We're the Military and Airpower Guys of Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online + a stray we found wandering around looking lost. All original material JHD, BHD, JR, WT, and KA 2003-2010 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:04:22 Z Movable Type 4.12 en Copyright 2010 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:02:19 -0600 ]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83740 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83740 Sun, 01 Feb 2009 13:30:06 -0600 Josh,
.577 Snider is straight cased, unlike the 577/450 Martini-Henry

Ah yes, my mistake.  I can never keep the two straight.

I'm not saying everything must go, But there are some nagging questions, thing just don't make sense. We have a medically retired policeman, living, on a fixed income, They can account for 259 rifles and over half a million rounds of ammunition. He has black powder for reloading. He has an underground bunker for the ammunition. There were no .22's, this was all the more exotic weaponry. There are many more questions to be answered.

I don't know how much money he has available and how little you could acquire such stuff for, or even how long he has been amassing it...but I don't like to be to quick to jump on the "Poor people can't afford that, he must be a criminal!" card.  It's possible, but I prefer give the guy the benefit of the doubt until I see SOME evidence otherwise.
]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83739 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83739 Sun, 01 Feb 2009 13:16:24 -0600
So, keep at it!]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83724 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83724 Sat, 31 Jan 2009 22:06:00 -0600
Message received, for me, issue closed. Thank you, for your counsel.

V/R Grumpy]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83722 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83722 Sat, 31 Jan 2009 20:07:51 -0600 That is actually the subtitle of the autobiography - "The Other Mr. Churchill" - the gunmaker and original forensic scientist. ]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83718 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83718 Sat, 31 Jan 2009 17:37:37 -0600
I'm perfectly willing to let law enforcement do its job in any specific case, and wish them the well of it, as long as they are playing by the rules.

I'm not making a judgement on Hinkle's specific case.  If he's innocent, I hope it turns out well for him.

My point was countering/offering up a different narrative to the one generally offered by LE and the Press, which is "Oooo! Scary!  Lots of Guns!  Lots of Bullets!  Bunker!  Assault Rifles!  Semi-Automatic weapons!  WWII military-style arms!"

All of which is true, but in the context presented is "Danger Will Robinson!  Danger!"  "Scary!"

My counterpoint is that all of that description, less the slant and hyperbole, applies to my basement.  And if, for some reason, I were the subject of LE interest, they could well characterize my vault as "a bunker-like storage area!"

I'm just throwing it out there that not everybody, not even most, of the people who have basements like mine are a threat.  And you have no idea how many of us there actually are. 

I'm not defending or attacking Mr Hinkle or the Jersey law enforcement guys.

I'm just sayin' that there can be perfectly valid explanations for the same situation that don't involve bad motives or actors.]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83704 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83704 Sat, 31 Jan 2009 08:48:48 -0600 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83696 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83696 Sat, 31 Jan 2009 02:26:19 -0600
"I thought that only rich people could have shooting as a hobby; this looks almost cheap!" "Well, shooting .22, it's about two cents a round. Ammo, cleaning supplies, batteries for the earmuffs, targets." "Batteries?" ... gentle safety lecture follows, showing the difference between the "target shooting culture" and the gangsta culture, benchrest, cowboy ... I don't get everyone hooked, by a long shot, but I've gotten a few. And moved many more from passionate anti-gun to "it's a hobby, leave them alone."
]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83694 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83694 Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:32:09 -0600 .577 Snider is straight cased, unlike the 577/450 Martini-Henry which was also a Boxer case, but bottlenecked.  That said, it is cool looking.
What I like is the fact that the blanks for both are interchangeable as they are only as long as the 577 parent part of the 577/450.]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83693 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83693 Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:15:02 -0600 http://BayonetCollectors.org but he should be. 

As far as age of ammo-  depending on storage conditions over the years, and original quality, stuff back through WW2 is still quite reliable.  Of course, some Slobovian stuff only a few years old can be junk, so age alone is not the best cirteria to judge serviceability.

For home storage, plain old GI ammo cans are fine.  There is little risk from storing even large quantities of small arms ammo, even in case of a fire.   The average "stuff" filled home garage with a couple of cans of gas for lawn mowers, a propane tank for a BBQ a small propane torch or camp stove and a few cans of spray paint or bug spray has about the same potential for burning and throwing stray bits and pieces a few paces.  Small arms ammo in a fire does not go "shooting" off great distances as if it were fired from a gun.  Any solid surface stronger than a cardboard box will pretty well stop any bits or pieces of cartridge case or primers blown out of the case.   Ignore the hysterical accounts in the media or movie scenes which show huge secondary explosions if some small arms ammo is on fire.   [Larger ammunition with explosive projectiles is an entirely different story, but that stuff is basically illegal, so none of us need worry about it.]

]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83681 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83681 Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:18:15 -0600 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83676 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83676 Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:48:28 -0600
Josh - any number of Mauser rifles, plus a Hakim.  The Hakim is fun to shoot.  As long as you're doing the shooting.  If you're on either side of that pepperpot muzzle break... not so much!]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83675 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83675 Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:43:33 -0600
This is a toxic issue, therefore, let's try to shed some light on it.  Supposedly, the individual is a medically retired policeman and has been for 23 years. Supposedly, they found 259 firearms with more ammunition, than most gun shops. NJ State Police and ATF have been called in to execute a search warrant. There are many questions. There are questions about his disability, but I'm not going there. The big question, how and when did he acquire these firearms and ammunition?

My big question, how old is the ammunition and where are you storing it?

Check-

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/185/story/388163.html]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83672 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83672 Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:56:38 -0600 ]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83651 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83651 Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:32:23 -0600
especially of .223, 7.62x39/51/54, 8mm Mauser, 30-06 and .303 British, with lesser amounts of .45, 9mm, 38 S&W, 7.62 Tokarev, and token amounts of numerous other calibers, such as 7.5 French, 6.5 Swede, 7.7 Jap, .45-70 Gov't, and .577 Snider...

Oooooooooh...

What do you have that fires 8mm Mauser?  Gewehr 43?

And there's something inexplicably cool about .577 Snider, just looking at it makes me all tingly...I think it's because bottlenecked cartridges on such a large scale (anything over .50, really) are nearly nonexistent...
]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83650 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83650 Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:21:46 -0600 Sadly, I have had just the opposite impact for the bayonet collecting community... making *them* look like low-functioning 'tards.
Harrumph. Trolling, were you?]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83645 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83645 Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:04:01 -0600 You should get your neighbors to help fund your ammo cache since you're providing your part of town with protection. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83632 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/01/on_why_the_blog.html#comment-83632 Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:12:17 -0600