Monday, November 30, 2009

Clever Title Goes Here.........

Yeah, I know, it's Monday and I haven't been putting much up on the blog lately. I've got several things in the works, including a lot more on rimfire trouble-shooting and tuning, but nothing yet ready to post. I should be getting the Chiappa 1911-22 pistols for reviewing sometime this week. I'm really looking forward to checking them out.

In the meantime, here's something you should enjoy. I can't help it, I just love bad jokes, and if you mix in science and general nerdiness, what's not to like.......



Hat tip to cool Stuff. (Warning, slightly NSF sometimes)

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Saturday, November 21, 2009

Skeet For Real Men........



Somehow Chuck Z. is involved with this, I'm sure........


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Thursday, November 19, 2009

Puns For Educated Minds

1. The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.

2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.

3. She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.

4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.

5. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.

6. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.

7. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.

8. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.

9. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall.. The police are looking into it.

10. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

11. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other: 'You stay here; I'll go on a head.'

12. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.

13. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'

14. The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.

15. The man who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.

16. A backward poet writes inverse.

17. In a democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.

18. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.

19. If you jumped off the bridge in Paris, you'd be in Seine.

I'm totally innocent, blame it all on LocoLuke, who sent these to me........

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Sunday, November 15, 2009

October e-Postal Match Results

I completely forgot to post the link to the October e-Postal match results, so Here You Go!

October e-Postal Match Results

Thanks to U.S. Citizen at Traction Control for hosting the match.


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Friday, November 13, 2009

e-Postal Match Reminder

Don't forget that the last e-Postal match of the year is underway, and will be until the 30th., so head over to Sand Castle Scrolls, download the target, print out a copy of the rules, and head out to the range.


You DO like James Bond, don't you?

Thursday, November 12, 2009

No Time For a .............

Man, busy doesn't hardly cover it lately. KeeWee left yesterday morning for two weeks in New Zealand to visit her daughter for her daughter's birthday and to also spend some time with her brothers. I got a phone call this afternoon that she had arrived safely. It's a very long flight, though, and she was pretty much worn out. I sent my netbook along with her, all set upo for her email and blogging, so we may be seeing some posts from "En Zed".

I couldn't seem to get the Project Valour-IT Fund Raising Thermometer to work right on the blog, as whatever I did it seemed to wipe out the template and mess everything up. Since I couldn't get it to work right, I just wrote a blog post about the fund raiser. I did sign up to be on the Army team this year, but it looks like Soldier's Angels checked my blog and didn't see the thermometer, and missed the blog post, so they took me back off of the Army team. Doesn't matter, though, as the important thing is to raise money for Project Valour-IT.

I am starting to get some articles into magazines, and last month Front sight magazine had a short article and a picture about Steel Challenge at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous. Next issue I will have an article and pictures published in Front sight about the Prescott, Arizona Steel Challenge match. I'm also writing away on the Rimfire Race Guns, tuning the .22's for Speed and Reliability" book. I keep thinking of new chapters to include. Sure wish I could write faster. (Writing better wouldn't be a bad thing either!)

The weekend before Thanksgiving plans are to Fly to Boulder, Colorado for a filming of Michael Bane's Shooting Gallery. He's doing a program on rimfire competition and he's invited me to participate. (Or else he's REALLY desperate and no one else wants to go shooting in Boulder in the Wintertime. It could be either one, or maybe just comic relief, who knows?) BTW, I showed up on the promo film clip for Michael Bane's Shooting Gallery. There was a Dueling Tree side match at the Steel Challenge World Championships last year, and Bane & Co. were filming it. Check it out! I'm wearing the two toned blue shirt.

I am planning a venture back into Centerfire Steel Challenge competition. Presently a really competitive open class race gun is horribly expensive, usually over four thousand bucks. From my experiences with my Taurus Econo Race Gun project, I think I can build a seriously competitive open gun for a whole lot less, based on the Taurus PT-92AFS. I picked up a brand new one, still in the box, on Gunbroker for under four hundred bucks, and I already have plenty of magazines for it. I figure a new barrel and compensator, a C-More style sight mount, a C-More sight, convert it to single action only, and finally some things I've figured out to tighten it up and improve it's accuracy should do the trick.

I have a pair of Chiappa 1911-22 pistols on the way for a magazine article and a blog review. Why two? One will be reviewed as manufactured. The second one will get a bit of tuning for Iron sight Rimfire Steel Challenge. This gun will get some serious competition in the hands of some good iron sight shooters. If that works out and the gun shows promise for competition, a full blown rimfire race gun will be built up, and we'll take it racing as well.

I also have a gun review to do on the latest Hi-Point 9mm. carbine. A while back I reviewed the earlier model Hi-Point 9mm. carbine, so it should be an interesting comparison.

Yet another review will be on the early model Smith & Wesson Model 41 .22 pistol. I've got my hands on one and it's pretty nice.

I've been getting inquiries every so often asking if I would do action jobs, trigger jobs, cure problems, and so forth on rimfire pistols. I've been helping my friends out for years, but it looks like there is some demand for this and the wait is often very long at existing gunsmiths that will work on the rimfires. Under the current laws, though, I can't take in any of these jobs unless I hold a Federal Firearms License. Sure, I know there are lots of "shade tree" gunsmiths out there, but if you get busted it could be a felony, and that could not only cost you your CCW, it could cost you gun ownership entirely. Not a gamble I want to take for a few bucks!

With all of that in mind, I telephoned the local ATF office and told them what I was considering. They were very nice, answered my questions, and referred me to another phone number to order the application package. I am now in the process of getting everything filled out to send in. In Washington State you also need a state license for handgun sales in addition to your business license, and that's applied for in the county Sheriff's office. I telephoned them, and they were also very helpful. I can't apply for the state license, though, until I have my Federal FFL number. With the exception of having to include passport pictures, the whole process isn't much worse than what all you have to go through just to buy a handgun in Washington state anyway. I'll keep you all posted as this progresses.

Over the last few days I've also been helping a friend value some of his gun collection. Have you ever seen a Francotte side by side double barreled .410 shotgun? It was made in Belgium before WWII. It's engraved everywhere, even the heads of the individual screws are engraved. It's absolutely beautiful!

In my spare time I've been trying to keep up on my day job..........


WHEW!

Saturday, November 07, 2009

Rabbit Report

Bun, our rabbit, whom we raised from a tiny, severely injured ball of bunny fur, has been growing like a weed. Since Bun seems to like chewing wires in half with his (her? still aren't sure) side-cutter like teeth, Bun doesn't get to roam the house, and is watched carefully when out of the Bunny Hilton.

"You wouldn't mind if I go chew off the telephone cords, would you?"

Bun will sleep on my lap, but never for very long. When you are on the top of the dinner menu of just about every carnivore in North America, sleeping soundly is probably not a good idea survival-wise!

"The cell phone charger doesn't work? Would I do a thing like that?

Bun also loves to chew on stuff, and shredding newspaper is a particular delight. Bun's diet is primarily alfalfa, mixed rabbit pellet food with assorted seeds and grains, and fresh kale as a special treat every day. Rolled oats are also a favorite treat.

I had no idea a rabbit could have so much personality, though.................

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Valour-IT Fund Raising Competition

I've been trying to get the Valour-IT "Thermometer" to show up in the right side bar, but when I get it there, it wipes out the whole template layout if you are using (bleh) Internet Exploder to view the blog. Firefox , though, works fine.

Anyhow, there is a fund raising event underway for Project Valour-IT. Click on the "Donate to Valour-IT" link below

Donate To PROJECT VALOUR-IT

and select the team you'd like to get the credit for your donation. You can choose the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marines team.

There is no finer or more deserving charity than Project Valour-IT. All the money we raise at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous goes to Project Valour-IT, and they could use your help, too.


Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Rimfire Ammunition for Reliability - Part Two

As I mentioned before, if a rimfire round fails to fire when you are out plinking, it’s annoying. If it fails to fire in a match where speed is a major factor, it can be a disaster.

There are a number of things that can contribute to rimfire ammunition not wanting to go bang when encouraged to do so by the firing pin. Not all manufacturers use exactly the same formula for their primer compound, I’m sure. The primer compound may not be equally distributed around inside the rim. The thickness and hardness of the brass at the rim can make a difference. Brass hardens with age, so older brass, or ammunition that’s been sitting around for years may or may not work the same as when it was new.

Moisture can have a huge effect on reliability. I had half a brick of Federal bulk get rained on and it got pretty wet. Not enough to make the box fall apart, but wet, nonetheless. There was no water actually in the box to pour out, so I put the box inside the house to dry. A few days later I checked it, and everything was completely dry. I tried shooting the ammo, and every fifth or sixth round would not fire, even with multiple firing pin strikes. Would a high humidity environment affect reliability? I can’t say for sure, but if I lived in a high humidity area I might consider keeping my ammo in zip lock bags!

Some brands of ammunition seem to have a much higher rate of failure to fire (FTF) than others. Some brands also seem to work OK in one gun, but not in another. As I also mentioned earlier, what may be excellent ammunition today may change for the worse, and the folks making today’s less reliable ammunition may clean up their act and become the best. With any ammunition recommendations, you should bear that in mind.

From my experience, and from watching other shooters in matches, Remington bulk pack seems to be the most unreliable of those brands readily available. From my limited experience with Remington bulk, I would see perhaps ten or twelve FTF’s per brick. Remington’s higher priced ammo, built by Eley, is probably quite good, but I’ve not shot enough of it to say either way.

Federal bulk pack, my favorite practice ammunition, seems to FTF three to five times per brick. I’ve also tried Winchester Dynapoints and found them to be similar to Federal reliability-wise. Dynapoints also seem to be quite accurate, particularly if you weigh them and match them into lots by weight. When Dynapoints were available in Walmart for around fifteen dollars a brick they were a good choice as practice ammunition, but when Walmart dropped Dynapoints and K-Mart started carrying them, but at over thirty dollars a brick, I stopped shooting them completely. I still have a brick or so, and I am gradually using them up in e-Postal matches.

There are also a number of other brands of rimfire ammunition I’ve tried over the last few years. For several years I used Sellier & Belliot Club. It was extremely reliable, moderately priced, and quite accurate. It also had a heavy wax/grease lubricant on the bullets that could interfere with feeding, particularly if the weather was below seventy degrees, which is pretty normal for Western Washington. After some experimenting I discovered that if I dumped the rounds out of their box onto a paper towel, sprayed them with Brake-Kleen, let it soak for a couple of minutes, them rolled them between several layers of clean paper towels most if not all of the lubricant would be removed. After letting them air dry for a few minutes I’d give them a light spray of CRC Heavy Duty Silicone spray, roll them around a bit more to distribute it, then put them back into their individual holes in the ammo box. Unfortunately S & B Club is no longer available, at least if it is, I can’t find it.

I have only limited experience with American Eagle, a Federal manufactured product, and it seemed to be similar to Federal Bulk, no worse, and possibly a little better. CCI Blazer seems to be quite good for reliability, but not quite as accurate as some other choices. If I could find it in bulk at a reasonable price I’d probably switch to it for practice. I bought a case of Eley Sport, which appears to be the same as Aguila Super Extra Standard Velocity, or at least very similar. The Eley Sport is built in Mexico by Aguila. I’ve only shot the better part of one brick of it so far, and not a FTF at all. I need to shoot a lot more of it, though, as this is a rather small sample to go by.

Match ammo? For the last few years I’ve been using CCI Standard Velocity, and it’s been very good. It almost always fires, and it’s also very good for accuracy. There’s a rumor that CCI Green Tag is nothing more than CCI Standard Velocity that’s been sorted by weight. I have no idea if that’s true or not, but it shoots well enough that it could be possible.

So far everything I’ve mentioned has been relatively low velocity ammunition. For some guns there just isn’t enough energy to reliably cycle the action. Personally, I think just about any rimfire semi-auto pistol, properly tuned, will run on standard velocity ammunition without problems. In Steel Challenge, where I regularly compete, delivering a lot of energy to the steel plate has no advantage, and the hotter the ammunition the more muzzle rise you have to contend with. No point making it any harder that it already is! If your gun will only run on CCI Mini-Mags, I suspect either the gun’s action is still a bit rough, the slide spring is too heavy, or the slide itself is too heavy, or possibly a combination of all three.

If you are having higher FTF rates than these, you very well may have something, or multiple things, not quite right in your pistol, not far enough wrong that it doesn’t run at all, but just enough wrong that the gun is adding some FTF’s of it’s own.

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Last e-Postal of the Year Now Underway

Danno, proprietor of Sand Castle Scrolls and regular e-Postal match shooter is now getting his chance to wreak his revenge on all of the other e-Postal match designers of the year by designing and hosting this last e-Postal match of the season.

The theme is James Bond movies, and there is even a tiebreaker based on identifying the graphics and the Bond movies they are from. Danno has set this one up with lots of classes, too, so rifle, pistol, or whatever you've got, there's a class for you!

Let's get lots of entries in for Danno's efforts to put together the last e-Postal match of the year.


In case you missed it, the October match deadline has been extended to November 9th., so there's still time to get out to the match and shoot the October match, too.


Have fun!

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Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Chiappa 1911-22 Rimfire Pistol

It looks like there's a new rimfire pistol coming on the market, and I can't wait to get one to review. It's made in Italy by Armi Chiappa, and it's closely based on the 1911. So far it sounds pretty good, and there's a few early reports that it's definitely a nice shooter.

Here's a link to more information

It's being distributed by MKS Supply, which is also Hi-Point Firearms and Charter Arms.

Stay tuned on this one!

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Technorati Replacement?

A few months ago Technorati stopped working. It was a pretty handy deal when it DID work, showing me who links back to posts here on Mr. C. I left a message on their support page a few weeks ago, but no reply or function resumption. Reading through their site it's clear that they made a lot of major changes, and after the changes, a LOT of blogs didn't show properly anymore.

Is anyone aware of a similar service that will let you know who has linked to your blog posts?

Sunday, November 01, 2009

On The Shuttle Bus

A short conversation on the shuttle bus from Whidbey Island to the airport:

Guy From Ireland: "So, where are you headed to?"

Me: "I'm flying to Prescott, Arizona for a pistol match."

GFI: (With superior tone) "We've gotten rid of all the handguns in Ireland!"

Me: "You'll probably have better luck if you get rid of the criminals instead."

.......... Silence ..............

(End of conversation)

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