Google this...

Never. Ever. Ask how things can get worse.

I got kicked off Google ads.

I already appealed their initial decision earlier this week, but got this reply today.

"After thoroughly reviewing your account data and taking your feedback into consideration, we've re-confirmed that your account poses a significant risk to our advertisers. For this reason, we're unable to reinstate your account. Thank you for your understanding."

Great.

We now return you to the blog, limping along, but still in progress...

Putin the blog back up

To quote a famous movie line, "I'm out of it for awhile, and everyone gets delusions of grandeur."

I saw this photo on a website called russianfun.net.

Mr. Vladimir Putin?

I think you're trying to send an image designed to scare some Segway-riding pinhead girly men on how tough you are. And hunting! That should do it!

Just one or two things though.

#1 - No shirt. Yes, it shows you're a tough man. Great. But hunting like that for any prolonged period is going to HURT the next morning. And for a week or so after that. The sun is always tougher than you are.

#2 - No vest. Hunters like to have extra ammunition. You know, in case they need to reload. And a vest is the perfect place to keep extra ammunition. Right now, it looks like the only ammunition you have is in in the firearm itself. This says you are either a fantastic shot, or you are hunting in a controlled location and someone else is handing you the ammunition. Oh, and vests are usually bright orange to warn other hunters in the area not to shoot you. That helps tremendously.

#3 - That sling is hanging pretty low. It's going to get caught on all that shrubbery pretty quick, and that's dangerous for both you and anyone in your immediate vicinity. Tighten it up a bit!

#4 - Maybe its me, but it looks like the part of the sling that connects to the stock isn't connected at all. Maybe that's a new tough-guy thing to do... use a rifle with only half the sling attached. But I don't recommend it.

On a side note...


Vladimir Putin is a serious judo expert. Seriously. He may make a mistake or two in a photo op, but he knows his personal self defense.

"One of Putin's favorite sports is the martial art of judo. It has been stated that Putin began judo at the age of 13 and he continues to study judo even today. Putin has won competitions in his hometown of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), including senior champion of Leningrad. Now he is President of the Yawara Dojo, the same St. Petersburg dojo he studied at as a youth. Putin co-authored a book on his favorite sport, published in English under the title "Judo: History, Theory, Practice". After a state visit to Japan, Putin was invited to the Kodokan Institute and showed the students and Japanese officials different judo techniques. Though he is not the first world leader to practice judo, Putin is the first leader to move forward in the advanced levels. Currently, Putin is a black belt (6th Degree) and is best known for his Harai goshi, a sweeping hip throw."

Yikes.

No posts for over a month...

I know. No posts for over a month.

I'll just say it was one of those seasons. The storm is still hanging over my head, but at least it looks like I'm in the eye of it.

Right. Back to it then.

Unloading and loading a break-action shotgun

Unloading and loading a break-action shotgun are very straightforward and only require a minimum of training to become accustomed to.

Opening a break action shotgun for loading or unloading is a very straightforward process. However, even though the process is simple, always follow the four rules.

#1 ALL FIREARMS ARE ALWAYS LOADED
# 2 NEVER POINT THE MUZZLE AT ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO DESTROY
# 3 KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET
# 4 - BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET

While all four rules are equally important, let me emphasize that while unloading a firearm, be certain to keep the firearm pointed away from any target AND your finger off the trigger at all times.

Now having said that, we can begin by pressing in on the BREAK OPEN SWITCH on the front of the trigger frame. When you press, you want to move it directly back toward the stock of the firearm as in the photo below.


Continue to press back on the break open switch until it can move no further.


Now you can easily break open the shotgun. Press down on the stock and down on the barrel while lifting upward on the frame. Like a upside down V. The shotgun will open along the hinge with a "click"


When you open a break action shotgun, a small piece of metal will push the existing shotshells away from the barrel of the shotgun. This is the SHOTSHELL EXTRACTOR. Unloading the break action shotgun is just a matter of pulling the shotshells free from the rim of the extractor.


Loading a break action shotgun is only a matter of placing the appropriate shotshell ammunition as far as they can go into the shotshell chambers so that they rest on the shotshell extractor. Then just close the shotgun by bringing the barrel and stock upward so that they meet and close with a "click". Nothing to it!

After every discharge of the firearm, repeat the process from the first step to unload and load the ammunition.

-end-

Break-Action shotgun terminology

Double-barreled break-action shotguns are still very popular today for hunting and target practice. Although limited in the amount of ammunition they can immediately reload, the double-barreled break-action shotgun is a mainstay in most hunting enthusiast's collection.

This particular model is a Savage Arms Stevens Model 9478 20 gauge. It is designated a "side by side", which means the double barrels are next to each other horizontally. If the double barrels were on top of each other vertically, it would be called an "over and under"



A break-action shotgun has some of the same parts and components as the previously illustrated shotgun.

The STOCK is a solid piece at the rear of the shotgun that adds stability and allows an individual to better handle the weapon. A stock can be made of many materials, but the most popular style is wood.

The HAMMER is used to strike the firing pin and discharge the shotshell in the shotgun.

The RECEIVER is the center piece of the shotgun and is sometimes referred to as the FRAME

The FRONT SIGHT is used in conjunction with the rear sight to align the firearm on target. The front sight on many firearms is a simple bead on the tip of the barrel.

The BARREL guides the shell as it is discharged toward the intended target.

The BREAK OPEN SWITCH (or BREAK ACTION LEVER or RELEASE BUTTON) opens the shotgun for reloading and unloading.

The TRIGGER discharges the weapon.

Notice what is missing from the shotgun previously mentioned?



The LOADING PORT, MAGAZINE, EJECTION PORT, PUMP, SAFETY SELECT SWITCH, and the CARTRIDGE DROP LEVER are not parts of this shotgun!

In a upcoming blog entry, I will illustrate why this is the case in this particular style of shotgun.

-end-

Ruger freebies still available!

Just a quick update on an earlier post...

There are still currently 20 promotional items remaining
(updated 10:05 AM 09/24/07)

100% absolutely free!

Click the link above or here to see what the free promotion is all about!

-end-

Broken chain!

Well, it looks like I broke the blogging chain. Nuts!

I think there's some bug making the rounds down here because this past weekend I was pretty sick, and now my family has started to get flu-like symptoms too. Not fun.

Making lemonade out of this, I think I will create two or three of those photo-intensive blogs a few days in advance and have them in reserve to post as needed. Making that two or three day reserve should cover any sudden problems like this in the future, and also keep the chain going until things get back to normal.

What's that old quote... 'experience are the oars you get after your canoe has gone over the waterfall'.

Well, there's more to experience than that.

-end-

Second shotgun sight - a bead

Yesterday I showed what my Benelli shotgun has mounted as a sight. Today I pulled an older shotgun out of my vault to show the sights most shotguns came with from the factory... a bead.

That little tiny bead, almost the size of a BB pellet, is what you use as a forward sight on your shotgun. Unlike rifles and handguns, though, the act of sighting a shotgun is a little different.



A fantastic article by Field and Stream, written by by Philip Bourjaily, discusses the purpose of a bead on a shotgun as opposed to a "regular" sight.

"To hit with a shotgun, you must keep your eye on the target while the barrel of the gun registers as a blurred smudge in your peripheral vision. That’s where the bead comes in. Don’t think of it as a sight; it’s more like the red handkerchief you tie on a long 2x4 sticking out of the bed of your truck. It serves as a reference, as a flag or marker, so you’re aware of the muzzle as you bear down on the target. You should never carefully measure leads, but the front bead can help you see in an instant when you’ve got the right gap between barrel and bird."

The Field and Stream article is a great summary about the bead on shotguns, and is worth the quick read if you are curious on the why it is also called a "miss-me" bead.

-end-

True Glo Sight

Sometimes when I am at the outdoor range shooting the Benelli shotgun I have been using in the previous photo blog entries, I get asked "just what is that green stick at the end of the shotgun?"

Since I forgot to mention this is NOT a standard component of most shotguns, I thought I should dedicate a quick blog post about it.

That "green stick" is something called a True Glo sight. It catches the ambient light and diffracts it throughout the sight's cylinder. Although it does not "glow" chemically like one of those light sticks you see around Halloween or in some emergency kits, it does make the lining up and targeting process much easier. I suppose "luminescent" would be a better word for it.

It was a breeze to install, but is really only usable in situations where there is some light for it to pick up.

Here is a closeup of the True Glo sight.


Although it does not glow chemically, it does pull in quite a bit of the ambient light in the area, and makes target acquisition much easier.

-end-

Preparing the shotgun to fire

This brief photo blog entry will illustrate how to place a shotshell (a round of ammunition) from the magazine of a shotgun into the chamber to be discharged. This shotgun used in the illustration is a Benelli 12 gauge, but the information generally applies to all manually loaded shotguns.

Loading a shotshell (a round of ammunition) in a shotgun is fairly easy. To start with, move the pump straight back toward the stock. If the pump will not move rearward, you may need to press the cartridge drop lever up toward the frame of the shotgun, then move the pump toward the rear.

If a shotshell was already in the chamber, it will be ejected from the ejection port when you move the pump all the way to the rear. A new shotshell will then automatically be pulled from the magazine for loading just like the photo below.


Now just move the pump forward toward the end of the barrel to load the shotshell from the magazine into the chamber. You can see the shotshell on the way into the chamber in the photo above.


Once you move the pump all the way forward, the shotgun will be loaded and ready to fire. Do not forget that in order to discharge the shotgun, the safety select switch must be in the OFF position ("red is dead").

After the initial discharge of the shotshell, reloading the shotgun is just a matter of moving the pump back toward the rear stock again, and then forward as far as it will go. Repeat this pattern for each shotshell to be fired.



NOTE: Once the shotgun has been discharged with the safety select switch in the off position the first time, you should not have to press up on the cartridge drop lever to reload additional rounds from the magazine. Just move the pump to the rear and then fully forward to reload.

And, once again, remember the four rules!

#1 ALL FIREARMS ARE ALWAYS LOADED
# 2 NEVER POINT THE MUZZLE AT ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO DESTROY
# 3 KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET
# 4 - BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET

A QUICK SIDE NOTE: If you notice in the movies, some idiot always pulls the pump back and then forward on a shotgun to make a menacing "cha-chack" sound. First of all, if a shotshell does not fly out of the ejection port, that means their shotgun was not loaded to begin with! Second, if a shotshell does fly out of the ejection port, the character just threw away 1 of their 8 rounds of ammunition!

Even though the sound of chambering a round of ammunition into a shotgun is universally understood, do NOT cycle or chamber a round of ammunition in a shotgun just to make a point.

-end-

Loading a shotgun

Loading a shotgun is completely different from loading revolvers and automatic handguns. Loading a shotgun is relatively easy, though, and requires a minimum of practice to become proficient at.

Although the shotgun used in this photo blog is a Benelli 12 gauge, the information generally applies to most shotguns with a bottom loading port.

Before loading, make sure the pump of the shotgun is all the way forward and the safety select switch is on SAFE. And as always, when loading any firearm, remember the four rules!


The next step in loading a shotgun is to locate the loading port on the base of the shotgun. It is usually in front of the trigger housing and behind the pump. It is usually made in a contrasting metal color from the rest of the shotgun. This is where you will insert the shotshells (ammunition for the shotgun).


When you load a shotgun, if you have all your shotshells the same type, there is no problem with shot order. But if you want to load a variety of shotshells in your shotgun, remember that shotshells will fire in the reverse order you load them.

For example, let's say in the photo below, you want to fire #1 first, then #2, #3, #4 and end with #5. To do that, you would load #5 first into the shotgun, then #4, #3, #2 and #1.


It helps if you think of it like boarding some commercial airlines. The first ones in will get sent to the tail section, and they will be the last ones to get off.

To load the first shotshell, just push it up into the loading port, and then up again into the magazine. It does not take much force to do this.



Continue pushing the shotshell into the magazine until the base of the shotshell 'clicks' into place in the magazine.


Once the shotshell has been locked into the magazine, it will stay in place by itself. You can proceed to load additional shotshells in the shotgun.


Loading additional shotshells follows the same pattern as the first. Press up on the loading port and up again into the magazine. Additional shotshells will push the ammunition already loaded further into the magazine of the shotgun and will 'click' in place the same as the first one did. There really is nothing to it!


Most shotguns only hold around 8 shotshells of ammunition. If you try to load one more, the shotshell will not enter the magazine, just like the photo below.


A future blog entry will show how to load a round of ammunition from the magazine into the chamber. Once you do that, you can go back and load an additional round of ammunition into the magazine of the shotgun.

This is usually referred to in firearm pre-sales information along the lines of...

MAGAZINE CAPACITY : 8 (+ 1)

Meaning the magazine of that particular firearm can hold 8 rounds of ammunition, but if you load one round of ammunition in the chamber, you can add an additional round of ammunition back to the magazine, making the total rounds of ammunition available for discharge in the firearm 9. (8 rounds of ammunition in the magazine + 1 round of ammunition in the chamber).

Unloading a shotgun

This photo blog entry will illustrate how to unload a typical shotgun. Although the shotgun used for the photos is a Benelli 12 gauge, the information generally applies to all shotgun models.

The first step in unloading a shotgun is to remember the four rules!

#1 ALL FIREARMS ARE ALWAYS LOADED
# 2 NEVER POINT THE MUZZLE AT ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO DESTROY
# 3 KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET
# 4 - BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET

While all four rules are equally important, let me emphasize that while unloading a firearm, be certain to keep the firearm pointed away from any target AND your finger off the trigger at all times.

Now, having said that, begin by making certain the safety select switch is in the SAFE position as mentioned previously.

After confirming the safety select switch is on SAFE, you can begin unloading the shotgun by pressing up on the cartridge drop lever. When you press up on the cartridge drop lever, the bolt on some models may automatically slide back to a small degree.


After you press up on the cartridge drop lever, move the pump of the shotgun all the way back toward the stock of the firearm. When you do this, a shotshell (a round of ammunition) will fall out of the ejection port if the shotgun was loaded. The ejected shotshell may travel a foot or two out of the side ejection port, so be ready for it when it comes out.


If you look inside the ejection port, you will see another shotshell (round of ammunition) moving up for loading. This is normal, and will be ejected in a few moments.


Now, move the pump forward toward the end of the barrel as far as it will go. If you look in the ejection port, you will see the bolt pick up a shotshell and load it in the chamber.


Now it is just a matter of repeating the pattern until no shotshells (rounds of ammunition) emerge from the ejection port. Press up on the cartridge drop lever, move the pump all the way to the back that it can go, then after the shotshell ejects from the ejection port, move the pump all the way forward that it can go. Keep repeating this pattern until no further shotshells emerge.


After moving the pump back and fourth a few times to be certain no further shotshells (rounds of ammunition) emerge, you can look into the ejection port to confirm the shotgun has been unloaded. There should be nothing in the barrel and the lower loading port should have the end loader plug visible.



Most shotguns only hold 4 to 8 shotshells, but it is a good idea to repeat the pattern once or twice after the last shotshell appears to have ejected just to confirm the firearm has been fully unloaded.

-end-

Where's the future?

It’s another lazy Sunday here. I had a chance to catch up on some reading, and found something I wanted to talk about in today’s post.

A recent article in Reason magazine asks a question I have been hearing a lot lately. “What happened to all those sci-fi prophecies” about the future we are supposed to be living in now?

The article, titled “From Sky Flivver to Hydropolis : What happened to the science-fiction future?” by Katherine Mangu-Ward, is in the October 2007 issue on page 70 and 71. (As soon as the article is available on their website, I will post a link to it.)

The article starts by discussing a book called “Where’s My Jetpack?”

“Popular Mechanics columnist Daniel Wilson moans ‘it’s the twenty first century, and things are a little disappointing.’… Wilson begs ‘all the scientists, inventors and tinkerers out there’ to ‘please hurry up’ (emphasis in the original)”

The reason article continues with what is available, but doesn’t really delve into the why the future hasn’t arrived to the mainstream.

I remember a few years before this article was published a series of ads from IBM, where Avery Brooks was practically screaming “WHERE ARE MY FLYING CARS?!?”

So. What happened?

Well, there are flying cars. There are jetpacks for sale. And invisibility cloaks are almost a reality.

I’m no rocket scientist, but I think the future never arrived in the mainstream for three reasons.

REASON NUMBER ONE : MONEY

I would love to go flying around the town in a jetpack. I could find the perfect place to open another store. Cut across traffic and get to work with a few jumps. Give the border patrol something new to freak out about. Or just shoot straight up for 30 seconds and parachute back down.

I can think of a lot of things I want to do with a jetpack. But since they run in the upper $250,000 range, I just can not afford one. And I doubt many people who would get the most enjoyment from a jetpack have the $250,000 to spare.

This also applies to that Segway personal scooter thing Dean Kamen invented.

It’s a fantastic product! Perfectly balanced, manages most terrain, and moves pretty fast! But $5,000 to $9,000? No. I don’t have that money to spare, either.

All new bleeding edge technologies cost money. If it is new, and if it is in limited production because it is new, it’s going to cost a lot of money.

The solution? Mass production.

Only when items are mass produced do they become inexpensive. Yes, they tend to suffer in quality as opposed to a custom made unit, but they make up for it in quantity and low pricing. Look at the automobile industry. Ford, Nissan, Toyota… all mass produced.

You can see these cars everywhere on the road because just about everyone in this country can afford some model from these manufacturers.

REASON NUMBER TWO : APPLIED LIABILITY

Let’s say you get a jetpack. Right off the bat, if it flies, you’re regulated. The FAA says you need a pilot’s license to fly in just about anything over ten feet off the ground. Then there’s that little thing about appropriate airspace. You can’t just rocket around high and low without checking in. You might bump into a low flying plane! Here comes the federal government asking you where your radios and travel lights are going to be on your jetpack to warn other pilots of your whereabouts.

Then there’s the question someone is going to ask about “what happens if you cause an accident while flying that jetpack? Who’s going to pay?”

And let’s not forget to plan for those special people who will be looking up in the sky as you zoom overhead in your jetpack, get distracted, have an accident, and then sue YOU for causing their feeble minds to wander!

Don’t believe me? Look at the Segway. All the lawsuits and all the critics, detractors and outright sourpusses that came out of the woodwork. I give you exhibit a, exhibit b and exhibit c.

Now only certain police departments have them, and only in limited quantities and only in certain cities.

And look at the M 200G flying car from Moller International. It may require a pilot’s license to operate and it only flies 10 feet above the ground! Their skycar, which “will fly at 400 miles an hour … and can climb at 6,000 feet a minute” will definitely require a pilots license. And getting a pilot's license is a whole other can of worms.

Everything has an applied liability in this day and age. Long gone are the times when an adventurous soul could take a risk with their own life and take responsibility in their own hands and reap the rewards (or penalties) of their own actions. Now it’s all about who you have to answer to.

And everybody, by law or by lawsuit, must answer to someone these days.

The only way around this is an allowance of good faith. I think a Federal Good Samaritan style law should be enacted for inventors and their associated inventions for one year.

This would allow a timeframe where a reasonable liability can be attached to the item on a state by state basis. Like auto insurance for cars.

Since each item would have to be folded into the community, each state would have to set their own rules for managing the new item and the individuals who pursue them.

States love making new laws. It keeps the politicians employed! It’s just getting the new items to that legislative point that’s the difficult part.

And the only way to have the adventurous souls return to push the boundaries of society is to give them some room to run in.

REASON NUMBER THREE : FEAR

This is a big one. Fear.

Fear of change. Fear of something new. Fear makes people panic and act stupid. Let’s say a mass produced jetpack is announced that's not too expensive. Farmers Insurance and Geico have insurance policies ready to go.

The next day I bet there would be some idiot on the TV screaming bloody murder about how the jetpack will be the end of the automotive industry! How do you know the jetpack will not cause cancer of the spine or upper back? Nobody knows the full effect the jetpack will have on the environment!

You know. Pretty much the same old hand-wringing and knee-jerk whining every time something new comes out.

The solution? People tend to be perfectly calm when they have a full understanding of something. When they know it inside and out. So offer every iota of information there is before the item goes mainstream.

Tell everyone everything there is to know about the product. Give lectures. Diagram every inch of the machine and print it in a “Chilton” style book. Sell books with advanced tips and techniques. I bet “Jetpacks for dummies” would be a bestseller!

No secrets. No mysteries. No surprises.

Education is a fantastic fear killer. And with education comes 99% of the answers to the initial questions and solutions to 99% of the initial problems of a new item.

If the automobile was announced today, in today’s mindset and environment, it would be regulated to high heaven, and only the super rich would afford them. And even then, since there would be no roads, they could only be driven in specially paved courtyards.

The automobile was a success because it was mass produced so everyone could have a chance to afford one. A reasonable applied liability was agreed upon for these automobiles to run on the roads and highways. And people were educated about them.

And look at what a success automobiles are now. Since everyone started to own one, roads were paved to allow their use not only between towns, but between states, and eventually, between adjoining countries. Now automobiles are as big a part of Americana as McDonalds and Monday night football.

Automobiles are no more alien than the family dog, and are not considered an “extravagant” expense since there are at least two garage shops in every town to work on them as needed. Automobiles even make money for people outside the direct automobile manufacturing industry! Look at all the car radio options, all the specialty rims and tire options, and all the in-vehicle TV sets... just to name a few.

17 is the agreed upon age to use an automobile in most states, and, for better or worse, there is no “cutoff” age I know of.

The automobile industry is here to stay.

So why can’t the jetpack be just like the automobile? Seriously?

For the true future to arrive, it has to be mass produced, it has to hold a promise of reasonable liability, and it has to be something people can understand by reading a manual.

And that’s my rant for Sunday.

-end-

Missing shotgun definition

In the previous entry I made concerning the shotgun definitions, I left out one important part. The CARTRIDGE DROP LEVER.

The CARTRIDGE DROP LEVER on a shotgun allows for the bolt to be opened on a shotgun in certain circumstances. It is usually located in front of the trigger and safety select switch. Pressing the CARTRIDGE DROP LEVER is mandatory in some instances to open the bolt on a shotgun.


In a future blog entry, unloading a shotgun, use of the CARTRIDGE DROP LEVER is critical.

-end-

Police from Mexico break U.S. gun laws

It looks like some police officers from Mexico went to a gun show in Phoenix, Arizona and tried to purchase firearms and ammunition to take back to their own country.

That's just slightly illegal.

The story on MSNBC today says...

"The three had crossed the border at Calexico, Calif., in an official police vehicle and driven to Phoenix, said Tom Mangan, a spokesman with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Police and federal agents arrested them after the three bought three guns and about 450 rounds of ammunition Saturday at the gun show, Mangan said."

The men were released on bond and released from jail a short time after being arrested.

What they did was illegal because you have to be a United States citizen and have proper identification when purchasing a firearm. No exceptions.

Even though the dealer at the show did not have to check their identification since he was selling at a gun show, the law still faults the purchaser.

Now if a few American citizens went to purchase firearms in Mexico, I bet you would NEVER hear from them again. Mexico has strict laws on firearm ownership, and very harsh penalties for breaking even the most minor of these laws.

And why do police officers from Mexico need firearms anyway? Individual possession and ownership of a firearm is illegal in Mexico! They should have no need for firearms since their citizens are legally restricted from owning them!

-end-

The 1934 plan to eliminate the US government

In two previous blog entries, I touched on the WWI veteran's march of 1932. The first blog entry was about Reason's right to own a bazooka, and the second post corrected some details Reason overlooked in their initial story.

It turns out the original story is just a part of a much, much bigger plot.

The article I found online today adds previous and past events to frame the veteran's march of 1932 in a great cause-and-effect twist worthy of a best selling novel.

The march does have its origins in the great depression, but its direct cause was the wealthy barons of the 1930s.

The story begins with a secret meeting in New York City...

"In the early 1930s, a secret collection of prosperous men are said to have assembled in New York City to discuss the dissolution of America's democracy. As a consequence of the Great Depression, the countryside was littered with unemployed, and the world's wealthy were watching as their fortunes deflated and their investments evaporated. As men of action, the well-financed New York group sought to eliminate what they reasoned to be the crux of the catastrophe: the United States government. "

The article continues...

"To assist them in their diabolical scheme, the resourceful plotters recruited the assistance of Major General Smedley Darlington Butler, a venerated, highly decorated, and considerably jaded former Marine. It was the conspirators' earnest hope that their army of 500,000 Great War veterans, under the leadership of General Butler, could overpower the US' feeble peacetime military and reconstitute the government as a more economical fascist dictatorship."

Funded by a hundred million dollar bankroll from these secret companies, the United States government was almost attacked and overrun at one of its most vulnerable points in history.

Now 500,000 soldiers is still 500,000 soldiers no matter what year you are in. But that hundred million dollars is in 1932 currency. How much is that today?

A hundred million dollars in 1932 is $1,475,841,874.08 today (using the Consumer Price Index.) Its only $1,278,179,824.56 if you use the GDP deflator.

That's a well funded revolution.

The story reads like some sort of fantastic movie. Plots, betrayals, spies inside the government... Its all there for Jerry Bruckheimer to run with!

The march of 1932 figures into the middle of this story, and has a major role in the outcome of the plot and actions of the key players.

And, as usual, all the über wealthy criminals walked away.

In the story, it is very obvious that only the honor and pristine integrity of one man, Major General Smedley Darlington Butler, kept the United States from falling victim to a corporate sponsored uprising. Had this one man not stood his ground, the United States would have become a fascist country controlled by corporate entities.

Its a great read for a Friday. Take a look at the website in this link for the full story.

-end-

Shotgun safety select switch

This photo weblog entry will illustrate the location and use of the safety select switch on a shotgun. The example shotgun is a 12 gauge Benelli, but the information generally applies to most other shotgun models.

On most shotguns, there is a safety select switch near the trigger on the firearm. Usually this switch is positioned in the front of the trigger shroud.



In the photo above, the shotgun safety select switch is in the SAFE mode. While the shotgun has the Safety Select Switch set to SAFE, the shotgun WILL NOT discharge when the trigger is pressed.

Although most shotguns have this safety select switch, this does NOT mean you can ignore the four rules. Always keep the four rules in mind regardless of whether the firearm you are using has a safety select lever or not.

#1 ALL FIREARMS ARE ALWAYS LOADED
# 2 NEVER POINT THE MUZZLE AT ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO DESTROY
# 3 KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET
# 4 - BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET

To switch the safety off, just press directly in on the switch as the photo below illustrates. It should move down with a minimum of pressure and "click" into place.


Once you press the safety select switch in, it will rise above the frame on the opposite side of the shotgun. You can easily see that this side of the safety select switch has a red band around the base.



This red color is a warning indicator that the safety select switch HAS BEEN DISENGAGED and the shotgun WILL DISCHARGE when the trigger is pressed.

A very simple way to remember what position the safety select switch is currently set to is through an old saying:

"Red is Dead"

If you see a red color on the safety select switch, it means the safety is NOT active, and the firearm WILL discharge when the trigger is pressed.

To switch the safety back on, just press in on the safety select switch. The red band will move into the frame, and the switch will "click" into place when it has been pressed fully into the frame.


Looking at the other side of the shotgun, you can see that the safety select switch has been pressed up on this side and is completely black. This means the safety select switch is active, and the shotgun will NOT discharge when the trigger is pressed.



Even though many shotguns have a safety select switch, it does NOT mean you can ignore the four rules. Always keep the four rules in mind regardless of whether the firearm you are using has a safety select lever or not.

#1 ALL FIREARMS ARE ALWAYS LOADED
# 2 NEVER POINT THE MUZZLE AT ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO DESTROY
# 3 KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET
# 4 - BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET

I know I keep bringing out the same dead horse over and over and over, but always following the four rules are how to avoid catastrophic accidents and keep yourself and your loved ones safe.

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Quacking all the way to the bank

You ever hear that old saying "if it looks like a duck and acts like a duck and quacks like a duck... its got to be a duck"?

Some time ago I mentioned the North American Hunting Club and a problem I was having with them. To sum up, this time they sent me an unsolicited deer head in the mail and told me if I wanted it all I had to do was pay $19.

I sent that charming piece of art back to them in their provided postage paid box on August 30th. It has almost been two weeks since I mailed it, and I thought since this is the FIFTH time I have asked this lovely company to remove me from their mailing list I would never hear from them again.

Ha.

Today I received a letter from the North American Hunting Club, telling me to "PLEASE PAY FOR OR RETURN YOUR SCULPTURE NOW"

Here is a scan of the letter (minus my personal information).



It sounds like I am going to have to go through the same damn thing with these people that I did before.

I just can't believe this kind of thing is legal. You can send someone an item in the mail, something the individual did not request and does not want, and then you can charge them whatever you want without any confirmation they ever received it?!?

Brilliant!

Seriously. How is this NOT a playground for potential scam artists?

Back to the duck... this is the second time I have been asked to pay for something by this same company for something I did not order, did not request, and do not want. Last time I never even received the item they insisted they mailed to me!

Right now, to me, this whole thing looks like a racket. And it is acting like a racket.

I'll start off the usual way. Calling the North American Hunting Club. For the SIXTH time. Maybe their "buck for the ages!" arrived just as their letter was being sent.

And maybe I'll go ahead and call the local postmaster again. There has something other than "well, just put the postage paid sticker back on the box and send it back to them" that they can tell me.

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Shotgun - basic terminology

This weblog entry will illustrate the basic components of a shotgun. The shotgun used in this illustration is a 12 gauge Benelli.

There is no other firearm as unique as a shotgun. Highly powerful, yet very easy to use for a novice, a shotgun makes for a excellent home defense weapon.

Some of the major components of a shotgun are illustrated in the photo below.



Starting from top left moving clockwise...

The STOCK is a solid piece at the rear of the shotgun that adds stability and allows an individual to better handle the weapon. A stock can be made of many materials, but the most popular style is wood. Some shotguns do not have a stock, but instead come with a modified pistol grip.

The RECEIVER is the center piece of the shotgun and is sometimes referred to as the FRAME

The EJECTION PORT is where the spent cartridge casings will emerge when the PUMP is used.

The REAR SIGHT is used in conjunction with the front sight to align the firearm on target. Not all shotguns have a rear sight.

The FRONT SIGHT is used in conjunction with the rear sight to align the firearm on target. The front sight on many firearms is a simple bead on the tip of the barrel.

The BARREL guides the shell as it is discharged toward the intended target.

The MAGAZINE of a shutgun is a long cylinder located parallel to the barrel. This holds the ammunition for the firearm. A longer magazine on a shotgun will hold more ammunition.

The PUMP (also known as a Fore-end) is used to load and unload ammunition from the magazine to the barrel. The PUMP is manually powered on most shotguns, but some varieties come in an automatic variety. The use of the PUMP is what causes that definitive "cha-chak" sound on most shotguns.

The LOADING PORT is where you load ammunition into the magazine of the firearm

The TRIGGER discharges the weapon.

The SAFETY SELECT SWITCH allows or restricts the shotgun from discharging, depending on what it it set to.

Here is a closer photo of the shotgun.



You can see some of the details in the previous photo much easier.



A shotgun's LOADING PORT is very unique among firearms. In a later blog entry, I will show how to load this shotgun through the loading port.

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Enviromental bliss

On CNN, there is a story that Russia just tested the "dad of all bombs". Apparently because we have the mother of all bombs, they wanted the dad of all bombs.

Anyhow, what got my attention was the following paragraph.

""The tests have shown that the new air-delivered ordnance is comparable to a nuclear weapon in its efficiency and capability," said Col.-Gen. Alexander Rukshin, a deputy chief of the Russian military's General Staff, said in televised remarks.

Unlike a nuclear weapon, the bomb doesn't hurt the environment, he added. "

A bomb made up of 44 tons of TNT and a 990 foot blast radius that doesn't hurt the environment?

Right.

Someone over in Russia has a bad case of misplaced priorities.

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Measure a foot with a piece of paper

Today's quick blog entry is a little bit of Trigonometry and a little bit of paper voodoo.

Someone pointed me to this website that showed how to almost exactly measure a foot (12.02") with a simple 8 1/2 by 11 piece of paper. Since I have reams of paper laying around all the time, and can never find my nice rulers when I need them, its nice to know there is a quick and easy workaround in case I am short on time.

And in case you don't need to measure a foot, or if you don't have 8 1/2 by 11 pieces of paper handy, every dollar in your wallet is exactly 6" long. Folded in half they are exactly 3" long. I've been finding that tip very handy to make quick measurements all the time!

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Checkpoint re-visited

I finally got back from my day-long errand to Alice. Since I took the nicer camera with me on this run, I got some better photos of the checkpoint I mentioned in an earlier blog post.

As you get closer to the checkpoint going North on 281, you see a big sign telling you the inspection station is one mile away. Little signs behind it say "Smuggling illegal aliens is a federal crime" in English and Spanish on both sides of the road.


As you go further, another sign tells you there is a half mile to go before the inspection station. You can see the inspection station up ahead on the road at this point.



In the next photo, after the half mile sign, you can see the white street lights on the right hand side of the road and the cameras on the left side of the road.



In the next photo you can clearly see the cameras on both sides of the road right before you get to the inspection station. Notice the turn around on the left hand side of the road? You can take it to turn around and head back down South on 281 before you get to the cameras. I'm guessing that's in place in case someone forgot to pack a lunch or something.



Here is a much better look at some of the cameras. Nice setup!




The next photo is the sign in front of the inspection station with their current year to date seizures (as of September 10th 2007). Over 143 thousand pounds of drugs and 12 thousand undocumented aliens! That's a LOT of both.



As I was heading back much later in the day, i managed to get better photos of the cameras on the other side. The next photo was taken almost directly across from the checkpoint going south on 281. The cameras are virtually the same configuration as the northbound side. And again, as on the northbound side, there is a turn around right before the cameras in case you want to go back for something.



The next photo is a little better image of the southbound cameras.



I joke that the Texas valley is a DMZ at times, but that running total sign on the northbound side shows the checkpoint is working.

Well, for the rest of Texas anyhow.

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Looks like another Monday

Another day of delayed posts. I'm off to Alice again. I'm taking my nicer camera with me on this errand, so I should have better pics of what I mentioned earlier.

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Reassembly of an AR rifle

This photo blog entry will illustrate how to reassemble a AR series rifle that was taken apart in a previous blog entry. I will once again use the Smith and Wesson M&P 15T for the illustration, but the information also generally applies to all AR style rifles.

A disassembled AR rifle looks intimidating to reassemble for a novice. But I personally find reassembling an AR rifle much easier than reassembling most pistols.


Before reassembling an AR rifle, take a quick look at the bolt assembly. Take a close look at the bolt in the bolt assembly. It should be forward, where the first arrow is in the photo below. If it is in the rear position, the bolt assembly will not return to position in the upper receiver.



If the bolt was in the incorrect position, moving it forward is just a matter of pulling and slightly rotating the bolt assembly as the photo below illustrates.



The charging handle needs to be aligned first in the upper receiver before inserting the bolt assembly. Start by angling the charging handle up into the upper receiver.



Once the handle has caught on the keyway on the top receiver, it can be lifted up and can move in very easily. Getting the charging handle to catch on the keyway inside the upper receiver on the first try will take a little practice.



With the charging handle slightly inserted in the upper receiver, place the bolt assembly underneath the charging handle and align it with the notch on the upper receiver, just like the photo below.



Now just slide the charging handle and bolt assembly into the upper receiver at the same time.



Continue moving the bolt assembly and charging handle into the upper receiver while keeping the ends of both components aligned as much as possible.



Continue moving the bolt assembly and charging handle into the upper receiver until they are both flush with the ends of the upper receiver frame as in the photo below.



Now just close the upper receiver and lower receiver together. The upper and lower receivers should merge with no pressure. If the receivers do not close, try pressing the bolt assembly and charging handle a little further into the upper receiver and try again.



Once the upper and lower receiver are together, press in on the take down pin on the right side of the rifle.



Continue pressing in on the take down pin until it is flush with the frame and can move no further. After doing this, you should notice the pin has re-emerged on the left hand side of the rifle near the safety select switch.



The AR reassembly is now complete!



NOTE: Be sure to clean off all oil left behind on the exterior of the rifle by fingerprints or cleaning residue.

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