What An Evening!

One thing I like about my adoptive home town is they seem to attract semi-pro sports teams. We've run the gambit from a CBA team (the Thrillers), to Arena Football (the Red Dogs), and now we have a CHL team, the Rapid City Rush.

With the past history of semi-pro teams in the city, it's no wonder I haven't shown much interest in them: They don't seem to last very long.

That is until April 10th. That was the date I got to see my first professional hockey game. It was the first game of a 7-game series between our second year franchise, and a team from Bosier-Shreaveport, LA for the CHL Northern Conference Finals. A friend had an extra ticket for the game and asked if I'd like to go.

I used to like watching hockey, but that was back before the NHL lockout. (For the record, Av's all the way! There'll never be another Patrick Roy.) Hockey just fell off my radar. Oh, I'd check the box scores in the paper when I thought about it, but it wasn't a priority.

Then I actually went to a game. Man, what a rush (no pun intended). To say I've come back to the game of hockey is an understatement.

I missed the last two games of that series with Bosier City (which went to seven games, BTW) with an injury (not sports related), and I missed the first game of the Ray Miron Presidents Cup Finals. But I didn't miss last nights game 6. Funny thing, though. Of the 4 games I attended, 3 went to overtime, and the home club won all three, including last night.

My words can't describe what it was like last night, so I'll let the local press do that for me. What I can say, is that last night was probably the most non-firearm related fun I've ever had. Seeing your home team overcome a 3 goal deficit to force overtime (with 2 of those goals coming in the last 8 minutes of regulation to tie it up). Then almost two complete overtime periods. Over 110 combined shots on goal. All I can say is - DAYUM!

For those who have seen a hockey game live on any level, be it NHL, AHL, CHL, or collegiate, you know what I'm talking about. For those who haven't experienced a live hockey game, you don't know what you're missing!

Racists Prick With a Badge

I'm a normally easy going person. I don't get easily riled up about things, and it generally takes a lot to do so, but something I came across last night sent me from calm to really pissed me off in about 3.2 seconds, or as it is termed a 'RCOB' moment. For the uninitiated, that would be a 'red curtain of blood' moment.

First off, let me provide a warning. While I can (and often do) swear like a muleskinner in real life, I refrain from doing so here. This is an exception to that rule, and hopefully the only time I will have to do so.

Seems there's a retired federal agent who has issues with the minority classes in this country keeping and bearing arms. What lies ahead is going to be expletive filled, so be warned, it will be ugly.

I came across the site in question from two sources. David Codrea's War on Guns, as well as Mike Vanderboegh at Sipsey Street Irregulars. I won't link to the site, as Mike and David have already done so.

(I will admit, I could only make it through the first paragragh of the bile spewed at the site linked to by Mike and David. If you can stand it, head on over to either site and take a read from the link they provided, then come on back over and read on.)

Since this asshole is obviously such a man among men that he won't allow comments contrary to his pustulent bile to appear, I'll make mine here.

First off, where does this motherfucker get the idea that the right to keep and bear arms is a "caucasian" right? In the 220-plus year history of this country, we have fought around the world and on our own soil to provide freedom for those who didn't have or were threatened with losing it.

Here's my advice to you, fuckstick. Go have advanced aeronautical intercourse with a laterally motivated pastry. In other words, dickwad, go take a flying fuck at a rolling donut.

My wife is of Latin descent. To insinuate that because of her ancestry she is no more entitled to the same rights and privileges I enjoy as a head of lettuce shows that you have the intelligence and cognitive abilities of a pustulent boyle on the ass end of gangrenous, red-assed baboon.

The fact that this douchebag held a federal badge and was allowed to retire with what I'm assuming is a clean record pisses me off. As a taxpaying American, I helped pay this cocksuckers salary while he was on duty and now that he's 'retired' he's still leeching off the very tax money I pay. If he held these views for his entire career, then he should have been weeded out of whatever federal academy he went to and sent to work at a location more suitable to his views, like inspecting septic tanks in Death Valley.

I've spent the last 18 and a half years defending this country and the freedoms she provides. What galls me to no end is that dipshits like this are riding the coattails of the very freedom I help protect so they can tell everyone who'll listen that those freedoms aren't for everyone.

I've got one more piece of advice for you. Fuck You and the shetland pony you rode in on.

My BAG Day Gun

Not really a gun, but it's a Bulgarian AK 74 parts kit. So, while not a real BAG Day gun, it soon will be!

You Picked a Fine Time to Lead Us...

Also on the email front from family, this was also sent sent by a family member. With today being a T.E.A. Party tax protest day, I thought it would be appropriate, given the current politcal climate of the day.

Only Ones, Video Style

This was sent to me via email from a family member. It apparently shows the end of a bank robbery in progress in Detroit.

Can't verify if this real or not, the email says it does, but given the way things are in Detroit, it wouldn't surprise me.

What's In the Water In Omaha?

Soooo, they've had some shootings in Omaha. The Davis County and Omaha city governments response?

Why, lets have a 'Violence Prevention Week'. It'll be better than having a 'die-in' or candlelight vigil.

We can all hold hands, sing Koombayah, and practice tolerance. All at the same time. Yay!!!

Lets not go after the cretins who perpetrate this kind of violence or anything. That would be like, hard, and stuff.

As Say Uncle noted (with a twist): Call for a Violence Prevention Week; it's what you do instead of something.

More Like Him, Please

Picked this up today perusing the Algorians intertubez.

Seems the great state of Arizona got a little ahead of themselves recently. Used some shady deals to try to get a conviction and got slapped down for it.

Well, the target of prosecution isn't taking it lightly. He's filed a lawsuit seeking damages to his reputation and run through the ringer by a system looking to pin the gun problem in Mexico on someone.

I say go for it. Maybe when it starts hitting these people in the place it hurts most, the pocketbook, they will think twice about ruining someones life before they go off and demean them to the pubic at large.

Straight Out of the 'Only Ones' Files

Comes this little tid-bit from NY about a couple of firefighters who thought they had the magical powers of true 'Only Ones'.

(H/T to David Codrea of War on Guns for his Only Ones files.)

What A Day!!!

Today has been an interesting day, not so much for me, but for my wife.

First the good news. I took my wife down last week to apply for her CCP. Here in SD, it's $10 and a little bit of a wait. They tell you 3-4 weeks, but.....brace yourself for it......hers took exactly one week from application to permit arrival. Can you say 'Damn, that was quick!'?

Now for the great news. Right after I handed her the envelope with her new permit in it, she gave me something better. We are now expecting Little Hazmat. Due date is mid-November. Can you say 'Day-Um!'?

Can You Say 'Crappy Week'?

What a week. Outside of my wife's birthday and subsequent present, it was 'One Of Those Weeks'.

Started off a week ago yesterday by throwing my back out at 9 a.m. Kind of fun needing help to get out of chairs for two days.

Monday started at 5 in the morning with a 3 day exercise. One day of briefings and two days of play. Of that 60 hour period, I got about 15 hours of sleep. I didn't know what day it was until late Wednesday afternoon. Which, coincidentally, was the wife's birthday.

The rest of the week was going so-so until Friday when we discovered that the sofa-recliner I bought a couple of weeks ago was infested with bugs. So I sit here typing this on camp furniture.

Consulted the wife and we decided that we would get a brand new couch this time. We didn't think twice about the last one, as we've bought used furniture before and never had an issue. Before anyone asks, I didn't go down to the store and get up in their faces about it. I bought the couch knowing full well that it hadn't been professionally cleaned, hell it was discounted because of that fact. I did however, go down and let them know about it, just as a warning to be on the look out. They didn't offer, and I didn't ask for, my money back. I wouldn't have taken it anyway, as I bought the couch knowing full well that it hadn't been cleaned. I have lost a lot of things over the years, eyeglasses, ammo, even my wallet a few times, but not my integrity. In my opinion, something that important has somehow been lost over these last twenty years. (I will say that our carpets are so clean right now, you could probably eat off them.)

So. We go down to a reputable store to look for a new couch. We find it, it's great. It's got cup holders, a magazine rack built in, and it reclines to a nice comfy 'swallow you up and not let you go' angle. Plus, it's got what my wife refers to as 'butt magnet', whatever that means. To me, it's either comfy or not. She's got a whole formula worked out.

Anyway, we go to the salesman and go about buying said couch. He goes through and finds out that 'We don't have that model in stock'. Which elicits a double take from me. What do you mean, 'Not in stock'? It's sitting right over there on your floor and you don't have it in the back, all boxed up and ready to go? I can see having something in a sales circular not being in stock, national chains do that all the time. But not having something that's sitting on your own showroom floor? That's too much of a stretch for me. But, I'm trying to be a nice guy here, so OK, fine, how long are looking at here? It's in Denver, a couple of days, a week maybe? Nope. Better than that. One to three weeks, depending on when they get their next delivery from the head warehouse. Great. We get to sit and watch TV for the next one to three weeks on camping furniture, flippin' lovely.

Two upsides here, I guess. They're going to deliver the sofa to the house and put it wherever we want it (for an extra $40), and we get a 5 year warranty that covers any stain we can't get out (meaning they'll come to the house and clean it) for another $40.

Now that it's all said and done, between taxes and 'extras', I paid $800 for a new couch that was on sale for $678, $83 off what retail was.

Maybe this week will be better. I'm expecting my next Form 1 any day now. That would definitely makes things a little better.

The Big Surprise-High Standard Edition

As promised, I had a surprise to offer.

What was that surprise? Well, back at a funshow in January, I picked up a High Standard Crusader Compact. It was slightly(?) used and was in reasonably good condition.

After test firing it to ensure it everything was in somewhat good working order, I had some modifications in mind. Some were necessary, like replacing the recoil spring and rounding the bottom corner of the extractor to help in this department, as when I test fired the pistol, it had issues with getting the last round in battery.

Unlike the Delta, this one didn't need many mods. I had to replace the recoil spring, as I said above, but I also wanted to replace the grips and trigger. My thoughts of putting a different mainspring housing on it were dashed when I found out that the two I bought were each different in size than the factory original.

Some folks may like a parkerized finish, but not me. So, using the last little bit of DuraCoat I had left, I set about refinishing her. I will tell this, the pebble texture on the frame was pure-D-accident. I mixed the DuraCoat too think and it came out in globs. After I found the reducer, the consistency was much better and the slide was a snap to paint.

The only thing I had to send out was the barrel. There's a Wilson Combat pistol down at the funstore that has probably the coolest muzzle crown I've ever seen. So I had my smith put a 30* crown on the barrel. I mean, why pay $3000 for a Wilson Combat pistol with a really cool crown, when I can have the same thing for the cost of shop labor? (Which was $40, by the way.)

So, you may ask, what's the big surprise? Well, this little shooter is not for me. No, this little beauty is a birthday gift. For the most supporting, loving, and caring person I know. My wife.

(In the interest of full disclosure, since she puts up with me, this makes her the most caring and loving person I know.)

P.S. In case anybody's wondering, she absolutely loves her new little heater.

Sorry for the light posting

It's been murder at work the last couple of weeks, plus some minor health issues equal light posting over the last few weeks.


Although I do believe a little update is in order.


I am now an Endowment member of the NRA. Did the whole Legacy upgrade thing. Along with the Legacy upgrade, I also got my wife an annual membership, just to see how she'd like it. If I get another Legacy upgrade, I may upgrade her to Life member status.


I've also been busy with a special project for my wife. Can't give too many details away right now, but I'll guarantee she'll be blown away by it.


On the news front, mass murder and mayhem erupted Monday as gunslingers were allowed to carry concealed weapons in National Parks. At least that's what the Brady Bunch et al are saying. Sebastian at Snowflakes in Hell has all the details.



Also on the legislative front, the editorial board of the Casper Star-Tribune gets it's paranoia on, by, well, I'll let them explain it themselves (hat tip to David Codrea for the link and the update). As a reminder (or a history lesson) this paper has consistently been against loosening gun laws in the state for the better part of 20 yrs. They were against may issue CC, then against shall issue CC, they fought tooth and nail to take the teeth out of the 'castle doctrine' bill that, while eventually passed, was a shadow of the original bill that was filed. Oh, and that National Parks thing? They were against that, too. And you wouldn't believe there postition on the two Firearms Freedom Acts introduced in the state legislature. But hey, at least they support the right to keep and bear arms, right?

Dan Wesson Commander Bob-Tail

Last week, I picked up a Dan Wesson Commander Bob-Tail 1911 in 10mm. Fit and finish on this little shooter is beyond head and shoulders above anything else I've ever owned or fondled.


The one issue I had with her was the lack of an ambidextrous manual safety. After a couple of days of snooping around, I found a Kimber stainless steel set up that looked like it would work perfectly. The downside was there were some small modifications that I would have to make to both the pistol and the parts.

First, I had to polish up the Kimber parts as they came with a matte finish. About 30 minutes with various grits of sandpaper from 240 grit all the way down to 400 got me about where I needed to be. To finish up, I used the Dremel with a polishing wheel with some jewelers rouge to put a final polish on things.


After that was completed, I had to disassemble the rear end of the pistol to remove the smallest pin. Part of the Kimber setup was a replacement pin that had a cut out on one side to accept the left side of the manual safety without the spur commonly found on standard ambidextrous safeties (see the bottom pic of my custom Delta).


(On a related note, I've disassembled every one of the six 1911's I own and have never had to go chasing the plunger pin and spring across the room. Note to self: If I ever do this again, keep a better eye on that little piece. They fly pretty good!)


When assembling a Kimber ambi-safety, put the left side in first, as you won't be able to get the left side safety onto the pin if you don't. Once that's in, everything else slips right into place ala the usual reassembly procedures. Fortunately, none of the mods I did today are irreversible. All of the parts I took off can be put back on the pistol, returning it to its factory original condition.


So, here's the before picture:

Here's the after pic:

Which should go well with my custom Delta Elite:

Not a bad little collection of 10's, is it?

Happy Birthday To Me!!!!

For my birthday 2 days ago, I went out an picked up my layaway from the local funstore.

It's a Dan Wesson Commander Bob-Tail in 10mm. Now, I'm not real big fan of stainless steel pistols, but this one grabbed my attention by the gnads and wouldn't let go. The action is tighter than any other semi auto I've ever handled or owned. Paid just over 9 bills to get her, plus the guys threw in two extra mags ( a SS colt and MecGar 8 rd mag). It's got the Trijicon night sights, and I was a little disappointed I couldn't find any biblical refernces in the SNs, bummer. Anyway, this brings the 1911 count to 6, and probably growing.

Something's Missing Here

From a report from Iowa, we get this headline:

'Women primary targets, as guns are most often used in Iowa domestic violence cases'.

Reading the article, I could find no mention of the use of firearms in these cases. It does indicate that men were the perpetrators in 94% of the cases, yet nowhere in the report does it mention the type of weapon used to commit these crimes. They also mention alcohol usage as a contributing factor, but again, nothing about guns.

Which leads to me believe someones trying to do something on someones back while the whole time telling them it's raining

South Dakota Firearm Freedom Act

In the interest of jumping on the 10th Amendment bandwagon, there is a bill in SD to follow in the footsteps of TN and MT.

SB 89 is the South Dakota version of these laws and would exempt any firearm, accessory, or ammunition made here in SD from federal oversight. While it doesn't go as far as the NH bill (which makes it a state felony for the feds to enforce federal firearms laws against weapons and accessories marked items marked 'Made in NH'), it's got it's own nifty little quirk (See below.).

I talked at length with one of the sponsors of this piece, one Gordon Howie (who is coincidentally running for Gov) at the last funshow two weeks ago.

I asked candidate Howie his position on Vermont-style concealed carry and he was all for it.

When I asked him whether the legislation he helped introduce was limited strictly to regular-type firearms and would restrict NFA-type guns, his reply was it would apply to ALL firearms manufactured in SD, not just your regular run-o-the-mill stuff.

Will this bill survive committee? We'll see. Given that the last legislative session saw an end to the idiotic 48 hr waiting period to purchase a handgun without a SD concealed carry permit, we'll see.

Will Mr Howie actually go anywhere against Gov Rounds? That too is a wait and see thing. It's still too early to tell, but I'm guessing Rounds will have very little opposition in either the primary or the general come election day.

UPDATE: Upon further reading of the proposed law, it would seem that Title 2 FA would not be included in the 'firearms made in SD' provision. Which really sucks.

UPDATE II: I just sent Senator Howie an email on this subject, and will await his reply.

Sir-

I talked with you at length at the Rapid City Rifle and Pistol Club gunshow on the 16th of Jan. I asked you specific questions regarding SB 89 and whether the law as proposed would affect NFA weapons. I guess I should have been more specific in my questioning.

I read the act in question and it does not exempt full auto weapons from the protections of this act. I would like to know if by 'all weapons' you meant all weapons except full auto weapons.

I await your clarification on this matter.

Respectfully,

Hazmat

I Must Be Important

Got a visit from the Brady Bunch the other day.

They didn't stay around very long and do any snooping around, but they did come directly here. Should be interesting.

Wow!!!!

That's all I can come up with for this.

The Kennedy reign in Mass. is now officially OVER!

Also on the breaking news front, a strange whirring noise was heard from Arlington National Cemetery as three Kennedy brothers collectively began spinning at 2000 rpm.

That is all.

Brady Gets Their Knickers In A Twist

It would seem the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Ownership has its panties in a twist over the supposed lack of reporting of "unstable mental patients" to "a national database".

What's the Brady position? Why, they think the state of Alabama, according to one Doug Pennington, "should not be finding ways to keep people out of the (database) system, the state should be finding ways to put them in".

Great, not that they don't have enough ways to potentially disqualify folks from being able to get a firearm, now the want the state to figure out new and creative ways to add more people to the 'mentally incompetent' roles. Evidently, the watch list thing isn't working out the way they planned, so they're jumping on any and all available means to justify their ends. No surprise, really, when you stop to consider the increasing irrelevance of their movement (tip o the old hat to Jeff Soyer at Alphecca for the link!).

A New Twist

On an old game. This may very well end up being one of things that comes on line and we wonder where the hell it's been the whole the whole time.

Not that I need much more reason to watch the Sportsman Channel.