Monday, October 10, 2011

Apologies and delays

It's not like there isn't anything to write about - I'm itching to vent over the latest idiocies such as a governor suggesting we "suspend democracy for two years", the NY State Legislature suggestion we have a "more sophisticated first amendment", a Democratic Senator recommending "retroactive recusal" of a Supreme Court justice because she doesn't like his position on "Obamacare" and so much more. But, truth be told, I've been working on my first novel and am almost ready to list it on Amazon (probably about another six or seven weeks, possibly sooner). It's consumed a lot of what little free time I have of late.

I should be sending it off for editing in another week or so and will try to catch up then. I have complete faith in the morons running this country into the ground that I'll have even more material by then....

- Keith

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

The SKS: A pleasant surprise

I have tried to not be unnecessarily snobbish about firearms (except for the Chautchat but that is, at least in part, because it's fun to pick on the French) but I admit I had suffered somewhat from "cheap Commie crap syndrome". For those of you who do not interact much with shooters and their communities, CCCS is a mild-to-serious disdain for anything designed or manufactured in any former Communist-bloc country or satellite. In fairness, gulag labor, a philosophy of quantity above quality and occasional winging it through reverse-engineered plans did a good deal to earn that reputation but, nonetheless, it is foolish to cling blindly to assumptions. And so, when a student of mine was looking for a general purpose rifle on a severely-restricted budget, I recommended an SKS. Feel free to Google "SKS" "SKS-45" or "simonov" if you'd like great technical details. My personal Clif Notes version is this: It is a short, squattish, semi-automatic carbine firing the same intermediate round - the 7.62x39mm, very similar in ballistics as the American classic, the .30-30 - as the AK47 and relying on an internal, ten-round magazine.

I found one for him with an asking price of $300. While this is absurd by 1990s standards when you could buy one for $100, it's pretty fair by current market standards and actually pretty good given the fact that it was Russian-made (1950s vintage), barely fired from the looks of it and in overall near-pristine condition. In addition to finding one for him, I also took it upon myself to evaluate the accuracy, safety and function prior to plunking down any cash.

This is where the snobbery came in. I was expecting fit and finish to be rough, reliability to be excellent and accuracy to be perhaps slightly better than a pistol - and hopefully not flat-out abysmal.

Cue Gomer Pyle - "Surprise, surprise, surprise!"

Finish was a little rough but very acceptable given that it was over half a century old and metal-to-metal fit was excellent. The balance of the design was exceptional - it was heavy enough to feel solid, light enough to shoulder quickly and the sights lined up as naturally as the cheek weld. It went "bang" when the trigger was pulled - neither "click" nor "bang-bang-bang", as I feared. (Quick tip on evaluating semi-automatic firearms: Don't load more than three rounds until you verify the mechanical integrity. One of the definitions of "suck" is "having a gun go unexpectedly full-auto on you and needing to hold on for dear life until the magazine empties itself".)

Anyway, the gun fired in semi-auto mode and the safety prevented firing when engaged. But what really raised my eyebrows was the fact that it was as accurate as, well, a short-barreled rifle. I'd make it about a 4MOA gun (Minute Of Angle basically means one inch groups for every hundred yards - 1" at 100, 1/2" at 50, 2" at 200, et cetera). Not a competition-winner by any stretch but adequate for game-getting and self-defense within reasonable distances. I actually toyed with the idea of keeping the gun for myself and telling my student that I nixed the deal but, sadly, I've got this weird "ethics" thing that keeps cropping up, especially when someone is relying on my assistance and knowledge.

I decided at that moment that perhaps "Commie crap" wasn't quite so crappy after all or, at the very least, there were sufficient non-crappy specimens to warrant investigation. I vowed that I would get one of those little carbines for myself if I could find one under $300 and in serviceable condition.

Well.

My club's newsletter came out not long after and what should I find but a Chinese-made, 1990s vintage SKS... for $290. I bought it. I tried it. I am pleased.

Quite attractive blonde, laminated wood. Barely any score marks on the moving metal parts. Clean bore and sharp rifling down the barrel. From my limited testing, it seems to not be very fond of American-made ammo (understandable - we disagree with the Eastern Bloc on what "7.62mm" means and make our projectiles .308" in diameter instead of .311") but it gobbles up "cheap Russki" Wolf ammo with aplomb and also holds about 4-5MOA. Not too shabby, given my limited rifle experience and fuzzy view of the target.

So far, I've noted that the front post is pegged as far as it will go for windage yet the gun still holds left a little. An easy fix, there - I just hug the right ear of the rear sight and drop rounds where I want them. The rubber buttstock that came with it was nice and all but I've since replaced it with an original steel one. I like the traditionalism (which is why I've never bothered with the absurd "duckbill" extended magazines that came with the gun) and the reduced length-of-pull seems to suit the balance well. And, while the bayonet is pretty fun, removing it also improved balance and shouldering so it'll probably live in the safe with the rest of the spare parts. The weirdest thing I've encountered so far isn't with the gun but, of all things, faulty stripper clips. I mean, they're mostly flat strips of steel! What could go wrong with that? And yet, all but one will bind on loading even though they all appear identical to my naked eye.

I dig this carbine. I have an AR15 that will shoot circles around it. I have several .30-06 bolt guns and a Garand that will outdistance its range threefold. But for a neat, handy little carbine that was designed to take the kind of abuse that ignorant peasant conscripts can dole out, I think I've found a winner. I intend to spend a bit more time - and ammunition - getting to know this gun and hopefully tuning it down to 2-3MOA performance.

Okay, maybe 3-4MOA. It is just a hunk of Commie junk, after all....

:)

Monday, September 19, 2011

An anecdote about bullet setback and accuracy

I have to make an embarrassing confession: I don't cycle out my carry ammo. I know, I know - this is not a "best practice". But I tend to buy this very good stuff on this very tight budget, hence the handloading to allow practice with comparable performance on the cheap. So... out comes the mag, cleared is the chamber and the same rounds get loaded back in once I'm done. I really didn't think about the long-term ramifications until my latest range session with the DB380.

Deb had picked up some factory .380 at my request and, since I was now flush with mass-produced cartridges, I decided to use the Diamondback to burn up the old factory ammo I'd been carrying in my KelTec for the past few years. See, um, the cases were looking a little worn... and discolored... maybe a little "bumpy" at the case mouth. Yeah. I'm generally a safe guy especially around firearms but this was out-and-out stupidity on my part.

(For the record, no mechanical hiccups or failures were encountered, further reinforcing my belief that the previous problems were user error and/or hard primers. )

I set up the target, paced out about seven yards, took careful aim and - bang! - fired way low and left. Hm - that's odd. Maybe I jerked the trigger, a mild case of the "haven't shot in a bit" jitters. Let's take a breath and try it again. Bang! Off the paper. Seriously?!? I continued on and printed more of a pattern than a grouping, having eventual (and only moderate) success in dialing in by holding high and right about five inches. This is when I started thinking about bullet setback and all those rechamberings.

I loaded up the brand-spanking-new rounds and decided on a six o'clock hold again rather than staying high-right. Three full magazines of rapid-firing later, I had a ragged, three-inch hole on and barely above the aiming point I'd marked. Same distance, stance and grip but I still achieved better results even when using a hastier pace. The only difference was the condition of the ammo.

Now, this is purely anecdotal and hardly scientifically quantified but a coincidence worth noting. I haven't examined the spent cases (yet) for any signs of overpressure but this seems to be circumstantial evidence that case wear and tear adds up over the years. Performing a few searches on "bullet setback" returned hits mostly about dangerous chamber pressures but nothing to speak of in terms of accuracy. It makes sense that an increase in pressure combined with a pretty truncated launch tube might affect accuracy to a notable degree (worth a moment of pause, there, given how critical placement is when using a "mousegun") but I can't really say I've got enough evidence to make more than an anecdotal post on a personal blog :). If anyone reading this has noted similar behavior, regardless of caliber, I'd be interested in hearing about it. I'm going to try to run a similar test with my Glocks' Gold Dots (9mm and .45ACP) and will post an addendum if I get the same results.

Now I need to get back to work so I can afford a few boxes of Gold Dots to replace the ones I need to burn up for the Glocks....

Monday, September 12, 2011

So, um... has anyone apologized to Joe Wilson yet?

On September 9th of 2009, South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson made headlines by heckling our commander-in-chief during an address of Congress to sell his healthcare scam, er, "plan" by shouting, "You lie!" It was right about the time President Obama declared that the plan would not provide free coverage for illegal aliens. Wilson was castigated. He was vilified. He was chastised. He was censured.

And he was right.

Of course he was right! Anyone who had read the bill (okay, you can all stop laughing - or crying - now) would have been able to tell you that there was no way to filter out illegals - the amendments that were supposed to verify citizenship were voted down. But don't let facts, accuracy and reality get in the way of "being offended". And now, over eight million dollars - chicken feed by today's standards, I know - will be spent specifically on "seasonal and migrant farm workers". And Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Spokeswoman Judy Andrews said that grant recipients will not check the immigration status of people seeking services.

So... Joe was right and I'm just wondering what proper protocol might be here. I mean, Hallmark doesn't really make a card for it and I haven't found any "Shine" articles linked from Yahoo headlines (What Do You Say When They Weren't Wrong?). I'm a bit at a loss. Fruit basket?

Of course, it was a pretty general statement, this "You lie!" I'm not sure if we should limit the official apology card to referencing only the illegal immigrant healthcare lie. I mean, there are a whole lot of Obama lies to choose from.

The most recent (pass my bill) one, I suppose is (pass my bill) the whopper he (pass it!) dropped during his (you have GOT to pass this bill) address in which he (passitpassitpassit!) tried to sell his utter turd of a jobs bill (that you have got to pass). Oh, yes. The magic words, "It's paid for!"

Liar.

Mister President, I know you have no real work experience and obviously no clue about how money works so allow me to assist you. Something is "paid for" when you have the required cash in hand and fork it over when the goods or services are received. Wishing happy thoughts about money appearing from the sky or assuming your request for an advance on your pay will be granted is not "paying for" a goddamned thing. Neither is throwing it on a credit card on which you can't even cover the minimum monthly payment. Your plan to "pay for it"? The same stupid-assed tax increases that Republicans and even many Democrats have voted down. More than once. The bill that I pray to freaking God does not pass is NOT "paid for". Perhaps if I repeated it every third sentence in every public address I make....

Let's see.... Before that it was the debt ceiling. This was like a bullshit trifecta. First, the grand hypocrisy of President Obama's questioning the previous president's patriotism and leadership when Bush raised it but then playing the nation's savior when it was his own turn. Then throwing out how "Grandma might not get her social security check". Except for the fact that President Obama is about as intimidating as Urkel, that was straight protection racket - "You got a nice place here.... Be a shame if something might happen to it." And, when there was still resistance, the grand "We may default!" - although the administration knew damned well there was enough coming in to cover our nation's obligations.

Liar. If there was a default, it would have been a calculated, political decision done for pure leverage.

Prior to that, there was the load of crap about civility in political discourse. Yes, they were deeply concerned about civility when the Right and Tea Party were getting angry. Not so much when the Congressional only-one-race-is-allowed-but-it's-not-racism-when-we-do-it Caucus were telling people to go to hell, calling them "the enemy" and declaring them to be a repackaged Klan. Not so much when union thugs were being exhorted to "take these sonsabitches out" - meaning me and my family, in part. No, while President Obama can stick his nose in any time he thinks a non-Democrat is being a big meanie, Communication Director Dan Pfieffer tells us that he's not going to "serve as the speech police for the Democratic Party." Of course, this falls more under the category of "hypocrite" than "liar" so it might not be card-worthy.

Then... let's see again... all the campaign nonsense about closing Gitmo (Osama wishes Obama had followed through on that but I, for one, will let it slide), transparency in the administration (except for the czars... and "we have to pass it before we know what's in it") and Obama's condescending bit about "not wanting your guns" (except for the State Department, ATF and FBI coercing FFLs to sell to known gang members and drug mules not long after the president reassured the Brady Campaign that he was "working on gun control under the radar"). There was also the whole spiel about uniting the country. Like the way we constantly hear of anyone who is successful being blamed for anyone who is not. Like the way our president thumbs his nose at the Tea Party but attends La Raza rallies. And, of course, there was the line about "no U.S. boots on the ground in Libya"....

Whew. Wow. That was all off the top of my head, too. Hard to imagine what else might turn up if I gave it some serious thought or did any digging.

I'm starting to think a fruit basket might not be enough.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Sometimes words fail....

I am always at my least eloquent and sarcastic on this day. At least I've warned our kids that they'll see Mommy and Daddy crying a lot over the weekend and not to worry. So, as I passive-aggressively enjoy my breakfast of pork sausage and remember the day that radical Muslim terrorists murdered almost three thousand of my countrymen for the crime of being American, showing up for work and doing their sworn duty, I'll simply post the images that move me most.

I am not ready to "move on", you sons of bitches. Check me again in another decade.








Saturday, September 3, 2011

Lies, damned lies and you're-a-goddamned-racist

This week, I read that, as a nation, we netted exactly zero jobs in the month of August. Frightening, since just about every figure released by the government this year has been adjusted downward. That's right - we began the year with triumphal hope-and-change numbers posted and announced across every online news source's headlines. Then, a month or two later, they, um, kinda ticked down a little. Not really heralded all that much and not very good for the current administration's credibility, the news was usually buried in the internet's equivalent of page eighty-three, second sidebar on the left, under the "sorry we got your last name wrong" retractions.

In case you're curious, here are the jobs-added numbers direct from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (http://www.bls.gov/schedule/archives/empsit_nr.htm#2011):
  • February originally reported 192,000 jobs added, later revised to 235,000. Yay!
  • March originally reported 216,000 jobs added, later revised to 221,000. Sweet! Oh... then revised again down to 194,000.
  • April brought in 244,000... until it became 232,000
  • May claimed 54,000 added... and got rounded down to 53,000... which then became 25,000. Minor math error, there, I guess.
  • June posted an anemic 18,000 jobs but then got a bump to 20,000... then an inexplicable leap to 46,000... ooohhhhh but then a re-re-revised total of 20,000. But I'm sure they got it right that time.
  • July supposedly brought in 117,000 jobs (perhaps including whoever the hell was supposed to be making up the figures for June)... but that eventually ticked down to 85,000.
  • August? Goose egg. Zero. Zilch. Nada.
The only logical conclusion I can reach, based on current political rationale, is that math itself is racist. Seriously. I mean, think about it - it refuses to support our first (half) black President, it opposes almost every policy he's attempted to put in place, it refuses to compromise. Sound familiar to anyone? More than a little Tea Partyish, hmmm? Pure racism! In fact, I would suggest that the Department of Social Justice launch an immediate investigation and start rounding up mathematics and economics professors for spreading hate speech.

God, I shouldn't kid. It might give them more brilliant ideas.

As it is, it was almost sad - I'd posted our "The American Left can't stop playing the race card even when it makes no sense" piece just before Indiana Democratic Representative Andre Carson decided to jump on the "it's not hate speech when we use it" bandwagon. If only he'd gone there sooner or I'd waited to post a little longer.... I debated simply adding an addendum but this was such a doozy that I wanted to have a bit of a better chronology. I give it about a month before the "Tea Partists eat black babies on the Sabbath" rumors begin.

Yes, boys and girls, it seems that, according to Herr Grupenfuehrer Carson's line of thinking (when he believes he's addressing a black-only audience, that is), the Tea Party is actually a gigantic lynch party. In fact, and I quote, “some of them in Congress right now of this tea party movement would love to see you and me ... hanging on a tree.”

Yup. Makes perfect sense. Middle class Americans declaring, "We're done footing the bill for your 'free shit'." is EXACTLY the same as BillyJoeBob suggesting to BobbyLeeJames, "Hey! Let's go string us up some of them thar darkies!"

Yeah. Exactly. The. Same.

Shithead.

Anyway, Math, if you're reading this, I hope you eventually turn your back on the evil ways of white devil racism, embrace civil discourse and get with the program. Perhaps then we can figure out a way to pay for everybody's crap with money that appears from thin air.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

"Well... except for those Tea Party guys. We hate them."

The American Left and media love to hate the Tea Party. I'm not entirely certain if it's because they just don't understand what it's all about or if it's because they do. Either way, they know they hate them.

Patrick Gaspard, the Executive Director of the Democratic National Committee, sent out emails lamenting that "the Tea Party agenda [is] an agenda whose first item is to destroy Democrats no matter the consequences for our country." According to articles I've read just in the past week, they appear to think the Tea Party is "freaked out white people" who are racist, homophobic, abortion-banning, racist, fanatically religious creationist Christian... um... racist and... um.... At this point , it diverges into "poor white redneck trash who are too stupid to realize that government spending profits them" or "filthy rich white capitalists who are such evil geniuses that they are stealing money from the poor to line their own pockets". But, either way, they're definitely racist. I've seen blog after blog and "measured articles" by the boatload "exposing" tea party rally excerpts for the racist language cleverly encoded within (kind of like the so-called Bible Code, except requiring larger stretches of the imagination). There are detailed analysis of tea party members' pathological hatred of all things Obama... and therefore black in general. Maxine Waters made the statement that "the Tea Party can go straight to Hell." Frederica Wilson has warned that “[t]he real enemy is the Tea Party, let's remember that." Jesse Jackson went off on some bizarre tangent about how "Dr. King fought a 'tea party' in Alabama", equating people who opposed integration and civil rights with people who don't think they should have the money they worked for siphoned off to pay for "free stuff" for other people that haven't worked for it.

A side note here: I'm ironically amused by the fact that the last three comments were made by black leaders before the Congressional Black Caucus in a forum that was supposed to be about bringing jobs to the black community and were directed at a group that is most often described as "a bunch of racist white people". I'd say something about a pot and a kettle but use of the full expression might just be a subconscious indicator of my deep-seated racism.

I hate to break it to them but I have some inside information on the Tea Party, being that I've attended rallies and protests and personally support "the cause". Ready? You might want to sit down - it's a stunner. Okay. Here goes: There is no "Tea Party".

It's true. You aren't going to see "Tea Party" on a voter registration form. You aren't going to get spam from their national headquarters. You aren't going to send them annual dues and get a secret decoder ring. Because there is no "party" per se - there's just a basic idea that a lot of people agree with. This is such a foreign concept in American politics that most folks just don't seem to get it. They can't process it, won't accept it. It must be an offshoot or subdivision of the Republican party. Or maybe it's a hate group like the Klan. Their national leadership consists of Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Karl Rove and Glenn Beck (and possibly Satan). It's inconceivable that a large segment of the American public can get pissed off enough to collectively shout "Enough!" - but that's what happened.

Under Republicans, we're expected to be shamed into silence with, "If you oppose the bailout, the [terrorists will win/economy will collapse and families will have to devour each other] ." Under Democrats, we're expected to be shamed into silence with, "If you oppose the signing of a massive bill-we-haven't-read into national law, you [hate poor people/are racist]." But we're done being shamed with labels and whining. The Irish have a proverb: "Coimhéad fearg fhear na foighde." Beware the fury of a patient man. Well, we've run out of patience. There are a lot of very pissed off Americans who are tired of having the people who supposedly represent us mortgage future generations to bail out one group or another for their own selfish purposes.

Like any disparate population, you'll find a pretty big variety within the group. There are homophobic, racist, ignorant, and/or religious Tea Partiers. Some are poor. Some are "rich" (that term seems to keep getting redefined so I'll use quotes). Regional groups have coalesced around the country, each one adding its own spin to the basic tenet of spending cuts. Some are little more than Republican light - "stop wasting our tax money on Liberal causes but don't rock the boat on the Right". Some are more religious - "stop wasting our tax money, especially on abortion - which should be banned - and gay rights... because God said so". Some are extremely Libertarian - "stop wasting our tax money, reduce government to fourteen guys and recall all overseas troops from everywhere, forever." Guess what? It's doesn't make them wrong. Some are gay and some are Democrats and some are government workers and some are lawyers and some are actually even - gasp! - not white and they're standing with the "hate-filled, racist rednecks". Being angry at having your life's earnings pissed away against your will doesn't make you "filled with hate". Opposing the destructive, divisive, class-and-race-warfare policies of an incompetent hack of a president doesn't make you racist, even if he is half-black.

The Right is wisely shutting the hell up and letting this play out. Normally known for being able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, the Republicans are afraid to publicly oppose the idea of simply not wasting money. Several opportunistic Republican leaders have even adopted a philosophy of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" and have begun to parrot some of the points hurled at returning lawmakers during enraged town hall meetings. Everyone wants to be "a Tea Party candidate" even when they also support Hogzilla-sized pork programs. But that's fine - we'll use you like you've used it.

The Left, however, is doing something even more interesting. They first tried dismissing us via ignoring the whole thing, not discussing the movement, not covering the marches and rallies. When they couldn't ignore us anymore, they moved to trivializing us through humor. "Teabagger" - get it? It's like a sex thing and that'll make us uncomfortable because we're all uptight religious Republicans! Ha! Get it?!? When nobody gave a shit and we kept talking, kept demanding, kept campaigning, they moved to subtle disapproval and intimations that we're a "hate group". Well... we are. We hate the waste, the bloated government, the arrogance of civil servants who think they've been elected to royalty. Now... they're starting to hate. They're freaking out because we have no infrastructure to attack, no single leader to character assassinate, no organization to infiltrate. We're just not... shutting... up. We've been mocked and called the worst things possible - racist! inflexible! - and we're still sticking to the same, stupid, uncompromising mantra: Stop wasting our tax money and, no, you can't have more.

We hate policies, they hate people. We want to talk about money, they can't stop talking about race. We see government involvement as unnecessary intervention which screws up everything and needs to be dialed back (whoever has to fend for themselves be damned); they see it as not only necessary but a morally mandated responsibility to tend to all their needs (whoever pays the bills be damned). We have irreconcilable differences and it's no surprise that they're seeing this movement as a threat to their way of life. We see them the same way.

Yep, there have been some strong words. Now, let me offer a few of my own. Patrick, you're on to me and my evil plan. I do want you destroyed mostly because you seem to believe that the role of government is to convince us how weak we are so that it can tend all our boo-boos and make everything "fair" (at the unfair expense of those who refuse to believe they really are helpless). Maxine, I'd offer a "ladies first" but that doesn't really apply to you, does it? If I'm pissing you off, I must be doing something right. Thanks for the encouragement. Frederica, yes, I am your enemy. In fact, I loathe you, not because of your political affiliation, your gender or the color of your skin but because you are a parasite and those like you have increased in numbers for generations at the cost of the nation's freedoms and financial security. I am your enemy the way a dog is an enemy of the fleas that infest it. And Jesse, if you want to call the Tea Party a repackaged KKK, grow a set and say it out loud instead of dancing around with your candy-assed wink-wink-nudge-nudge routine. But you'd better think closely about your comparison. The latter were victimizing their fellow Americans; the former are trying to keep their fellow Americans from victimizing them. Refusing to allow a child to enter a school or drink from a water fountain doesn't equate to not wanting to pay for the food, rent, medical care, wi-fi and cell phone for every spoiled sonofabitch that wants it in return for a vote. Oh and, p.s., you're a pig for using Doctor King's name to rubber-stamp your racist, victim-mentality claptrap for the last forty years.

Now... stop wasting our tax money and, no, you can't have more.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Diamondback DB380 versus KelTec P3AT: First impressions and range report

NOTE: The following review started off as several postings on our family blog. Rather than simply import them, I've decided to combine it into a more comprehensive look at the DB380 in this single post.

Now, before I begin, let me offer a quick disclaimer for my fellow firearms aficionados: this is not a discussion about the effectiveness of the .380 ACP. All pistols suck at manstopping, some suck more than others and require more skill with placement. This is both why I practice and why I carry a larger caliber primary arm (usually a G19 or G30). If you know there's going to be a lethal encounter, the best weapon to ensure your survival is the good sense to be somewhere else. The next best weapon is DEVGRU, preferably with an AC-47 backing them up. The next best for me would probably be an HK416 in 6.8SPC with a beta mag but I somehow make do with the 9mm and .45ACP. While I always appreciate "gun talk" and readily admit that I don't know everything, I really do not care to hear about Marshall and Sanow, Strasbourg, Fackler's website, FBI statistics and/or tales from your-cousin-Cletus-who's-an-EMT-in-Nashville-and-sees-guys-shot-all-the-time, okay? My strategies for defensive use of a .380 consists of a mag dump, then either running like hell or going to the ground with the guy until I choke him out and/or he bleeds out from the tiny little holes I've poked in him. In short, I want something as an alternative to a pocket knife, not my "real gun".

Having gotten that out of the way, let me get down to brass (and copper) tacks.

I had carried a KelTec P3AT as my EDC pistol for quite some time, usually in a backup role but often solo because 1. I could carry it when I was wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and sunglasses and 2. I 'm often in environments that dictate that I absolutely am not armed (which is why I called it my "I-don't-have-a-gun gun"). It was a first-generation with no "fluff-and-buff", no polishing and no add-ons except a +1 mag extension and a carry clip. I fed it an exclusive diet of WWB flat-points and Rainier 95gr reloads and, except for some FTEs when I first bought it (caused by letting the unretained ejector fall out of the frame when I cleaned it post-purchase), it ran flawlessly. It was generally carried in a Nemesis pocket holster in a rear pants pocket or jacket slash pocket, though it has also ridden clipped to waistbands of shorts, gi pants, sweats and, yes, underwear (told you it's an "everywhere gun").

To its credit, the P3AT was incredibly slim, barely wider than the round for which it was chambered. It was feather-light to the point that, more than once, I literally forgot I was carrying (almost problematic one time at the airport). I could pack more firepower than with a J-frame .38 Special, with eight rounds of .380ACP at my fingertips and a spare 7-rounder easily carried in a coin pocket. Aside from takedown, the operation of the pistol is Glock-simple - point and shoot, with no external safeties or slide release to mind. And you couldn't really beat the convenience of carry. Pocket, pants, jockstrap, belly band - if I had a stitch of clothing on, you could be pretty confident in assuming I was carrying.

On the not-so-pro side, the ergonomics left a lot to be desired. Under stress, your form just might go to shit and that slimness that was so great for concealment made for an inconsistent firing grip and made shooting the gun feel a bit like holding onto a wooden ruler while someone whacked it with a hammer. As for accuracy, it was a belly gun so I wasn't expecting to be ringing hundred-yard gongs but painted-on sights and a relatively heavy trigger generated "COM adequate" results at best. The worst problem was premature mag ejection. I know - they say it happens to every guy once in awhile but it still bothered me. For the longest time, I'd go through my day with the gun riding in its holster in my rear pocket only to go home and find the mag had been unseated by my butt cheek. Worse still were the few times I leaned against a wall and heard a very subtle "click" from "back there". Given that this was the gun I was carrying when I "wasn't carrying a gun", that was enough to give me the willies. I ended up solving the problem by grinding the mag release button until it was flush with the frame.

Then there were the "intangibles" that came in on the negative side. There was a certain half-assed feel to the internal design. Why the HELL would you drop an ejector into the frame without any retention? It simply sits there, waiting to will fall out if you turn the frame upside down after removing the slide. Likewise, why does the recoil spring capture tab just fall out of the slide? It should be part of the forged piece. And why not have a captured recoil spring when they're already nested? Field-stripping requires you to pry out a pin which ended up leaving some history on the steel of the slide. And, finally, there's the exposed hammer. Yeah, it's hidden but it's still there. Not so horrible from a design standpoint but, since this was primarily a pocket-carry gun for me, the hammer's channel was almost constantly gunked up from lint and I ended up cleaning it often out of sheer mechanical paranoia.

Still, I had yet to find a pistol as diminutive in as large a caliber, even with the latest "micro-9" craze. Many came close but were always lacking (or, in this case, excessive) in one dimension or another - too thick, usually, though height was also a frequent deal-killer as was a manual safety. When I say there are times that it absolutely must be undetected, I'm not being melodramatic. I can't take even the slimmest chance of being made so... off went the MK9, rejected was the CM9, to market went the Colt Gov't .380. The P3AT was my ballistic pocketknife until June of this year, when I heard about the DB380.

I hadn't heard much about the Diamondback until I found a brief review in the monthly NRA rag (motto: "We never write a bad review, especially if you advertise."). It looked a little... not right. A bit like a tiny Colt 1902 or like a Glock and a KelTec had a love child. But I read enough very complimentary reviews that I was intrigued. The dimensions were certainly right - almost exactly the size of the P3AT but with a thicker grip and lower bore axis. The trigger travel was supposedly less. It had real sights. Then I found all the negative reviews. Poor QC. Trigger bars snapping after only a few dozen rounds. Poor customer service in response to complaints. I was definitely on the fence but, for around $300 and a warranty that, however much aggravation it might entail, would eventually make it right, it seemed worth a chance.

I found a local store that had a few in stock - all new and of recent vintage (s/n ZD7###) - and decided to take one for a spin. The reviews were right - the thing felt nice. It seemed more polished than the KelTec and, while the grip didn't look all that much thicker (or I would've dropped the idea then and there) it just filled the hand better. I took the plunge and bought it. I've included a few pics for comparison. To be fair, the KT still wins the "whose is smaller" battle if you look at it in its stock condition, with a six-round mag. I mostly included pics of the seven-round mag because that's how I carried it most often and this is where the ergonomic difference is, to me, most obvious. I no longer own a single-stack 9mm or I'd have thrown in it for reference.

My initial out-of-the-box impressions were very favorable. Slimness, weight and capacity were all equal to the P3AT (in fairness, the +1 extension - my usual carry configuration - actually made the KelTec just slightly taller). The ergonomics were, for me, outstanding. It just fit - period. Most every modern gun will sight well when conscientiously using a proper firing grip so I often like to test guns by dry-firing with my someday-to-be-patented "white knuckle oh-shit grip". Said test still had it pointing level and square, unlike the low-left muzzle dip I got with the P3AT. Comparing trigger pull was a little unfair, pitting a brand-new trigger against one that had been smoothed out by can't-remember-how-many rounds over the years. The unfired DB was a bit gritty but I'd would have called it comparable in terms of weight.

Field-stripping was as simple as pulling down on both non-protruding tabs while pulling the slide forward and the internal.mechanics were Glock simple - frame, slide, barrel, captured recoil group are the only major components. That's it. No tiny parts that fall out or disappear during cleaning and the gun has very clean external lines. As with the KelTec, there is neither a slide lock release nor an external safety (keep your goddamned finger off the trigger if you don't want the gun to fire) but, unlike the P3AT, the gun is striker-fired and so less open to lint-gunkage. And the sights... well, IT HAS SIGHTS!! A nice, crisp sight picture and even drift adjustable, which was a very nice touch.

About the only things that warranted a "fuzzy eyeball" were the grit in the trigger and magazines that would not drop free. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things but, coupled with the negative reviews for early models, I was noting everything.







After a bit, I was able to get out to the range for some brief function testing. I say "brief" because it was an outdoor range and early July in Colorado. If you live here, 'nuff said. If you don't, Colorado inspires images of babbling brooks, frigid ski slopes and lush pine forests but that's because we have good PR agents. We're a high plains desert, a full mile closer to the sun than most folks are used to. Yeah, "it's a dry heat" but it's a freaking roasting dry heat. Cloudless and near a hundred degrees are not necessarily the best range conditions in which to perform an extensive evaluation, especially for a bald man.

Overall, I will say that I was very favorably impressed with the little gun. All testing was done informally, primarily for function and safety, at a classic "ruh-roh" distance of twenty-one feet. I mostly wanted to make sure I heard "bang" instead of "click" and that I wouldn't drive home sporting a slide buried in my skull.

My initial impression was confirmed - the gun was an excellent and instinctive pointer. The trigger pull is only slightly heavy (compared to a shot-in G19 or a 1911) but consistent and, after only the first mag or so, smooth. Unlike when shooting my P3AT, I experienced no shift from recoil bouncing the grip around in my mitts. The magazine may not have dropped free at home but, in practical shooting, I found that it cleared without much hangup at all and the release was perfectly natural in operation. I even did a "Level 1 clearance" and didn't miss a beat.

While this was supposed to be just a function test, I was impressed by the accuracy. News flash: Sights help! Seriously. It may have been a function of a consistent sight picture or perhaps a difference in the barrel or rifling but this gun can shoot. At a standard rate of fire - three seconds per shot or so - I was shooting a two-inch group using a two-handed grip. I might actually have done better but I was tinkering with POA/POI and ended up with two tight but distinct groups about an inch apart. Speeding things up to a rapid-fire mag dump (all six rounds in about four seconds) from a low-ready position pushed that out to shy of four inches. I wouldn't win any bullseye contests with that but, from a practical standpoint, it was an improvement over the P3AT's "COM adequate" designation.

One major concern that developed was reliability. I fired thirty rounds that first outing (told you it was brief) and experienced two failures to fire. One primer appeared completely untouched, the other showed a light strike. Both were first rounds from their magazines (first and third mags, to be precise) and handloads. I had been using CCI primers but haven't experienced any problems in my P3AT using those loads. I later tested a new batch of loads using Winchester Small Pistol primers - only fifteen rounds (I was using the chrono to test a new recipe) but no failures of any type. Later still, I ran another dozen reloads through the chrono from a prone position and encountered two failures to feed. It was very possible that I ended up limp-wristing due to the position but.... Then, some days later, I ran another two dozen rounds through - mostly rapid-fire - and didn't have a single hitch. Could have been coincidence, could have been the primers - but could also be the gun. I'm just making note and keeping it in the back of my mind. I'm also switching exclusively to factory ammo for further evaluation just to remove one variable from the equation.

Another minor negative experience was, of all things, the frame material. I was distracted by another club member while I was policing brass and got to chatting with him. About fifteen minutes passed without my notice... on a hot day... while the gun and its magazine lay next to the uncovered ammo in the sun. I have made this mistake before but don't recall my larger polymer-framed guns or my P3AT getting that frigging hot before. This is actually what facilitated my rapid-fire test - I just wanted to get the damned thing out of my hands before I branded the company logo on my palm.

Still another negative - also minor - was slide bite. The gun balances and fits the palm well enough that I unconsciously adopted a "normal-for-me" grip high up on the backstrap. The frame has a beavertail which works quite well but the web of my thumb still ended up above it on more than one occasion. No big deal, no damage to speak of, just some scorch marks and a bit of a pinch. I'll get used to it.

Since I mentioned reloading, I'll add another item to the "Pro" list - consistent ejection. As a reloader, what an incredible treat it is to be able to pick up a tidy pile of .380 brass instead of searching in an ever-widening circle for an hour! I'm not exaggerating. During one shooting session, the KelTec launched brass from the same magazine fifteen feet in front of and twenty-three feet behind my location. It was frustrating as hell and usually resulted in accepting losses with each outing. The Diamondback's ejection is a dramatic improvement.

I haven't had the opportunity to continue my evaluation but plan on correcting that over the next few weeks. I'm looking for the magic two-hundred-round mark without further failures before I feel completely reassured. But, assuming the reliability is there, I believe I've found not just a replacement but an improvement over the KelTec.

- Keith

Friday, August 19, 2011

Warning: Contents may result in your being deemed "suspicious"

Earlier this week, the Denver office of the FBI sent out flyers to various Army/Navy surplus shops in Colorado to warn them of - and I quote - "Potential Indicators of Terrorist Activities Related to Military Surplus Stores". It was a very helpful document, with boldly lettered column headers and clearly bulleted examples to help the proprietor perform his duty as a citizen.

In case you were wondering, the section entitled What Should I Consider Suspicious? included such "suspicious" flags as people who: demand identity "privacy" (seriously - the word was in quotes); insist on paying with cash; make comments that are violent or appear to condone violence; make anti-US comments; make bulk purchases of items such as MREs and weatherproof matches. The What Should I Do? section included recommendations to require valid ID from all new customers, record all purchases, "talk to customers, ask questions and listen to and observe their responses" (in some circles, that's called "soft interrogation skills") and make note of suspicious statements, persons and vehicles. Of course, it also included a stern and bolded warning to not be a hero! Just call the authorities. They're looking out for you.

Oh, yeah. On the veeerrrrry bottom of the page, in teeeeeny-tiny italicized font, there was a blurb about how such purchases could just be a perfectly legitimate exercise of citizens' Constitutional rights. You know - to keep the kooks happy. Lovely.

Okay, now I'm going to drop the sarcastic wiseass routine (for a minute or two, anyway) and vent a little. On the face of things, I get it. People can do a lot of innocent and legal things while preparing to do something not-so-innocent and legal. Look at Timothy McVeigh. But planting the mental suggestion that paying in cash, not thinking you should produce ID to buy freeze-dried food and/or camping matches and/or asking aloud, "Has our government lost its collective freaking mind?!? Somebody needs to get his or her ass kicked for this!" makes one a potential terrorist is offensive, divisive and just plain horseshit, especially given that FEMA itself has been running a years-long "preparedness" campaign. Check out their "ready.gov" website on which they recommend that citizens stock up on items such as... um... a "three-day supply of non-perishable food" and "matches in a waterproof container".

Apparently, someone should report FEMA to the FBI....

Of course, this shouldn't come as any surprise. This is just one more bit of asinine buffoonery which would be comical except for the fact that it costs us all money and underscores the contempt for which our own government holds its citizens, our Constitution and, frankly, common sense.

After Rick Santelli's February 2009 on-air rant in which he called for a modern day tea party to protest out of control government spending, grassroots protests started popping up around the nation. In keeping with the historical taxation theme, many symbols and accoutrements of Colonial American began to surface and the Gadsden flag, which first entered American history in 1775 as adornments of the then-new Naval Marines, became a common standard. It is now the de facto symbol of the Tea Party movement, which - contrary to most distortions by most every media outlet - is comprised of average Americans looking for the government to do less for them and intrude less upon them.

Obviously, this line of thinking is dangerous. And so, in April 2009 (coincidentally, precisely when I attended my first Tea Party rally in Loveland, CO), the Department of Homeland Security released a report on "rightwing extremist activity," warning law enforcement to be on the lookout for white-power militia resurgence and violence. They then tacked on an adjustment to the definition - "rightwing extremism in the United States", it seems, did not just include "racist or hate groups, but also groups that reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority." Wanna guess what appeared in the list of potential "militia symbols"? Yeah. The Gadsden flag. Apparently being a tea party member and/or critical of the government (especially if you were a returning veteran, according to the report) puts you on the same level as the KKK or Aryan Nation in the eyes of the tools at the taxpayer-funded DHS.

Now, somewhere between Janet Napolitano making "extremists" out of people who don't want to be bled dry for wasteful spending and the FBI turning campers, hunters and people taking FEMA's advice into "potential terrorists", we had the ATF's "Operation Fast and Furious/Project Gunrunner" fiasco.

For months, our media had been lamenting how "America's loose gun laws" were to blame for Mexico's violence (which makes about as much sense as blaming crack addiction on Bic lighters) and the Left was again calling for gun control. The problem was, gun control legislation had been a losing proposition and more Americans were realizing that, with forty-nine states allowing concealed carry (thirty-eight of them being "shall issue", meaning you don't need to convince some functionary that you "need" it) and no streets awash with blood from the Old West shootouts the Democrats repeatedly vowed would occur, the old arguments were mostly bullshit. Still, squawked the press, "ninety percent of guns seized in Mexico came from American gun stores"

Again, bullshit. It turned out that "ninety percent" of guns seized by Mexico and turned over to the ATF for tracing had "U.S. origins". Funny, that phrase. The actual number worked out to somewhere around sixteen percent and, unsurprisingly to the American shooting community, it turns out that the grenades, rocket launchers and fully-automatic weapons were coming from deserters from the Mexican military (armed to a large percentage with ordnance provided by the U.S. State Department), seized military and police armories and, frankly, battlefield pickups rather than "Joe's Guns" on the Texas border.

An interesting and tin-foily side note: President Obama assured gun control groups that he was working on things "under the radar". I can't help but wonder....

Anyway, Fast & Furious was exposed when Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was murdered by border smugglers using "F&F" firearms. I'm just now beginning to hear about this in the media but calls for answers have been going on since at least January. The short version is that ATF-Phoenix had been telling border state FFLs, against their objections, to sell to known straw purchasers working for the Mexican drug cartels and even approving federally-mandated background checks for the sales. There was no "sting". There was no physical surveillance. They just told the dealers, "Shut up and sell them the guns."

When the outcry over Agent Terry's death prompted Congressional questioning, the response was contemptuous stonewalling (you should see some of the arrogant response to Congress from the ATF higher-ups). The FFLs themselves came forward with emails they'd sent to the DoJ, essentially asking, "Seriously?!? You want us to let these scumbags walk out with AK47s?!?" Agents came forward, testifying that they were also told to simply shut up and let it happen. Congressional hearings were - and are being - held. Pressure was applied. The story broke. The details came out including, just this week, that over a thousand of those "walked" guns were sent to U.S. cities, where almost sixty of them have turned up at domestic crime scenes, mostly in Arizona. And the result was... the ATF imposed a new regulatory rule, requiring border state FFLs to report sales of two or more semi-automatic rifles of caliber .22 or larger. Because, according to Deputy AG James Cole, ""Federal, state and foreign law enforcement agencies have determined that certain types of semi-automatic rifles... are highly sought after by dangerous drug trafficking organizations and frequently recovered at violent crime scenes near the Southwest Border."

In other words, the ATF imposed further regulation of American citizens based on a crisis they deliberately and actively created at the expense of American lives.

During testimony, our nation's Attorney General, Eric Holder, testified that he'd only heard of the operation "for the past few weeks". Funny, since the fucking DoJ's own website contains a transcript of Eric Holder's speech in Mexico, bragging about Operation Gunrunner by name and talking about expanding the project - in 2009. I recall reading some Yahoo story about a baseball player Roger Clemens facing perjury charges for lying about "performance enhancing drugs" during Congressional hearings. And yet, somehow, AG Holder gets a walk (if you'll pardon the sports pun).

Sigh. It's also since come out that the State Department was funneling arms to Los Zetas gang members and that ATF Tampa was running a similar "Gunrunner" operation, walking guns to MS-13 in Honduras (if you're unfamiliar with them, Google them - a real fun bunch).

So, just out of curiosity, are you a little shocked? A little outraged? Better not exercise your First Amendment rights about it in an Army/Navy store - you might appear "suspicious".

And it doesn't get much better, really. Last year, the EPA added "farm dust" to particulates it can monitor and regulate. Twenty-one senators have written to the regulatory agency to object to the absurdity and yet the ruling stands. Arizona tried to sue them but appears to have lost the case, though their argument included the fact that there's only one monitoring site that registered "exceedances" and four of them at that. Said site, by the way, "sits just south of the Salt River in an industrial area near Broadway Road and 43rd Avenue… the setting - a dry river bed, a landfill, a sand and gravel operation, a row of industrial machinery lots - almost guarantees high (dust) pollution readings…" And guess what? The location of the monitor is solely controlled by the EPA.

Further, today's headlines advised me that the DHS will halt deportation proceedings on a case-by-case basis against illegal immigrants who meet certain criteria such as attending school, having family in the military or are primarily responsible for other family members’ care....The chief beneficiaries of the new guidance are likely to be illegal immigrant students who would have been eligible for legal status under the Dream Act, which stalled in Congress last year."

So, in other words, legislation that was rejected by our supposed representatives is getting jammed into place through regulatory action. Again. Like gun control to address non-existent problems. Like environmental standards that are killing family farms and small business. Like official flyers casting suspicion on fellow citizens without justification.

Yeah.

Drop me a line if you want me to pick up some matches or MREs for you. You can pay me back in cash.

- Keith

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Guns, Money and Politics - an introduction

I'm a shooter.  I enjoy guns, I enjoy shooting, I'm quite good at it.  And so, understandably, I started cluttering our family blog with various technical observations about firearms, cartridge reloading, new product evaluations, et cetera.  After a bit, I thought that perhaps I should separate that from "here's our son sitting on the potty, looking guilty for having unspooled an entire roll of toilet paper" posts.  And then I further thought, "If we're going to have a separate blog for 'grown up topics', maybe we should go all the way...."

And so... this blog.  A place to share technical data, certainly, but also a place in which we can philosophize over the meaning of money and freedom and, frankly, vent over the idiocy of politicians.  Ohhhh, yes.... There will be venting.  LOTS of venting.  I loathe the miserable sonsabitches.

But, for now, I'll start with capitalistic philosophizing.

I'm not a Republican, although Deb is officially (this way, we have an "inside man" for propaganda and primaries).  I suppose I'd be a Libertarian if I was a registered anything but I rather like maintaining my "unaffiliated voter" status. Predictably, then, I've read "Atlas Shrugged" - more than once, if you can believe it.  It was a painfully verbose and sometimes clumsy read but it would have saved me years of pondering since I came to the same basic conclusion - I'm not obligated to save the freaking world with the sweat of my brow.  I don't swear by the book or quote it during random conversations ("Would you like paper or plastic sir?"  "Who is John Galt?") but one of my favorite "YES!" moments came from Francisco D'Anconia's "money speech".   If you would indulge me:
"Money is a tool of exchange, which can't exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears, or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce...
"To trade by means of money is the code of the men of good will. Money rests on the axiom that every man is the owner of his mind and his effort.... Money demands that you sell, not your weakness to men's stupidity, but your talent to their reason; it demands that you buy, not the shoddiest they offer, but the best your money can find. And when men live by trade – with reason, not force, as their final arbiter – it is the best product that wins, the best performance, then man of best judgment and highest ability – and the degree of a man's productiveness is the degree of his reward. This is the code of existence whose tool and symbol is money....

"Let me give you a tip on a clue to men's characters: the man who damns money has obtained it dishonorably; the man who respects it has earned it.... Run for your life from any man who tells you that money is evil. That sentence is the leper's bell of an approaching looter. So long as men live together on earth and need means to deal with one another – their only substitute, if they abandon money, is the muzzle of a gun.....

"Money is the barometer of a society's virtue. When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion – when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing – when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors – when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you – when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice – you may know that your society is doomed. Money is so noble a medium that it does not compete with guns and it does not make terms with brutality. It will not permit a country to survive as half-property, half-loot....

"Until and unless you discover that money is the root of all good, you ask for your own destruction. When money ceases to be the tool by which men deal with one another, then men become the tools of men. Blood, whips and guns – or dollars. Take your choice – there is no other – and your time is running out."
The short version, if I may be so bold as to paraphrase:  money is life.  I'm not talking miserly acquisition and hoarding, I mean simply that money is the medium by which you provide - for yourself and those for whom you choose to take responsibility.  You do something that is of value for another person - a physical service, instruction in something they wish to learn, advice, artistry, something - and that person expresses the value they place on your ability by exchanging money for it.  Or perhaps you see an opportunity to trade something of value for that money - don't thumb your nose at dumb luck.  This money puts food in your belly.  It pays for shelter.  It grants you access to better quality, well, everything.  In dire circumstances, it can grant you favors, buy you a chance to escape, to start over.  To survive.  And it is all based on what you can do for those that hold it.

If you cannot provide such value or achieve such luck, you do not deserve money that was earned by someone who can or has.  You are not entitled to it.  They do not have to give it to you simply because you exist.  Why should they?  It is their life.  It feeds, clothes and shelters them.  Why should they sacrifice for you for no reason other than you can do less, have made bad choices or have bad luck and merely crossed paths with them?

When the government (see - told you I'd come around to them eventually) promises you something, that "something" is paid for with someone else's money.  That someone else will be demonized and dehumanized until you don't feel the pangs of guilt but I'm here to remind you that you should feel them.  In order to give you anything - anything - the government must first take money from other citizens to pay for it.  These other citizens, while usually dismissed as "the rich", are fellow Americans just like you and me.  And, however much or little is taken from them, it diminishes their life.  It limits their abilities, their hopes, their dreams, the security of their families.  It is taken against their will, whether or not a majority votes to take it.

It does not matter if you think "they can afford it" (by this logic, rape of any non-virgin woman should be legal since your satisfaction doesn't reduce anything of theirs - except, of course, their humanity and dignity).  It does not matter if they have more than you.   It does not matter if you truly have a need.  You are in receipt of stolen property. You are profiting from the victimization of another human being.  If you're cool with that, mazel tov.  We do what we have to do to get by.  Just do me a favor and be honest about what kind of person you are.  Whatever the amount, for whatever the "good cause", money taken from another person without their informed consent is theft.

There is no "nation's wealth".  There is personal wealth owned by citizens of this nation.  Sharing living space with them does not entitle us to a portion of it, regardless of our wants or our needs or promises offered by liars and thieves.  If you want more, earn more.