No. Just no.
John Garand was a smart dude, and designed my favorite rifle.
However, he also worked on this abomination. I think I’ll pass.
Interesting Product
I received an email the other day from Mr. Dublin1, asking me if I’d be so kind as to comment on a product he’s selling: a HK-style charging system for AK-pattern rifles.
While I haven’t actually used his product, it certainly looks interesting. After a brief email exchange, he said he’s hoping to get a left-handed model and a non-reciprocating model constructed soon. That makes me, a lefty, happy.
If you’ve got an AK but prefer the HK-style charging handle, this looks like a pretty snazzy product to check out.
- Interestingly enough, he’s presently 19 and a college freshman, and designed his charging system at age 18. I’m impressed. [↩]
Car Stuff
A Haynes manual makes vehicle maintenance easy and occasionally fun.
The fill port for the front differential on a 2002 Subaru Forester is remarkably hard to access.
Gear oil smells nasty.
The dealership charges about $200 for flushing and refilling the diffs, but it costs about $7 in new gear oil to do it yourself. Both myself and the owner of the Subaru (my friend Mark) think that $193 savings is a good thing.
Quote of the Day
Screw quantum mechanics. I should have become a rocket scientist; it’d be easier.
- Me, after a particularly mind-warping quantum mechanics class.
How To Report The News
PA State Firearm?
A state senator in Pennsylvania wants to pass legislation naming the Pennsylvania Long Rifle as the state’s official firearm. Report here.
While I think that such legislation is silly, I otherwise don’t have any objection to it. Some, however, do:
[O]opponents say the idea of designating a state firearm is unthinkable, especially since Pennsylvania cities are scarred by gun-related crimes.
Said opponents are not named in the article, nor is their reasoning — such as it is — explained. How does naming a historical, blackpowder, single-shot, longer-than-four-feet-long rifle as the state’s official firearm have anything to do with violent crime? Whoever these opponents are, they need to unbunch their panties.
Long-Range Rifles?
My friend is looking for a rifle to learn to shoot at longer ranges (800-1000 yards). He’s a good shot now, but would be looking to push his effective range out a bit further.
Any suggestions? I was thinking a CZ 750 would be a good rifle, with little needed to get it ready for long distance shooting. Perhaps a Savage with a heavier, free-floated barrel?
Ideally, he’d like a bolt-action rifle in .308 to have ammo commonality with his existing rifles, with the rifle and any additional costs (e.g. trigger jobs, but not including optics) costing less than $2,500. Optics would probably cost about $1,000 or so, probably Leupold.
Any input would be most welcome.
Haven’t been shooting for a while
I haven’t been to the range in over two months. This is a bad thing, and I’m getting a bit antsy.
Anyone in Tucson want to go to the range in the next few weeks? This range is quite nice and I’d like to go back sometime and get more .22 practice in.
Choice of the Special Forces?
It seems like every gun-related product is “the preferred choice of US Special Forces” or “used by US Special Forces”, but never have any citations for those claims. Many of the claims seem to be mutually exclusive (e.g. Company A advertises that their product is preferred by SF, while Company B makes the same claim about their product).
I wonder where one could actually find quantitative data listing precisely what products are indeed used by Special Forces and, out of those used by SF, which are preferred.
On Congressional Seats
It is not “Ted Kennedy’s senate seat”, it is the seat for one of the two congressmen representing Massachusetts.
For a while, Kennedy held such a seat, but that doesn’t make it “his seat” after he no longer holds it.
