Megadeth, Testament, Exodus. On tour. 20th anniversary of “Rust In Peace”.
That show is going to rock.
In other news, busy day head. More later.
Me
not so much….
I have no idea if you care or not. I have no idea if you noticed or not.
But I haven’t been writing much lately.
It’s mostly due to lack of time. Lack of time to zip around the ‘net to read what’s going on in the world. Lack of time to do much of anything other than work, sleep, and time with the family. A few off things here and there, but then often I’m ready to do something other than sit in front of the keyboard for longer than I already have. Heck, I almost forgot about today’s iPad announcement, and many times I’ll watch the live feeds of such events but all I did was catch Apple’s 8 minute promo video on their website. Just no spare time for such things.
Plus I must admit, if I have some free time I’ve been watching videos at vbs.tv. The Liberia series is almost done (just finished watching part 7). It’s hard to not watch this stuff, and next thing I know it’s almost bedtime.
It’s just the ebb and flow of life right now.
I do have some things stirring in my head, regarding palm strikes. Still letting it gel. I haven’t written about martial arts stuff in a bit and really want to.
Texas Stars Hockey
Hockey is one of those games I’ve always wanted to get into but never could. Mainly because any time I’d watch well… I wasn’t sure what was going on. Oh sure, you can watch and keep your eyes on the puck, but it’s those greater subtleties of the rules and the game play. Often it’s best to learn games by watching them with other people who know the game, but that’s been hard to come by for me — I don’t know a lot of hockey fans. At my last job I worked with a bunch of Canadians, all Leafs fans (natch), and they tried to explain the game to me but it just wasn’t enough to take.
My buddy W is in town and he’s a hocky fan (Dallas Stars). He asked me if I wanted to go see a Texas Stars game (they’re the farm team for the Dallas Stars). Sure, why not.
We watched the Texas Stars win 5 to 2 over the Milwaukee Admirals. We had pretty good seats (row F, behind the Stars bench), and gosh if it wasn’t more interesting to watch the game in person than it was on TV. W also fielded all of my questions, not to just explain the “what” of the rules, but the “why”… like why icing is an issue, the method to the madness behind all the constant line changes, and so on. I came out of last night’s game not only having really enjoyed it, but with a better understanding of how the game actually works. I feel that if I watch a game on TV I won’t feel so totally clueless now.
Most enjoyable stuff.
Oh, the Stars’ goalie was pretty damn good. Stars needed to play a bit better defense (W said they needed to be more aggressive); a lot of time was spent in Stars territory. Still, offense was good enough to score 5 points and defense good enough to only allow 2 points, but again I attribute that low score to the Stars’ goalie.
BTW, the Cedar Park, Texas event center? Nice place. It’s like a mini arena. Seats maybe 5000 people (I don’t know, we did a rough estimate), looks and feels just like a large arena, but shrunk down… and that includes the seats. The seats were cramped. I had a hard time getting out of the seats, and W is a bigger guy than me and the seats were no fun for him. Still, it felt like even the cheap seats in the “nosebleed” section aren’t even that horrible given the size of the arena.
It reminds me how good life is.
I’ve been working as a full-time telecommuter for at least a decade.
I enjoy it. It’s my preferred mode of working.
The company I work for finally opened an office in Austin. They opened it due to other projects in the company (all the people and projects I work on are in California), but hey… it’s here, I can work in it. I figured if nothing else, I should establish a presence there. Meet the folks in the office, stake out a claim on a desk, stuff like that. So that’s kinda cool. The office is still being brought online 100%, but today I spent my first day there.
I don’t like it.. 🙂
Don’t get me wrong. The office itself is alright. The people are good (especially the lady that’s managing the office). Yes there are some hiccups as the office is coming online. But hey, all in all things aren’t bad. Plus I have a proper office, with a door, a window, a nice view.
What do I not like? I can’t listen to loud music while I work. I don’t have the smell of Wife’s wonderful cooking filling the air. I don’t hear my children playing. I have to wear shoes all day. I can’t just wander out of my office and go poke at my best friend (Wife) or play with my kids or see what they’re up to. No cats to sit in my lap.
I know. Cry me a river.
I know my life is good. I know that I’m blessed and fortunate. I have a life that many people would love to have. I worked hard to get here. I wouldn’t settle for anything less than the life I have, and through hard work, dedication, and sacrifice I’ve gotten where I am. So days like today? They’re just reminders of how fortunate I am and how good life can be. That whole “count your blessings” thing.
Every morning when I wake up I say to myself, “Daub, don’t fuck this up.”
Still, I’ll probably come to the office now and again. It’s not all bad.
Rambling about reloading
Helping myself remember what I’m doing with my reloading.
.223 Remington
Still haven’t gotten to the range to do my Varget testing. It’s CCI #41 primer, case length 1.750″ (used Remington brass, trimmed and prepped), Barnes TSX .224″ 62 grain, COAL 2.250″. Using Varget, and loaded 5 rounds each starting at 25.1 grains up to 25.6 in 0.1 grain increments (30 rounds total). The goal is to shoot 5 shot groups of each charge weight and see how they perform in terms of accuracy. Whichever proves to be most accurate out of my rifle is what I’ll settle upon, load up a bunch of, get some chronograph readings, zero the scope, and move along.
.38 Special
I bought some brass off a guy and loaded a couple hundred more rounds before I switch over the Lock-n-Load AP press. I should have more than enough ammo for the snub class next month, but I’m still waiting on requirements.
One thing I noticed is I think my last round of loads crept up to 3.7 grains of Titegroup, which is more than my normal recipe. It may explain why the last time I shot them it felt a wee snappier. When I reloaded the last couple hundred rounds I rechecked the power drop to ensure 3.5 grains. When I next go to the range I want to take some of both batches of reloads and try them out.
If all is right in the world, I’ll be done loading .38 for a while… tho something just now nags at me that it’d probably be worthwhile to load a couple hundred more before I change the press.
9mm
Because once I switch the LnL press over to 9mm, I’ll be there for a while. I need to load at least 2000 rounds.
My last round of 9mm used Berry’s 115 grain RN DS, 4.2 grains Titegroup, Winchester WSP standard small pistol primers, various used brass, and a COAL of 1.135″. The load turned out to be too wimpy, the guns almost not running. Looking at load data, I think 4.4 or 4.5 grains ought to do it. I have to be mindful because these Berry’s bullets really can’t go over 1200 fps and 9mm pushes towards that end. But again, looking at published data I think 4.4 or 4.5 will work OK. Oh, and I will be using different primers because that’s what I have. Hopefully won’t make too grand a difference.
Overall
I think I’ll do a couple hundred more .38 just to have a buffer because once I set up for 9mm I really won’t want to change back until I’m done. Then I’ll set up for 9mm using the above, load maybe 20 rounds as an initial experiment. Then, I’ll take all 3 sets of loads and 3 guns to the range and try everything out: the .223 Varget different charge weights, the .38 loads, the initial 9mm load. See how everything does. If all is good, probably take care of the .223 loads to put them to bed, then get rolling on the 9mm.
I just need a little more time in a day. 🙂
NRA’s Personal Protection In The Home
I spent today at KR Training, taking the course to become an NRA Instructor certified to teach their Personal Protection in the Home course. From the NRA Blog:
Americans own firearms for a variety of reasons, but home defense is among the most common reasons for owning a handgun. To help handgun owners learn more about firearms and home defense, the NRA developed the Basics of Personal Protection In The Home Course. This course focuses on the safe and efficient use of a handgun for protection of self and family. Students can also learn about their right to self-defense as a law-abiding citizen.
[…]
During the eight-hour course, an NRA Certified Instructor will teach students basic defensive shooting skills, how to respond to a violent confrontation, and strategies for home safety. Specific state firearms and home defense laws are taught by an individual certified in the state that the course is taught (such as an attorney or police officer). Not sure which gun is right for you and your home? You can learn how to choose a handgun for self-defense, along with continued opportunities to expand your skills.
Although Personal Protection In the Home is considered an NRA Basic course, it’s not for beginners. In order to take this course, students must be law-abiding adults (at least 21 years) and have experience with a firearm. To learn more about the course requirements or to find an NRA Basic Personal Protection In The Home Course near you, visit NRA Education & Training or call 703-267-1481 for more information.
It’s a pretty cool course. I think there’s a lot of good material in here that goes beyond your basic “how to shoot a firearm”, which NRA First Steps and Basic courses are about. My understanding is this course was developed to help with concealed handgun license requirements in some states. What’s good about the class isn’t just that it teaches how to shoot, but it works to address realities about self-defense shooting such as the legal matters and what your personal response may be (e.g. emotional and psychological impacts). A combination of Jeff Cooper and Massad Ayoob.
Much of this material I already know from taking other training courses. But to obtain the certification is certainly a good thing.
We also had a little extra fun in the class. One of the parts of the course is educating students about shooting opportunities, such as IPSC and IDPA action pistol shooting. So to expose folks to that, one IDPA course and one IPSC course were set up. Much fun to shoot that.
A good day, especially since much of it was spent on the range. Weather was perfect. Life is good. I just need to complete the exam and submit the paperwork to make my certification final.
Busy
Just finished a day-long course to become an NRA Certified Instructor for their Personal Protection In The Home course. Now I need to prepare for a special range day tomorrow. Should be a lot of fun.
Details later.
I’ll be a little behind until it’s all said and done.
More Knife Blarg
I was able to stop into GT Distributors‘ Austin showroom today.
I looked at knives.
I saw nothing that interested me. Well, there were some interesting things, but in the end the more I looked at things and compared things gosh… I just don’t think I’m going to find something that fits the need I want. If I really want something that blends better I’m likely going to have to go fixed blade. If I have to stick with a folder, I might as well stick with my Delicas (tho something a bit bigger and heftier would be nice, like an Endura). I’m still curious about some particular knives, like the Kershaw ZT 0200. I also am pretty sure that any time I go into a store that sells knives I’ll look at them and fondle a few and continue searching. I may find something some day, but for now, I think I’m just going to have to make due with what I have. And to be honest, that’d probably better for my wallet.
I also got to do some side-by-side comparisons of Aimpoints. Yeah, the Comp M4s is what I’d want. I’m pretty sure of that now.
Also looked at some OC spray. I’m wanting to carry some OC on my person. Discussion for another time.
Pick One
Was reading something this morning about “speed vs. accuracy”. The article was about not choosing between the two but striving to have both. I would agree with that. However, I still believe there’s ultimately one that can edge out the other for the top spot. Thus this post. I’ve got a list of things and am going to “pick one” and tell you why. This isn’t gospel, just rambling. But I’d be curious 1. what you’d pick and why, 2. if you’ve any other “pick one” situations to share.
Note, this isn’t purely a gun thing, so you non-gun folks are welcome to read on. 🙂
Of course, of course
Via referral from foo.c, I purchased about 600 used .38 Special cases off a guy. They arrived today. Threw half in the tumbler and by the time I was done with dinner so too was the brass clean enough.
I spot-checked my Lock-n-Load. Looks like it started throwing 3.7 grains of Titegroup instead of 3.5. That might explain why the last batch felt a bit snappier. I readjusted back to 3.5 grains and it seemed to hold steady there. I’ll try this load out vs. the previous load next time I’m at the range and see what differences I can perceive.
Oldest helped me out. Something about the factory-nature of it all appeals to him. It’s cool. Got to spend time together. Let him run the press for a bit. He’s coming to understand “the feel” of it all.
As mentioned previously, there’s one slot in the shell plate that refuses to come in line at the priming station. Actually that’s not the correct way to describe it, but it’s the way I’m able to keep track of it. The guy at Hornady told me to adjust the right pawl. So I adjusted it… I kept adjusting it…. good grief how much to adjust it before I’ll see a difference? And then I saw a difference. Every time the ram went up, things would jam. You see, the right pawl affects the advancing of the shell plate at the top of the ram (bottom of the stroke). It’s the left pawl that advances the plate when the ram comes down (the handle comes up). So…. I put the right pawl back where I started and started to adjust the left pawl.
Lo and behold, things seem to be working.
Unfortunately I didn’t have enough primers left (only brought so many into the garage) so I didn’t get to go through a lot of cycles. But I do think things are better now. Or at least, now I know the correct one. I’ll chalk it up to the Hornady guy not fully understanding what I was saying or that I didn’t explain it to him well enough (i.e. gonna blame myself before I blame him). Oh well. Learned from it. 🙂
Got about 165 more .38 Special rounds loaded. Hopefully that will be enough for the Claude Werner class next month.
Stuff From Hsoi 