Forget zombies..

there's a new apocalyptic menace in town.

What round do you use on giant burrowing cock roaches? A regular roach is hard enough to kill without being super-sized. As always, I say start with something big and go from there.

More blogroll

New Jovian Thunderbolt is a guy I like to read, he likes Garands afterall, but somehow I forget to check him out. So up on the blogroll he goes. Now I'll be reminded.

Also putting Blackfork up for the same reasons.

Quote of the decade

From Lawdog, who else?

"For the best part of my adult life, Congress and the various Presidents of this Union have, at best, ignored the Constitution, and, at worst, actively crapped on it.

And I am Sick. And. Tired. Of. It.

No more. My line is here.

You want Government-run National health-care? You do it right -- you get the Constitution amended to allow Congress that power.

Until then -- go to hell."

Read all of it. Now. There's nothing on my page that's worth reading before you go read that.

Ehh

I'm sorry for any tears his family may cry, but I can't find it in me to be sorry he's gone.

Contrary to what others have said, I don't believe he was doing what he thought was best for his country, because I don't believe he ever thought about anything but what was best for him. Why else would he plot with soviet Russians to try and get elected president? Why else would he praise the commies in that same letter?

Why else would he leave a young woman to drown?

Stopping power

You know, a .45-70 makes a pretty good truck gun. And I'm using the term in the same way I might say a .22 makes a good rabbit gun or a .30-06 makes a good deer gun.

Blogroll update

Don Gwinn has moved to Push the Pull Door.
And here we have another Texan, Bob with 3 Boxes of BS

Things to come

Did some more cockle burr hunting this last weekend, things have been busy. Shot the K22 some more and had a blast, there's a post coming on the gallery targets I used. I'm also working on putting together a rifle I will either call Mjöllnir, if I can pronounce that, or maybe just Sam, for those of us who have read Monster Hunter International. I'm taking lots of pictures as I go and will write it up when I'm done.

This is pretty cool

In case times ever get really hard, this could be good to know.

Hat tip to Caleb

Impartial?

My muscular buttocks it is*. Not in the least. Maybe they're just trying anything they can to make some cash. No doubt Obama merchandise sells like hotcakes anyplace the NBC staff is on hand.

*bonus points to anybody who can place the quote

STI customer service

I've been very happy with my Ranger II, and reports like this lead me to believe that status isn't going to change anytime soon.

Long awaited Python range report

I went again this weekend to help my grand dad with his cows. I know I had big plans for firing the first shots from the Python, but I ended up wearing my work clothes and shooting a stump. At 12 paces, about 30 feet for me, I managed a six shot group of less than an inch, single action. Certainly a more skilled shooter could manage something much better, but I'll take that until I can get better myself. I'm still working on my double action shooting (the k22 has been a big help), but I managed six shot groups of about 3 inches, with a flier(s) opening up what were otherwise good (for me) groups each time. I know somebody good could beat that badly, still, I'm very happy with the Colt. It gives me that much more incentive to improve.

As an added benifit, if the governor or somebody important ever invites me hog hunting (fat chance), I've got something nice enough for the occasion. Still need a real barbeque gun though. Maybe a four inch Python?

This is what I was talking about

“It is my understanding there are no [Gulfstream] 5’s available for the House during the Memorial Day recess. This is totally unacceptable . . . The speaker will want to know where the planes are,”

They volunteered to serve us. They didn't sign up for a life of wealth and privelege.

The serving class

This guy doesn't think you should need a picture id to vote, but wants to require them to attend his town hall meeting.

Pelosi and her friends have humbly lowered their standards.

Arlen Spector says he's not required to serve his constituents, he could be off playing golf after all. As if he's doing them a favor.

No, he isn't required to be a senator. He chose to run for the office. An office that serves the people. He volunteered to serve. It's not about frills and privileges. Serving is the privilege.

Being elected to serve does not make somebody into a demi god. It does not transform them into a superman.

Maybe it's time to remind them of that. I say put in servants doors on all government buildings.


On the other hand, Clarence Thomas ain't so bad.

Getting the word out

Some people have radio shows. Some people have blogs. This guy has everybody crossing highway 41 in Slide, Texas.

Ironworker Quote of the Week

Once again, Jeremy P gives us a doozy.

"Man, I call it prepared when I think to go to the bathroom before I leave my house, I don't know nothin' about this survival stuff. All I know is you better be willing to start eating people quick."

And that concludes this week's Ironworker quote of the week.

Barkin' up the wrong tree

You know, I don't like Obama. He's a totalitarian socialist. He has a czar who is magicaly entitled to change how much somebody gets paid. Read the article, the White House actually calls this position "Special Master for Compensation." Obviously I don't like that.

I wish we had just about anybody else for president. That being said, I think the birth certificate crowd is on the wrong track here. The McCain and Clinton campaigns looked into this. You really think the woman responsible for Vince Foster wouldn't have pulled the trigger on this if there was anything to it?

But something else is bothering me here. To play little league baseball, you've got to show up with a copy of your birth certificate. Are you telling me no paperwork is required to become president?

Cockleburr Hunting

Spent the weekend with my grand dad. That included time spent battling his nemesis, Xanthium strumarium. I'd joined in before, either pulling them out by the root or using a hand sprayer. That was then, this is now.

My grand dad now has a gator that he's put a spray rig in the back of. It's the .50BMG of chemical applicators. We spent a couple hours driving around, he'd line up on a burr and bring me in for a shot. It was really a lot of fun.

Somebody beat me to it.

When I first heard about this on the radio, I started thinking of how to respond to Big Brother. Snitched to the government for voicing my views? I couldn't wait to make John Hancock proud.

Then I read what Breda had to say. I can't say it any better than that, so I'll pass it along instead.

Almost poetic,

for an ironworker.

"Women are all a steaming (expletive deleted) cauldron of financial (blaspheme deleted) ruin"-Jeremy P

The Bard would have been proud.

Surely I'm not the only one...

who's first thought was "mile high club" when they heard Clinton was flying back with the two reporter girls?

If I was in a similiar situation, Clinton wouldn't be my first choice.

'Cause he said it better than I could

It's a long song, but worth listening to.

Movie time

I went and saw Public Enemies. I really enjoyed it, and will have to see it on DVD to be able to identify everything. As others have mentioned, there are a lot of neat old guns featured. The cool want-to-haves were nice, and by that I'm talking BAR's and Thompsons, but it was really cool to see a Model 8 and think, gee, I've got that.

In other news, Christian Bale gets promoted now. He's worth buying a ticket for.

And in local news...

Lamb County sheriff's officers arrested Mickey Dale Birchfield, 51, and Bradford Stanley Halderman, 53, on charges of homicide.

Once upon a time, I worked with Birchfield. Ordinarily I'd have thought him too lazy to kill somebody, but on the other hand I guess meth and whiskey can do things for somebody's ambition.

Range Report

As I mentioned the other day, I got some shiny new-to-me guns. I had a really busy weekend, and so didn't get to shoot the Python. Did I mention it's unfired at the moment? That's going to change soon, but I'm going to do it the right way, maybe put on my nice boots instead of my normal wedge sole Wolverines.

I have gotten to shoot the K22 though. It's a 4 inch Combat Masterpiece. When I told my brother that his immediate reply was "It's a .22, what are you going to combat? Elves?" That's beside the point though.

I'll skip the part where I talk about the craftsmanship, the arcane pins and recesses that make whippersnappers and glock shooters fall asleep. I won't boast on the trigger or the balance. Instead, I'll skip to the exciting part.

At best, I'm an ok shot. And only on a good day. Until now I've never taken a great interest in shooting double action. Part of the reason for getting the K22 was to work on that particular character flaw. I put out some water filled gatorade bottles and went to work. I noticed an orange lid and gave it a shot. I couldn't tell what happened so I tried again, only to have it disappear in the dirt. Afterwards, as I was cleaning up, I found it again, behind a big dirt clod, 16 paces from where I'd been shooting.


I'm going to lay that on the gun. It's a keeper.

Quote of the Day

Yeah, that sums it up.

Why, it's almost like it's not the firearm, but the person using the firearm, that's the issue...

From JayG. Go read the rest.

Book Review: Foreign Enemies and Traitors

Matthew Bracken has finished the Enemies trilogy, and I think he saved the best stuff for last.

One of the things I enjoyed in the previous two novels was figuring out what real life figure was represented by various characters, and Foreign Enemies did not let me down in that regard. I also enjoyed when characters would have historical names, such as Leander McNelly and Basilio Ramos in Domestic Enemies, but then I'm a history dork.

There have been times when I've read a book and gotten a little tired of how convenient it is to find a hard core, gung ho special forces veteran. They're special for a reason, if every other guy walking down the street is a Green Berret, how special could the special forces really be? Bracken manages to walk the line though, and find them where it makes sense to find them.

Anyway, if you're reading this blog, then you really need to read the Enemies trilogy. Start at the beginning or skip to Foreign Enemies, it doesn't matter, but read 'em all