February 19, 2008
Seen at the SHOT Show this year...
What all the cool Bubba's will be taking to the field to bag their deer this year.
February 10, 2008
Rednecks of Argghhh! - and a vote bleg.
This post has been pulled from the archives... not just because it's Sunday and I'm lazy (well, I got other stuff to do) but because Yu-ain Gonnano pricked me a bit (whether that was his intent or not). Oddly enough - this post first ran on Feb 12, 2006, almost exactly two years ago.
Yu-ain said:
Oh, and by the way. I just hafta share (this is a gun-ish blog of sorts):The LG and I just completed the Safety Course needed to obtain our state's Handgun Carry Permit.
And while I've only been to the pistol range twice before, I've got to say my groups looked pretty dang good. From all the targets I could see, only one person shot better than me.
But what really made me proud was the LG, who had never shot a gun before came in 3rd. If it hadn't been for two fliers she would have beaten me.
The instructor looked at her, then at me and asked me if I played poker. I told him I played a little. He looked straight at me and said "Don't Cheat".
Heh!
Heh, indeed. SWWBO and I can shoot, too. See below.
********************************************************************
As SWWBO noted in her post yesterday, it was a very Red State day at Argghhh! Buying large animal supplies, taking care of the horses, late breakfast at Waffle House, 400 rounds downrange in the afternoon. And of course it was a Castle Argghhh! Range Day, with two WWII vets providing the fun.
SWWBO is getting more famous among gun bloggers (hey, she's getting *linked* and I'm not!) than Castle Argghhh! Why is that? She's getting dangerous with a pistol. And by dangerous, I mean to the intended target, not random locations generally downrange, either. Just take a look here.
That's three magazines, 45 rounds. No misses. Not bad for her first day shooting a semi-auto. And this isn't her only target, she put over 150 rounds downrange yesterday.
It was a typical day for a beginner - first round was a 10x. After that, we had the usual issues with grip, anticipating recoil, closing the eyes, etc. Rather than get all anal about technique, etc - I just let her blaze away downrange, keeping the occasional eye on things when they got bad (grip problems, especially) but mostly just let her get comfortable with the whole concept of shooting a pistol. We can drag out the Right and Left handed Castle Shooter Analysis Targets on a later trip, and start working on the pathologies. For all that - I must note - every round she sent downrange - hit her target. No misses, which I think says a lot about the pistol *and* the shooter. She tried both the Castle Nazi-marked Radom VIS-35 pistol and the Inglis Hi-Power. Although the VIS-35 probably fit her hand better, she likes the Inglis better - as that target above shows.
We went shooting at Total Range, L.L.C, in St Joseph, Missouri - a place we were introduced to courtesy of KCSteve who invited me to a Christmas party held there by members of MissouriCarry.com. At $20 per person per year, we bought memberships. Very nice place. We don't recommend it to you, however. Then you'd go buy memberships and start taking up range space and we might have to wait to get a shooting stall. Nothing to see here, move along.
The Armorer was pleased with his performance yesterday. I only put one magazine through the Inglis, at 5 yards, with this result. Mostly making sure the Inglis was in good shape, so that problems in shooting would be SWWBO-related, not weapon-related. Easier to fix when you can isolate the variables, eh? Our Product of Canada was in fine shape, only suffering from his user's problems, not those of his maker or bad storage.
I then shifted over to the Nazi-marked Polish Radom VIS-35 pistol. Also a 9mm like the Inglis. Three magazines (24 rounds) through that, again at 5 yards.
This is the first time I've shot the VIS-35. I'll spare you the target by target details, but after I was comfortable with it, I sent the carrier downrange to 20 yards. [I'll note at this point while I did cherry-pick the targets to post here, they were *all* like this] The head shots in the following picture are at 20 yards.
Not being happy with the leftward drift (combination of my glasses and how the downrange and uprange light interacted with target and sights), I pulled the target in to 10 yards and put a box of 50 through the Vis. You can see that in the pic above - or better yet - in this pic.
The Armorer *really* likes the VIS-35. A lot. That's 50 rounds in that target - no flyers, no misses. I really really really like that pistol. I need to find some more magazines.
Note to goblins - just remember - if you *do* get past me, SWWBO's right behind me, turning your liver into pate'. You should take the offer of "Turn around and leave" when it's offered. It will only be offered once.
All in all, a good Red State kind of day.
Which is why we think you should vote for us in the Best Master Gunnies competition! Early and often! <===Click that link! Once a day, every day! From home *and* work! At Internet Cafes! We think The BMG Trophy would look good on an Arsenal Bookshelf... but the only way *that's* gonna happen is if I steal it - unless you guys get really busy and start doing what Bill's been doing- borrowing other people's computers... of course, that would be wrong.
BTW - the bleg didn't work. I wasn't even *close*. 8^ )
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �January 16, 2008
Speaking of toy pistols...
Which we did, tongue-in-cheek, in yesterday's H&I Fires... snarking my sister a bit about her attempts to keep "gunplay" out of the play-habits of her children. However, depending on where you live, and/or the relative wisdom and intellect of your child... you *should* keep toy guns away from them. As in these toys in Iraq.
![Which Pistol is the Real Deal? Photo by Spc. Adam Sanders, January 11, 2008 Staff Sgt. Terry Dahl holds a real 9 mm pistol in his right hand and a toy 9 mm pistol in his left at an Iraqi police station in Seddah, to demonstrate how similar the fake and real weapons look. Coalition forces are asking shop owners to stop selling the toys to children so they are not mistaken for insurgents. Staff Sgt. Dahl is with the 9th Psychological Operations Battalion.[The official caption is incorrect - the toy pistol is in the *soldier's* right hand, the real pistol in his left - but to us, the viewer, the toy is on the left, and real pistol on the right. -the Armorer]](http://www.fototime.com/73B313AC92BE1AF/orig.jpg)
Which Pistol is the Real Deal? Photo by Spc. Adam Sanders, January 11, 2008Staff Sgt. Terry Dahl holds a real 9 mm pistol in his right hand and a toy 9 mm pistol in his left at an Iraqi police station in Seddah, to demonstrate how similar the fake and real weapons look. Coalition forces are asking shop owners to stop selling the toys to children so they are not mistaken for insurgents. Staff Sgt. Dahl is with the 9th Psychological Operations Battalion. .[Update: As reader BCross points out - the caption is incorrect - the toy pistol is in the *soldier's* right hand, the real pistol in his left - but to us, the viewer, the toy is on the left, and real pistol on the right. -the Armorer
A little closer look:
Now, you could put markings on them, like the blaze orange markings required for realistic toys/replicas/air soft guns that are sold in the US.
Or, better, yet, provide the insurgents with these rifles and pistols that look like this, to better identify them...
After all, we *might* get 'em to do it - the current crowd running around as insurgents have, in the past, had some silly-looking iron themselves...
December 21, 2007
Unscientific Firearms Testing.
When your internet access is slow, television blows, and what the heck, you own a farm with a pond, gotta get water for the horses, own a few guns, and have some time on your hands... what's an Armorer to do?
Well, go shoot, of course. But for a noble purpose! To break up the ice on the pond so the horses can get to it to drink...
At the same time, I can show off the Castle's newest acquistion... SWWBO's Christmas present. That's right, guys, I got my wife a rifle for Christmas and it was *appreciated!* I bask in the green glow of your envy. KCSteve and Heartless Lib excluded, since they found similar women. Heh. Ya shoulda seen the reaction at the office when I told my compatriots of my gift-giving acumen. The opinion was universal that I was making a HUGE MISTAKE. Hah.
So, meet SWWBO's new bangstick. She's been wanting a "black rifle" for a long time. She likes the SKS (especially the Albanian) but she was hoping for something with a little less kick, but still serviceable as a varmint gun - the coyotes around here have been sniffing around the chicken/guinea coop, and the cats like to sneak out now and again, and SWWBO wants to be able to deal with predators should the need arise.
Her new farming implement is a [ Armorer's note - the designation having caused some questions, this section has been added to] Bushmaster XM15-E2S, according to the receiver. Cabelas, where I bought it, called it an M15S. As a reader noted, Bushmaster doesn't market any such beast - but they do have the O.R.C.©, or Optics Ready Carbine, which is what this rifle probably is.], essentially an M4-clone with a Picatinny rail sporting a TruGlo aimpoint-style sight. With the intechangeability of uppers and lowers in the M16 universe... who knows? I'm not so interested that I'm going to ak Bushmaster if they're using XM15 lowers with their O.R.C.© uppers.] Just in case she feels the need to get up close and personal, this is a post-ban rifle with a bayonet lug, though getting a bayonet isn't really in the plan. A laser, perhaps, but I don't see SWWBO suddenly feeling the need to use cold steel nor go commit drive-by bayonetings...
So, here's SWWBO's new farm implement:
If you'd like to see it a little closer... click here.
Okay, on to unscientific experimentation. Which rifle/caliber choice works best for breaking up the ice - at least this particular form of ice, being a couple of inches thick, but not really rock hard. Now, if you recall last week I mentioned that I had already done a little ice-breaking, using my 1916 dated Mosin-Nagant M91 and my SVT-40 carbine (which might be an actual carbine, or might be one of the fakes that came out of Finland, the provenance is murky on the issue). One of the reasons I decided to try it at all is that with the ice storm, walking down the rocky hill to the edge of the pond was treacherous. With the rifle I could stand on top of the hill, on level ground by the gate, and break up the ice without risking my ample behind and limbs clambering down the hill carrying an axe or pick.
Here's a look at the Castle IceBreakers.
The fodder being used was Sellier and Bellot 7.62x54R 180 grain ball. The 5.56mm for the Bushmaster was Black Hills Ammunition 55 grain ball. I'll have to try softpoints next.
One a whim, I shot 10 rounds from the SVT, and 20 from the Bushmaster (hey, I *said* unscientific).
The is the result - 7.62 on the left, 5.56 on the right. In overall terms, the 7.62 dd a better job... but both would have been sufficient for the purpose - especially as the horses enlarge the holes themselves. If you're curious about the partial melt on the pond - it's spring fed, and the way the spring empties into the pond causes a current against the bank on this side of the pond.
So, there ya go, a quick and dirty examination of what tools to use for ice-breaking out at Castle Argghhh! If this was MIssouri, and the Castle Vickers or Maxims were functional... much less the Carl Gustaf or M18 recoiless rifles...
To close this out - below the fold in the flash traffic/extended entry I've posted a picture of a Sarah BradySchumerRodhamStein nightmare...
Flash Traffic (extended entry) Follows � Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
� Secure this line!
April 28, 2007
Saturday Gun Pr0n.
This is kewl.
Update: Dave (check the comments) found the website where this picture came from. The Sports Shooting site for the German firm Dornier.
The pictures, as received by me, had their markings removed, and came with false attribution. I've fixed that by adding the data back in, and linking to the site (which, as Dave notes, has more kewl stuff on it). I'm cool with fair use, but I don't like people sending me things that have been sterilized - the sender of these was victimized, too. Regardless, what was up yesterday, wasn't fair use, and the Armorer regrets the abuse. Always feel free, if we post something here you know belongs to someone else and we don't atttibute it properly, to let me know, in the comments or in email.
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �March 14, 2007
I need a gun pic.
A little Zen to soothe the Armorer's soul.
I think the Castle Armory's Suomi will do nicely.
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �March 6, 2007
A little olio for the day...
The final assault came before daybreak on the morning of March 6, 1836, as columns of Mexican soldiers emerged from the predawn darkness and headed for the Alamo's walls. Cannon and small arms fire from inside the Alamo beat back several attacks. Regrouping, the Mexicans scaled the walls and rushed into the compound. Once inside, they turned a captured cannon on the Long Barrack and church, blasting open the barricaded doors. The desperate struggle continued until the defenders were overwhelmed. By sunrise, the battle had ended and Santa Anna entered the Alamo compound to survey the scene of his victory.While the facts surrounding the siege of the Alamo continue to be debated, there is no doubt about what the battle has come to symbolize. People worldwide continue to remember the Alamo as a heroic struggle against overwhelming odds — a place where men made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. For this reason the Alamo remains hallowed ground and the Shrine of Texas Liberty.
On this day in 1831, Edgar Allen Poe was expelled from West Point.
Poe didn't want to stay at West Point being a poorly paid Army officer. No one could simply drop out of West Point. Poe knew that the only way to get out of West Point was to be expelled. He disobeyed orders, stopped studying. Once he obeyed orders too literally. He saw a bulletin that said that only one kind of belt should be worn. He wore the belt only, no other clothing. He was expelled from West Point in March 1831. He went to Baltimore, Maryland, and not much is known about what happened in this time
Moving on to Afghanistan - even given the parlous state of her forces under the Blair government (a condition effected by other Brit regimes as well, but Mr. Blair sits in the catbird seat at the moment) the Brits are still there and still slugging it out. These pics are from recent operations in Afstan.
I put the best on display - indirect fire is so much more mentally engaging than simply shooting at things you can see (and can see you...)
But this pic and this pic and this pic show Private Atkins and his tools to good effect as well.
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
October 8, 2006
Gunblogger Rendezvous
Good times! I'll have more during the week - but let's cut to the chase.
The shooting.
First off - SWWBO shoots her first 5.56mm carbine - Say Uncle's rifle.
While I don't have a pic of her target - her group at 25 yards would fit inside an Eisenhower silver dollar.
The Armorer got to shoot many rifles yesterday. Smallest Minority's M1 Garand (a 1943 Springfield, Danish return), with which the Armorer was able to keep his groups within the black at 25 meters firing rapid fire, and was pinging a spinning target at 425 yards (iron sights). Okay, that was after two clips to get the feel. Hey, 49 year old eyes, iron sights, at that range - I'm happy.
This is the Armorer blazing away with Rivrdog's 1945 dated Soviet M44 carbine - shooting battle sights, bayonet extended, supported.
This is the Armorer's 100 meter target - 11 rounds, fired in two minutes, open sights, supported - all in the black. The Armorer thinks that's credible shooting for a blind fat guy shooting an $84 rifle with old milsurp ammo. Why 11? That's what I had left, natch.
Speaking of cheap milsurp ammo... there are some risks. Even with what otherwise looks like clean ammo. Lookit the case rupture on this copper-washed steelcase combloc fodder.
More later and during the week. Breakfast, and later, the airport, calls.
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
May 12, 2006
In the midst of too much to do...
...while suffering the dammed curse 'o the Sassenach, I find this gem in my email box.
Dateline 1979, Germany. A Troop, 3/7 Cavalry is on maneuvers at the military training site at Hohenfels... a handsome and studly young tank commander removes the shoulder holster containing his Army .45 and hangs it from the turret roof near the loader's station. It'll be safe there whilst negotiating the cross-country target acquisition course!Now imagine if you will, gentle reader, the pendulum effect of a heavy pistol suspended by a leather strap from the turret of a 52 ton M60A1 tank- when in the course of the aforementioned exercise the tank is traversing rough terrain and our hero is desperately manipulating the commander's override turret control to engage close range targets... all in a days work for the Cav! But somewhere along the line physics and gravity overcome the precarious hold of the leather holster strap on it's mounting and the pistol falls!... and becomes intimately engaged with the gear mechanism which rotates the turret... the 16 ton turret... which requires a powerful motor to drive said gear... which consumes and ejects a .45 pistol with all the disdain of yer cousin Bubba spitting a sunflower seed.
Sheesh... this cost me $54, the Gummint cost for the WWII Remington Rand-made .45. A chunk of money for me at the time; I was an E-5 and making 450 monthly- and then the bastids wouldn't let me keep it! I wanted it for a conversation piece, ya know- like, "Hey looky what some dumbshirt did to this here gun thingy!!!" but the bean-counting sumbirtches insisted it was still US Property even after they stripped the dinero from my miserable stipend.
The M16 I crushed two months later cost me $174 and they wouldn't let me keep that, either. Bastids.
Heh. Just in case you're interested in what they retail for now... admittedly in somewhat better condition.
You may amuse yourselves determining *who* might have provided this tale of woe...
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �February 10, 2006
Armorer@Home
No, not really home yet, I'm getting ready to pack and head out the door for this morning's confabulating, but I couldn't let this calumny go undefended!
This *is* the Home of the Armorer. This *is* Castle Argghhh! And this, ladies and gents (and undecideds) is the Smorgasbord of Argghhh! What's not to like about this decorating schema? (Plus, it's another reason to Vote For Us!)
SWWBO has her own version of the what this is, a sofa-table-thingy or some such term of art. And she's kinda whining about the use I put it to prolly less than 24 hours after I schlepped it into the house.
But hey, she wanted to go shooting, and I was just laying out her options for what we had ammo on-hand for that she might find interesting.
I repeat - that stuff is there for *her* benefit. That fact that we were going shooting last weekend and the pistols are still there on the table is *not* relevant. Sheesh. The kitties like to play with 'em, too, y'know.
Oh - and KCSteve - The Interior Guard *is* present - there are two of them On Duty (or snuggling) just above the Polish VIS pistol. (To understand that, you'll have to visit SWWBO's place and read the comments.) So it's not like these things are just laying around unattended or something.
And for those of you muttering to yourselves, "He *is* going to id those things, right?" Here ya go.
Left to right: The Armorer's nickel-plated Remington-Rand vet-bringback M1911A1 (I could afford this one - collectors don't like plated guns, but hey - it has *history* which fits 'round here) - Polish TT-33, Austrian Steyr M1911, Polish Radom Vis, and, snuggled in it's holster-stock, an Inglis Chinese Contract Browning Hi-Power.
January 23, 2006
Time for a gun post...
...and not just because we've been nominated at Countertop Chronicles for "Best Gun Pron" in the Gunnies, either!
A topic covered in the gunblogs, I know by Murdoc and others, as well as me... Metalstorm gets closer to entering service. This is an ugly little spud.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Next month a new high-explosive munition will be fired in Singapore and then tested again by the U.S. Army, heralding what may be a sea change in weaponry: a gun that can fire 240,000 rounds per minute.That's compared to 60 rounds per minute in a standard military machine gun.
Metal Storm Inc., a munitions company headquartered in Virginia but with its roots in Australia, has been developing a gun that can shoot at blistering speeds, albeit in short bursts as each barrel is reloaded.
Company website with video click here.
Speaking of Murdoc, I'll let him have at this story.
Speaking of machine guns... take a look at the durability (not to mention reliability) of the latest rendition of that venerable old pig, the M60. Do me a favor - right click and save as - don't stream it. Right-click and save-as here.
I'll close this post with a picture of a new Castle Armory acquisition - a M1886 German Shrapnel round - that has a very interesting (to the Armorer) time fuze. Subject of a future post.
December 10, 2005
Gun Pr0n!
Heh. Kinda. It's gonna make some readers react like it was pr0n, anyway...
Yep. *Ours*
I haven't done anything for you airplane fellas lately.
Something for the sailors... here.
The Coasties... That's the Storis commissioned 1942 and still serving. Talk about "the forgotten service"...
CUTTER STORIS (FOR RELEASE) KODIAK, Alaska (Sept. 26, 2005)--The crew of the Coast Guard cutter Storis will celebrate their ship's 63 years of service on Sept. 30. The Storis was built by the Toledo Shipbuilding Company, Toledo, Ohio and commissioned in 1942. The Storis saw action in World War II in the North Atlantic while assigned to prevent the establishment of Nazi weather stations in Greenland. In 1948, the Storis changed homeport to Juneau where it supplied medical treatment to native villages and surveyed uncharted watersin the Arctic. The Storis and two other cutters, now decommissioned, completed a historic transit of the Northwest Passage and circumnavigation of the North American continent in July of 1957. Soon after, the Storis was transferred to its present homeport here. The Storis continues to patrol the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea proudly bearing its gold "38" hull numbers, which is a distinction given only to the oldest cutter in the fleet. Official Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Christopher D. McLaughlin
and, of course, Marines.
September 9, 2005
Since Boquisucio needs help..
...with his Rangefinder ID, here is the Castle's Barr and Stroud Rangefinder that is part of our Vickers kit. Also in the pic are a Carl Gustav 84mm recoilless rifle and a PIAT. The Gustav and PIAT are for use against people who drive tanks or hide in bunkers. People like that, well, they suck. Of course, the sorry jerks who gave the PIAT to the Brit soldier in WWII suck too. But that's a different story.
Next up is a sample of the Castle Argghhh! LRS, Looter Repellent System. Rabbit ears (German made, ex-Argentine) for target acquisition, sniper loop w/rifle for retail responses, Max the Maxim should a more robust response be needed.
The minefield sign doesn't hurt, either.
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
August 30, 2005
The way to the Armorer's Good Graces...
...is via firepower.
Something SWWBO knows well, having bought me this for Christmas before we got married, and *this* after, and not being annoyed by this or this or this.
Now comes AFSis, fresh from New York. (Happy Anniversary, kiddo!)
And she sends this, a 24 pounder in Castle Clinton... who could ask for more?
Heh. Mebbe cannon with a Cute Chick©? Like this?
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �August 3, 2005
Paper targets fear them...
...and I have no doubt live ones would, too.
Castle Adjutant Barb and the Snarkatron Bad Cat Robot, Denizennes both, did a little shooting yesterday.
We are, *ahem* waiting on the Adjutant's target pics...
BCR needs to pull back the trigger finger a bit, and not pull so hard - an easy touch will do, and drag that center of mass right where it oughta be.
Not that where it *is* isn't going to be hard on a live target.
Lest anyone snark, the Armorer has posted his sadly deteriorating skillz before, too.
Here are some more Armorer targets.
Update: Okay, so Barb did post one some time in the past... Last night! Last Night! Last Night! The Peasants with Pitchforks are roaring!
Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �
July 20, 2005
Morning Glamour Shots...
Lessee, what's up this morning?
Denizen AFSis had a tough Monday. Go say nice things.
Poor John Roberts. As Confederate Yankee points out - it didn't take the Kossacks long... Right Thoughts caught it too, and linked directly. I prefer to *not* have my IP address showing up in Kos' server logs...
Anybody know what movie this gun was made for?
SWWBO (waxing eloquent here about schools) would go for this room! We can't afford it, but she'd go for it! H/t Larry K!
Jeff over at Alphecca has his Weekly Check on the Bias (regarding guns in the news, etc) up.
Xrlq offers this analysis of what Judge Roberts *might* mean to the Supreme Court. For us 2nd Amendment types, looks like we'll need to get at least one more Justice besides Roberts.
Matty at Blackfive has been having some fun. Stuff like this is one reason I'm just as glad I'm not as big as Matt. The tediousness of dealing with wilful ignorance is just numbing.
Dean Esmay takes on Hugo Chavez... Always a romp when Dean gets rolling!
In closing... wouldn't this look *wonderful* on the Castle Coffee Table?
(and I didn't mean the Grant there. It would take *many* Grants to put that hunka-hunka-burning brass on the Castle Coffee Table!)