Gun Review: Walther P22

This is an archive post. Originally posted on my other blog on 18 March 2006.

The P22 is designed to be nearly identical to, although smaller than, Walther's P99 (a 9mm or .40 S&W gun). I decided to take my new one out today for some shooting. Please excuse some of the blurry pictures, I was in a hurry because it was about to start raining (unfortunately, the rain didn't last long).

Ammo being tried out today was Remington standard "High Velocity" .22 LR and Remington Subsonic .22 LR as pictured. Grouping and accuracy didn't seem to matter--both kinds of ammo shot the same. Recoil was more noticeable with the High Velocity ammo, but it's a .22, so who cares? Just above the trigger in the above picture is the trigger lock, if you ever care to use it.

As usual, I have to make some left-handed comments. Shooting in the isosceles position kept popping the Subsonic empties right back into my face, and one even went down my shirt (ouch). Adjusting to sort of a hybrid isosceles/Weaver stance took care of that (I just shifted my feet a little). The High Velocity empties ejected with more force, and flew clear of me without me even noticing them.

I'm trying in this picture to illustrate the ambidextrous magazine release located on the trigger guard. The mag release makes this gun very lefty-friendly. The safety is also ambidextrous.

The P22 has what they call a "loaded chamber indicator," but it's the kind that is simply a small gap through which to look and see if it's loaded. It's not the tactile kind. Personally I'd rather just press-check it.

It has a magazine disconnect so the hammer won't fall with the magazine removed. What may seem odd to some (it did to me), is that when the safety is on and the magazine installed you can pull the trigger and the hammer will fall. However, there is a hammer block that prevents it from transferring the impact to the cartridge. According to Walther, this is the decocker. Still, it seems odd to use the trigger for a decocker rather than have a separate decocking lever.

To disassemble, first ensure it is not loaded, then lock the slide back and remove the magazine. Slide the take-down lever down. This is not actually a lever, it is more of a sleeve. It must be pulled down with equal force on either side. If you try to walk it down one side at a time, it won't work.

Lift the back end of the slide up slightly and carefully allow it to go forward. As with some other semi-autos, if you aren't careful the spring could pop out.

The P22 has a fixed barrel. It comes with an accessory wrench to remove the barrel. Walther also produces an optional 5" barrel which can be installed by the owner--no gunsmithing required. The 5" barrel is called the "target barrel." I don't have one, yet. The gun also comes with three front sights of varying heights. The factory installed front sight can be removed with a screwdriver and a new one installed by the owner. The rear sight is micrometer adjustable for windage. There is also a second palm swell that can be owner-installed on the back of the grips to increase the size of the grips if desired. I plan on trying that out too, but I haven't yet. It also comes with two 10-round magazines, and it has a light rail.

The tricky part is putting the gun back together when you're finished cleaning it. In the little accessory bag which includes the wrench is a plastic rod. This rod is used to guide the guide rod back into its respective hole in the end of the slide.

Carefully--making sure everything stays lined up straight--pull the slide back into its locked open position. The plastic guide rod will pop out unless you have a third hand to catch it, so be sure it pops out where it won't get lost. On mine, there is one extra step which took me a while to figure out. After the slide is back in its locked open position, a light tap to the back of the slide with the heel of the hand is required to finally seat it into its correct position so that it can slide forward again. After sliding it forward, push the takedown lever back into its previous position, and lower the hammer. You're done.

How does it shoot? you ask. This gun shoots way better than I do, but that can be remedied with practice, which is the main reason I bought this gun.

This 8" Shoot-N-See target shows--although it's hard to count them all--40 bullet holes from a distance of 25 feet. I am almost certain the rightward drift of the group is due to me rather than the gun. I should mention that for the last two magazines, I was shooting about as fast as I could and still keep them all in the black. (The extra black circle that was stuck on there didn't cover any holes, that was just my son sticking a sticker there because he likes to do that sort of thing). Other bullet holes in the backing are from previous sessions.

This gun is sweet. It is so comfortable that I could easily just stand and shoot all day. I just need to teach the kids how to load the magazines so they can load while I shoot.

If Walther were to ask me for any suggestions, I would recommend an extended magazine. By the way, here's a factory picture of the gun with the 5" barrel and the accompanying barrel stabilizer installed.

Visit Walther's P22 page for technical details.

MSRP on this little guy is $295. I got mine brand new for $243 plus tax. An affordable gun that shoots affordable ammo.

UPDATE: Check the comments for another tip on how to reassemble the gun without using the plastic guide rod. I'll have to try that!

COMMENTS ARCHIVED FROM THE ORIGINAL POST BELOW:

by drstrangegun:

Instead of the little plastic rod, when I reassemble my P22 what I do is bunch the recoil spring up on the guide rod, insert the rod through the slide and hold the rod on the outside (keeping the spring compressed), I then put the slide back on the gun partially and release the rod, and wiggle it a little until the rod pops into the retaining hole in the frame. It's much faster and requires no extra parts to lose.

by Chris Byrne:

I do the exact same trick for reassembling mine.

Ok some important notes on the P22.

1. The safety will loosen up and come on by itself over time. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN the screws that hold the safety levers onto the safety barrel. This will split them, AND reduce the tension on the barrel making the problem worse. Find the right tension and loctite the screws there, but check them every one in a while.

2. Cleaning... Get yourself some plastic safe but otherwise very strong solvent, a solvent safe container to submerge the gun completely, and a can of compressed airto blow the solvent out again.

Trust me, it's the only way to clean the crud out of the little spaces that you can't get to. You literally cannot diassemble this gun far enough to clean it completely.

Once youlve dunked and blown, reoil the gun VERY LIGHTLY, because too much oil jsut invites more crud.

3. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN THE BARREL NUT. The barrel shroud will actually peen down the key in the aluminum barrel lug mounted in the frame. This is not a replaceable part.

Dont let these points scare you off, or suggest I don't love the gun; I do. It's a great little pistol, and everyone should own one. You jsut need to know those particular idiosyncracies.

by anonymous:

The NEWER P22's are labeled with an "L" prefix before the serial number. These seem to have less problems with misfires as the older (pre-2004) models did. Also, be sure to check the magazine for the letter "A". These are the newer mags that Walther replaced the old, "defective" ones with. Other than that this is the best little .22LR auto I've owned. 40-gr. CCI mini-mags are by far the best rounds for this gun. Enjoy.

by anonymous:

Due to the inertial firing pin, the P22 should not be "dry fired" extensively during aiming practice. Doing so not only risks deformation of the chamber face, but the repeated forward action of the firing pin into and beyond the space normally occupied by the rimfire casing will eventually distort the firing pin spring. If this happens, the firing pin will no longer return vigorously to its default at-rest position at the extreme of its possible rearward travel within the breach block. This could result in less or none of the firing pin's rear surface portruding beyond the rear of the breach block for impact by the hammer.

Other comments at the original post.

Another one for the Million Moon March

They accepted my most recent submission. Check it out here.

"Make me safe from armed violence"

I have been laughing about this ever since I thought of it last Thursday while at work. I just got a good guffaw out of finally finding it there now. I guess their goons aren't old enough to remember 1980.

Tags: gun control, global arms control, million moon march

The Dick Cheney Thing

Everyone has already read about Dick Cheney accidentally shooting a fellow hunter during a quail hunt recently. My only comment on this is that many hunters only use their gun(s) once or twice a year. They do not go to the trouble of handling a gun every day to train themselves to have safe handling skills. I say this as someone who used to be a gun owner just so I could hunt. Safe gun handling requires everyday routines that are drilled into one's head so that such safe handling comes to be automatic.

I have nothing against the folks who use their gun only to hunt. I just think if you're going to hunt, you should make sure to handle your gun more often than only when you actually do hunt. This would cut down on a lot of so-called hunting "errors."

We are sorry for the inconvenience

I have been working on setting up new digs at eponym.com. Once I get everything worked out I will probably stop using this blog, although it will remain here for archival purposes.

Eponym supplies its own comment and trackback system, so any commentors there will have to post anonymously unless you want to register as a reader of the site.

BTW, is anyone else annoyed at having to do word verification to post to one's own blog? I thought that was the whole point behind having a username and password. I guess they're trying to put a stop to spamblogs, but still, that's a pain.

Any posting I do this week will be cross-posted to both blogs. The new one is at blogonomicon.eponym.com.

Border agent busted for smuggling illegal aliens

I have to blame Mr. Codrea for starting my hobby of watching for stories like this:

He was supposed to protect the borders from illegal immigrants, instead a former U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officer will be sent to prison for letting them into this country for a price.

42-year old Fabian Solis was sentenced to 36 months in prison for conspiring to smuggle illegal immigrants into the Unites States for money.

Meanwhile, near San Diego:

An incomplete tunnel was found in the same area where investigators recently found one of the longest passages discovered beneath the U.S.-Mexico border, officials said.

The 3-foot-wide tunnel extended from just south of the border fence in Mexico to a point about 23 feet into the United States, ending at a concrete levee, Border Patrol spokesman Richard Kite said.

A patrol agent noticed a distortion in the road running along the border fence, and agents digging in the area found the tunnel Thursday, Kite said.

"It was only about 6 inches below the asphalt," he said.

Two air marshals busted for cocaine trafficking

From KRPC, Houston:

Two air marshals were arrested in connection with using their positions for drug trafficking, KPRC Local 2 reported Friday.

A tipster told FBI agents that the men, whose names were not released, were buying and selling drugs as they flew around the country as air marshals.

The federal government hired thousands of air marshals after Sept. 11, posting the undercover, armed agents on board random airplanes.

Because they carry guns, the marshals bypass metal detectors and X-ray machines. [How convenient that must be for them.--ed.]

The air marshals arrested Thursday were scheduled on an overnight flight, possibly to Las Vegas. They were arrested before making it to the airport.

Agents searched the northwest-side home of one of the men. The search warrant, which details what was found, is sealed.

Both men worked with other law enforcement agencies before becoming air marshals, sources told KPRC. One of them was a Drug Enforcement Administration agent until 2002, when he joined the air marshals.

Why were their names not released? Because air marshals often travel incognito and revealing their names could endanger their future careers?

tnx to Diane's Stuff

An unexpected gun encounter--the good kind

Today we celebrated my dad's 65th birthday, and at one point during the party, his wife (technically my step-mother, although since I never actually lived in the same house as her, it doesn't seem right to refer to her that way), anyway, she told me, "Hey, I have something I thought you'd like to see." She handed me a lightly-framed revolver which seemed to have excessive fluting on the cylinder. A couple of people got to witness my stream-of-consciousness observations (I lost my usual self-reserve and began thinking out loud).

A nine-shot .22 revolver. Is it a Harrington & Richardson? No, a High Standard. I didn't know High Standard made this kind of gun. It doesn't have a loading gate. Okay, I got it figured out (cylinder swings open). Double action. (Held gun to sunlight coming through window). Barrel's kind of dirty. A little rust on the cylinder & hammer. If I clean it up can I shoot it?

"Sure, you can shoot it anytime you want."

She went on the tell me that the gun was about 40 years old. Next weekend I plan on cleaning the old gun up and putting some rounds through it.

Another nice thing is that my dad has inadvertently built a very nice pistol range. Since the drought has completely dried up his small stock tank, he has dug it out and shored up the banks and the dam. It is now about 22 yards across a flat bottom with sloping sides almost all the way around about 8 feet high. So until it starts raining again I'll have a nice place to do some pistol plinking.

I've already done some cursory internet research on the gun and learned a little, like it has an aluminum frame. I'll see if I can dig up some better information before I talk about it again. In the meantime, here is a picture of this model revolver that I Googled up from the Kim Du Toit archives. The one I held today doesn't look as nice as this one. It has lost a lot of finish from the sides of the end of the barrel, apparently from being repeatedly drawn from its holster over the years. That's what the wear looks like to me, anyway.

Million Moon Update

The War on Guns has a Million Moon Update. Check it out for a list of all the latest members and their pictures in the Million Moon Brigade.

Tags: gun control, global arms control, million moon march

Death threats against Hudspeth County deputies

From San Antonio Express-News:

State and federal officials are investigating death threats against Hudspeth County sheriff's deputies and their families that local officials believed are tied to a recent standoff on the Texas-Mexico border.

Chief Deputy Mike Doyal said Wednesday that two deputies and the wife of third officer were warned that they should 'stay off the river' or they and their families would be killed.

Sheriff Arvin West said he believed the threats came from men connected to the Jan. 23 standoff between Texas lawmen west of El Paso and armed drug smugglers dressed in Mexican military-style uniforms. He declined to provide other details.

'All I can say for sure is that it was someone in Mexico,' West said.

Doyal said three unidentified men threatened the wife of one of the county's 12 deputies.

Andrea Simmons, an FBI spokeswoman in El Paso, said Wednesday the FBI is aware of the threats but does not have a role in the investigation.

West, who said area drug traffickers know just about everything about his deputies, was among a contingent of Texas lawmen who testified Tuesday at a congressional hearing about Mexican military incursions into the United States.

Perhaps because Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West announced on national radio that, "With or without federal assistance, we're going to put a stop to it." (Heard on NPR). He was referring to recent border invasions incursions.

In other border news, Governor Rick Perry (TX) has announced a new initiative called Operation Rio Grande. Part of this involves shifting Texas DPS officers "to provide more border security, but not necessarily hiring new officers." Not good enough. Hire more officers, for God's sake. Maybe then the Border Patrol can stop resorting to billboard advertisements to draw in applicants.

Other better news from this article is about some positive things that have happened since Operation Linebacker was announced back in December. I noticed especially that Kinney County, a very rural county of 1,363 square miles with about 20 miles of international border, only has 4 law enforcement officers for the entire county. This area is pretty much a free zone for drug smugglers and Operation Linebacker has apparently helped them significantly. Kinney County, with State Highways 90 and 131, provide easy access to both Del Rio and Eagle Pass/Piedras Negras.

Meanwhile, back in Nuevo Laredo, drug runners attacked the offices of the newspaper El Mañana:

The day after two hooded men burst into the lobby of their building, sprayed their newsroom with automatic weapons and tossed a grenade, reporters at El Mañana did their best to maintain a veneer of normalcy.

Monday night's attack injured one reporter, who remained hospitalized in stable condition.

By Tuesday, the pockmarked walls at the city's leading daily were filled and painted. Windows and doors were replaced, the shattered glass and debris swept away.

But the swiftness of the cleanup belied the nervousness reporters felt and the muzzling of a free press that some predict will affect other Nuevo Laredo news organizations.

"There's a psychosis of fear in the newsroom," said one reporter who witnessed the attack. "The goal for the day is to get in, write as quickly as possible and get out."

El Mañana, like other city papers, already had been censoring its own coverage to avoid provoking the drug cartels that are fighting for control of the area's smuggling routes.

"There is no point in investigating narcotrafficking," Ramon Cantu Deandar, the paper's editor, said Tuesday. "That's an international problem that not even the authorities have the will to fix."

It's common knowledge that most of the homicides in Nuevo Laredo — averaging almost one a day so far this year — are carried out on behalf of either the Gulf Cartel or the Sinaloa Cartel.

The newspaper covers the facts of a slaying, but never blames the cartels and never prints names. Cantu said it now would scale down its coverage even further, relegating the violence to its inside pages.

"We're going to cover the killings, but not highlight them on the front page," Cantu, the editor, said. "We're in the middle of a war here, and we need to be more careful."

What could have finally triggered (no pun intended) this attack?

The gunmen arrived less than two weeks after El Mañana hosted a seminar for the Inter-American Press Association on covering drug trafficking.

Cantu didn't blame the conference, but added: "Yes, it was seen as a provocation for the mafias, for the narcotraffickers."

Julio Muñoz, the IAPA executive director, said by phone from Miami that it's too soon to know a motive for the attack, but it could be payback for the seminar, in which journalists discussed how to stay safe while covering drug trafficking.

They discussed how to stay safe while covering drug trafficking. I guess the drug thugs showed them that there is no way to stay safe there, unless they just type up weather reports and stay away from the icky stuff like drug running, murders, and such.

Reporting from the safe side...

Tags: border security, Texas

Second Amendment Saturday at Free Constitution

It's Second Amendment Saturday at Free Constitution. Go read!

The Anti-PC League

I would just like to mention that I have joined The Anti-PC League.

Readers of this blog have probably learned by now that my sense of humor is often, well, somewhat offbeat, and sometimes bleak.

As the good Doctor once said, "I'm very serious about what I do, but I'm not always serious about how I do it."

There is a lot of humor to be found in poking holes in PC-ness, but the matter of "political correctness" is deadly serious. "Political correctness" is a form of thought control. It shapes how people speak, and by doing so, shapes how they think.

I will endeavor to remain as politically incorrect as possible.

Just a happy guy with a pipe

They accepted my latest submission. Here 'tis.

"No more arms for atrocities"

Check out all the comments at The War On Guns for more submissions.

(That sardonic chuckle you hear in the background? Yeah, that's me).

Tags: gun control, global arms control, million moon march

The Million Moon March Continues

Read Million Moon March: A New Tack for new information.

I have submitted a new picture in this vein and will update later on its status.

Mr. Completely's Rimfire Roundup #1

The first Rimfire Roundup is now up at Mr. Completely. Check it out.

Zim speaks up...

Eventually I must answer everything with absurdity. Well, almost everything.

Further reading: Million Moon March Gallery

Tags: gun control, global arms control

Heard on NPR today...

I listen to NPR a lot. But then I've said that before. (Sigh...)

Today the reporter was talking to some French guy, I guess he's supposed to be somebody important. The reporter drew a parallel between current embassy burnings due to Islamic facism and...

...brace yourself...

...Christians burning Beatles albums because John Lennon said they were "bigger than Jesus."

As far as I know, the albums had been purchased legally and the owners were therefore free to do with them as they pleased. Also as far as I know, they didn't use them as kindling to torch the British embassy.

Tags: NPR, Islamofacists

Concealed Carry in Wisconsin isn't going away

I meant to post this yesterday, but other things interfered.

This link is to an op-ed in the University of Wisconsin The Badger Herald. Written by a senior there and pro-CCW. Which is why I think that it won't just be going away in Wisconsin.

Tags: concealed handgun, Wisconsin

DBR

That is, Damaged Beyond Repair (a familiar term used often in a previous job of mine). Today my irony meter was rendered DBR. In reference to this post. A picture that condemns censorship and shows a woman who is empowered to protect herself from rape, and they reject it. Of course, I did expect it to be rejected, but still, I am numb with sardonicism.

Further reading: Gallery Updates at The War On Guns.

Tags: gun control, global arms control

Mr. Completely's Rimfire Roundup

Mr. Completely is planning a weekly Rimfire Roundup--a carnival of all things rimfire. Follow the link for details.

Just for the record...

I couldn't give a rat's sphincter for the Superbowl, or any other professional sports, for that matter. Except, perhaps, for women's gynmastics, which for some reason I find strangely compelling.

I will be watching episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist, Ghost in the Shell, and Cowboy Bebop which I taped last night, and catching a couple of Monk reruns that I missed when they were first shown.

I have already helped my daughter catch up on her weekend homework, so I'm all set.

Arrested for entering the wrong house

But of course, that's because he was a bounty hunter. Why aren't police who enter the wrong house given equal treatment?

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The hired gun might have a tough time getting paid for this job. Robert Turner, a 37-year-old bounty hunter, was looking for a woman wanted for failure to appear in court.

But the address she gave was an old one, and the home he entered now belongs to a police officer.

Turner was arrested Wednesday on a charge of breaking and entering. His bond was set at $5,000.

Seems only fair.

THE PC MANIFESTO V3.0 - 2005 Update

The Anti-PC League has produced V3.0 of The PC Manifesto. Very funny. Unfortunately, it's also true.

The things I gotta do sometimes...

I have just spent the past 12 minutes locked in the bathroom--the door knob seemed to implode when I turned it, and nothing worked. Everyone else in the house is asleep. Fortunately, I had my trusty Swiss Army Knife in my pocket, and was able to dismantle the doorknob and work it open, eventually.

More Lefty-Friendly Handguns from H&K

I like to post about guns that are friendly to southpaws, partly for my own reference and partly because other lefties may be interested (how many lefties read this blog, I wonder). The vast majority of these I don't own and have never handled, so I can't comment on them. I just provide the information. Here's another pair that I just learned of: The H&K P2000 and P2000SK. At a cursory scan of their website, it looks like just about all of their handguns have an ambidextrous magazine release. However, these two models also have an ambidextrous slide release. The SK model is the more compact, and is available in 9mm, .40 S&W, and .357 Sig.

Concealed carry in South Dakota

It looks like CCW licenses in South Dakota will no longer be public knowledge:

The South Dakota House overwhelmingly passed a bill Wednesday that would afford confidentiality to people who apply for and receive concealed weapons permits.

Only police could have access to that information and share it with other law enforcement agencies. The data are kept by the secretary of state.

Rep. Margaret Gillespie, D-Hudson, said driver's license records are secret and concealed weapons records should be, too. She questioned why the public needs to know who carries hidden handguns.

But Rep. Bill Thompson, D-Sioux Falls, said the information can come in handy. Thompson said he always reads the names of applicants in the Argus Leader. The Sioux Falls-based newspaper routinely publishes a list of those people.

Thompson, a retired teacher, said he once saw the name of a student he considered mentally unstable and informed the school principal.

Gun records should not be public, argued Rep. Larry Rhoden, R-Union Center.

Rhoden, who is the House majority leader, said people without weapons permits can also be threats. The U.S. Constitution allows the right to bear arms, he said.

'To have a false sense of security, because somebody has not applied for a firearm, that they don't have a firearm is totally off the mark,' he said.

Exactly. Armed criminals aren't required to publish their names. Why should armed law-abiding citizens?

I can take this opportunity to mention an odd quirk in the Texas CHL law. An entire list of all those who hold a CHL is not publicly available. However, anyone can request such information on a specific individual, for which they will get a yes or no answer. If anyone other than a criminal justice agency requests this information, the CHL holder is notified and given the name of the person or agency who made the request. (ref. Texas Concealed Handgun Laws Frequently Asked Questions [pdf file]).

We have not had any problems with people being "outed" in Texas, as far as I know. But we are working on getting rid even of this measure of non-anonymity.

UPDATE: A version of the Stand Your Ground bill seems to be moving forward in SD, as well.

Tags: concealed carry, self defense

Finally! Kel-Tec gets some street cred

This article is about the recent accidental shooting by Virginia politician John Reid (no injuries, just an AD). Here is my favorite paragraph:

Police concluded it was an accident. The bullet escaped when Reid was trying to unload his handgun by releasing the magazine, and the slide slipped. A bulletproof vest hanging on Reid's office door stopped the bullet. No one was hurt, but the incident prompted a swift apology from Reid and words of concern from Gov. Tim Kaine about public safety at the Capitol.

Yes, it "escaped." I got a sudden mental image of Reid yelling to the cops, "It went thataway!" Boy, that paragraph is so full of mistakes. We should have a law requiring mandatory gun education for "journalists" so they know what the heck they're talking about, for a change. I think Mr. Reid needs a refresher course, as well.

But to the title of this post. Follow the link and see which eeevilll scary black pistol they used to illustrate the story. Just for once, it's not a Glock!

Tags: concealed carry, Glock, Kel-Tec

Statisticians more likely to come up with bogus results to prove their bias

UPDATE: John Lott has some comments, and links to some other commentors. He mentions details which were not stated in the news report I read. What immediately leaped out at me was this: "and whether they have had a gun in their car at least one time over the last year." Yes, at least one time in the past year. This is utterly meaningless. They may as well have asked if they'd had a passenger in their car at least one time in the past year, or if they had driven with their windows down at least one time in the past year. Mr. Lott also makes another interesting statement: "The paper also has some funny results. For example, Liberals are apparently much more likely to engage in road rage than conservatives and the difference is larger than the difference between those who did and did not have a gun at least one time in their car over the last year. This variable is apparently never investigated, but presumably they are also concerned about liberals being allowed to drive cars."

UPDATE 2: Nicki at The Liberty Zone has torn them a new one. (tnx to The War On Guns).

I'll just quote the whole thing:

PARIS, Feb 1, 2006 (AFP) - Americans who pack a gun in their car are likelier to get aggressive than unarmed drivers, according to a study reported in next Saturday's New Scientist.

A survey of 2,400 drivers carried out by the Harvard School of Public Health found that some 23 percent of drivers with a gun in their car admitted to making aggressive gestures to other road users, compared with 16 percent of those who did not have a weapon.

They were also likelier to tailgate the car in front, the study found.

'Riding with a firearm in the vehicle was a marker for aggressive and dangerous driver behaviour,' it said.

The researchers said the findings shed worrying light on an aspect of gun ownership in the United States. Over the past two decades, many US states have eased restrictions on carrying weapons and police no longer have the right to ban someone they consider unsuitable from owning a gun, they noted.

'Our findings indicate that the people driving around with guns in their cars are not among the most responsible and best-behaved people on the road,' researcher Mary Vriniotis told the British weekly.

'In the interests of injury and violence prevention, it probably makes more sense to tighten rather than relax restrictions on gun carrying in motor vehicles.'

The study is published in a specialist journal, Accident Analysis and Prevention.

Bullsh*t.

This survey proves that people who claim to carry a gun in their car also claim to make "gestures." (That is, some people just like to look tough).

If asked, I would have provided no useful information.

Global Gun-Grabbers Operation Feelgood

Because all it will do is make a lot of sheeple feel good.

But it can be turned against them. Go to The War on Guns: The Million Moon March to see what I'm talking about.

UPDATE: I knew Oleg Volk would have one that expressed my sentiments. Question: Why exactly do they want the name and address of anyone? That's rhetorical, of course. (I did not supply them even with a fake address, and submitted under the name "Jackie Hollowpointe"). Please visit the link above for more updates on others joining in. And add your own image!

Tags: gun control, global arms control

I have performed a service for humanity

Someone actually came to this blog after Googling "devo pop muzik." They found this link. I hope it set them straight.

On the other hand, someone also came here after Googling "pyrodex pellets in a Kentucky Rifle." For shame, sir, for shame. Just pour some black powder in there and leave the pellets for the infidels and their bastard guns.

WI Governor Jim Doyle to join the Ann Richards Ex-Governor's Club.

Click here for details.

Tags: concealed carry

9x18 Defensive Ammo

Head tipped us off to a review of the Makarov at Box O' Truth. It's a good review, worth reading, especially if you do not own a Makarov. They are fantastic little guns. However, they made one mistake in saying that there is no quality defensive ammo available for it. Although "quality" is a subjective term, I would like to point out that there is some very good (in my opinion) defensive ammo for it. Note that this is still 9x18 ammo, which by some standards is underpowered for defensive use. All I can say on this is: I wouldn't want to be shot with one.

Several years ago I did some research on all the Makarov ammo that I could find, and there is still one manufacturer that makes some good defensive ammo: Hornady. Their specs for it are: 95 grain JHP, 1000 fps, 211 ft/lbs at the muzzle. It can be ordered from Cheaper Than Dirt or Natchez Shooters Supplies. I usually just buy it at the monthly gun show.

Cor-Bon made some +P Makarov ammo at one time, but I think it has been discontinued. Cheaper Than Dirt also lists a couple of different versions of Glaser Safety Slugs for the Mak, if that's your thing. The Hornady XTP is what mine is loaded with, although I don't carry it anymore.

Tags: Makarov

Crosman Air Pistol Question

Not to change the subject, but I have been very interested in this gun since I first saw it at Walmart several months ago. It would seem like a pretty good drill gun for back yard practice that would not alarm the peasantry. A copy of the Walther PPK/S, it uses typical 12-gram CO2 cartridges and shoots BBs only. The interesting thing about this Crosman is that it has blowback action--the (metal, not plastic) slide actually moves.

Note that this is not an Airsoft gun, it is a BB gun with a stated muzzle velocity of 295 fps. Most pistols like this would be in the 400+ range, but I suppose cycling the slide sucks up a lot of air.

Anyone have any experience with this pistol? I almost bought one today, but would like some info--if available--before I plunk down $55.

The only Crosman I ever owned was the one they now call the American Classic, and it was a fantastic gun. I no longer have it because it was stolen, but I could easily buy one again if the need arose. This was my main rat gun back in my teenage years. With a 10-inch rifled barrel and pump action, it could launch a BB at around 600 fps and a pellet, if I recall correctly, at about 475 fps. I notice on the current models they appear to have improved the bolt. On the old model that I had 20+ years ago, the bolt was designed differently and would sometimes fall open. I slew many rats with this pistol, and it was always one of my favorite guns, which is saying something for an air gun. I even had a long, leather holster for it. Sweet.

Google, China and Yahoo

You may notice that I haven't advocated an outright boycott of Google on this blog, I've just been poking fun at them because they have made themselves such an easy target. I received a comment that tipped me off to another viewpoint and more information.

So if you think you're going to take the righteous highground and use Yahoo instead, think again:

Reporters Without Borders said Yahoo's Hong Kong arm helped China link Shi Tao's e-mail account and computer to a message containing the information.

The media watchdog accused Yahoo of becoming a "police informant" in order to further its business ambitions.

A Yahoo spokeswoman said it had to operate within each country's laws.

"Just like any other global company, Yahoo must ensure that its local country sites must operate within the laws, regulations and customs of the country in which they are based," said Mary Osako.

Shi Tao, 37, worked for the Contemporary Business News in Hunan province, before he was arrested and sentenced in April to 10 years in prison.

According to a translation of his conviction, reproduced by Reporters Without Borders, he was found guilty of sending foreign-based websites the text of an internal Communist Party message.

Reporters Without Borders said the message warned journalists of the dangers of social unrest resulting from the return of dissidents on the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, in June 2004.

I would like to recommend reading Supporting Google in China at The Blog Herald.

Many years ago I gave the valedictory speech at a tech school. This was before the internet revolution, even before the computer had become a common appliance in most homes. I said something like, "The only way we are going to keep from destroying ourselves on this earth is by establishing an absolutely free flow of information. And without these computers we have been working on, this flow of information will not be possible." I still believe that. No matter how odious censorship may be, one thing is certain: the Chinese people will now have one more tool of information.

This doesn't mean Google should just be given some slack and left alone. Hiding the truth is one thing, as in the now-famous "Tiananmen" search. We still should remain vigilant that Google, as well as Yahoo and any other search engine, does not become collaborators with the any censorial government in creating lies that replace the truth.

More reading: booyahoo.blogspot.com.

Tags: google, china, yahoo, censorship

Inconsequential Trivia

I am all caught up on reading my Bloglines subscriptions and there is still a good 15 minutes or so left in my pipe, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to comment on the name of this blog, since I haven't done it before and there may be a few readers who are still wondering how I came up with this name.

It's just a pun. Not a great pun, but a pun, nevertheless.

In 1922, weird tale author H.P. Lovecraft penned a short story titled The Hound. This was the first of his stories in which he mentioned an abhorréd tome called the Necronomicon.

Immediately upon beholding this amulet we knew that we must possess it; that this treasure alone was our logical pelf from the centuried grave. Even had its outlines been unfamiliar we would have desired it, but as we looked more closely we saw that it was not wholly unfamiliar. Alien it indeed was to all art and literature which sane and balanced readers know, but we recognized it as the thing hinted of in the forbidden Necronomicon of the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred; the ghastly soul-symbol of the corpse-eating cult of inaccessible Leng, in Central Asia. All too well did we trace the sinister lineaments described by the old Arab daemonologist; lineaments, he wrote, drawn from some obscure supernatural manifestation of the souls of those who vexed and gnawed at the dead.

He continued to use this book many times throughout many other stories. It was an invention of his: a book filled with blasphemous magics and mind-shattering knowledge. In following tales, he added bits of information regarding its contents, and occasionally he would throw in an actual quote. It was one of the techniques he used to tie all--or at least, many--of his stories into an interconnected whole. No one knows for sure how he came up with the name. He could have dreamed it, since many of his stories were based on dreams. It could have been derived from the Astronomicon, which was an antique work on astronomy he had once read.

Some occultists think the book is real, and actually was originated by an Arab in 730 A.D. Or that it was channeled by Madame Blavatsky, or had something to do with Aleister Crowley, or any number of other people. I don't.

So that's all the title of this blog is. Just a pun. I harbor no illusions that this blog contains any dark wisdom that can make someone go insane. I have no Arabic ancestry, and I do not think that I am mad.

For further reference, you can always Google Yahoo the term. I recommend starting at The Truth About the Necronomicon at The H.P. Lovecraft Archive.

Tags: Lovecraft

A note for Firefox users

You can visit the Yahoo page at mozdev.org to find scripts to add Yahoo to your search engine list, if using Google has become distasteful for you, and if you enjoy the convenience of the search engine bar on Firefox.

Oh, and before I forget:

Tags: google, china, firefox, yahoo

China censors vigilante vampires

I suppose everyone has been playing the "what can we find on Google that we can't find on Google China" game. Junkyard Blog discovered something recently. So I decided to try one of my favorite searches, one which I do now and then just to see if any new images have turned up. I discovered a disturbing trend.

A Google search for "alucard" turns up 9,470 results. The same search on Google.cn shows only 6,820. This means China has restricted access to some 2,650 images of this simple vigilante vampire who wields an extremely powerful (albiet fictional) handgun and who sometimes shapeshifts when under stress.

Here is an example of such an image, this one of Alucard grinning impishly, probably while contemplating the imminent demise of one of those false vampire freaks who tend to annoy him so.



And no, it isn't because of the cross. There are other images of Alucard nibbling on a cross which are not censored. It isn't because of the gun, either. There are other images of him with the gun much more prominently displayed than this which are not censored.

Do their censorship policies make any sense to anyone? This will undoubtedly be a game that we will be playing for some time to come.

Oh yeah, one more thing:

Tags: google, china, hellsing

I am sorry to report...

...that this site has not yet been banned from Google.cn. So as a service to the Chinese people I would like to begin posting certain pictures of you-know-where.



UPDATE: In comments, David at GunShowOnTheNet points us to this white paper on democracy at the website of the Chinese Embassy, in which it is stated that: "China's democracy is a democracy guaranteed by the people's democratic dictatorship."

Thank goodness for that. It seems I got all worked up over nothing.

Tags: google, china, oppression

Cluelessness in Wisconsin

From The Capital Times (Madison, WI):

Doug Pinnow of Pinnow Pharmacy in Brodhead is concerned that legalized carrying of weapons would encourage drug theft, and he cited the recent rash of pharmacy robberies in the greater Madison area.

"There are enough robberies as it is," he said. "If someone comes in with a concealed weapon, it's not going to make us feel very safe, and it's pretty unnerving to me. I'm worried about the stealing of drugs because people are pretty desperate on drugs. I don't understand the purpose of allowing people to carry concealed."

Yes, drug thieves will now feel much more empowered after going to all the trouble to legally carry a concealed handgun. I mean, if they had robbed you with a gun before, they would have been breaking the law!

But the police chief of New Glarus, WI says:

Although some police officials have spoken out against concealed carry, New Glarus Police Chief Steve Allbaugh believes arming potential victims is a good idea for crime prevention.

"I'm in favor as long as the background investigation and certain criteria are met," he said. "A lot of women are murdered in domestic-related situations. For females who feel that their lives are in danger, it's a good example where they should have something to protect themselves. Those situations are far more frequent than a person in a bank who pulls out a weapon."

For Mr. Pinnow: if someone comes into your store with a concealed weapon, you won't know about it. It's concealed. However, when your store is invaded by an armed robber you will know it, because sooner or later his gun will be un-concealed. This is the guy you actually need to worry about.

Tags: concealed carry, wisconsin

Carnival of Cordite .45

I guess it may be possible for a few readers of this blog not to already know about the Carnival of Cordite. This is a weekly carnival of gun-related blog posts. This week, Carnival of Cordite .45 is dedicated to the mighty .45 caliber, in all its forms. Chock full of information and pictures of .45 pistols, revolvers, and ammo.

A gun control debate

Here is a link to an article at Reason.com. This is an essay debate from several points of view on the topic of gun rights and gun control, and may be interesting to some. It's a long article, but this paragraph from near the end is a good summation:

Considered together, these three replies neatly demonstrate why the gun debate is at a standstill. What is a patent truism to one side is an obvious falsehood to the other. Wendy Kaminer argues that gun enthusiasts need to recognize that the NRA has become so virulent and unreasonable that it does a disservice to the gun-owning community, while Michael Krauss insists it is a much-maligned civil rights organization that has become almost soft in its politics, to the point that splinter groups are forced to take up the battle for our (perennially deteriorating) gun rights. Is it any wonder the gun debate has lost even the pretense of civility?

I will mention that the one really anti-gun person spent most of her time railing against the NRA, which is an irrelevant position as far as I'm concerned. The gun rights/gun control argument doesn't have anything to do with the NRA; it has everything to do with freedom and oppression.

What did I bring out of reading this? Those who try to find a "balance" between opposing sides are completely missing the point. There is no balance, nor are their nuanced opinions. There is only truth, or lies.

I also disagree with her assertion that gun control proponents are interested in restricting guns in order to reduce crime. This has never been a real goal. It is only an excuse to destroy freedom.

I guess I'm one of those intractables who are the cause of the problem. But then I have never been interested in balance. I'm only interested in truth.

Tags: gun control

I don't think so

This article at ABC News about keeping kids safe from "gun accidents" caught my eye, especially this paragraph:

There is no attempt at the national level to require adults to store their guns in a safe place away from children. But many advocates of both gun rights and gun control support proposals that would give tax breaks to gun owners who buy a safety-deposit box for their guns. Besides making it difficult for children to get the guns, supporters say it would also make it difficult for criminals to steal guns from homes.

I don't know of any gun rights supporters who would advocate any such thing. I also have never heard of a bank that would allow anyone to store a gun in their safety deposit box. (Okay, I've had a safety deposit box at only two different banks, so my experience is limited). Or does this writer just not know the difference between a safety deposit box and a gun safe?

Some Classic Old 45s

A gratuitous photo since I have nothing better.



Note that the moon clips are already loaded on the vinyl versions.

Another note: although the revolver is a six-shooter, back during the war the ammo for this gun was issued with the clips already loaded with 5 rounds per moon clip, so apparently the gov't intended for this gun to be carried with an empty under the hammer for "safety." Which probably meant there were some people pulling out .45 rounds and filling all six segments anyway. If I was in a combat zone, that's what I would have done.

Where exactly is the "safe side" now?

From the El Paso Times:

Law enforcement officers from the United States and what appeared to be Mexican soldiers had a standoff on the Rio Grande Monday afternoon after a police chase near Sierra Blanca, Hudspeth County officials said.

No shots or injuries were reported.

The Hudspeth County Sheriff's Department said deputies patrolling the border began chasing three vehicles when they came across several men who appeared to be soldiers 'in a Humvee with what appeared to the officers as being 50-caliber machine guns.'

They appeared to be Mexican soldiers. They were in a Humvee with what appeared to be a .50-caliber machine gun.

Does it matter what they appear to be? Those Border Patrol border law enforcement folks are doing a horribly dangerous job down there and they are outnumbered and outgunned.

And I thought El Presidente Fox was going to start cracking down on this kind of thing.

No importa a nadie.

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin has lots more.

UPDATE 2: Corrected an error. It was not Border Patrol, but the Hudspeth County Sheriff's Department who was involved. Doesn't change my sentiment, though.

Tags: border, Mexico

Well, this is interesting...

I wonder if this would work with one of those Kel-Tec subguns that uses Glock mags?

tnx to Say Uncle

Whatcha doin' with 100 paper clips, boy?

No reason any American needs to carry more than ten.

This ad actually made me laugh out loud (fortunately a massive dose of Ibuprofen has dulled the pain in my throat). I was reading an article that I was thinking about mentioning here until I glanced through the sidebar ads, and they were ridiculous. For example, one of them stated: "Discover Forbidden Attraction Secrets The Liberal Media Does Not Want You To Know." Egad, you mean they're suppressing that too?! (Red emphasis theirs, by the way).

But the one I'm talking about was how to embed a paper clip in someone's forehead from 20 feet away. You know, like that guy in Daredevil.

"Gee, I don't know, Sarge. I mean, it's obvious he died when a pipe cleaner was rammed up his nose clean into his brain. But the closest footprints are 20 feet away, so I can't see how it happened."

The DVD set is $97. If it could teach me how to decapitate someone from 20 feet away with unused AOL promotional CDs, my house would suddenly become an arsenal.

David Limbaugh comments on Alito

From Townhall.com :

Alito is also tarred as an extremist because, in the words of the Times, 'he has a radically narrow view of Congress's power.' Their proof? 'He argued that Congress exceeded its authority when it passed a law banning machine guns.' Translation: He had the audacity to rule that the Constitution means what it says in giving Congress the power to regulate interstate, not intrastate, commerce. Liberals, who want to confiscate our guns, call Alito 'extreme' for treading on their 'right' to trample the Second Amendment and expand the Commerce Clause beyond recognition.

And much more worth reading.

Tags: second amendment, Alito

New Buzzword of the Day

Found at courthousenews.com (no direct link):

Second Amendment Purist Sues Richmond And Gov. Douglas Wilder

RICHMOND, VA. (CN) - Michael Stollenwerk wants to know why he wasn't allowed to bring his gun to a City of Richmond street festival, and he's sued the city and Gov. Douglas Wilder to find out. Stollenwerk said he's filed a FOIA request on documents related to the city's "suspension of constitutional and statutory privacy and gun rights" during the 2005 Second Street Festival and City Celebration. He says the city hired a private company, City Celebrations, and allowed it to violate his constitutional rights to privacy and to bear arms, and now the city has blown off his FOIA request. He wants to see the documents, and he wants the city and the governor fined. He is represented by Thorsen & Scher.

That's right folks, we are "second amendment purists." And all those MSM "journalists" are "first amendment purists," I suppose.

via Packing.org

Tags: second amendment, rkba

Well, that's a bummer

I have been suffering from fever and sore throat since Saturday morning. I just returned from the doctor, and I have strep throat. So although I will be home from work for the next two days, I will probably not be doing much of anything but taking medicine and sleeping. And watching the History Channel.

UPDATE: Thanks for the well-wishes, redmemory. The doc said I should start feeling better in about 24 hours, which would mean around noon tomorrow. Meanwhile, Ibuprofen breaks the fever so I can sleep.

UPDATE 2: I may have seemed busy, but I was just sitting up in bed with the laptop propped up on a pillow in front of me.

Poof!

The delicious category tags in the sidebar have disappeared. The script is still there, so they must be having some problems.

UPDATE: Nope, the problem is on my end. Can any other Firefox users still see the delicious tags in the sidebar? It has vanished with Firefox but is still there with IE when I load the page.

You haven't lost, you've just awakened

An opinion piece about Allentown, PA:

If the nights have become this scary in a quiet west end neighborhood, imagine what it is like in the downtown's more troubled neighborhoods. Since then, Allentown's murder rate has continued to climb and the robberies have continued unabated. I, like so many others, have, for the first time, succumbed to the fear. I no longer visit my favorite Mexican restaurant on Seventh Street, or walk on Hamilton after dark to get something to eat in between meetings. I carefully choose where I will go in the city, when I will go, and what route I will take; my subconscious weighing the risks. I am locked in my house and in my car. My husband is now licensed to carry a gun. The bad guys have won. We have lost ... at least for now.

But the loss of a sense of security in a city I love and have served is insignificant compared to the loss of Allentown's future. The wave of crime engulfing this city is a subject of conversation at every meeting and social gathering I attend. Headlines like, ''Allentown merchant scares off thugs,'' and ''Staying cool during a robbery can save your life,'' greet readers over morning coffee. Friends call to say they've seen ''us'' on CNN; Bethlehem's bat wielding store clerk is our icon.

Allentown's acting police chief, Roger MacLean, was quoted recently saying "vigilantism isn't the answer," but that the police "need eyes and ears in the community." For the past four years, Allentown's dedicated neighborhood associations and crime watch groups have been undervalued and unappreciated. Chief MacLean will be well served to rebuild those relationships.

Protecting yourself against criminals isn't vigilantism, it is your obligation as a law-abiding citizen. One piece of advice: Your husband's gun isn't going to help you much unless he plans on following you around 24 hours a day. You should get one for yourself.

Tags: self defense, concealed carry

Computers for guns in Mexico City

It looks like one district in Mexico City is offering to trade new computers for old guns:

Mexicans are being invited to exchange their weapons for computers under a quirky new idea to curb rampant crime in Mexico City.

Authorities in one of the city's 16 districts are offering a new computer, out of 150 donated by a charitable foundation, for each gun handed in.

Unfortunately, there are no details on exactly what kind of computer you can get for an antique dueling pistol. I have said before that I have one gun I would like to turn in, if San Antonio ever pulled any such stunt as this, but I don't suppose I could get anything more high-tech than a VIC-20 for a Lorcin.

I'm sure crimes using guns will now plummet in Mexico City, although I suppose crimes using computers will now increase, since everyone knows only criminals are turning their guns in, and they have to commit crimes with something.

Tags: gun control, Mexico City

Movies and Guns

In the recent issue of Concealed Carry Magazine, there is an article titled "Movies, TV, Politics and Guns." At the end of the article is a list of 9 suggestions, most quite worthwhile. However, I cannot agree with #9:

Don't list out loud the make and model of every gun that you see on TV, unless you want to watch alone.

If I followed this rule, how would I maintain my status as the family "Annoyingly Irrelevant Factoid and Gun Nerd"? In fact, on the rare occasions that I don't make some comment, I am usually asked by one of the other watchers to comment.

And I still want to know where I can get a Kahr that can shoot 19 times without reloading like that guy in 15 Minutes.

It's Carnival Time

Carnival of Cordite, that is.

And next week's edition is going to be all .45 related. Curses! I have already posted about both of my .45s and have nothing left to offer.

How F**king American Am I?

I've never worn a Quiet Riot t-shirt, though. And in regard to the beer-drinking question, I would like to point out that not only do I drink only domestic beer, I drink only Texas beer.

How F**king American Are You? quiz thanks to The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns

Things you probably don't know about Chuck Norris

Chuck Norris Facts is a website listing many items regarding Chuck Norris, many of which I didn't know. For example:

The Great Wall of China was originally created to keep Chuck Norris out. It failed miserably.

Chuck Norris can win a game of Connect Four in only three moves.

Someone once tried to tell Chuck Norris that roundhouse kicks aren't the best way to kick someone. This has been recorded by historians as the worst mistake anyone has ever made.

Chuck Norris discovered a new theory of relativity involving multiple universes in which Chuck Norris is even more badass than in this one. When it was discovered by Albert Einstein and made public, Chuck Norris roundhouse-kicked him in the face. We know Albert Einstein today as Stephen Hawking.

tnx to Fish or Man for the laughs

Before anyone asks...

There have apparently been some sightings of a large black cat in my area--you know, the kind of cat that people often call a "panther." The only news report I can find on it is a video at KSAT, which takes too long to load so I haven't seen it. No, I don't keep all that up to date on local news so I missed it when they showed it on TV.

So I don't know anything about it.

And if it happened to wander onto my property and I suddenly had a mysterious, black, well-tanned pelt mounted to the wall behind my bed, I wouldn't tell anyone about it anyway.

Except maybe my dad.

Wadcutter on the religions of guns

Wadcutter waxes humorous on the various sects of gun owners, and reveals to me that I am a Unitarian!? Egad!

San Antonio's Stupid Criminals of 2005

The San Antonio Express-News provides a roundup of stupid criminals for 2005. Here are a few samples:

In July, one bank robber took advantage of city transport in lieu of the traditional getaway car. Police made an arrest in the back of a VIA Metropolitan Transit bus.

Four days later, three arrests were made in connection with a bank robbery in which the crime mobile--a mustard-yellow van with a vivid western landscape--fell a bit short of blending in. The arrests were made soon after police spotted the distinctive van parked about a mile away from the just-robbed bank.

[...]

In April, a man concerned with hiding his identity approached a Converse bank in a black mask and immediately distinguished himself as a would-be bank robber in the process.

Bank employees refused to buzz the masked man through the bolted security doors, leaving him no choice but to flee into a beehive of police officers.

Heh heh.

Smith & Wesson M&P

Since I am always on the lookout (and usually post about) guns that are friendly to left-handers, I thought I should mention something I just noticed.



The Smith & Wesson M&P has a reversible mag release so that it can be configured for either right- or left-handed use. Not only that, but it has an ambidextrous slide stop. The slide stop is something that no manufacturers ever seem to think about. To be honest, I never use it to release the slide. I always just do a pullback on the slide to release it. The interchangeable palm swells are also interesting, and it doesn't appear to be one of those guns with a monstrously long double-action trigger pull.

I'm not going to run out and buy one. I'm just sayin', is all.

What?

No subcategory for the most Lovecraftian gun blog?

Oh well.

I'm sure everyone knows by now about The Gunnies. I think some of these categories were created with the winner already pretty much foreordained. Still, it's nice to see someone putting something like this together.

I think we should also get to vote on a sort of reverse category for the "worst anti-gun blog" or something like that.

A Funny Gun Story

It isn't often that I run into a humorous story involving a gun, but via The Smallest Minority is this link to a post at The High Road about someone's encounter with a squirrel inside his house.

And just to show that I have no qualms about embarrassing myself, it reminds me of something I did once.

Many years ago, we had a horrible mole problem. The little suckers were everywhere, tearing into everything. They killed an entire bed of rose bushes by cutting off the roots. Nothing could be grown in the garden. There were mole trails everywhere--I was constantly tripping in them.

Back then I worked nights, and got home around midnight all the time. One night I came home and just as I was going in the door I looked back and saw something scurry across the yard. I decided it was time to wreak my vengeance.

I grabbed the single-shot H&R .410 that I keep handy for all occasions. Outside I went, to find the furry little blob of a shadow still puttering about on the surface. The security light outside was providing plenty of light for me to ascertain that I was indeed looking at a mole, and I brought the shotgun to my shoulder and fired with great relish.

And I missed. Yes, I missed a mole with a shotgun from about 15 feet. (Even now, I try to rationalize it. The .410 has a small shot charge, relatively. It has a full choke, not much spread. It was dark. But still, I felt quite inadequate as a marksman that night--especially since I had once been quite adept at nailing running rats in the dark with CCI shotshells in an old .22--and I fully expect to be ridiculed for revealing this).

The mole, quite wisely, decided it was no longer safe to be casually sauntering about in my front yard, and ran, as best as a mole can run, which isn't very fast.

I took three or four long, running strides and stomped the little bugger. As the echoes of my Tarzan-like yell of victory faded into the night, I realized that the poor little thing was still alive, though obviously mortally wounded. So I crushed its head with the shotgun's butt.

Poison eventually took care of the mole problem.

And living in the country as I do, there was no one to become concerned about, or even to hear, that I had fired a gun in my front yard in the middle of the night, in case you're wondering.

The Colt M1917 .45 ACP Revolver

More camera play today. I learned long ago that I get my best shots outside, but lately we have only had clear days, and the harsh light has not been camera friendly. The picture that I took of the SP-101 a few days ago, for example, was taken inside the cab of my pickup. Today I took these pictures after sunset but before dark, so I didn't have to contend with the sun. These pictures were not meant to be arty, but to be informative (I hope), so I can ask some questions about it.

As I have said before, I am not a gun expert, but I will make a few comments for any readers who may know less about this gun than I do. For those who know more, please correct me if I make any mistakes.

During WW1, as I understand it, Colt was not able to produce enough M1911 pistols to satisfy the demands of war. So they tooled up their revolver factory(ies) to create a revolver that used the same cartridge: the .45 ACP. Some of these were re-issued for use in WW2, and the revolvers that were re-issued were Parkerized (the originals were blued). The revolver I have here is one of those re-issues that has been Parkerized.

This gun was inherited by my wife. I suppose it went to her because the rest of her family are not really gun people, other than the standard hunting firearms, and they knew it would be in a place where someone (such as myself) would greatly appreciate it. So here are the pix. All these pictures can be clicked to view much larger (1024x768) versions.









As you can see, there is some rust on the outside of this gun. The inside of the barrel, as well as the front, back and insides of the cylinder are spotless. I took a tip from Xavier to check the lock-up, and I believe the tightness is comparable to that of the Colt Army Special he wrote about (although I have my doubts about Tammy Faye Baker). My big question is: what can I do to improve the appearance of this gun? Or should I do anything at all? Can the rust be carefully buffed off with steel wool, or something else? I would like to change the grips also. Or should I just do normal cleaning as I would on any gun and shoot it as is? Any recommendations as to some suitable leather for this gun? All comments are welcome.

UPDATE: I checked the serial number at proofhouse, as suggested. This gun has a 6-digit serial number that doesn't seem to fit any of the given categories, so I may be reading the serial number wrong. It is in the 266xxx range, but the only numbers I can find there that begin with 26 are four-digit numbers, so I don't know for sure.

Tags: Colt, M1917, Curio & Relic

The Nazi War On Jazz

Interesting Thing of the Day once again brings us something that I'd never heard of before but which I find fascinating. Jazz music was verboten in Nazi Germany--easy enough to understand, with its American origins and deeper African roots. Simply to be caught listening to jazz could put one in a concentration camp. But as part of their propaganda, Goebbels assembled a swing band:

The group's primary M.O. was to take well-known American swing tunes and alter the lyrics--often after the first verse so that listeners didn't catch on to the deception immediately. These alterations, which ranged from subtle to blatant, included criticisms of American and British leaders, anti-Semitic messages, and other dispiriting comments. Schwedler's English was excellent, and since the Nazis were careful to conceal the source of the broadcasts, their hope was that American and British listeners would enjoy the music, start singing along, and with any luck actually believe some of what they were singing.

But of course, while making the music freely available overseas, the Nazis did their best to keep it from the German public. Despite the pro-Nazi lyrics, the government could not be seen promoting a form of music it had gone out of its way to repudiate. So although all swing music was forbidden to Germans, the music of Charlie and his Orchestra was the most forbidden, with extremely severe penalties for those caught listening. Naturally, this increased the band's popularity within Germany.

Ah, the philosophy of facism!

A question

Does anyone make a M1911 with an ambidextrous mag release?

UPDATE: Well, the kids are asleep and I finally got some quiet time to do some internet research. I found this ambidextrous mag release from a company called Smith & Alexander. "Totally ambidextrous magazine release allows the use of the trigger finger or thumb for both left and right handed shooters. Easy to install in a few minutes, no modification to outside of the frame." That would certainly solve the problem. Cost: $100.

Alan Korwin on SSGSDs

Alan Korwin, author of Gun Laws of America, writes on "secure gun storage safety devices" in the Hawaii Reporter:

The Brady group and its congressional supporters are proceeding, and making headway, with a below-radar effort to ban operating firearms from the general public, without having to actually disarm America's 80 million gun owners.

The plan is now evolving around an innocent-sounding new legal term. It was tucked deep in a 400,000-word spending bill under president Clinton (law # P.L. 105-277), and it is now spreading throughout federal gun laws. Its latest use, the eighth, is in the frivolous-lawsuit ban just enacted (The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, law # P.L. 109-92; S.397). Described at the end of this report, it accents a liability all Americans -- not just gun owners -- are increasingly under, a tightening legal noose few people realize is around their necks.

The phrase is 'secure gun storage or safety device.' It includes almost anything that will keep a gun from working. At its simplest, it's gun locks.

He also comments on lawsuit abuse as it relates to guns.

Here is a link to Mr. Korwin's website: www.gunlaws.com.

Tags: gun control, rkba

Brendan McKown walks out of hospital

From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

The most seriously injured of seven people hit by gunshots in last fall's Tacoma Mall shooting walked out of a hospital Friday - under his own power.

'OK, guys, I've been out of commission for a while - what's going on?' Brendan 'Dan' McKown, 38, quipped as he made his laborious way to the sidewalk with the aid of a walker.

Doctors had said his spinal injury could leave him paralyzed, but McKown was determined to walk again.

'God doesn't do miracles halfway,' he told KOMO-TV as he left Good Samaritan Hospital in this community near his Tacoma hometown. Referring to the spinal injury, he added, 'At least you know I have a backbone.'

This would have been a really great article, except they had to finish up like this:

Authorities say Maldonado marched through the mall, firing an assault rifle and a machine pistol, before ducking into a record store and taking several hostages. He released them unharmed after a four-hour standoff.

Maldonado's defense lawyer, Sverre Staurset, said his client never meant to hurt anyone. According to court documents, Maldonado told detectives he had been humiliated during a difficult childhood and that recent problems made him want to be "heard."

He charged into a crowded shopping mall with guns blazing, yet he "never meant to hurt anyone." Mr. Staurset, you disgust me.

UPDATE: For Bob in the comments. Almost certainly NOT a machine pistol, but a semi-auto. Another case of a reporter who doesn't know what he's talking about. See this post on the Tacoma Mall Shooting at Heartless Libertarian.

Tags: Brendan McKown, concealed carry, self defense

del.icio.us categories update

September 2005 has now been categorized.

Don't think--just use the spellchecker

I read this at Atlas Blogged, and am mentioning it here because it's funny and it fits well into my "General Stupidity" category. From Reuters, here is the passage in question:

Iranian Foreign Minister Moocher Mistake warned that a referral would have "consequences" for the West.

As Wulf at Atlas Blogged explains, his real name is Manouchehr Mottaki.

Maybe the editors have just given up and turned everything over to the computers.

Zombies, Schmombies

Don't miss the most recent zombie apocalypse edition of the Carnival of Cordite. The possibility of an upcoming zombielypse (it's copyrighted, if you want to use it for a movie title, you're gonna have to pay me for it) seems a subject that is often on the minds of some gunbloggers. Take Josh, for example.

But really, when the stars are right, you're gonna wish you were fighting zombie hordes.

It was the end, for whatever remains to me of life on the surface of this earth, of every vestige of mental peace and confidence in the integrity of nature and of the human mind. Nothing that I could have imagined - nothing, even, that I could have gathered had I credited old Zadok's crazy tale in the most literal way - would be in any way comparable to the demoniac, blasphemous reality that I saw - or believe I saw. I have tried to hint what it was in order to postpone the horror of writing it down baldly. Can it be possible that this planet has actually spawned such things; that human eyes have truly seen, as objective flesh, what man has hitherto known only in febrile phantasy and tenuous legend?

And yet I saw them in a limitless stream - flopping, hopping, croaking, bleating - urging inhumanly through the spectral moonlight in a grotesque, malignant saraband of fantastic nightmare. And some of them had tall tiaras of that nameless whitish-gold metal ... and some were strangely robed ... and one, who led the way, was clad in a ghoulishly humped black coat and striped trousers, and had a man's felt hat perched on the shapeless thing that answered for a head.

I think their predominant colour was a greyish-green, though they had white bellies. They were mostly shiny and slippery, but the ridges of their backs were scaly. Their forms vaguely suggested the anthropoid, while their heads were the heads of fish, with prodigious bulging eyes that never closed. At the sides of their necks were palpitating gills, and their long paws were webbed. They hopped irregularly, sometimes on two legs and sometimes on four. I was somehow glad that they had no more than four limbs. Their croaking, baying voices, clearly used for articulate speech, held all the dark shades of expression which their staring faces lacked.

But for all of their monstrousness they were not unfamiliar to me. I knew too well what they must be - for was not the memory of the evil tiara at Newburyport still fresh? They were the blasphemous fish-frogs of the nameless design - living and horrible - and as I saw them I knew also of what that humped, tiaraed priest in the black church basement had fearsomely reminded me. Their number was past guessing. It seemed to me that there were limitless swarms of them and certainly my momentary glimpse could have shewn only the least fraction.

Fighting zombie hordes will be like a quiet walk in the park compared to what must eventually happen. And when it does, just try not to wake up the big guy...