QotD: Long, Slow Disaster Edition...

"I’m really glad my Grandparents didn’t live to have to make the choice between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. It also doesn’t say anything good about our politics that my grandparents, who have been dead for 20 years, would still know both candidates." -Sebastian SNBQ

Frickin' almost done...

Fifty rounds each of Fiocchi and Speer Lawman .357SIG ammo got sent downrange at Indy Arms Co. Wednesday morning.

The 20# recoil spring and 11-coil mag springs seem to have done the trick. The firearm went through the complete cycle of operation each time.

This makes it 1,929 total rounds fired since the Glock 32 was last cleaned or lubricated, with five failures to go completely into battery (#63, #78, #126, #748, #1,503*), five failures to feed (#221, #224, #282, #734, #1,529*), one failure to eject (#1,033), and one broken (aftermarket) part. Only 71 rounds left to go.
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This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Pt. I

Speaking as someone who talks about guns on the internet, it pains me to admit that one doesn't need to look long or hard to find reasons why "internet gun advice" has become the proverbial equivalent of "politician's promises" or "Confederate money" as a synonym for "valueless".

Everyone knows the guy on the forums who insists that his off-brand, low-budget pistol has been just (and I quote) "flawless" over...oh, it must be thousands and thousands of rounds, but who knows? It's not like he keeps a log book, but it's a lot!

There are the devotees of one brand or caliber or type of gun who come up with the most tortured reasons why their choice is best choice, and if you don't agree, you're just a "hater" or a "gun snob".

And on YouTube, you can't swing a 5.11 Tactical man purse without hitting some would-be instructor who doesn't know his ass from the hole he's fixin' to shoot in it.

Here's a bit of internet gun rationalizing of the second type:

Let me clear up some of his confusion: the answer comes down to ammo prices.

You can get spam cans of 7.62x54r for as low as $0.23 per round if you know where to look, whereas cheap .308 starts at $0.42 per round and .30-06 is a full $0.15/round more expensive than that.

The Ruger American Rifle comes in a bevy of calibers, but it does not come in 7.62x54R, so you can’t train as cheaply with it as you can the Mosin. If you shoot a lot, then over time the $1,000 Mosin is ultimately a lot cheaper than the $300 Ruger American Rifle.

Let's check his own math: He's claiming a $700 price difference in guns and a $0.19/rd difference in ammo costs. He says that if I shoot a lot, then the pimped Mosin pays for itself over time.

Gratuitous New England Westinghouse Mosin receiver shot

Let's cipher out the gozintas on this! *sharpens pencil* Hmmm...scribble scribble...carry the two...

At a 19¢/round gap between the two, you would need to shoot 3,684 rounds to make up a $700 cost difference.

Not that I think they don't exist, but I would like to sometime see either a Ruger American or a Mosin Nagaint with 3,500+ documented rounds in a gun book, especially the Mosin, which are often fed diets of corrosive ammo, bimetallic jacketed bullets, et cetera. That's probably most of the gun's barrel life, right there, or at least most of the accurate part of it.

The dude then suggests that Ruger make the American in 7.62x54R, which, given the diameter of the case rim, is unlikely without major alterations to the design and thus seems highly unlikely.

It's okay to like stuff just because you like it. You don't have to try and go out and justify it as the best choice for the zombie apocalypse or whatever.
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Because I hate using my good material at an away game...

"Seeing the stock plastic sights on a Glock in use is like seeing picture frames with the sample picture still inside them, or someone trying to pay for their purchases with the cardboard "credit cards" that came in their wallet. It's a little sad and awkward and you feel sorry for the person and don't know quite what to say."
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Tuesday Pewsday

Robar Glock, Magpul mags, RCS Eidolon holster, budget ammo

Still using the Zevtech trigger in the Robar-customized Gen 2 Glock 17. I'm liking it better now.

I've been shooting this gun almost entirely with Magpul 17-rd magazines. The first one worked well enough that I bought two more. According to the logbook, yesterday's 100 rounds of Silver Bear made a total of 803 malfunction-free rounds through the gun so far, all but 50 of which have been through the Magpul magazines.
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New Theory...

Maybe she got the speech in a chain letter?

 "If you deliver this speech exactly as written, good luck will befall you. Mrs. M.O. of Chicago, IL gave this speech exactly as written and her husband was elected president. Ms. J.D. of Assbend, MO did not deliver this speech as written and suffers from the heartbreak of psoriasis."

You have got to be kidding me.

"Manafort said the words Melania used were not "cribbed" but are common words.

"There's no cribbing of Michelle Obama's speech. These were common words and values. She cares about her family," Manafort said. "To think that she'd be cribbing Michelle Obama's words is crazy.""

Glock Steady

Went to Indy Arms Co. with a hundred rounds of Speer Lawman 125gr TMJ ammo early yesterday afternoon.

The Glock 32 went through the complete cycle of operation every time.

This makes it 1,829 total rounds fired since the Glock 32 was last cleaned or lubricated, with five failures to go completely into battery (#63, #78, #126, #748, #1,503*), five failures to feed (#221, #224, #282, #734, #1,529*), one failure to eject (#1,033), and one broken (aftermarket) part. 171 rounds left to go.
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"It's time to start running!"

Oh, Jesus, this isn't some fin de siècle dystopian SF movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger... This is really happening.

I thought "Clouseau" was a French name?

"The assailant, armed with a knife and an ax, was identified as a 17-year-old Afghan man living in Ochsenfurt, Bavaria, according to Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann.
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The attacker's motive is not yet known, Hench said."

I've got a guess or two, Mister Detective.
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Overheard on Bicycles...

Shootin' Buddy: "Wow, this neighborhood's really gentrified. You know how I can tell we're in a Green Zone? All the hair salons."

Me: "And a lack of check cashing joints. As a matter of fact, we seem to be in a payroll advance desert."

SB: "Quick! We need a federal program!"

...minute later, pulling into the coffee house parking lot...

Me: "Given how trendy the neighborhood is, I'm surprised at how few bike racks they have. It's like a bike rack desert!"

SB: "Quick! We need a federal program!"

QotD: About That Life Edition

"Every truck stop bathroom is a dojo if you try hard enough." -Jack Clemons

A Good Day

Shootin' Buddy arrived at 0900. We'll say our story starts at the intersection of 54th Street & the Monon Trail, since that's about where it started. From there we pedaled the mile-and-change north to Broad Ripple proper, to get breakfast at Public Greens.

I had the chilaquiles with a fried egg and smoked pulled pork, washed down with a couple glasses of water and a cup of coffee to fortify me for the day ahead.

About six miles south on the Monon and then a jog right on 10th Street puts you on the Cultural Trail, pedaling down Massachusetts Avenue.

The Cultural Trail wends right past Henry's Coffee Bistro, where we stopped for a breather. Shootin' Buddy had a cup of joe, but I got my SWPL on with an iced mocha latte.

Then it was back on the bikes to wend our way through downtown, circling around to a new spot at College Avenue and Georgia Street...

Metazoa Brewing Company. They weren't technically open yet, but the guy behind the bar took pity on us and pulled a couple pints. We looked like we'd been riding a ways, I guess.

Just north up College Avenue a half mile or so is St. Joseph's Brewery & Public House, where we pulled in for a half pint of their Seraphim Sour Ale before pedaling northwards in earnest.

At 25th Street, we took a detour west, pedaling a few blocks off the Monon to The Koelschip, located next to Goose the Market at 25th & Delaware. Since I'm stuck on sour beers for the nonce, I went with Artisan Tears, from Central State Brewing.

 I mentioned it was next to Goose the Market, right?

And then it was back on the bikes for the long uphill pull past Broad Ripple, and into Nora up on 86th Street, to try out another new-to-us place...

 Big Lug Canteen. This was where we had lunch...

I ordered a pint of their Bruce Lopez, a salted lime pale ale, and a charcuterie plate that came with a healthy scoop of the best bacon jam I have ever had in my life. Seriously, I'm going to go back and see what I can do to order just a fist-sized dollop of that bacon jam and a pile of crostini to smear it on.

And then it was back south to 54th & the Monon.

And I didn't have to use my AK.
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TRUCK KILLS!

"Truck kills dozens in latest French attack." -politico.com

Look at the headlines:

• "Scene of Devastation After Truck Kills Revelers" -NBC News


• "Bastille Day attack: truck kills at least 80 people in Nice" -The Guardian


• "Truck kills dozens in Nice, France" -USA TODAY

Gosh, if you went by the headlines, you'd be excused for thinking that things had gone all Steven King out there, what with trucks just up and killing people...

It's telling...

...that when you plug "Reichstag" into the Google News search, the first entries all involve Turkey and not the German parliament.

"Whether there was a conspiracy at play or not, Recep Tayyip Erdogan is shaping up to emerge victorious from the upheaval, which has reportedly led to swift reprisals, including the removal of 2745 judges from office and a purge of the country's armed forces.
Describing the unrest as "a gift from God," Erdogan is reported to have vowed that the "members of the gang" involved would "pay a heavy price for their treason" – and seems to have already set about backing up his words."

Goobernatorial.

When Reagan's two terms were up, George Bush ran one of the easiest presidential campaigns of all time, in effect saying "If you liked Reagan, voting for his Veep would basically be asking for a second helping of the same." Of course, it didn't turn out like that and my memories of the Elder Bush administration mostly involve feeling a vague sense of disappointment.

Similarly, the previous Republican governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels, was the sort of dull Cincinnatus too rare in public office these days, and the GOP replacement was offered up on a platform of "Hey, if you liked the last Republican governor, why not vote for this guy and get more of the same?"

And for the last four years I've had a vague feeling of disappointment. Now the guy has been offered a bucket of warm piss by Trump and accepted. On a forum, someone asked what I thought about our governor...

Pence? Not a bad governor. A little more of a Social Conservative than I'd like, but it's not like it didn't say so right on the package. Solid on guns and fiscal matters. A+ NRA rating and actually followed through on campaign promises to lower taxes. Too eager to spend time rearranging the Gays-'N'-'Bortion deck chairs on the S.S. GOPtanic, but that's endemic.
B+: Would have a beer with him and his wife; they seem like nice people.

(ETA: The selection of Pence...indeed, none of the three VP finalists...does nothing to dispel the notion that Trump is only in this for the yuks and wants to throw it to Hils. After RFRA and a recent abortion bill, Pence's approval ratings here in Indiana are at ~40% and he was facing a tough election against a sad-sack Democratic candidate who should have been a walkover. Neither Pence, Christie, nor Gingrich could reliably deliver the electoral votes of their respective home states, which is considered kind of a key job of the VP pick.)

So, he's got the homo-hatin' and 'bortion-banning chops that the Trump candidacy lacked and I guess is on the ticket to keep the hardcore SoCons from staying home in disgust on election day. We'll see.
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...Continued From Last Time.

Like I said, the Lone Wolf steel guide rod got bent like a banana somehow. The gun kept running without it, but required a hammer to disassemble. Now in place is the White Sound Defense non-captive guide rod, still with the 20# ISMI flat wire recoil spring. (Replacing the factory 18# unit.)

This was also a heads up for me to order a small handful of factory G19/23/32/38 recoil spring assemblies from Lone Wolf.

This called for a range trip to Indy Arms Co. on Friday morning to function check the gun with the guide rod. Also to use up the last of my Remington 125gr FMJ .357SIG ammunition. While I was there, I put a box of fifty Silver Bear 115gr FMJ rounds through the Gen2 Robar G17. I just ordered five hundred of the things and wanted to make sure they work.

Just dirt-shooting really, to run up the round count. The Silver Bear worked fine in the 17. I need to get some real sights and a stippling job on that 32.

The Glock 32 went through the complete cycle of operation every time. 

This makes it 1,729 total rounds fired since the Glock 32 was last cleaned or lubricated, with five failures to go completely into battery (#63, #78, #126, #748, #1,503*), five failures to feed (#221, #224, #282, #734, #1,529*), one failure to eject (#1,033), and one broken (aftermarket) part. 271 rounds left to go.
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From elsewhere...

"US support of populist democracy in that part of the world over the last eight years has helped contribute to a giant "failed state" from the Pillars of Hercules to Antioch, with an island of quasi-stability in Israel. When our current president was sworn in, you could drive from Marrakesh to Istanbul with no bigger worries than the occasional border shakedown. Now it's one vast Mad Max wasteland with god-bothering wogs chopping various bits off people who pray wrong.

I heartily hope the U.S. sits this one out, but I'm sure Barry is already drafting speeches in favor of Erdogan and democrazy."

Interesting Times

Turkey coup: military attempt to seize power from Erdogan as low flying jets and gunfire heard in Ankara and bridges across Bosphorus in Istanbul closed 

Link to live coverage at telegraph.co.uk

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Work, work, work...

Still working on the USCCA article on high end CCW 1911s, which meant more shooting with the Wilson yesterday morning at Indy Arms Co.

Another hundred rounds of Winchester 124gr NATO FMJ (Q4318) without a bobble brings the total fired to 800 without a malfunction of any sort. Everybody who's tried it had been impressed. Hopefully I'll get it to the range for some chrono work and some benched 25yd groups on Monday or Tuesday.
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