Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Alaska Bears

A pair of Alaskan Brown Bears.


A few years ago I was up in Alaska, fly rod in hand, trying to land a salmon that would qualify for a world record. A friend of mine had told me about a little known salmon run that was often of really large fish. There were some "Howevers" to be considered.

First, it was nearly a 24 hour drive to get there. Second, there was nothing there once you arrived. Third, the fishable part of the river was only a mile or so long, and finally, the upper end of the fishable section was where the bear viewing platform was.

Yup, sort of a porch like affair built out over the river on pilings, and high enough up that you were safe from the bears, bears who were fishing in the same part of the river where I wanted to fish. These weren't cute little black bears, either! These were the BIG ones, otherwise known as brown bears, also known as grizzlies. The Kodiak, brown, and the grizzly are all the same species, Ursus Horribilis. The Kodiaks are the largest though, since it stays so warm on Kodiak Island in the Winter, the bears don't hibernate, and so they continue to eat all Winter.

To make it even more difficult, I only had a three day weekend for the trip! So, after 23 hours and 30 minutes of driving, stopping only for gas, food, coffee, and one short nap, I rolled into town, such as it was, arriving late in the evening. I parked my poor old Ford van at a friend's place, and got a few hours sleep.

The next morning I drove up the river about a mile to a spot my buddy had mentioned as having a goodly amount of fish, and reasonably easy to get to on foot.

The river itself was fairly good sized, running fast, and the color of a dirty vanilla milkshake due to the glacial deposits in the water. There was a small creek, however, that paralled the river for about a quarter of a mile. The creek was perhaps 3 feet deep and maybe 30 or 40 feet across. Where the river and the creek joined, there was a long sand bar, built up maybe 3 feet above the river level from previous higher water levels. The creek had a gravel beach on the far side, and behind the gravel was a stand of small alders. The river, with its higher speed, had formed a backwater whirlpool and dug a deep hole at the mouth of the creek, right next to the sandbar on the creek side.

Standing on the sandbar and looking down into the clear creek water you could see LARGE salmon moving into the hole to rest, before moving on upstream. The sides of the creek and the river were spotted with salmon carcasses from salmon who had already spawned, died, and floated back down the river. There's just nothing quite like the smell of a salmon river in the Fall!

I tied on one of my favorite Alaskan salmon flies, the LGT, and cast it across the creek, letting the current move it down stream and down into the hole. once the line had straightened out and the fly was on the bottom at the down stream end of the hole, I started a slow retrieve through the hole. I didn't have to retrieve it very far before it felt like I'd hooked the back bumper of a Greyhound bus! Line practically melted off the reel as the salmon did his best to pull me off of the sand bar. Since I was record fishing, I was using what normally would be used for trout fishing, not a fifteen or twenty pound salmon.

After twenty minutes or so, I finally slid the salmon up on the beach and did a quick weigh-in on my certified scale. It was about a pound light. Close, but not close enough. A couple of more casts, and I had another fish on. Again, not quite big enough.

After several more fish had been caught and released, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye on the other side of the creek. A black bear popped his head out of the alders, looked nervously up and down the creek, and then disappeared back into the alders.

Did I mention that brown bears kill and eat black bears in Alaska? Especially if the black bear wanders into the brownie's fishing spot!

Of course, the sand bar I was fishing from was covered with bear tracks. Fresh bear tracks! Really BIG bear tracks! Some of the tracks were larger than a large dinner plate. That's a pretty good sized bear!

I continued to fish, landing a couple more fish, and I had just hooked another when right across the creek from me out pops not one, but two brown bears. UH-HUH!

Bears don't see too well, but they see a lot better than a lot of folks think. They may not see you in sharp focus, but they will pick up motion easily. I was dressed as to blend in as much as possible, so that may have helped a bit.

When you run into a bear, there are a lot of things NOT to do. Whatever you do, don't run! They will run you down. A brown bear can cover 40 yards from a dead stop in roughly two seconds. A really quick running back in his prime might do it in the mid 4 second range. The best thing to do is to try to not be noticed, and slowly and quietly move diagonally out of the area. I slowly picked up my short barreled Mossberg 500 12 gauge, and slowly started to move out of the area.

Unfortunately one of the bears saw me, and was instantly not very happy. The bear wheeled around and took off at full speed directly at me. OH CRAP!

I had practiced for this situation, so I chambered a round and swung the shotgun to my shoulder in one motion. Since I was a bit above the bear I had to lower the barrel another six inches before firing.

Then the greatest thing happened! THE BEAR FROZE! The sound of the round being chambered had brought him to a complete stop, half way across the creek! We both stood motionless for what seemed like ten minutes, but I'm sure was only a matter of seconds, then the bear slowly turned around and ambled his way back to the other side of the creek. He picked up a dead salmon, rejoined his buddy, and started to wander on up the creek.

I wonder if when that bear was a little cub if he got into someone's strawberry patch, heard the sound of a shotgun round being chambered, and got some birdshot in the butt? He sure did seem to know the sound and associated it with something he didn't want to be involved with!

Although it was only about 10:30 in the morning, it seemed to me to be a good time to break for lunch!

I walked briskly up the main river, and then crossed the creek to get to my parked van, as the bears were just coming into sight. I was standing up on a cut bank about ten feet above the river, and I took the picture above. The one carrying the fish is the one who charged me.

I did come back out and fish some more that afternoon, and yes, I did get my record fish, by 4 ounces. It was approved, however, and for a short while I held the record. It's long since been bettered, but I had it for a little while!

It's amazing how hard it was to concentrate on my casting, though, expecting the bears to re-appear at any moment.

Back to town later that afternoon for a burger and a cup of coffee, then 23 hours and 30 minutes back home.

Quite a weekend!

UPDATE: Almost one year to the day after my run in with that particular bear, it killed a man and ate him, just down the river a ways from where I had been fishing. The bear was tracked down and shot........

Budget Health Care Plan?


TOP TEN INDICATORS THAT YOUR EMPLOYER HAS CHANGED TO A CHEAPER HEALTH CARE PLAN:

10) Your annual breast exam is done at Hooters.

9) Directions to your Doctor's office include "Take a left when you enter the trailer park".

8) The tongue depressors taste faintly of Fudgesicles.

7) The only proctologist in the plan is "Gus" from Rotor-Rooter.

6) The only item listed under Preventative Care Coverage is " An Apple a day".

5) Your primary care physician is wearing the pants you gave to Goodwill last month.

4) The patient is responsible for 200% of out-of-network charges.

3) The only expense covered 100% is "embalming".

2) Your Prozac comes in different colors with little M's on them.

AND THE NUMBER ONE SIGN YOU'VE JOINED A VERY CHEAP HEALTH CARE PLAN:

1) You ask for Viagra, and they give you a Popsicle stick and duct tape.

hat tip to Uncawho!

Monday, January 30, 2006

1911 Triggers


Xavier at Xavier Thoughts has just put up a really well written article on 1911 triggers, and how they have changed over the years. It's well worth the read!

If you aren't following Xavier's blog on a regular basis, you are missing a lot of good stuff......

Limcat Glare Shield for C-More Sight

The Limcat Glare Shield mounted on a C-More red dot sight


Back in October, or thereabouts, I changed to a C-More red dot sight on my High Standard Supermatic Citation bowling pin race gun, and almost immediately I discovered that there is a major problem with glare if you are shooting towards the sun.

Much of the problem stems from sunlight reflecting off of the face of the diode module and shining onto the main "lens" of the sight, making it nearly impossible to even see through it, let alone see the red dot.

Here's the three posts so far on the C-More sight, for some background reading:

Main Article on the C-More Sight

First Update

Second Update

There are now a couple of people manufacturing glare shields for the C-More sights. After a little research, it appears that the Limcat glare shield is machined out of Delrin, while the other ones look like they are injection molded out of plastic. The probably both do the job, but I think the Limcat looks more nicely made, and after all, if JJ Racaza likes Limcat stuff, that's good enough for me!

Installation SHOULD be a simple matter of removing two allen screws, lifting off a little plastic plate, putting the glare shield in its place, and replacing the screws with the two longer ones provided with the glare shield. The glare shield has a thin lip that goes over the top of the diode housing, probably to further shield out unwanted light.

Unfortunately the diode housing was about .030 too high for the glare shield to fit down all the way. A little flat file work lowered the top of the diode module slightly, and then everything fit up perfectly. It looks like it belongs there.

Since we haven't seen much sun here in the Seattle are in a couple of months, it's been hard to really see how much improvement it made, but so far, it seems to have made a major improvement.

There are still a couple of other mod's I'm going to try too, but it looks like Limcat has got the solution for most of the problem.

If you notice in the photo, you'll see my mod to the dot intensity knob. From the factory there is no way to visually tell if the sight is on or off, since there's no mark or pointer on the intensity knob to reference. The little arrow also serves as a reminder to remember to turn it off when I'm through shooting.

Gettin' Itchy !


It seems like forever since we've had a pin shoot, and the little bit of pin shooting I did down in Portland testing the new pin tables just whetted my appetite!

The first CWSA pin shoot is February 26th., and then down to Portland on March 11th. for their innaugural "Speed Pins" match.

I got out to the range yesterday, and it became really clear that if you don't shoot regularly your proficiency really goes down the drain. I need a lot of practice to even get to where I was last Fall! A WHOLE lot of practice. When I try to speed up any I start jerking the trigger. It's hard to try to shoot quickly and still maintain trigger control.

Maybe all the other shooters will be slowed way down too, from lack of practice.......

Somehow I kinda doubt it!

Super Bowl Prediction


Unless you happen to live in a cave in Borneo, you are well aware that the Super Bowl is about to happen. If you DO live in a cave in Borneo, you will miss all the Super bowl hype. (Hmmm.... Any extra room in your cave for a few days?)

Anyhow, everybody and his dog are making predictions on the game, and are going into detail on exactly why the game will go as they are predicting.

Since I haven't followed the teams all season I am uniquely qualified to make a prediction on the game.

If you have any knowledge of statistics, however, you realize that the biggest weakness of statistics is trying to predict the outcome of a single event.

If Seattle and Pittsburgh played the game one hundred times, a good statistical analysis of the stats would give you a fair idea of what percentage of the games would be won by each team.

It's like flipping a coin. If you flip the coin one hundred times, statistically, roughly half would come up heads. The more total times you flip the coin, the closer it will come to being exactly 50-50.

If you only flip it once, you really cannot make a prediction based on statistics, other than it will be either heads or tails.

This all assumes that the coin is balanced so there is no physical reason for one side to come up rather that the other. If there is something asymetrical about the coin that makes it favor one side or the other, then with multiple flips, it will show something other than 50-50. Unless the coin is so heavily modified that it absolutely cannot land on one side, both sides will land sometimes, but one more than the other.

With Seattle and Pittsburgh, both have the skills to win the game. A hasty review on my part reveals that both teams can throw passes, kick field goals, and run for TD's. In short, either team has the ability to win. (DUH!)

(OK, OK, so get to the point!) I am predicting that it will be a relatively conservative, low scoring game, with both teams trying hard not to make major mistakes and beat themselves. The winning team will be the one whose coach has designed the best game plan. The teams themselves are roughly equal.

The game will be won in the last part of the 4th. quarter, or in overtime. It will be a close, but relatively boring game. It will depend on which coach does the better job, and I'll go with Holmgren and the Seahawks, final score 20 to 17.

Feel free to leave your prediction in the comments below!

Sunday, January 29, 2006

A little cat blogging.....

Actually, although it IS a little cat, it isn't REALLY blogging, but it is kinda cute, anyway!

Maybe the kitty just finished blogging, and decided to take a nap. Yup, that's it!

Perfect for Rush Hour....

Josh over at South Park Pundit has got a video of the ultimate auto accessory.

I'll bet it would mount up perfectly on my Bronco.


Saturday, January 28, 2006

Best Comedian of all time?




Here's a fun poll to see who you think is the best comedian of all time.

I realize there are a lot of other funny folks out there, but to keep the list manageable I trimmed it down to these eleven.

Later on I may take the top finishers, add some challengers, and run it again.

Click on the picture of the ballot above to go to the actual ballot and vote for your favorites.

Don't pay any attention to the link to the next round on the ballot screen, as it doesn't make any sense until the voting is over.

You can vote every day if you want, or as often as it will let you vote anyway. The voting closes on February 12th.

Ban All Hunting in Island County?


More bad news from Washington State, this time from MY county!

State Senator Mary Margaret Haugen (D-10) has introduced two anti-hunting bills in Olympia.

SB 6598 would shut down hunting in Island County, and SB 6616 would ban hunting within one mile of a school.

Please call Senator Haugen at (360) 786-7618 and ask her to withdraw these punitive anti-hunting measures. You can fax her at (360) 387-0181.

Click here to send her an email.

I can only hope that over-the-top anti-hunting moves like this will backfire come election time, just as campaigning for total handgun bans in Canada torpedoed the Liberal party up there.



e-Postal Handgun Match Update

Plans are to have the target and rules for the first e-Postal Handgun match of 2006 posted on (or before) Monday, February 6th.

I've been having a lot of fun figuring out the most diabolical targets I can! It's not easy to design a target that looks easy, but is actually harder than it looks, along with it being reasonably easy to score fairly well, yet really difficult to shoot a perfect score.

A good target also needs to be designed so minor variations in shooting skill will produce fairly wide variation in scores, so you don't end up with everyone lumped together with almost the same scores.

The first target is just about finished.........

(......sounds of fiendish laughter in the background, over a background of heavy organ music.....)

It's KeeWee's Birthday!



It's KeeWee's Birthday!


So head on over to Keewee's Corner and wish her a happy birthday!


Happy Birthday to you
She can shoot a Beretta too
She can hit pins
and sometimes she wins
Happy Birthday to you !

(Consider yourselves blessed that I didn't attempt to sing this and post a sound file!)

Friday, January 27, 2006

Bulletproof Vests on Monks in Thailand

A monk tries on a bullet proof monk vest.



A number of faithful in Thailand's southern provinces have ordered bullet proof monk vests and donated them to local Monks to protect them from Muslim insurgents. Many monks have been killed since the insurgency started in Jan. 2004.

For the whole story and more pictures have a look at the post up at the OX RANT here.

Carnival of Cordite .45 is up!

Carnival of Cordite .45 is up!

Here's the link to take you to all the best of gunnie goodness, this week themed around anything .45!

Have fun, and don't shoot your eye out!

Stop Proposed Gun Law in Washington

Washington Gun Owners - Protect Your Firearm Rights!

Please contact legislators in opposition to Senate Bill 5343

Here's a summary of what it proposes:

1. 5343 prohibits non-licensed individuals from buying, selling or trading firearms from their private collections at gun shows without conducting the exchange through a licensed firearm dealer.

2. It expands the handgun owner registration database in Washington. Under existing law, all dealer handgun sales are recorded with the Department of Licensing who maintains a database of Washington handgun owners. Private buyers will now be included.

3. It establishes state fees (in effect, a GUN TAX) for the background checks and, of course, dealers would charge an additional fee for the time and effort it takes them to facilitate transactions.

Contact the Senate Judiciary Committee members and urge them to OPPOSE Senate Bill 5343 and ANY restriction on private firearm transactions!!

In addition to the contact information provided below, messages for legislators can be left on the toll-free Legislative Hotline at 800-562-6000.

Contact information for the Senate Judiciary Committee is as follows:

Senator Adam Kline (D-41), Chairman

Phone: (360) 786-7688

E-mail: kline.adam@leg.wa.gov

Senator Marilyn Rasmussen (D-2)

Phone: (360) 786-7602

E-mail: rasmussen.marilyn@leg.wa.gov

Senator Luke Esser (R-48)

Phone: (360) 786-7694

E-mail: esser.luke@leg.wa.gov

Senator Mike Carrell (R-28)

Phone: (360) 786-7654

E-mail: carrel.michael@leg.wa.gov

Senator James Hargrove (D-24)

Phone: (360) 786-7646

E-mail: hargrove.jim@leg.wa.gov

Senator Stephen Johnson (R-47)

Phone: (360) 786-7692

E-mail: johnson.stephen@leg.wa.gov

Senator Bob McCaslin (R-4)

Phone: (360) 786-7606

E-mail: mccaslin.bob@leg.wa.gov

Senator Pat Thibaudeau (D-43)

Phone: (360) 786-7628

E-mail: thibaudeau.pat@leg.wa.gov

Senator Brian Weinstein (D-41)

Phone: (360) 786-7641

E-mail: weinstein.brian@leg.wa.gov

Please make these critical contacts TODAY!

OPPOSE Senate Bill 5343!

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Gunblogger "Gunnie" Awards Update

UPDATE: At the moment Mr. Completely is LEADING in the "Best Range Reports" category by TWO votes, and is only ONE vote behind in the"Most Educational" category.

In case you are interested in how the voting is going, here's links to take you to the up-to-the-minute totals. I've only shown the ones where Mr. Completely is on the ballot, but there are a few other categories there, too.

It appears that of the hundreds and hundreds of folks that stop by here each day, very few of you are voting.

Vote totals so far for:

Best Range Reports

Best Gun Pr0n

Most Educational

Best Aggregator

If you haven't voted yet today (you can vote every day) and would like to, here's the links to go vote:



This is all just for fun and shouldn't be taken seriously, but it IS kinda fun to be giving some of the "big dogs" a run for their money!

A little Telemarketer fun......

(Wish I'd thought of this)

The phone rang as I was sitting down to my evening meal, and as I answered it I was greeted with "Is this Karl Brummer". Not sounding anything like my name, I asked who is calling.

The telemarketer said he was with The Rubber Band Powered Freezer Company or something like that. Then I asked him if he knew Karl personally and why was he calling this number.

I then said off to the side, "get some pictures of the body at various angles and the blood smears", I then turned back to the phone and advised the caller that he had entered a murder scene and must stay on the line because we had already traced this call and he would be receiving a summons to testify in this murder case.

I questioned the caller at great length as to his name, address, phone number at home, at work, who he worked for, how he knew the dead guy and could he prove where he had been about one hour before he made this call.

The telemarketer was getting very concerned and his answers were given in a shaky voice. I then told him we had located his position and the police were entering the building to take him into custody, at that point I heard the phone fall and the scurrying of his running away.

My wife asked me as I returned to our table why I had tears streaming down my face and so help me, I couldn't tell her for about fifteen minutes. My meal was cold, but it was the best meal in a long, long time.

Story from Uncawho.....

Indoor Ski Resort in Dubai

Sometimes you come across something that just flat out boggles your mind. This is an indoor ski resort in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Under construction.

Here it is finished. You can get a sense of how big this is by looking at the palm trees in front. They look like shrubs!

Here's the inside, complete with polar bear!

Wow, just WOW.........



What an amazing engineering job. I hate to even imagine what the refrigeration units must cost to run. I wonder what a lift ticket costs.......

Hat tip to FUZE for the pic's.

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Best Ferret Picture for 2006 ?

Is that cute, or what!!

Picture from Cowboy Blob, Ferret Wrangler......

Cowboy Action Shooting Video

Cowboy Action Shooting, one of the fastest growing shooting sports!



A few posts down the page is an article by DAMIPHINO on the Colt Peacemaker and the modern day Great Western II replicas of the originals, commonly chambered in .45 Long Colt.

Two of the more popular uses of these single action revolvers is in Cowboy Fast Draw competitions and in Cowboy Action Shooting competitions, both combining guns and nostalgia for the “Old West.”.

Below is a link to a sixteen minute documentary on Cowboy Action Shooting.

Click Here to see the Cowboy Action Shooting Video.


For more on Cowboy Action Shooting check out the Single Action Shooting Society's website at http://www.sassnet.com/.



A BULL STORY

A BULL STORY:

A man took his wife to the Rodeo and one of the exhibits was of breeding bulls. They went up to the first pen and there was a sign that said "This Bull mated 50 times last year."

The wife poked her husband in the ribs and said, "He mated 50 times last year."

They walked a little farther and saw another pen with a sign that said: "This bull mated 120 times last year."

The wife hit her husband and said, "That's more than twice a week! You could learn a lot from him."

They walked farther and a third pen had a bull with a sign saying: "This bull mated 365 times last year."

The wife got really excited and said, "That's once a day. You really COULD learn something from this one."

THE HUSBAND LOOKED AT HER AND SAID, "GO UP AND ASK HIM IF IT WAS WITH THE SAME COW."

The husband's condition has been upgraded from critical to stable and he should eventually make a full recovery.

A big tip of the hat to Eddie in Wexford, Ireland!

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

VPC Steals Sub-Gun Video to oppose Alito


As a follow-up to a previous post where I suspected that the Violence Policy Center (VPC) had used machine gun video segments in a hit-piece on Judge Alito, more information has come to the surface.

Thanks to Says Uncle, it seems that at least some of the video was taken from a post to Subguns.com by Scott Cousinos, the original photographer, and Scott most definitely did not give VPC permission to use his footage. Here's the discussion on Subguns.com.

I hope he sues them for a million dollars plus attorney fees, and gets every dime of it in cash!

Go get 'em, Scott!!

Wally-World Wine?

Walmart announced that they would soon be offering customers a new discount item: Walmart's own brand of wine.

The world's largest retail chain is teaming up with E&J Gallo Winery of California to produce the spirits at an affordable price, in the $2-5 range.

Wine connoisseurs may not be inclined to throw a bottle of Walmart brand into their shopping carts, but "there is a market for cheap wine," said Kathy Miocene, professor of marketing. She said, "But the right name is important."

Customer surveys were conducted to determine the most attractive name for the Walmart brand. The top 10 surveyed names in order of popularity are:

10. Chateau Traileur Parc

9. White Trashfindel

8. Big Red Gulp

7. World Championship Riesling

6. NASCARbernet

5. Chef Boyardeaux

4. Peanut Noir

3. I Can't Believe It's Not Vinegar!

2. Grape Expectations

1. Nasti Spumante

The beauty of Walmart wine is that it can be served with either white meat (possum) or red (squirrel).

Shamelessly stolen from KeeWee's Corner, who go it from GrampaPinhead.

The Colt Peacemaker and the Great Western II's

A "real" Colt Peacemaker and a pair of Great Western II's, all in .45 Long Colt.



Ever since I sat in the theaters watching the Saturday afternoon shows with all the cowboys, the Colt Single Action Army "Peacemaker" was something I just had to have. Once I got one it turns out they're kinda like potato chips, more than one is better!

The three guns in the picture are from top to bottom:

A "real" Colt Peacemaker from about 1875 with a 5.5 inch barrel with a serial number in the 19,xxx range it is in the first batch made and is black powder cartridge ONLY.

A stainless Great Western II "Colt Clone" with a 4.75 barrel in 45 Long Colt.

A Great Western II Express, 4.75 barrel in 45 Long Colt.

The Great Western II's are manufactured by Pietta in Italy and imported by the EMF Company. Some additional work including special grips is done by the EMF gunsmiths. The result is a very good looking gun with very nice fit and finish. There are a couple of choices in finish, highly polished stainless and a nice deep blue with a color case frame and hammer.

The Express is a new release by EMF and I hadn't even heard of one until a local dealer http://mbkunlimited.com/ said I had to see the new guns he just got in.

He tends to get neat stuff in early and fortunately has good prices. My wife who also shoots both SASS (Single Action Shooting Society) and Cowboy Fast Draw and I fondled a couple of them and each of us walked out with one.

The Express in the name of the third gun refers to the grip which is copied from the 1877 Colt Thunderer. It's kind of like a birds head grip only different. Since the Thunderer was one of Colt's first double actions the Express is actually built on a Single Action frame so that it can be used in SASS (Single Action Shooting Society) events. One thing about the "six shooters" they are really "five shooters" since the firing pin is on the hammer you always carry it with the hammer down on an empty chamber.

You'd have to be some kind of crazy to set the firing pin down on a live round and then walk around hoping that nothing happens to make a loud noise when it isn't meant to happen! 200 to 250 grains of lead down the leg isn't my idea of a good time.

Remember Hop Along Cassidy! Yes, the Colt action does have a "safety" notch that will hold the hammer just off the frame so that the firing pin doesn't actuall touch the primer. But if you have ever looked at the notches on a single action hammer it isn't exactly confidence building. It is awful tiny and they do indeed break.

The only difference between the standard great western and the Express is the grip backstrap. Out of curiosity I tried the bachstrap from the stainless on the Express and it fit just fine. Both of the GW's are about as close to a Colt as you can get but at about half the price, and the parts are interchangeable with Colt parts and are hardened to stand up to a lot of use.

The stainless gun was used in Cowboy Fast Draw last year and I have no idea how many thousands of times it was cocked and fired. Grant you Cowboy Fast Draw uses a wax bullet but it also enjoyed a bunch of live rounds in between. Regardless, fast draw puts a lot of stress on the gun and after all of that it still has all of the same pieces it started with except that two springs were changed. The original springs weren't broken they were just a bit too heavy for fast draw.

Right out of the box the Great Westerns have very nice actions and the cylinders lock up cleanly with zero end shake or wobble. As they come they would be fully acceptable for most shooting but that doesn't stop the urge to make things better.

Before playing with the actions, I just had to try putting some rounds downrange. At about 15 yards which is pretty typical SASS distance, five round groups unsupported were in the 3 to 4 inch size with TEN-X Cowboy ammo. I don't own a pistol vice rest so I can't tell what it would do then but it seemed to hit where I was pointing.

Before getting the Express, I checked with the Cowboy Fast Draw Association (CFDA) to make sure they would be legal. The determination was that since the guns and grips were of a type used back when and it is a factory stock gun they are legal in CFDA. The CFDA rules are pretty simple, it must be 45 Colt and no external changes to the gun except that the front sight can be removed (some of the old time gunslingers did that) but I don't know anybody in CFDA that does. You can clean up the actions and put in lighter springs. but that is about it.

That brings up the one place where the Great Western differs from the Colt. The hand spring in the Colt is quite a fragile leaf type spring, Great western and some others drill a small hole above the backstrap screw and replace the leaf spring with a small coil spring and plunger. You could put a stock Colt hand and spring in there but the coil is much more reliable.

Just remember don't EVER fast draw with live ammunition. CFDA uses wax bullets over shotgun primers in special cartridges.

If you are interested in Cowboy Fast Draw take a look at http://www.cowboyfastdraw.com. For more on Cowboy Action Shooting check out SASS at http://www.sassnet.com/ .

Post and photo by Damiphino.........

Joke of the day........

A U.S. Marine squad was marching north of Basra when they came upon an Iraqi terrorist, badly injured and unconscious. On the opposite side of the road was an American Marine in similar but less serious state. The Marine was conscious and alert and as first aid was given to both men, the squad leader asked the injured Marine what had happened.

The Marine reported, "I was heavily armed and moving north along the highway here, and coming south was a heavily armed insurgent. We saw each other and both took cover in the ditches along the road. I yelled to him that Saddam Hussein is a miserable, lowlife, scum bag, and he yelled back that Senator Ted Kennedy is a good-for-nothing, fat, left wing liberal drunk. So I said that Osama Bin Laden dresses and acts like a frigid, mean spirited woman! He retaliated by yelling, 'Oh yeah? Well so does Hillary Clinton!'

"And, there we were, standing in the middle of the road, shaking hands, when a truck hit us."

Hat tip to Uncawho for another good one!

Monday, January 23, 2006

Microsoft Tech Support?


Say it ain't so, Bill!


Hat tip to Uncawho!

Ruger MK. II with 10" barrel


Ruger MK. II with 10" barrel in blue


It looks like the AnalogKid at Random Nuclear Strikes is getting serious about rim fire iron sight bowling pin shooting. His new pin gun should be arriving any day. Most of the 10" barreled Ruger Mk. II's I've seen were in stainless, but they can also be had in blue, and it does look good in blue, I'd say!

Looks like there's going to be some really close matches this year..........

Monday Funny!


There may be better ways, but that method does have a certain appeal..........

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Blog Awards - Why bother?

Rivrdog raises some good points in a comment to the "Gunnie Awards" post below, and I always respect his opinion, even if we don't always agree.

Some bloggers write for themselves, they write to pump their own ego, their own image of self-importance. In my opinion, neither Rivrdog nor I write from that motivation. I suspect that most of the informative and entertaining bloggers do not.

Personally, I write for those who come to visit, to laugh, to share their own insights, perhaps to learn something or see something new. I blog to entertain, to inform, sometimes to present a different point of view.

With so many blogs out there, it's possible for an otherwise excellent blog to never get the exposure it deserves. When I come across a particularly well written blog that is in this situation, I will try to point it out, and hope other readers will enjoy it too.

Participating in events like web awards is an opportunity for a blog to be exposed to some readers who otherwise might not know the blog exists. They may visit your blog, and if a blog is well written, they may return again, and enjoy your efforts.

If a blog awards will showcase this blog to folks who may not have visited before, that's OK. As I said above, I write for those who read and enjoy this blog, and the more folks that enjoy it, the better.

Are blog awards important? Not at all. Do I really care if I win or lose? Nope. Certainly no one ever likes to be dead last, but if so, it really doesn't matter one way or the other.

Just as Countertop was finishing putting together his blog awards contest, he had to drop everything and take his wife to the hospital. He has now returned from the hospital and has responded to a couple of comments on his blog, but beyond that I have no further information.

Keeping Countertop and his wife in your prayers is important. Blog awards are not..........

The Gunnie Awards


Countertop at Countertop Chronicles has got the ballots up and running for the Gunnie Awards. Gun Blogs seem to get left out when other blog awards are run, so Countertop set one up just for us!

Of the six award categories, Mr. Completely made the ballot in four of them!

Best Gun Pr0n

Most Educational

Best Aggregator

Best Range Reports


Each category has ten blogs on the ballot, and you rank them from first through tenth. There are a lot of really great gun blogs on there that I read regularly.

Many of those blogs have about a zillion more readers than we do, so it's important that ALL of you go over and drop in a vote for me so we can at least keep up with the big dogs!

To get to the ballots and vote, click these links and then fill in the ballots:

Best Range Reports

Best gun Pr0n

Most Educational Gun Blog

Best Aggregator

It looks like the voting software watches the IP address you come in on, and will only let you vote every several hours, so check back regularly and get your votes in. You can be sure the big dogs are going to get a TON of votes, so we need you all to vote and help us to at least have a respectable showing.

As Countertop says "Vote early, Vote often."

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Joke for the Week End

FINALLY SOMEONE HAS CLEARED THIS UP . . .

For centuries, Hindu women have worn a spot on their foreheads.

We have always naively thought that it had something to do with their religion.

The true story has recently been revealed by the Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

When one of these women gets married, she brings with her a dowry. On her wedding night, the husband scratches off the spot to see if he has won either a convenience store, a gas station, a donut shop, or a motel in the United States.

Just thought you would like to know.........

Over 50,000 Visitors! --- W O W !

Holy Cow! Sometime this morning we passed the fifty thousand visitors milestone. My mind is truly boggled!

As you can see, Mr. Completely is strictly a labor of love, and I have no advertising anywhere. The only "Revenue" I get is the bloggers I meet, the great comments from all of you, and the knowledge that those of you who read Mr. Completely are having a laugh or two, perhaps reading about something you might have otherwise missed, and generally enjoying yourselves when you stop by for a visit.

All I can say is "Thanks!", and I hope we get a chance to meet in Reno!

Alito 2nd. Amendment Hit Piece from VPC

VPC, the Violence Policy Center, has released a hit-piece on Judge Alito and his position on full auto weapons, and a hit-piece on the weapons themselves.

It is just what you'd expect from them, cutting back and forth from The St. Valentine's Day Massacre to clips of sport shooters legally enjoying shooting their sub-guns.

I suspect that some of the footage was taken (without permission?) from some of the sub-gun shoot videos done at some of the recent sub-gun shoots.

If you recognize any of the video segments, you might want to contact the video owners and let them know their video is being used by VPC to attack Judge Alito.

I should add that if you are prone to high blood pressure, this is not a video you should watch.

Here's the links:


30-06 or .308?

30-06 or .308?

Civis at Oscar Poppa is considering adding a bolt action rifle to his collection, either in 30-06, or in .308, and he's asking for guidance as to which to choose. If you'd like to weigh in on the discussion, head on over and leave him your thoughts in a comment.


Friday, January 20, 2006

Adults Only Brownies

KeeWee over at KeeWee's Corner has come up with another killer recipe, and maybe this time literally!

I can verify that these brownies are delicious, having personally tested them myself, several times, in fact!

Someone has to do it, and even though it's hazardous duty, I volunteered. (heh!)

Raytheon's Swimmer Denial System

Raytheon has developed a "Swimmer Denial" underwater audio system for ship protection. Underwater sensors automatically detect an intrusion, triggering extremely powerful low frequency sound waves, resonating the internal organs of the swimmer, causing the swimmer's internal organs to rupture.

They do assure us that:

"Would-be spies or terrorists cannot get through the ring but there is no widespread danger to fish, dolphins or whales."

I wonder how they define "Widespread" ?

Here's the entire article from Cyber Diver News Network.

The Carnival of Cordite is up

The Carnival of Cordite is up over at Gullyborg's place.




It's CAPTION Time!!

We haven't had a "Caption Needed" picture for a while, so here we go! As I usually do, I'll start it off, and then you all prove that you are all better at thinking up good captions than I am.

"Jonathan makes one last attempt to get the attention he craves......"

I KNOW you can do better than that!

US Navy EOD hit by an IED

A Hummer Trike?

I'd hate to have to explain this to my car insurance company!


(All pictures -- Click for larger view)


Here's all the information I have on these pictures:

"US Navy EOD, Mobile Unit guys hit by an IED. All survived uninjured, thanks in large part to up-armored Hummer!!"

If any of you have any further details, let us know in the comments. Thanks!

Hat tip to Fuze (Ex Navy EOD, hence the nickname)

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Benelli Nova at South Park Pundit


Benelli Nova Pump 12 Gauge Shotgun


Josh at South Park Pundit has a really good range report on the Benelli Nova shotgun, and if you are considering one, you should head over there and have a look.


Round Engines

Pratt & Whitney Wasp Radial Aircraft Engine.



DEDICATED TO ALL THOSE WHO FLEW BEHIND ROUND ENGINES

We gotta get rid of those turbines, they're ruining aviation and our hearing.

A turbine is too simple minded, it has no mystery. The air travels through it in a straight line and doesn't pick up any of the pungent fragrance of engine oil or pilot sweat.

Anybody can start a turbine. You just need to move a switch from "OFF" to "START" and then remember to move it back to "ON" after a while. My PC is harder to start.

Cranking a round engine requires skill, finesse and style. You have to seduce it into starting. It's like waking up a horny mistress. On some planes, the pilots aren't even allowed to do it.

Turbines start by whining for a while, then give a ladylike poof and start whining a little louder.

Round engines give a satisfying rattle-rattle, click-click, BANG, more rattles, another BANG, a big macho FART or two, more clicks, a lot more smoke and finally a serious low pitched roar. We like that. It's a GUY thing.

When you start a round engine, your mind is engaged and you can concentrate on the flight ahead. Starting a turbine is like flicking on a ceiling fan. Useful, but hardly exciting.

When you have started his round engine successfully your Crew Chief looks up at you like he'd let you kiss his girl, too!

Turbines don't break or catch fire often enough, which leads to aircrew boredom, complacency and inattention.

A round engine at speed looks and sounds like it's going to blow any minute. This helps concentrate the mind!

Turbines don't have enough control levers or gauges to keep a pilot's attention. There's nothing to fiddle with during long flights.

Turbines smell like a Boy Scout camp full of Coleman Lamps. Round engines smell like God intended machines to smell.

Hat tip to Rivrdog for reminding us all just how cool the radial engines are!

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

The Carnival of Curmudgeons is up!


Rivrdog, the host of the Carnival of Curmudgeons, has the Mark IV version posted at Curmudgeon Call.

This is a new carnival, only the fourth edition, and it has the potential to become really popular.

There's even a recipe for Chicken Slumgullion.




Tuesday, January 17, 2006

BBAGA Smaller Logo

Hey, gunbloggers! I finally got the smaller Blogger Buy A Gun Anniversary (BBAGA) logo up over there on the right side bar, so when your 'Blogiversary' arrives you can have the small or the large logo panel for your post, which ever you prefer.

For the complete details on BBAGA click here.

Thanks to Josh at South Park Pundit for designing both of these logo panels.

He did a good job, didn't he?

e-Postal Matches - Here They Come!

The first Handgun e-Postal Match of the year will be announced on or before January 37th.

I had previously said that there would be a January e-Postal match, so the first one will be in VERY LATE January.

OK, how about Feb. 6th.?

Let's see, what shall the first one be? Don't want it to be too easy, do we?

Hmmmmmmm.............

(Sounds of fiendish laughter in the background)

Gunnie Awards for Gun Blogs

Countertop over at Countertop Chronicles has decided to do something about there being no gunblogger categories in the various blog awards. He has created a new blog award contest called the Gunnie for gun blogs.

There are a number of different categories for the nominations, so head on over and nominate your favorite gun blogs. Nominations close shortly, so you might want to head over there now and get your nomination in.


If you need any help in deciding who to nominate, I'd be happy to help with suggestions.......

Monday, January 16, 2006

"Speed Pins" Bowling Pin Handgun Match Rules


"Speed Pins" Bowling Pin Handgun Match
Basic Rules

All normal range safety rules apply. Safety is paramount.

Distance: 25 feet

Pin type: Five full size bowling pins for all calibers.

Pin tables: 36" to 40" high, but it can be varied to guarantee that bullets will safely hit the berm or backstop. Pin tables are five feet wide. Typically four tables are required. Plans for "Speed Pins" pin tables are available HERE.

Pin spots: Pins are spotted 12 inches apart, equally spaced.

Format: Matches are head-to-head. The first shooter to get all five pins ON THE GROUND OR BERM wins the round. Tie tables are shot over. If a pin is knocked off of the table by a shot hitting the table instead of the pin, and that shooter wins that table, the table will be shot over. If one pin falls to the side and knocks over another pin, there is no penalty or shoot-over.

Each round is two out of three to advance. Either single or double elimination can be used. If double elimination, the final round should be three out of five to win.

Timing In: Each shooter shoots four tables, of five pins per table, individually timed. The shooter's three best times are added together, and the first round match-ups are determined by qualifying times.

Match-ups can be either fastest against next fastest down to slowest against next slowest, or fastest against slowest, or however you want to do it. Fastest against next fastest is best for new shooters, as they get to shoot against other new shooters, in most cases. Other schemes for match-ups can also be used.

Timing in is a good idea, rather than perhaps just a luck-of-the-draw match-up, as it allows every shooter to get warmed up a bit, and to be sure everything is working OK.

If there a a large number of shooters, timing in may be reduced to "Best two table times out of three", or even "Best table time out of two".

Start: Referee's commands are typically

"The range is hot."

"Shooters to the line"

"Load and make ready."

"Ready on the left"

"Ready on the right"

"Standby."

Shooter's start position can be either be with gun touching the table, if there is a table, or with the gun held in front of you pointed down at a 45 degree angle. The referee will announce before the start of qualifying which start position will be used. Trigger finger should be outside of the trigger guard.

When the referee's timer horn blows, the shooters commence firing until the referee announces either:

"Winner on the Left"

"Winner on the right"

or "Tie table".


If the referee cannot determine the winner on a close table, he may appeal to the other shooters for help.

Please stop shooting once a winner is announced.


The referee will then announce:

"Show clear"

and the shooters will remove magazines, lock the slide back, and show the referee the empty chamber. Some ranges may require chamber flags to be inserted into the chambers.

Depending on individual range rules, you may be required to transport your handgun to and from the firing stations, or to another firing station holstered or in a case or carrier so you are not touching the gun itself.

The referee will then announce:

"Range Clear (or Cold), pin setters, please."

All shooters are expected to help set pins when they are not shooting, or on deck.

Magazines: Rim fire shooters can load no more than ten rounds in their first magazine. Center fire shooters can load no more than eight rounds In their first magazine. No restriction on second magazine.

Ammunition: Lower velocity center fire bullets can bounce back off of a bowling pin with devastating results, so full metal jacketed bullets are not a good idea, particularly with lower velocity centerfire ammunition and/or light loads. Hollow points are OK. Any .22 caliber ammunition, excluding bird shot, is OK.

Classes: Rim fire optical sight, rim fire iron sight, revolver, and semi-auto center fire are the basic classes, but you can split large caliber and smaller caliber center fire into two classes, or split center fire into optical sight and iron sight classes.

Red dot sights are considered optical class. High visibility sights with plastic inserts are considered iron sights. If you are unsure, check with the referee BEFORE signing up. Iron sight guns MAY be allowed in the optical sight class, but optical sighted guns may not shoot in the iron sight classes. Center fire Revolvers are usually allowed in the center fire semi-auto classes, according to their type of sight.

The guiding principle is that a slower class gun can step up into a faster class, but not vice versa. Rim fire semi-autos may or may not be allowed into the centerfire classes, depending on the wishes of the center fire shooters.

You MAY be allowed to enter two different guns in a class, provided they are significantly different, and you clear it with the referee first, and pay two entry fees. If you come up against yourself in the match, you must retire one of the guns and continue with the other gun. Once the gun has been retired, it cannot be used later in the match.

Currently there are no standardized rules for pin shoots, and this set of rules for "Speed Pins" will hopefully fill some of that gap.

There is also a set of rules HERE for pin shooting matches where you use full size semi-permanent pin tables and wider pin spacing, or pin tops for rimfire matches.

Typical entry fees are $5 to $8 for center fire, and $5 for rim fire, per gun.

Some clubs also have a "Fast Table Time" pot, where you can put a buck in the pot, and the whole pot goes to the fastest table time when timing in.

I put this together in somewhat of a hurry, so if there are any questions, or any rules omitted, please leave me a comment and I'll update the post.

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Thought for the week......


"The Piper Cub is the safest airplane in the world; it can just barely kill you."

- Attributed to Max Stanley (Northrop test pilot)

Dan McKown WALKS out of hospital!

The world's full of bad news, so how about some GOOD news? Dan McKown, the hero who just before Thanksgiving attempted to stop a nut-case shooter in a mall in Tacoma, Washington, and ended getting shot several times, has WALKED out of the hospital.

The doctors had said he would never walk again, due to the spinal cord damage done by one of the bullets. Dan, however, refused to accept their diagnosis, and maintained from the beginning that he WOULD walk again. And he has now walked out of the hospital under his own power! Now THAT'S good news!

Here's an excerpt from the Seattle Times article:

"God doesn't do miracles halfway," he told KOMO-TV as he left Good Samaritan Hospital in this community near his Tacoma hometown. Referring to the spinal injury, he added, "At least you know I have a backbone."

He has feeling now in his legs, and is walking with the help of braces and the walker.

More power to Dan, you just can't keep a good man down!!

A hat tip to Blognomicon for spotting this story first!

Saturday, January 14, 2006

Grampa Pinhead Blog -- Farewell

As of tomorrow, Grampa Pinhead's blog will be no longer active. He's leaving it up for those who may be linked to it, so some disreputable types can't take over his web address and post a porn site or whatever in his place.

KeeWee and I both read his blog regularly, enjoying his humor, analysis, and Detroit Hockey fanaticism.

Blogging is not for everyone, and Grampa Pinhead did a good job of it, but he has decided that other things competing for his time are of a higher priorty.

We will miss GP, and he already knows that if he gets bit by the blogging bug once in a while, Mr. Completely would be honored to have a guest post from him.

Thanks for the pleasure your blog brought us, and we wish you clear skies, good health, calm winds, and good goal tending.

.......and don't forget to keep your stick on the ice!

It Always Rains in Seattle....

Yep, it always rains every day in Washington state. Rains day and night, steady rain, never stops, I tell you, it's terrible, you'd hate it. Gray, wet, miserable, couldn't be a worse place to live, might just as well move to Siberia, I'd say.

And then there's the volcanos blowing up daily, and the indian uprisings, the floods, the locusts, the pestilences, there's no end to it.

Don't even CONSIDER moving here, surely you'll get brain fungus and die a slow and terrible death. Oregon and Idaho are the same, terrible places.

There's even a special mold infection that attacks anyone who even visits these three states from a blue state. It's a horrible death they die, I tell you!!

Don't say I didn't warn you........


Note: If you are from a Red state, or a conservative voter from a blue state, move on in, we welcome you with open arms, and please ignore the first part of this post, it was just to discourage liberals from moving here!

Blonde Geometry Test


Some of these tests are just too easy.
I got this one right away!

Back from the Range

Hi Point 9mm. Carbine with Tasco Red Dot Sight


10 rounds with the Hi Point 9mm. Carbine at 15 yards



Boy am I glad Ken called and invited me over the the Holmes Harbor Rod and Gun Club range for a little shooting. It was just what I needed to remind me that when you stop practicing, your shooting deteriorates rapidly. REALLY deteriorates. As in SUCKS! You will notice that I haven't posted any .22 caliber targets. Just as well....

I've now heard the wake-up call, and I need to get back into regular shooting, since there's only a month until the matches start up again for the season.

The only highlight was the Hi Point 9mm. carbine. As I get more rounds through it, it's shooting better and better. The trigger, although it has a fairly long travel, it's getting smoother and more predictable. I've got a fairly inexpensive Tasco red dot sight on it, and it seems just about right.

The more I shoot the Hi Point, the more fun it seems to get! Almost no recoil, not a single jam or mis-feed, economical both to buy and to feed, and it's one of those EEEVIL black rifles, which makes it all the more cool!

For a short barreled 9mm., it's also not too bad for accuracy, considering what it is, and what it's intended to do.

The above target is a 1/2" bull, and that's ten rounds, all through the same ragged hole, 3 or 4 seconds between shots.

Sure glad I was hitting the target with the Hi Point, most everything else was embarassing.............

The Post Can Wait.....


I was just putting a post together when the phone rang. It was my friend Ken, wanting to know if I wanted to head over the the Holmes HArbor Rod & Gun Club for a little range time.

The post can wait.

Back later..........


Friday, January 13, 2006

Granny Get Your (Machine) Gun


Here's a cool video of a granny in a wheel chair gettin' it on with a sub gun! It's not easy to hear her voice, so it's been subtitled.

........Shoot him in the toodles?

I don't think you want to mess with this lady!

Thanks to Griff for this one!

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