11/13/2022 - BLOG COMMENTS are again allowed and are moderated to exclude only the bots, advertisements, racial / ethnic pejoratives, and embedded links. I'll attempt to honor Chicago's historical "Bughouse Square" concept of free-speech and open debate --- spanning the curve from the far-left to the far-right. /JZ
Blogging to you from the Northeastern Badlands of The County of Lake, in the state currently known as Fatmanistan, DEEP DEEP DEEP DEEP DEEP inside the heartland of the Banana Republic formerly known as the USA, WELCOME TO THE NEXT CHAPTER! WARNING! ALL FORMS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ARE ADDICTIVE; EXCESSIVE USE MAY LEAD TO MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS, REDUCED JOB PRODUCTIVITY, INSOMNIA, SOCIAL ALIENATION, GENITAL ULCERS, BLINDNESS, POLITICAL EROTICISM, AND / OR DEVIANT FUNAMBULISM. NOTICE: NO GUNS OR AMMUNITION ARE FOR SALE VIA THIS BLOG. (No, I will not trade my Colt Python for some lubricious adventures with your trophy wife and a future first-round draft pick.) CAVEAT: This blog is not suitable for viewing while at work, while inside a public library, while inside any public or private school, or while inside any public or private restroom. Do not view this blog while driving a motor vehicle or while piloting an aircraft. Viewing this blog may be illegal inside the EU, NYC, Chicago, Seattle, and other parts of the Third World. THIS BLOG CONTAINS (albeit often very childish) ADULT-CONTENT. DISCLAIMER: This blog is a hobby, it is not a livelihood. Even though much of what I blog about relates to firearms collecting and recreational shooting, I am not an expert (by any measure) on any facet of guns, shooting, hunting, or personal defense. Entries at this blog are akin to good old-fashioned campfire chats or post hunt bourbon-fueled barroom-bluster; I offer no opinion on what you should or should not purchase, or what you should be using or doing. What does or does not work for me could be rugged-country-miles away from your tastes and your needs. All products, places, and miscellany that I review for this blog are purchased / rented / leased at retail price by me. I do not accept payment, gifts, discounts, freebies, products on loan, distilled spirits, recreational pharmaceuticals, plea-bargains, probation, parole, Papal Blessings, Presidential Pardons, or sexual favors for doing any review or blog post. TRACKING COOKIES: Google et al stick tracking cookies on everybody. If you are online, you are being spied on via one method or another, for one reason or another; 'nuff said. You may be able to minimize your online DNA residue by using Tor and Duck Duck Go. Vive la liberté! Vive all y'all! Ante omnia armari. To each of you, thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, January 30, 2010

A very nice email from a retired Michigan State Trooper

.
(Posted with permission)

I stumbled across your site today, and was delighted with your articles and photos of guns. Many of our personal tastes in firearms overlap, but I suppose it's difficult not to enjoy solid classics. I'm a retired MI state trooper and am currently a firearms/personal defense instructor. Although most folks show up at range sessions with currently-produced handguns, I'm always happiest when somebody breaks out "Grandpa's gun.” I've seen war-trophy Walthers, Lugers, and Tokarevs, as well as military-issue 1911s that came home with mustered-out doughboys. My recent favorite was a Colt Pocket Positive in .32 S&W Long that was alleged to have been the carry weapon of a Purple Gang associate. The client was an elderly lady and had never known her mother even owned a firearm. She didn't find about her parents having operated a speak-easy during Prohibition until after her mother's death. What can be cooler than finding your stodgy old parents had colorful pasts?

I used to have a patrol partner at the Detroit Freeway Post who carried a Colt hammerless Officer's .380 as an off-duty/backup handgun. He still carries it as a retirement piece, and he could have chosen much worse. I prefer the Remington m51 in .380, myself, but generally carry larger stuff despite being old and broken-down. The fact is, a lot of folks carry vintage handguns and are very well served by them.

Please keep up the good work, your site is very enjoyable.

Take care,

Mike Stamm, Paw Paw MI

.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Bluegrass Holsters is out of business

.

Bluegrass Holsters has been removed from our sidebar gun holster website list; they are no longer in business.

CLICK HERE if you are interested in a forum discussion regarding the dissolution of Bluegrass Holsters.

.

Joe Walsh, Republican Candidate for United States Congress from Illinois Eighth District


.

"I am a strong supporter of our constitutionally provided right to bear arms including our rights to own handguns to protect our homes and to carry concealed weapons.

Private citizens are constitutionally guaranteed the right to own firearms. The 2nd Amendment is not at all ambiguous - this right “shall not be infringed.” Guns laws across the country infringe this right, day after day. It is my position that we do not need any more anti-gun laws. Private citizens must have the right to defend themselves, their families, their homes. This right must not be violated by federal, state and/or local government.

In the late 1990s, John Lott, PhD, wrote a seminal book, More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws, that specifically addresses how gun control laws have NOT positively impacted the crime rate. In fact, according to Dr. Lott, those “states with the largest increases in gun ownership also have the largest drops in violent crimes.” I would work to repeal gun laws and to strengthen the constitutional protections given to gun owners."

.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Back from January 2010 winter vacation

.

Thank you for checking in.

Frustrated by the failure of anthropogenic global warming to affect our neighborhood, we took off on a somewhat spontaneous vacation trip to Florida late last week; we just got back. I love to see the USA in my Chevrolet (2005 Cobalt), especially at the 34.4 MPG we managed this trip. The Chevy Cobalt has been a good vacation vehicle for us and we don’t travel light.

As a rule, I leave the computers at home when vacationing. It will take me a week or more to catch up on reading my favorite blog sites. Jeez, I take a week off and the stock market goes all to hell.

My legs are recovering from slight sunburn (no, I was not wearing my fat-man beach thong).

.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

How dare I say that Illinois politicians are corrupt?

.
Perhaps some substantiation is called for. Here is a primer.


Click here for a December 9, 2008 MSNBC article, “Illinois has a long legacy of public corruption.”

Click here for a December 11, 2008 Time article, “A Brief History of Illinois Corruption.”

Click here for a December 13, 2008 Slate article, “Which state is the most crooked, Illinois or Louisiana?”

Click here for a December 15, 2008 Wall Street Journal article, “Obama was mute on Illinois corruption.”  Ironically, our President later lectured Hamid Karzai about cleaning up Afghanistan’s government corruption.

A corrupt government cannot stop government corruption.  Only the voters can.

Illinois Primary Election Day February 2, 2010

With all of the fat rodents running our state, Groundhog Day is an utterly fitting day for an Illinois election.

It seems that every mother’s child in Illinois is whining and crying about one thing or another. I wonder if folks are pissed off enough to do something daring and dramatic… such as voting. Even during the “historic” election year of 2008, the voting age population turnout was only around 57%. The only way for us to end corruption and waste in government is to vote the criminals out of office. Is the word “criminal” too strong of a word to describe our politicians? No, it is a very charitable word to use.

My gun-blogging will be slow for a while longer. I take elections seriously (yes, even the off-year primary elections) and it takes time and effort to sort through the candidates and their positions.


.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Anti-virus software is a leap of faith

.

I tried some free anti-virus, anti-spyware software several years ago; my computer became loaded with viruses and spyware. I dumped that computer, bought a new one, and went back to paying annual fees for a major commercial brand anti-virus package. Recently that virus software began shutting itself off for no apparent reason. A web search showed that I was not the only person to experience this and the customer support offered that their engineers were working on it; the most likely cause was a conflict with a third-party screen-saver (which I don’t have on my computer). After checking and rechecking my computer, I decided to switch to a new brand, Microsoft’s free anti-virus package. I offloaded the old and switched to the new. Wish me luck.

.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Winchester Model 70




I no longer subscribe to any outdoors, guns, hunting, or fishing magazines; the internet satisfies most of my information lust. Receiving a monthly copy of the American Rifleman magazine is one of the perks of being a National Rifle Association member. Traditionally, the American Rifleman has featured some very good writers. The January 2010 issue has a great John Barsness article (available to the public online here) about the Winchester Model 70 rifle. If you grew up reading the Jack O’Connor articles in Outdoor Life, there is a good chance you dreamed of someday prowling the mountainsides while toting a Winchester Model 70.

Many purists will hold the following confession as an apostasy; my sole Model 70 is a post 1964 push feed and is a .30-06 instead of a .270.


.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Bought a new GPS

.

I gave my three (or four) year-old Tom-Tom GPS to my daughter. She was borrowing it so often that I figured it was time for me to get a new one. I settled on the Garmin nuvi 1450; it is not the top-of-the-line but it has most of what I need to see the USA in my Chevrolet. One feature that I like is the wider screen.

This evening I spent a few hours checking the nuvi out and putting in all of our regular (and contingency) waypoints and destinations. In case you are wondering, I still carry road maps.

I went to the Garmin site to register and download upgrades. Gaak! At DSL speed, it should be done downloading this time tomorrow. I hope the maps extract and install on the nuvi faster than they download.

.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Lisa K Hedley, Holster Maker


RJ Hedley passed away in September 2009. His daughter Lisa K Hedley now makes the line of legacy Hedley Holsters.

Contact Information:
Lisa K Hedley
2653 Trinity Cr NW
Winter Haven, FL. 33881

.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Kimber Pepper Blaster, a double-action two-shot chemical derringer


Chemical deterrents may be legal to carry when you have no other legal personal-protection concealed-carry option, or for use during those very rare and tender moments during violent confrontations when something less lethal than a firearm may be appropriate. Chemical spray-liquids and spray-gels are not ideal for all occasions. Some aggressors are so drugged-up, drunked-up, or so darn tough that chemical goop won’t affect them. Spraying chemicals at a gunman would probably be your last great earthly act of defiance.  Some may argue that, if you are sure that you are doomed no matter what you do, spraying may just provide you the slimmest of chances for a miracle. Others would argue that, for a life-and-death encounter, any gun is better than the very best chemical deterrent; having a mouse gun is better than having no gun. That aside, if you cannot legally carry a gun, having chemical spray may be better than having nothing at all, perhaps giving you some chance when otherwise you would have no chance.  You pray, you spray.

For an interesting exchange of ideas and insights on chemical deterrents, visit this thread at Say Uncle.

James at Hell in a Hand Basket talks about chemical deterrents here. He is a personal defense instructor and much more qualified on the subject than I am.

So, what does the honest citizen carry for personal protection in Illinois? The laws here pretty much limit us to carrying prayer books. While prohibited from carrying guns, clubs, knives, stun guns, sticks and stones for protection we are “allowed” chemical sprays and gels. I’ve carried different brands of teargas or pepper spray for over twenty years; I never had an occasion to use any of it so I do not know how effective it is as a deterrent. Remember that any act of self-defense on your part is easily viewed as an act of aggression by the authorities, even when you just use bluster, bluff, and naughty words. As soon as possible, retreat to safety, be the first to call 911 to report an incident, and always have your lawyer on speed dial.

When off my property, my preferred everyday carry consists of two Kimber Pepper Blasters (one clipped in my shirt pocket and one in a nylon belt holster) and one 2 oz. Mace combination OC / CS spray (clipped in my other shirt pocket, or clipped to my shirt collar; the Mace belt-clip does not work well on my belt). I sometimes will carry only one Kimber and one Mace but I firmly believe more is better.

Kimber Pepper Blaster uses a non-aerosol pyrotechnic delivery system and will not lose pressure over time as some conventional sprays do. The ingredient formulation combines a solution of 10% OC (2.4% capsaicinoid content) with Benzyl alcohol for increased viscosity; it is bit more of a gel than a liquid. The OC comes out at speed around 90 MPH with a range of 13 feet.  The units are not refillable; once you fire both loads, you toss the unit and buy a new one.

As with the double action High Standard .22 caliber Derringer, you get only two chances with the Kimber Pepper Blaster so you may want to consider carrying some backup; you may miss with the first shots or you may be facing multiple aggressors. Your target area when using chemical spray-liquid or gelled glop is much smaller than when using a bullet; with chemicals your target area is the face of the bad-guy. Any kid who has ever been in a squirt-gun fight with his brothers can tell you that hitting that target area is much harder than one would imagine. Spraying the bad-guy in the chest or the crotch would probably do nothing to stop aggression whereas shooting him anywhere with the smallest caliber bullet has a good chance to at least get his attention. With chemicals, you have to score a hit to the bad-guy's mug. Don’t expect an aggressor to cower from your threat to spray him. Once the bad-guy knows he is facing a chemical spray he may continue his attack and be a more difficult target, ducking-and-covering to protect his face. Derringer tactics traditionally have relied on surprise and may be the best bet when using chemicals. “When you have to shoot, shoot, don’t talk.”

Getting a good firing grip on the Kimber Pepper Blaster (aka Kimber Guardian Angel) is not easy. What works best for me is to use the middle finger for the trigger while keeping my index finger alongside the top.  If you have long fingers, make sure none of them extend past the muzzles of the unit when firing.

.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Honorificabilitudinitatibus

.

I thought I had found a word never before used in a blog entry title. I was wrong.

It is a perfectly good word. It is surprising our politicians have not worked it into their lexicon. Maybe we will hear it in the State of the Union address.

.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Cheaper Than Dirt to stop ammo sales to California government agencies

.

Kurt Hofmann has the story here.

Cheaper Than Dirt is my favorite outfitter. 

.

Thank you all for a wonderful 2009

.

According to Google Analytics, traffic at this most humble blog site is up 3,482% from this time last year until now. To say the least, this is far more than I ever expected. Your kindness and friendship humbles me.

.

Happy New Year 2010!

.

Well, 2009 was hardly divine. Perhaps in 2010 shit won’t happen again. 2011 will surely be heaven. It’s far too early to delve into 2012.

.

*AGGREGATOR* -NEWS-WEATHER-SPORTS-OPINION-SCIENCE-TECH-RELIGION-POLITICS-GUNS-HUMOR-ENTERTAINMENT-

This Blog's most viewed posts during the past week

This Blog's most viewed posts during the past month

This Blog's most viewed posts during the past year

This Blog's Most Popular Posts of All Time


Be they Republican, Democrat, third party, fourth party or beyond, make each candidate earn it. Vote NO MORE GUN LAWS!

'We the Politicians of the United States, in Order to avoid a more perfect Union, manipulate Justice, destroy domestic Tranquillity, provide for the common offense, promote general Warfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty for ourselves and our Progeny, do blaspheme and eviscerate this Constitution of the United States of America." ("Zack," circa 1966 -1970)
Please consider RECURRING UNIVERSAL BACKGROUND CHECKS of ALL FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL POLITICIANS (including but not limited to school records, acquaintances, employment history, Social Media, financial, drug, and psychiatric screenings). Please consider TERM LIMITS; political power corrupts.