lot's of emails about this. Yeah, I've known this for some time... but it never really hit me. I didn't really understand the implications of it. Look at what's going on. Terrorists getting ready to hit Ft. Dix, soldiers getting kidnapped. This is the fruits of our current policy of disarming our soldiers any time they are not on a red flagged firing range or on an active patrol. Every soldier is always a soldier first. I propose all US Military personnel active, reserve, guard, and all veterans (participation voluntary) get to pack concealed – no matter what. Regardless of State or Local law – regardless of what building they enter, even post offices. Full Right to Carry, everywhere, at all times. THE CARE PACKAGE: The Heartless Libertarian has nominated a specific unit to benefit from our combined efforts: 3rd Platoon, A Co, 5-20 Infantry. These guys have been hit hard and could use the pick up. We need to let them know that we appreciate their sacrifices, they have our respect, they have our admiration, and they have our love. Our prayers are with the families of the fallen. While some have returned home in flag covered caskets, the rest of them are still in the sandbox pushing forward and getting the job done. This is where this package is going. About the blades. A lot of guys have asked about which knife I've got in mind. I am thinking of some of these knives here, if we get enough funds. If not those, then Cold Steel Safe Keeper II's. Jeep Compass. I saw one up close today. Hideous. Seriously nasty looking. I like Jeeps... but damn. This Chrysler inspired Cross-Ute shit has got to go. This is not the Jeep we know and love, not the Jeep we fell in love with. This new Jeep is too Socialized, Environmentally aware, too Mall Rated and too Subaru Outback cross-bred. They will probably sell like hotcakes. 5-15-07: GI GOODIE BASKET: It's time to put together another Mondo Mad Ogre Care Package. I've got a lot of stuff gathered, but I want to gather even more. My young blood brothers are both heading back to the Sand Box but this time they are really going to be rolling into the shit. They are now hooked up with a cavalry scout unit. They are going to get the best of the weapons, the best armour, the best vehicles... and they are going to need them because they are going to be using them. I have no worries about my brother's ability to kick profuse ass... They are of my blood and spilling blood is a family legacy. Yet they remain my little brothers and it is my duty to worry about them. They are going to be heading out in less than a month now. I'll send them a small package, but for max karma and for the betterment of our troops I'm going to send a huge package to some lucky unit that could use the positive energy and some supplies from home. MadOgre.com has so far during this war sent a number of large packages and until this war ends over there, we will continue to do so. This is one of our traditions. How can you help? First way and the easiest: You can send me funds via paypal to ogre at this domain. Those funds will be used to buy supplies and goodies for all our brothers in arms protecting our liberty. The other way, you can send items you want shipped to Iraq to me, to be included in The Big Package. Email me if you are interested and I will send you the PO Box address. What sort of goodies are going to be sent? Well, that's up to The Horde. I'm hoping we get another parcel from Microlon to help out and other companies are welcome to contribute... Any dry-film gun lubricants are a great. Beef jerky is also great to the point of being massively popular. DVD's and music CD's are always popular of course. They like Country, Hard Rock, Rap... pretty much everything. So anything you want to send is cool. Porn is a no go. If you send porn, it aint going overseas. One thing I want to send specifically... more on that in a second. Right now we have missing GI's over there. The terrorists have kidnapped them. I want our guys to have some very nice last ditch nasty surprises for the badguys. Knives. I want to send them a bunch of small hideaway knives that they can use just in case. I want at least 30 of them. Which one specifically, I'm not going to say yet, but I know which one I want to send. They are not cheap, but they are ideal. I'll ship the package out in about 2 weeks. Shooting Sticks: Do you guys use shooting sticks? Have you ever tried them? I've found them to be beneficial for both rifles and handguns. I'm not going to endorse any specific make or model... but there are a lot of them out there. Some are cheap, 35 on up to a hundred and fifty. I've used several that I liked and others that I didn't. Let me tell you what works. Simple works. It's a shooting stick. It's not a surveyor's tripod... it's just a damn stick you brace your shot on. Some are too complicated and too flimsy. The one's that work the best are sturdy and simple. Unfortunately the simple and sturdy ones are the more expensive ones. There are the tripod shooting sticks... they are total crap. The two legged sticks are better and classical. But use ones that are not in multiple segments. The one piece units are longer, but just work better. If you want to make your own, and I do recommend you do that – make them out of uncut arrow shafts or something like that. Light, strong, and easy to carry. However my favorite are the straight up single walking stick type that has a v shaped platform on top that holds the gun. Again, make your own. You've got more things to spend your money on than a damn stick. Sling your weapon and use the shooting stick as a walking stick. You want to be able to take your stick and use it as a rest while standing. A simple wood shaft works well. So do telescoping tubing like from a microphone stand. But make your own. Consider it a right of passage... like a Jedi lightsaber. They are very handy things, a shooting stick that doubles as a walking stick. Try it. What I am really not liking are the shooting sticks in the sling combo that is out and being advertised on the Outdoor Channel. Awkward and flimsy... they flat suck. We've got them here, and it is a clever idea... but I'm just not liking the execution of the idea. 5-14-07: It's time to roll some heads: The Army needs new leadership in the Brass Section. It is bad enough that our camouflage serves to highlight troop location, but check this shit out. In Iraq and Afghanistan our boys are forced to carry their weapons unloaded. What the hell is this shit? Unloaded weapons in a war zone? Are we French? Our boys are in a war, getting combat pay, getting attacked, dying... and The Brass wants them to roll with cold weapons. For what? For fear of negligent discharges. Never mind the terrorists sniping at them. Never mind the random suicide bombers and IED's blowing shit up. They are afraid of an ND. I'm not making this up. Here is what one soldier said: "The idea that anyone, anywhere, would carry firearms for serious social interaction, yet do so with them in any condition other than ready to fire at a moment's notice, is so stupid no 'discussion' appears necessary, at least among the sane." Are Military Bases to become No Gun Zone College Campuses like Virginia Tech? I'm so pissed off that this has given me a migraine headache even through all my pain meds. I'm livid. I want a change leadership – right now. I want all the Horde Members to write to your Congressmen and demand that our Soldiers act like Soldiers... that Officers act like the Military Leaders that they are supposed to be and not mid level managers on the show “The Office”. This is revolting. Every soldier everywhere should be armed and ready at all times. While you are demanding only what should be common sense... you might want to ask that General Obering be removed from duty and decommissioned ASAP. Why? Because he has been cutting deals with the Democrats behind closed doors. Bush authorized a substantial budget for a Missile Defense site in Europe. The Dems then asked Obering in a closed door meeting just how much they could cut from that budget, what his minimum level of funding could be. After that meeting, that is exactly what they did. They cut it to that level. Never mind that this Missile Defense site is the most vulnerable and is the biggest target for terrorists to take out and that it defends our allies in France (yes, I said France), Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and the UK. There was some give and take in this deal. The Take was deep cuts to security... and the give was some sort of promise of benevolence to General Obering when the Dems take the Oval Office in '08. I am so revolted by this that I am sick to my stomach. We have got to have a strong military. Our peace and prosperity as a nation requires our military to be the best in the world. We can accept no Second Place ribbon in this contest. We can not negotiate with the enemy from the position of submission that the democrats are putting us into. They are tying our hands and our feet and they are using our own Military Officers to do it for them. Those unmitigated bastards... those traitorous deceivers... those Benedict Arnolds... they should be stripped of their uniforms and thrown into the stocks for the care and feeding of the crows.
MAGIC BULLETS: There is
a new stir of interest in specialty ammunition like Extreme Shock. They
advertise “Smart Bullets” and “Advanced Metallurgy” that are designed to
“fragment in logarithmic proportion to the hardness of the target” for
increased lethality that act like a “Shaped Charge” and deliver “density
mass into an expanding rotational cone of NyTrilium matrix particles” that
causes “rapid neurological
collapse to the central nervous system”. Uh huh.
I call
bullshit. First off, even with frangible ammunition the particles to
don't act like a metal tornado in the flesh. Once the bullet breaks apart
the small bits go straight... that is simple inertial physics. Anyone who
paid attention in elementary school knows that. You swing a ball around and
let go, it flies straight not in a spiral pattern. Do these guys think we
are dumbasses or what?
These companies are using some big fancy words to impress you. This is
called MARKETING. Bullets make holes in things. Your job as the shooter is
to put those bullets on a vector that sends it through your targets vital
organs. If you do your job, and you selected the right caliber for your
target, and you place your shot – that target is going to die. Simple as
that. There are no magic bullets. The way I see it, and the way I have seen
it in the field, is that bullets that come apart have less penetration. And
these guys are pulling the hunter card? Penetration is the important aspect
of the bullet's power and why they are so lethal. They stab in deep and
destroy organs and blood vessels as they crash through tissue. If they can't
do that, then all they do is create nasty flesh wounds that only serve to
wound or worse yet, cripple your prey. As a hunter, this is patently
unacceptable and unethical. If you can't take your game with a single clear
shot that kills the game cleanly and humanly – then don't take the shot.
It's better to end the season without firing a shot than to risk wounding a
noble game animal just to try to fill your tag. These magic bullets for use as a defensive round? Oh hell no. The only place these types of rounds have any use at all is in situations where over penetration is unacceptable. For example, by Air Marshals aboard airliners. Maybe if you are in an apartment building built with walls of Japanese rice paper. Whatever. There are no magic bullets. Simple as that. I have heard some guys say that some high speed cats at the FBI or some Special Forces dudes are using these bullets that can kill you even if it hits you in the arm or leg because the energy travels up to the brain. Bullshit, bullshit bullshit. No, not it doesn't. That's not how the body works. That's not how bullets work. There is no such thing as “Energy Transfer” or “Energy Dump” when it comes to terminal ballistics. Those are marketing phrases designed to Transfer your money into their money. They make great looking advertisements that look like action movie posters that make guys think “Yeah, I want to be like that!” This specialty ammo is crazy expensive, so much so that few people can afford to actually test the ammo. Even if they buy it, they can't afford to shoot it. 10 bucks for 6 rounds is the cheapest I've seen this sort of ammo... most of the time it's higher than that... 15 bucks for 6. 25 bucks for 10 rounds. Whatever it is... are you going to buy enough to fire 200 rounds to verify that this shit is reliable in your gun? Are you going to fire enough to verify accuracy? Are you going to fire enough verify that it can actually do what it advertises that it can do? I've seen the ballistics gel test videos and that does mean crap. Not an ounce of crap. A block of ballistics gel is not an armed assailant coming to get your daughter. A block of ballistics gel does not act like flesh and bone. It can't get cranked up on meth and opiates or drunk on cheap beer enough to want to rape your dog. Gel is only useful in making comparisons between loads, not in demonstrating likely results on the living angry. The only way I can see these bullets doing what they are advertised would be if they were made of compressed silver particles and you were hunting werewolves with it. Maybe then. Maybe. 5-13-07: HAPPY MOTHERS DAY: I know a lot of you guys are thinking they have the best Mom. Sorry. You don't. I do. The Ogre Mom is the best living Mom on the planet. Those who disagree can snuff it. I want to wish my Mom the happiest of Mother's Days. Have some cake. Love you Mom. About the knee. Looks like I'm going to get carved on. There is pretty much nothing I can do about it. I've got a large tear in the lateral meniscus. As far as knee injuries go, this is evidently the one to have. Healing after surgery isn't as bad as the other forms of knee injuries. The downside is that there might be a partial tear in the ACL, but we wont know until he digs in there, roots around, and starts tinkering. Lovely. So much for that MRI crap. I'm not impressed. Of course I had little expectations considering that here in the Uintah Basin the MRI machine is housed in a trailer and travels between Ashley Valley Hospital and the Roosevelt hospital. How ghetto is that? Well, at least I didn't have to drive out to Wasatch Front to get the MRI. Because that would have really sucked. The Contour is a 5 speed manual. Yeah, driving with my bad knee? The clutch pedal is not my friend. In fact, the clutch hates me. No, my knee and the clutch hates me. Especially in the mornings. Pressing that clutch in is like torture. Not Abu Grabass kinky embarrassing San Fran kinda torture... but good old fashioned Cold War KGB, death of a thousand cuts kinda torture. I'm starting to think that an autoshifter isn't such a bad invention. Especially a trick manumatic with paddle shifters. That would be sweet. The other thing about the Contour is that the door is kind of short. I never noticed it before. But now that I can't quite bend my knee so much, yeah, it's a short door. But check this out. I'm less than 500 bucks from paying off the Contour and getting out of that payment. I don't like car payments... but I could trade my Tour in on something a bit longer and less clutchy. Of course that would mean I'm back into a payment. I don't know what would be worse... Clutchy short Contour or another car note? I'm thinking car note would be worse at this point. Yeah, I have to Bronco, but that's a jump up to get into it and a jump down... so that isn't so good. Speaking of cars and stuff. Insurance. Check this bullshit out. AMERICAN FAMILY INSURANCE is a bunch of rat-bastards. Remember when my littlest crashed Mom's van into the post office? American Family dropped our insurance for too many claims. Huh, what? They did. I went in and talked to them and they did that because they thought my littlest one was 15... no... he was 5. I pointed out that they had the police incident report and it shows that he was indeed only 5 years old. So they reinstated. But then they didn't reinstate the automatic payment we had set up. So the day after the payment was due – they dropped us again, this time for lack of payment. Great. We didn't know this until Mrs. Ogre had a Mr State Trooper behind her who ran her plate and it came up uninsured motorist. This was news to us. This was on a Saturday. Monday morning I was in the office again. I pulled all our insurance. Home, other autos, everything. Allied Insurance welcomed us with open arms. Not only did they accept us, but did so with better policy coverage at drastically better rates for everything. Oh, and check this out. They called American Family. They harshed on them, let them know that what they did was uncool, and got American Family to print us out pre-dated proof of insurance cards so Mrs. Ogre didn't have to eat the 600 dollar no insurance ticket. And to top this off, they faxed in the proof of insurance to the court and took care of it all for us. WOW. They went the extra mile – big time. I'm impressed. No, I'm blown away. These guys rock to a shockingly high degree. Yes, I'm done bitching about my private life. Less move on to more Ogrish topics. Army Uniform: Yeah, I've really had people tell me that they new Army uniform is good camo. No. For the love of all that is holy, no it is not good camo. When you take away the pattern, the design of the uniform is very good. It looks cool, we are loving the collar and the velcro closures... all that. It is a well designed uniform. The problem is the camo pattern. It has the same visibility lowering properties and a faded denim jeans jacket. However, one of The Horde has sent us a photo of this new uniform blending in perfectly with the environment that the soldier is in:
Here is what the Army needs to do, and what I would do if I was a 5 Star at the Pentagon: I'd look at the guys who use camo almost every day and in every environment. Hunters. What camo do they use? Hunters don't just try to be less noticed by humans who are busy going about there business wishing they were doing something else... they are trying to be less noticed by critters who live in those environments who are on the constant look out for dangerous predators with all 5 senses. Think about that a second. Hunters have learned that using just one pattern for all environments is a planned failure. Hunters have several different patterns, not just for different area types, but for those areas in different seasons. Look at MossyOak and RealTree. They have tons of different patterns that allow you to pick the one that is exactly right for where you are going to hunt. This would be a huge logistical nightmare for the Army and I'm not suggesting that they do that. But take a look at King's Outdoor World camouflage. They have three patterns that pretty much cover most of the situations you could find yourself in. I've used a lot of different patterns from all the major camo makers... Some work well, some are just so far over-hyped it isn't even funny, some don't work. King's impresses me. The three patterns they have are Desert Shadow, Mountain Shadow, and Snow Shadow. The Mountain Shadow is great and probably a good general use pattern that will work in most places and situations. The one I like and have a full outfit in is the Desert Shadow pattern. This stuff is PERFECT for Utah's desert. If the base color was somewhat darker, it would be great for all desert environments. After that slight change, King's just need to make one more pattern... something for city warfare. Urban Shadow. Black and grey with some Starbucks logos all over it... or something. Kidding about the logos, but seriously they need to make one. Then the Army would have 4 basic uniform patterns that work effectively. Cause right now the Army has no camouflage. None. I'd
have King's do it up, get it done, and get these uniforms out to all our
guys. That and I'd also do away with the “Dress Uniforms”. The Army is a
combat force, not a dress up country club. Come on, the Army is not the Air
Force. Besides, we already all know that the Marines have the best dress
uniforms and since we can't copy the Marines we just wont have any of it.
So here we are, the new Army wearing camouflage that works, everyone armed and ready to do that which they have all taken oaths to do. And of course they would be armed with better hardware than what they have now. What do they have now? They have glorified .22 Hornets that jam a lot and uniforms that let everyone know exactly where they are. Our Infantry is the best in the world, but it has become the worst equipped. Mexico has a better loadout than our boys. I find this completely and utterly unacceptable. We should reinstate the practice of dueling. (WARNING – I am going to start talking about religion and Mormons so if you don't want to hear it, just skip out to the next section) I think we could solve a lot of problems in this nation within one week if we did that. I got dibs on Harry Reid. I can't stand that guy. I don't get this... A lot of people out there in the USA (namely brain damaged Democrats) think Mitt Romney is horrible and would be a bad President because he is Mormon, but Harry Reid is a great guy. This isn't about Mormons... this is about Harry Reid's disgusting Liberal politics. Mitt isn't a Liberal so he's a bad guy. Reid is a slobbering Liberal that kneels before the Clinton alter so he's okay. This comes from the same party that points out that Fred Thompson played a racist 19 years ago in an acting job yet they have that jackass in West Virginia who was actually a leader in the KKK. This is one of the most infuriating things about the Democrats... this drives me up a wall and convinces me that Democrats are either completely unethical or have below room temperature IQ's. If they were ethical, smart, and intellectually honest they wouldn't have jackasses like Byrd and Reid in office. The DNC wouldn't allow them past the local primaries. Mitt
Romney being a Mormon should not be an issue in his candidacy. To make it an
issue isn't just asinine, but counter to the American Way. We have freedom
of religion. I don't care if Romney is Mormon or was Jewish or was Catholic
or was Lutheran... I don't think it matters. And now Al Sharpton is calling
out Romney because he is Mormon as if Mormons are a racist group? WTF? I've also heard that we Mormons disrespect women because women don't hold the Priesthood. You know what? They don't. That's right, women don't get the priesthood. Do you know why? Let me lay it on you... they don't need it. We believe womanhood is so sacred that women simply don't need it. They already have an elevated status in the Lord's eyes. My personal belief about this is that a mother is close enough to the Lord that she can kneel in prayer and ask for the same blessings that men have to have the priesthood to do. Did you know that the Relief Society, a Mormon Woman's service group is the oldest woman's organization in the country? I'm also tired of being referred to as Not Christian by ignorant people. Mormon is not the name of our Church. Mormon was a slang term given to us by bigots... much like the word “Nigger”. We call ourself “Saints” as in “Later Day Saints” because the name of our church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints. Our Church is named for Jesus. We pray in Jesus' name. We do believe in Jesus, God the Father, and in the Holy Spirit. Basically the same trinity that the Catholics believe in. Are Catholics non-Christian? Now, we don't believe that Jesus, Heavenly Father, and the Holy Spirit is the same dude. We believe they are three individuals. We believe that they “are one” in purpose, not “are one” literally. A mother and father are one in purpose in raising their children they are not one person. The name Mormon comes from The Book of Mormon which we believe is another testament of Jesus Christ. If you have read the book, it is hard to say that it isn't true. When you read it, the truth of the gospel smacks you right in the face. You can't just pick and choose parts of it – you have to honestly read it cover to cover and then pray and ask our Father in Heaven if it is true. Just like the Bible. About the Bible... Other Christians mock Mormons because of the B.O.M yet say the Bible is all there is... yet the Bible is a collection of texts that was selected for inclusion by a guy that wasn't even Christian. This left out a lot of gospels that were no less true. And the Bible its self is not perfect... the books were copied line by line by a bunch of priests who worked by candle light with quills and ink bottles. Then another guy would copy what you just copied. Errors in translations and omissions are impossible to prevent in this situation which is why King James commissioned a fresh translation from source material as original as possible. This is why we believe the KJV to be the most correct version of the bible. Because, quite frankly, it is. It is also the least popular because of the nature of the old language. See, we Mormons have and use and read the Bible... we have other books too, but they don't replace the Bible. How could they? Nothing can replace it. Every Sunday I teach a Sunday School class and we are studying the New Testament. I don't teach out of the B.O.M... I haven't even asked my class to crack the cover of the B.O.M for a cross reference. I do ask my class to come with their bibles, ready to read. We often take turns reading from it and then we discuss those parts. I teach a bit differently, mixing the gospel within a historical frame work. That isn't required, but it makes it more interesting for me and I think it sheds more light on situations we read about. That and I know the young teenagers in my class who are getting public education are not getting this history from school. Not all 13 year olds know about the history of Roman Empire, but my students do. Anyways. Where was I? Christians. I don't care if you like it or not, but I'm Christian, my church is a Christian church. You can label us however you like, but you can't change what is in my heart. And seriously, I don't care what is in yours... you are not going to convince me and I'm not going to convince you so just leave it alone. If you have honest questions and you want to talk about it, I'll be happy to talk to you about. But I'm not going to Bible Bash with you. (cause I'd totally win anyways – I was a missionary for two years and I've battled all the issues that Anti-Mormons throw out so it isn't even a challenge) Instead of pointing out differences and creating rifts, I much prefer to point out common grounds and build bridges. Because that is what Christians should do. That's why Jesus gave us the parable of the Good Samaritan. Love one another is what it is all about... not argue and cause contention and hard feelings. That comes from another source that loves contention and confusion and anger and hatred. So go ahead and call me Mormon. I'm proud of it. Mitt Romney is Mormon too? Great. I don't see why anyone should hold that against him. Harry Reid is Mormon too... but I still think he's an ignorant, anti-American asshole. It pisses me off that Reid is LDS. That he is LDS and supposedly believes what we believe and yet supports the politics that he supports – he is an untrustworthy hypocrite. I think he should be excommunicated. Can good Mormons be good Democrats? I don't think so. Not this new form of Clintonized Democrat. The old school Democrats, sure. They had ethics and morals and they loved this country... but that isn't where the Dems as a party are today. The DNC have taken them in another direction. The wrong way. Gun Companies that I hate, that makes guns that I like: You guys know I love guns. Almost all guns. But there are some gun companies that I just can't stand. For an example, I love Colt firearms. I think they are great. But the company? They stabbed the American shooter in the back while standing on his shoulders. And they are trying to come back into the civilian market again? Screw them. I'll never by another Colt as long as they continue in the same direction with the same leadership. S&W did the same thing, but they turned it around 180 degrees and is now better than they ever were before. They are even a completely different company now. New ownership, new executives, all new blood at the helm. But Colt is doing the same old routine that has just about made them close their doors and now, without apologies they are pimping their 1911 pistols to the American public... pistols that are rather average yet asking an above premium price just because they are Colt? No thanks. The name Colt has no currency anymore. Just like Winchester. All the same goes for Winchester. The name has become a generic label for Browning's sub division. I love the old Winchesters. These new rebadged brownings? No thank you. These new Winchesters are not worthy of the premium price tag. Because Winchester has licensed out the name on so much cheap Chinese crap, the name have become worthless. You want a cheap ass knife that starts out dull and can't hold an edge if you try to give it one? Buy a knife that says Winchester on it. HK. They make some decent guns. Nothing special... not all that great, but I don't feel disadvantaged when using one of them. But damn they are so full of themselves. The SL8 rifle and UMC carbines are back again... HK is slumming to the American Civilian... but they expect us to pay over two grand for an SL8 and 17 hundred of the UMC? Give me a break... these guns are worth 500 and maybe 800 for the rifle, probably only costing about 200 to 300 to make. They are not worth this premium price tag for what you get. Not even close. And don't try to call them up and ask for some service. If you have to, just do this... crush some glass with a hammer and mix it with your eye drops. Sure it will hurt and make your eyes bleed, but so will calling HK and this way at least you save time for the same end result. Marlin. I love Marlin lever actions. But calling them up on the phone is something I hope I never have to do again. Talk about arrogant asses. They are just about as bad as Beretta, but without the charm of the Italian accent. I don't mean to harsh on the gun industry... just pointing out those that need some improvement. There are those companies that I love talking to... great companies that are doing it right: Remington, Smith & Wesson, CZ-USA, Wilson Combat, Springfield Armory, Kimber, North American Arms... these guys have restored my faith in humanity and the industry. They are not only putting out great guns, but are great to work with. I've had an email from a Marine who said that I am wrong about France and that France has always been on our side. Uh huh... as long as we buy their wine they are. Look... let me say this one last time. I don't hate the French. I have nothing against the French people... I just hate the French Government and French Politics and French Fashions and French attitudes to Americans. So forgive me my right to say Fuck the French. If you like them, fine. I'm sure they are wonderful to people to be around, but I'd rather not. Speaking of the French, I had a guy from France come into my gun store. He was eyeballing an MP15T rifle and I could tell he wanted to take a closer look. Since I'm such a great guy, I went ahead and picked up the gun and started to hand it to him... I kid you not, he surrendered. Both hand up in the air. He said that he wasn't allowed because he was from France. In his pigeon English and my pigeon French we had a nice little chat and I told him that while he was in Utah, he was free and could look all he liked. I even invited him to go shooting if he wanted, but time did not allow him the opportunity. He seemed like a nice enough fellow for being a Frenchy and all. The .Gov should go WACO on these guy's asses. The fact that they haven't is a travesty and gross oversight. The Gov is probably afraid to move in and do anything about this because they are fearful of reprisals. But if I was in charge I would use a scorched earth policy. 5-10-07: Lots of questions about the Limbsaver Barrel De-Resonator test. So I decided to open it up to discussion over at TheHighRoad.org in the Rifle forum. A quick FAQ here: No, the D-Rez'r does not slip. No, the D-Rez'r does not change point of impact thus requiring rezeroing. Yes, the device is worth the money. Yes, I'm keeping it. Yes, I would buy another. Yes, they make these for bull barrels and I'm sure they are going to work but I think the benefit on a bull barrel would be less dramatic. No, it will not work that great on a Mini-14 due to the tight fit of the device and the front sight post on the Mini-14. I'm not exactly sure if it would really help the Mini-14 anyway. The Mini-14's main problem is the point of impact shift as the barrel heats. This would not help that. The only thing that would help th |
