This is why i do judo!!

Busy, busy, busy... but I did make it to Judo class last night!

Another Working Piece of History

After shooting CTone's Mosin Nagant, I decided I had to have one of my own. Seriously, for a little more than a C note, owning a bit of working history in a functioning, WWII-era, Soviet rifle is a no-brainer.

So Saturday, I took my son down to the Fredericksburg gun show and met up with CTone and his son. $115 later I walked out with a 1940 manufactured Mosin Nagant 91/30, complete with sling, bayonet, and ammo pouches.

With Government Like This, Who Needs Friends

Man hounded for child support for 20 years, but it’s not his kid

And for 10 years, the court, the State's Attorney, and Child Support Services knew it wasn't his kid, but yet they've continued to hound him... including garnishing his wages, withholding his tax refund, and suspending his driver's license.

If Only They'd Used Google+

Teens Arrested in Parent Murder Plot

Here's the thing about a conspiracy, especially a conspiracy to commit murder: if you are gonna post your plans on FaceBook, you've kinda ruined the whole conspiratorial aspect of it.

Tacticalize It!

This is what happens when your gunny friends are too polite to smack you.

Marlin has a lever gun with a picatinny rail running the length of the receiver top. I think it looks out of place. And even though Henry makes a scope mount for my .44 Big Boy, mounting an optic atop the brass just seems wrong.

So why, oh why, oh why did I dork up my Mini-14? Here she is at the height of my outright stupidity, sporting an ATI Strikeforce stock with an Urban Brawler see-through scout rail and other tacticalizing accessories. This is Grade A Dumb-Ass!

Sure, the Urban Brawler scout rail looks kick ass! But it easily adds a pound of weight to the forend of the gun, the absolute last place you want extra weight, and forces your cheek weld to become a chin weld. And while you can technically see-through the rail for the iron sights, the sight picture is so cramped and field of vision is so narrow that you might as well be looking through a 1x telescope. The Urban Brawler came off my Mini-14 some time ago, but the Strikeforce stock is still there.

I've tried to bring myself to like the Strikeforce stock. I even upgraded some of its plastic parts to aluminum with the upgrade kit. But after watching Hickok45's video on the Mini-14, I've come to the realization that "tacticalizing" one of these rifles is simply a waste of time and money. If you want a Mini-14 to look like an AR-15, buy an AR-15.

So, I'm gonna take it back to basics. I like what this guy has done to his Mini-14, minus the CQB sling. I'm figuring I can do the same but with a couple of improvements.

Here is a picture of my Mini-14 from when I first go it, and as originally envisioned by Bill Ruger. I look at this picture now and think, "That looks like a decent firearm. Why did I dork it up?"

A Mini-14 with 18" barrel and factory wood trim.

Heck, I'm even gonna try to lay my hands on a couple of those flush-mounting Mini-14 5rd magazines. Not everything firearm related has to be "tacticool". I need to get over it.

Like Father, Like Son.

In Chesterfield, VA: Father, son charged with pointing shotgun at high school student

Kinda makes that whole thing where they expelled and charged that honor roll student for spit wads seem a bit trivial, doesn't it? Heck, I'd even go so far as to say that a shotgun is a whole lot more dangerous than a finger.

September 11

Perpetuating Gun Control Myths

From How Gun Control Got Murdered, comes:

Private sales, many of which occur at gun shows, were not covered, and 40 percent of gun sales occur in these exempted venues.

I tracked down this 40% statistic here. It turns out that the people who keep saying this are at best unfamiliar with the true nature of the statistic or, as I think we all suspect, are purposefully distorting the truth.

Of course, my understanding is that this is a flat out lie:

The boys who committed the Columbine massacre, for example, used cash to purchase two shotguns and a semi-automatic rifle at a gun show.

It was my understanding that they obtained their guns through a straw purchase, which is already a federal felony.

Man tubing down Rt 29, In Fairfax VA

Tea Party Zombie Shooter

A company named Starving Eyes Advergames has a politically motivated, first person shooter, zombie game out. It depicts Republican candidates and Fox News personalities as zombies who must be killed.

While I kinda understand the teen-age level, pranksterish, juvenile humor behind the concept, this seems like an awfully bad idea. If something were to happen to any of the people portrayed in the game, accusations of incitement will be leveled at the gaming company.

And despite the fact that Sarah Palin was held responsible by the MSM for the political incivility that the MSM claims directly caused the Tuscon shooting, there doesn't seem to be a peep out of any of the "right thinking people" on this matter.

The IHOP Attack

This is horrible. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims.

We don't know the motives of the shooter, though it seems he was likely just insane. What we do know is that he sought out uniformed members of our military. Perhaps he was trying to commit a version of suicide by cop, thinking that our National Guardsman would be armed. I bet its a common perception in the general public. After all, we drop these people into the hell of Afghanistan with the purpose of killing our enemies. So why wouldn't they be armed?

But if they were in uniform, then they were likely either coming from guard service or going to it, at a location that does not allow them to carry weapons for protection... even in their cars. So these Guardsmen, citizen soldiers willing to risk it all for our country, were intentionally disarmed. And they were intentionally hunted down for the uniform they wore. Perhaps this policy of disarming our guardians should be reversed.

Just Sayin'....

A Michael Bane mix-tape would be awesome! Just sayin'.

Out standing in a Field

That was CTone and I on Saturday. Neither of us could dedicate a weekend to the North Coast Blogger Shoot II, but we were able to grab a few hours at a secret shooting location... so secret that it was disguised with cows and corn. We were able to try out my new steel target, which CTone was pinging at 200 yards with the irons on his AR-15.

We got a fair amount of shooting in until lightening drove us into the trucks, and then we eventually had to call it quits. I learned a couple of things. 1) I should buy a Mosin Nagant. Why haven't I? 2) Don't get into a long range gun fight with CTone. And 3), if I want to do more of that type of shooting (AND I DO!), I need more steel targets, a spotting scope, and more steel targets.

UPDATE: More from CTone.

Ukemi

Ukemi is the first thing you learn in Judo. It is important to know how to take a fall, or more to the point how to be thrown. We practice ukemi at the beginning of every class, just to refresh us all on how to do it and to warm up.

But this guy takes it to a whole new level.

IDIOT!

Alleged gun-waving motorist arrested in Bristol- Kingsport Times-News

You Have Got To See This

Stunning pictures from Afghanistan.