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