When I was at Spec’s a little while ago, as we walked up and down the aisle’s, we saw a couple bottles of tequila.
We first noticed the rifle, just thinking it was some long weird bottle. Then we saw the pistol next to it, then realized the long bottle was actually a rifle. It’s hard to tell that in the picture, but that is what it is.
And I felt like such a geek. All I wanted to do was determine what sort of rifle and pistol they modeled the bottle after. 🙂
Texas has a “sales tax holiday weekend” designed to help with back-to-school shopping.
It’s this coming weekend, Friday through Sunday.
We’ve never bothered with this. The main reason is we don’t want to deal with the crowds and chaos. And unfortunately, we fear people are going to be petty, rude, and ugly because they all want the best deals for themselves. We’ve experienced this during “big shopping weekends” before, and we just choose not to deal with it. Plus since we homeschool, we don’t always need to be on the same clock and schedule as the rest of the world.
However, we decided to give it a try this time around. The kids need clothes, we know every retailer in Texas will be stocked up and prepared for this event (I even got an email from Waco Harley-Davidson promoting this weekend), and there will be sales and lots of aggressive pricing and discounting and so on as retailers jockey to attract customers. Then the sales tax alleviation on select items. The kids need the clothing they need so buy it now or later, they still need it. If we buy it now, I expect we’ll be able to lower our total bill. By how much I don’t know yet, but I expect any reduction in the overall bill will be welcome. 🙂
Being the planner I am coupled with my desire to get in and get out as fast as possible, we’ve figured out all that the kids need. We know what pants, shoes, socks, skirts, shirts, underwear, and whatever else they may need. We figured out what sizes of everything to get to minimize the slow down that comes with fitting rooms. Plus we figured out quantities. I think that’s a key factor at keeping cost controlled… you know you need 5 shirts, you get 5 shirts instead of saying “gosh at this price, we can get 7 shirts” which then just jacks up the total bill. If last night before you saw the prices 5 shirts was enough, then today after seeing the prices 5 shirts is still enough.
And going with the fact we aren’t on the same clock as the rest of the world, the plan is to go at the time we feel will have the smallest crowds: first thing Friday morning. Most people will have to be working, most people aren’t morning people. So if we can be on the road at 8 AM and done by lunch, awesome.
The geek in me is also wondering if the iPhone will come into play. If I’ll be able to comparison shop, look up prices, product reviews, or any other sort of on-the-spot information gathering.
Finally, I suspect there will probably be a man with a gun wandering through all these crowds, through all these retail establishments, being around lots of children…. and I’ll betcha nothing will come of it. 😉
So, onwards we go. Hopefully tomorrow won’t suck. 🙂
Robbie shows us a picture that pretty much sums it up.
The track record isn’t good folks. What makes you think this will be any different?
Again, I’m not saying things are great and perfect, I’m not saying we don’t need improvements, but I am saying that more government is not the answer and will not solve our ills (pun intended).
…. doesn’t mean they’re awesome at it.
Jay is at the police academy, and he gives a breakdown of the firearms experience of his cadet class:
Of the 24 of us, 12 have never fired a firearm in their life. 8 have fired a firearm once. 3 are prior military, with all 3 just qualifying while they were in the military, meaning no badges for expert, sharpshooter, etc. Of those 3, 2 were in the Navy and 1 was in the Air Force.
Then there is me. I have more experience shooting a firearm than the rest of my cadet class combined, as one of the instructors noted.
So let’s make some percentages:
50% – never fired a gun before, ever.
33.3% – fired a gun once.
12.5% – prior military but no in-depth experience (e.g. sharpshooter)
4.16% – has long-term gun experience. 1 guy.
So, 95.8% of the class — 23 out of 24 people — have almost no experience with firearms.
And they’re going to be police officers.
Now, this isn’t to say these folks can’t get trained and become good shooters; I certainly hope they get training, practice hard, and become good shooters. But the take-home message is just because someone’s job might require them to carry gun, it doesn’t necessarily equate to awesome incredible gun skills (or any gun skills at all). Conversely, there are a lot of private citizens that have awesome incredible gun skills (Rob Leatham, Jerry Miculek, Todd Jarrett, Julie Goloski Golub, Jessie Abbate, Tom Knapp, BJ Norris, Dave Sevingy, the list can go on and on).
Gun handling skills come from the individual using the gun. Don’t assume because they’re a cop they’re awesome. Don’t assume because they’re a private citizen they’re inept.
More questions from the stats page… things people are searching on that bring them to my blog.
federal p308h
What we’re talking about is Federal Premium Vital-Shok .308 Winchester 165 grain Barnes Triple-Shock X-Bullet
I picked this as my hunting load because of the constraints of my M1A. It works great. I’m no longer using the M1A for hunting (after that first time, it was just too much), but I’m still using that load in my Savage because the load works. I like those Barnes bullets.
what choke to use for home defense
Despite what most people think, there isn’t an easy answer to this. The conventional wisdom is to use as open a shotgun choke as possible, typically going for cylinder bore. I’ve even seen some home-defense shotguns with spreader chokes (e.g. Mossberg 500 HS410). But the reality is you have to pick the right combination of choke and load that patterns as you want it to be. Take a look at what came from The Box O’ Truth on this matter. It presents a good argument that there isn’t a simple recipe that works for everyone and anyone, you have to know how things will pattern and invest the time and money to find out.
One additional factor is to consider your particular situation. Will you be shooting longer distances? Shorter? Might you have to deal with shooting around objects (barriers, potential for hostages)? How about risks of collateral damage, e.g. are you out on 50 acres of land or are you in an apartment complex and what happens if one of those pellets doesn’t strike the intended target? One if the biggest things I picked up out of KR Training’s Defensive Long Gun class is knowing your weapon and what it’s capable of at distances and with objects. There’s no question a shotgun is a vicious weapon, but it’s also a trickier one because you’re dealing with numerous projectiles that spread as they travel. If you have to shoot to 25 yards, you may need a tighter choke (it should still be effective at 3 yards). If you live alone it may not be as big a deal to ensure all pellets hit the target as if say you had children that might risk being caught in the crossfire and thus a tighter pattern offers a bit more control in shot placement.
So again, there’s no single solution that works. You have to know your situational needs, then take your gun (and do this with each gun if you have multiple), you have to buy a lot of different loads, you have to see how they pattern at different distances, you have to ensure it’s reliable in the patterning, switch chokes around to see how they work, and you cannot be afraid to switch and shop around until you find what satisfies your need. Or at least, you need to know how what you’ve got works, the capabilities and the limits.
do .38 special snub noses have recoil
Yes they do. All guns, when fired, will have recoil. 🙂 Just a question of how much actual recoil and how much felt recoil (felt recoil usually being more important to your shooting experience). Generally people are wanting to cope with “felt recoil”, and generally larger guns with heavier frames will absorb more recoil thus you’ll feel less. That is, take a .38 Special snub that’s one of the ultralight frames (e.g. aluminum alloy, or maybe one of the newer scandium alloys like the S&W 340) and a snub that’s an all steel frame, and you’ll feel less recoil with the all steel model. Take an all steel snub revolver vs. an all steel full sized revolver (e.g. S&W 627), and you’ll feel less recoil with the larger one.
the best 9mm gun
Why, the one I shoot, of course! 🙂
“Best” is highly subjective. You’ll have to be a little more specific about your goals.
I like my Springfield XD-9, customized by Springer Precision. It fits my hand well, the customized trigger is nice, the Dawson Precision sights (thin red fiber front, black “target” rear) are great, good capacity, good balance and weight for me. If I was buying a gun today, I’d probably get a Springfield XD(m) 9. It’s XD 2.0, if you will.
great self defense handgun
Now that’s a little more specific. But still rather broad because what works for one person may not work for another. Check out this guide from KR Training. I’d say what fits you and thus you can shoot well, is reliable, and you’re willing to practice and train with… that’s good for a start.
what is the more effective gun 9mm .45
Define “effective.” Seriously. Effective in what way? If you’re talking terminal effectiveness, they’re more or less the same. .45 ACP will have more recoil than a 9mm; if you can’t manage that additional recoil, if that keeps you from putting the shots where you want them to go, then who cares about cartridge/caliber terminal effectiveness because shot placement is the most important factor in terminal effectiveness… better to have a .22 you can shoot and nail things with than a .45 that you can’t hit the side of the barn with.
farting funny pictures
That seems to require the prerequisite of being able to capture a fart on film. I didn’t realize they were visible. Either I need new glasses, or maybe there’s an app for that.
socially accepted rifles for defense
That’s a good question, and I guess it all depends what social circles you run in. I’m sure Paul Helmke would say no rifle is socially acceptable for any reason whatsoever, but Ted Nugent would say whatever you can get your hands on. 🙂
The general rule seems to be that black plastic parts on the gun equal scary, and wood parts on the gun is not scary. Black plastic has a “military” look, wood parts has an old fart hunter/farmer look. Of course, the real important parts of the gun (e.g. the action) are the same.
How come owning a gun makes me a paranoid wannabe cop, but owning a fire extinguisher or first-aid kit doesn’t make me a paranoid wannabe firefighter or EMT?
Finally got to see the Carano vs. Cyborg fight from the Strikeforce show from this past weekend.
No question, Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos dominated that fight. She was aggressive, threw and landed more and better punches, had the ground game, submissions. She was just all over it. I think maybe for a few seconds Carano may have had the upper hand, but any judge watching the fight would have easily scored the round for Cyborg. Any that scored for Carano could only be voting based on beauty.
That’s the thing that I have to wonder about Carano. She’s pretty, and consequently she’s been dubbed “The Face of Women’s MMA”. She gets to doing so many other things, from appearances, to TV shows, or whatever… any time doing those other things, that’s time not training. I honestly don’t know what her training was like up to this fight, but I can’t help but wonder if non-training-related activities cut into training. I also can’t help but wonder if that added a little extra motivation to Cyborg, to want to ensure to beat Carano in a decisive way. Motivation or not, IMHO it was a decisive win for Cyborg.
But some will say the ending of the fight isn’t decisive. Yes, Carano was covering up, but she was not truly defending herself. From what I could see from the camera angle, which certainly wasn’t as good as the ref’s vantage point, it looked like Cyborg’s punches were breaking through Carano’s arms and landing on her face. Carano was getting a lot of hits to the head, she wasn’t actively improving her position, and the ref did the right thing to stop the fight to avoid any serious injury to Carano. If it had gone one second longer and the bell ended it, I’m pretty sure Cyborg would still have won and probably in round 2. Carano was dazed enough from all those punches at the end, then walk back into round 2 not only with the shots landed but probably some mental/emotional dejection because she was dominated that entire first round. I feel safe in saying that Cyborg would have eventually won.
Nevertheless, the 4:59 that it did go for was exciting. The crowd was hot, the fighters worked hard. Congratulations to Cristiane Santos.
Phil Anselmo spoke at Loyola University. I don’t know what the context of it is, but it seems to be in front of a bunch of music majors. Probably a regular thing where they get music industry folk to come in and talk to the students about the realities of and their experiences in the music business. Loyola is in New Orleans, Phil’s a Louisiana boy, so there’s that connection too.
Regardless, listening to Phil is always a riveting experience. These days it’s especially interesting to listen to him because he’s clean and sober (well, at least not like how he used to be). He’s very into boxing too.
It’s 7 videos, an hour long. It’s a lot to watch, but if you have the time and are a Pantera, Down, Superjoint Ritual, and/or Phil fan, it’s worthwhile to watch. Even if you’re not, it’s still worth watching because there’s some sobering messages.
Much of the video has Phil taking about his past heroin addiction. The take home message? Heroin is destructive. It will control you, it will consume you, it will destroy your life, it will kill you. I’ve had people describe heroin as the most amazing feeling in the world — imagine the best feeling in the world, it’s 100 times better. Since living things seek pleasure and heroin seems to be an amazing overload of pleasure, I can see why people seek it out and crave it so. But then how it consumes your life… how you can overdose but can’t stop taking it (e.g. Nikki Sixx, Phil himself)… how your heroin-using friends can be dying around you, yet that too isn’t enough to stop you (Phil recounts one such story, which did lead him to stop). Honestly, that’s scary. That something can have such power over you, such control over you, that you crave it so much that even death doesn’t deter you… that should give you pause. Heroin. Bad stuff.
Other things:
It’s amusing watching Phil talking to the audience like an old man.
Phil likes to talk… perhaps calling it rambling. But there’s somehow always a point and eloquence to it.
Phil refers to his mother as “Mommy”. 🙂
… if state laws allow, which is quite reasonable.
Such is the headline from the Washington Post. All in response to the “law-abiding citizen with a gun somewhere in the vicinity of the President” stuff that’s been going on lately. Commented on here and here. (h/t to Joe Huffman)
Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said people are entitled to carry weapons outside such events if local laws allow it. “There are laws that govern firearms that are done state or locally,” he said. “Those laws don’t change when the president comes to your state or locality.”
Exactly. As mentioned previously, the folks in Arizona were totally within legal bounds, worked with the local police. They were far more upstanding citizens in their actions than most protesters tend to be.
Of course, Paul Helmke voiced his expected hysteria:
“What Gibbs said is wrong,” said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “Individuals carrying loaded weapons at these events require constant attention from police and Secret Service officers. It’s crazy to bring a gun to these events. It endangers everybody.”
So, following the law is wrong. Thanx, Paul. I’ll keep that in mind for the future.
And you’re saying that these law-abiding and right-exercising citizens need more babysitting than other folks at the event? Why? Oh that’s right, they have a gun and thus are immediately dangerous and scary. Funny how those folks in Arizona didn’t turn the event into the bloodbath that Helmke apparently predicts is imminent.
I fail to see who was endangered (other than Helmke’s agenda and job). Even the Secret Service said that there’s no danger.
If guns are so dangerous, I guess we should disarm the police and the Secret Service too. If guns are bad, then guns are bad. If people are endangered by the mere presence of lead and steel and levers and springs, then they’re endangered period. But you see, that’s the kicker. It’s not the gun that’s good or bad, it’s the person using the tool. Guns in the hands of good people do good. Guns in the hand of bad people do bad. It’s not the inanimate object, it’s the person. So we just had a bunch of good people out there doing good, but apparently somehow that endangers folks.
Frankly, the White House saying what they did was the best and really only move they could make. That is, they uphold the law.
Stuff From Hsoi 