Guns

Fr. Frog on 6.8 SPC

/ hsoi

Fr. Frog has a lot of great stuff on his website.

I just noticed he has a page all about the 6.8 SPC. It’s not too long of a read, giving some history of development and discussion of ballistics. This is why I like 6.8 SPC.

Reading that makes me itch. I have not had time to get to the reloading bench (what with my Hsoi Enterprises work as of late). Last thing I did was prep a bunch of .223 brass. Zeroing the Aimpoint, talking with a friend about attending an Appleseed, it all makes me itch for wanting to get to rifle reloading. My desire to load .223 is merely for reloading practice. My ultimate goal is to make 6.8 ammo. I want more hours in a day! 🙂

Back from the range

/ hsoi

Went to the local indoor gun range today. Got their early and had my plans foiled: the range wasn’t open yet. Last night they had a lot of welding and rebuilding going on. They redid all the target rails. They are more heavy duty, no more wobble. Everything was tight and solid. The welders were finishing up so the range opened up a little late, but it was worth it.

What was the reason for the range trip? I got my Aimpoint CompM4s. Had to get it mounted and zeroed.

Everything was to be zeroed at 50 yards. This is part of that Revised Improved Battlesight Zero. With the irons I could only do so much since the rear is just a flip-up BUIS so no elevation adjustment, and of course the Aimpoint is a different beast. But the key was using a 50 yard zero, thus giving me that “ideal battlesight trajectory” from 0 to 200-250 yards.

I started with irons and some 55gr. FMJ Georgia Arms Canned Heat. Ensured things were on paper, then turned to Hornady TAP FPD .223 Rem 75gr.. A few adjustments and things were looking as good as my eyes would get them. Once that was all set, I put the Aimpoint on. I’m using their QRP2 mount, with the spacer. It’s certainly good enough. Yeah, a Larue mount would be cool, but that’s more money I don’t want to spend right now. Aimpoint’s is good enough.  I repeated the same process, starting with the 55gr. FMJ. The Aimpoint was close to zeroed from the factory, shooting about 1.5″ left and a hair high. I didn’t bother adjusting the scope with the FMJ rounds since they were on paper and close enough. Put in the TAP, a bunch of tweaking, and she’s about as good as I’ll get. I say that because with that 2 MOA dot, there’s only so accurate you can get. I did try a few things to help, like turning the brightness down as low as I could get, which helped. Usually I use one of their fluorescent red sight-in targets, but I thought maybe black would allow the dot to show up better. It didn’t really, plus it made it harder to see my holes. So back to the red targets. And overall the grouping and accuracy was good given the limits of the system I was working with.

I’m pleased with most things. But yes, most.

I noticed a lot of the holes in the target weren’t clean round holes. Were the bullets keyholing? Possible. I’d need to shoot at 100 yards but didn’t have enough time or ammo today to try. I think those 75 grain TAP bullets might be pushing the limits of the 1:9 twist of this barrel. But the interesting thing was I also noticed the 55gr. bullets were making similar holes. Nothing was a full-profile keyhole, just you might notice a little “tearing” on one side of the target more than the other. I’m not sure. The target was also moving some due to the air circulation system, maybe that. I need more research.

Bottom line: I’m happy with things. I really like the Aimpoint. Both eyes open, point and click. Just put the dot on what you want to shoot and press the trigger. So nice.

I also rotated my carry ammo, shooting what I had on me and replacing it with new stuff. Boy, you go from shooting plinker reloads to shooting 124gr. +P, and it sure feels different in your hands. 🙂

Carry your damn gun, people!

/ hsoi / 8 Comments

Via Uncle, a story on why it’s important to carry your gun.

 

Mrs. Maughan kills both of the attacking dogs and it turns out her dog is expected to recover. Good job and nice shooting there**. But her son takes the story to a scary place:

Brian Maughan said the event made him think about how vulnerable children or older adults would be to a similar attack.

“What if it had been a human being?” he said. “That’s just what was really scary about it.”

Mrs. Maughan is 60 so if the other older adults in that neighborhood are like her, then they be bad! But there is no reason it couldn’t have been a small child instead of her dog that was attacked. And if it had been Mrs. Maughan grandson being mauled by these feral dogs, she would still have had to go back home and retrieve her gun. Fate isn’t going to hit the pause button because you weren’t ready and need a time-out.

 

 

Tom Givens has had nearly 60 students involved in self-defense situations. Only 2 died, because they weren’t carrying their guns (I believe they had to disarm themselves due to legal reasons). Those that carried their guns lived.

The reason you carry your gun is because you need it, right fucking now. If attacks happen that sudden, if they go from 0 to ugly in no time, if so much damage can be done within seconds… do you really have time to go fetch a better tool from the house or the car or wherever it might be stored? No! You need it immediately. Really, the only place you can have it is immediately on your person, ready to go.

To borrow from Tom: Carry your damn gun, people!

 

Basic Home Security

/ hsoi / 9 Comments

Apparently there are a rash of break-ins happening, middle of the night, in neighborhoods in South Austin. We know one of the families that got hit, 2 laptop computers stolen. I’m still trying to get hard details, but the impression I’m left with is they removed the screen on a window, opened the window, got into the house, took 2 laptops, then left by the back door. Nothing broken, just stolen laptops, and easy access to them.

Like I said, I’m still trying to gather information, but I can think of a few things from this:

  • Lock your doors and windows! So many crimes like this are crimes of opportunity. Yes, locks ultimately can’t keep out a determined enough person, but if a criminal wants an easy target, why make yourself an easier target?
    • Make sure they are locked. Close, lock, then tug and ensure. I’ve had a few times where I thought I closed the window the whole way and locked it, but then when I tug-checked the window came up.
  • If you have an alarm system, use it. I know many people with alarm systems but they don’t use them or maybe only use them when they go away for vacation. Why? Do you know when something bad is going to happen? Probably not, so why are you gambling?
    • One of our window sensors went stupid a couple of weeks ago and had to be replaced. The tech noted to me that he was amazed at the number of “zones” (sensors and other things) we had in our house. He said our setup is rare, most people just get something like their doors and a motion detector. While I understand the cost factor (it wasn’t cheap to put a sensor on everything), I don’t understand how “swiss cheese security” actually works well here. Need to have everything secure.
    • Oh, and test your alarm regularly, at least monthly. Ensure the monitoring center is getting the signal.
    • If you have an alarm system, be sure signs and stickers are posted in the yard and on the windows. Make sure they know there’s a warning system.
  • Got dog?
  • Sure a firearm is nice, but let’s put perspective on it. The one family we knew that got hit, by the time they realized what was going on the guy was long gone. And while legally in Texas you can use deadly force in such a circumstance, should you? It will of course depend upon the exact circumstance at the time, but just remember: maximize beer & TV enjoyment.

A truly determined person is going to get what they want. But why make their life easy? Granted, it’s also a balancing act between making your life difficult in exchange. But there are some simple things we can do to minimize such violation and disruption in life. It behooves us to do them.

To clean or not to clean

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

I was reading the February 2011 issue of The Blue Press. Someone had written in that was up in hackles about people not cleaning their guns. He couldn’t understand why someone would want to brag about never (or hardly ever) cleaning their guns. He asserted that if you don’t clean your guns your lazy or don’t care.

I beg to differ.

It’s good to know your gun can run despite being very dirty; that you can give it that level of abuse and it still runs. If your gun craps out after 50 rounds, would you trust your life to that gun? If you know you’ve put 2000+ rounds through it without a cleaning and it doesn’t hiccup, at least to me that instills a level of confidence in the gun that it can run even in less than ideal conditions. Life isn’t full of ideal situations, and I like to know my gear will run regardless.

Is it that we’re lazy or don’t care? Perhaps for some. For me, I’m not religious about cleaning my guns because I have only so much time in a day and too many other things taking priority. I know my gun will run dirty, so do I really need to agonize over ensuring it’s sparkling clean after every range trip? How about when I take a weekend-long shooting class where we’ll put 1000-2000 rounds down range? When the days are that long, it’s nice to know I can reholster my carry gun and know it will still work for me while I travel home, sleep, and drive back the next day. Sorry, but in a case like that, spending a little time with my family, taking care of chores around the house, and tending to other matters (like sleep) tend to win out over cleaning my gun before the next day’s class. I know the gun will run. And honestly, if I can discover it won’t run, if I can discover its limits, I’d rather know that when things are calm than when the fur is flying.

I’m not saying to never clean your guns. After hunting season I clean my hunting rifle and prep it for storage, figuring it probably won’t be pulled out again until next Fall. After a good training session I will give my handguns at least a quick boresnake, wipedown, and oiling. I don’t think it’s wise to never clean your gun, because a dry gun is going to wear, a dirty gun is going to have build-up that will eventually cause a problem. But I just don’t feel a need to worship at the altar of the spotless and shiny gun. I buy guns that are rugged and dependable, so if I miss a cleaning, I don’t sweat it. To me, it’s about finding a reasonable balance.

To each their own tho. And hey… if you’ve got a lot of time on your hands, you’re welcome to come clean my guns. 🙂

Rangemaster March 2011 Newsletter

/ hsoi

The Rangemaster March 2011 Newsletter is now available.

As always, the newsletter is full of excellent information. One article discusses the “Concealed Carry Presentation”, discussing the finer-points of drawing and presenting a concealed handgun. Well-written and if you carry a gun you’d do well to read it.

A more important article is one where Tom Givens discusses how folks trying to ban guns, large capacity magazines, and so on are missing the mark. No matter what side of the debate you’re on — but especially if you are anti-gun — you should read it. Tom Givens is an authority on the matter, invested in facts and data, not emotion. If you really want truth on this matter, talk to Tom. But Tom doesn’t shy away from giving his opinion either:

In backward, primitive Third World countries, poor, ignorant, uneducated people think evil spirits live in rocks and trees. We make fun of them and call them savages. In this country, certain people think evil spirits live in guns or magazines for them. We call them anti-gun activists. A more rational thinker sees very little difference in these two views.

SB 766 – Scheduled for public hearing

/ hsoi

SB 766 is now scheduled for public hearing on March 7, 2011.

Support this bill. Our shooting ranges need protection. The protection offered here certainly doesn’t excuse true problems, negligence, etc.. It does help to protect against frivolous lawsuits and witch hunts.

Let the dogs deal with it

/ hsoi

Another one from John Farnham, about bears.

Bears are not much different from most others predators. They know they need to eat, and they know how to get food.

[…]

Human predators are similar, just less honest and a good deal less respectable. They function outside our normal economic system, but, like bears, they know what they need, and they know how to get it. To them, you have no value outside what they can forcibly extract from you, with minimal effort and risk.

The concluding advice?

 

“… and when a bear comes… keep as many sheep as you can between the bear and you. Then, let the dogs deal with it!”

 

 

But you know, that only works if there are dogs around to deal with it. When we accept the myth that the police will be there to save us, I ask you right this moment, where is the nearest person that can save you? Where is the nearest police officer, this very moment? You know tho, one person that is right here right now is you yourself. Think about that.

Furthermore, when we attempt to use the law of the land to prohibit sheepdogs from existing and doing their thing, we’ll have fewer and fewer dogs to keep us safe. You may be unwilling to protect your own life, and in doing so you put the job of preserving your life into the hands of others. Don’t restrict and abridge those willing to help you, else you put the job of preserving your life into the hands of the predators… and they don’t see you as something to protect, only as prey.

 

KR Training website fixed

/ hsoi

The following note comes from KR Training. Reposting here to help spread the word:

 

If you attempted to enroll in a KR Training course in the last week using a yahoo, gmail, hotmail, AOL, or other webmail email address, and you did not get a “registration received” email from me, please re-register online here:

http://www.krtraining.com/signup.php

Godaddy.com (where the KR Training site is hosted) recently changed a server policy to block submission of all online forms with a “from” address associated with many popular email services. This was done as an anti-spam measure.  They did not inform customers of this change, which made it appear to customers that their registrations were going through, but no email was being sent to me with the registration information.

The online form has been fixed to eliminate this issue, so you can use your gmail, yahoo, etc. addresses on our form and they will reach me.

I apologize for this inconvenience and thank you for your continued business.

regards,

Karl