Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a nice Easter. My wife and I went to Tempe for the Western States Eastern Observance which was hosted by the Grand Commandery of Arizona and is a program promoted by the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar, USA.

The banquet on Saturday night was nice as we enjoyed visiting with everyone. The meal was typical banquet food, overpriced and so-so.

We mustered outside so that we could march into the service that was being done in the open courtyard. As you can see in the photos, some were in Class A uniforms while other were in Caps & Mantles. Arizona has the Cap & Mantle as the official uniform since the Class A suit is a bit hot to wear here.
The service was nicely done but it did have a few distractions. Tempe Mission Palms is close to the airport and we were right in the path. It was hard to hear when the jets went overhead every few minutes. There were some birds flying around and I was wondering what prevented them from swooping in and picking off a few ostrich feathers for their nests!

A good time was had by all!

Zombie Rounds

I look for inexpensive bullets to load for plinking and steel shoots. I ran across Lucky13 whose prices seemed good and shipping on cast bullets is included. Now the pricing was looking real good with shipping included. They are also putting up coated cast bullets. I ordered some to try for the 44 and got them to throw in a handful of 9mm to sample. Nice people to talk to. You have a choice of one color - Zombie 13!

Daughter #1 says - They look like poison tips. Daughter #2 says - Cool!
My wife says - they should come in purple.
They were nice to handle for reloading. These rounds also shot well. Time to order some for real.

I do not receive anything from Lucky13 (or anyone else for that matter) to do any reviews or comments.

Diet of Nope - Part IV

I continue on my merry way towards my target weight. The scale tells me that I am 100 pounds down now which means that I am 10 pounds away from my target weight! Now for the bad news. I don't think that the last ten pounds will be quite enough. Twenty more pounds to go!

Cruising the web for different foods to try can be interesting. I ran across one site that was more along the lines of things that you shouldn't eat. Did you know that processed baked goods ( can you say donut?) are bad for you? Wow, there is a real revelation. One would not think that it would be necessary to tell people that frosting, soda, donuts, bagels, sugary cereal, stick margarine etc are not great foods.

Blog Shoot

Thanks to Kevin for setting up the annual Blog Shoot and Wind Tunnel Firearms Test!

I showed up late at the Elsy Range in beautiful Casa Grande as it is still dark at 7 AM. There is enough difficulty getting through all my PT exercises and getting to work on time much less doing it on the weekend. Besides, it should be warmer later in the morning. I am only really motivated for early morning events like hunting, fishing, and the occasional steel shoot.
I arrived on site to see target stands being blown over and the cheerful clapping sound of the flapping targets caught up in the range fence. One did not have to worry whether the wind was going to blow or not as it seemed to be a steady wind about 10 to 15 mph with gusts that had to be in the 25 mph category.
The range was actually pretty busy with a bunch of hardy souls busily blaming the wind for the world's ills. Most of my time was spent with my hands in my pockets watching others shoot. This was fine as it was by my choice. Sometimes I would move into the sunlight to try to catch a few rays of warmth.
It is hard to not laugh when you watch someone go downrange to set a target back up, pile some small rock on the target base, admire their handy-work, get back on line, the range goes hot and the wind gusts up to blow the target over.
One shooter had the right idea. They brought some cloth bags with them and filled them with sand/rock at the range. These were heavy enough to serve as adequate target stand ballast. The wind, not to be outdone, really gusted up and ripped the target right off the stand. The target stand stands alone.
I finally did get around to shooting the EAA and Single Six prior to leaving but never did shoot a couple of rifles that were left safely out of the wind in my vehicle. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood regardless and it was nice to meet a couple of new people. It was a great morning!

Diet of Nope - Part III

I haven't kept up the rapid weight loss over the Holidays but I did continue to lose weight. Woohoo! I'm down 80 pounds. 30 more to go and then I will see if my target weight was correct. A document of diet foods that I like/dislike has been started and I will share this later. As with most thing, some items taste fine and other are beyond description but I will try. Often the items purchased are best described by the picture below.

Where Did Everybody Go?

I went out to the Crossroads of the West show on Jan. 3rd at the fairgrounds. Where were the vendors? It was a dismal show from my standpoint as the floor was probably about 60% occupied with a lot of the Ma & Pa tables being absent. I like to peruse the small vendor tables as that is where I get see some of the more interesting items and oddities. I really have no interest in looking a three vendor tables full of new Taurus weapons. That might just be me since I would not buy another Taurus anything.

My interest would fall more to seeing another S&W top break, H&R top break, Bernardelli Model 80, or many other items that are not in production anymore.

I am interested in a 410 derringer but Bond Arms derringers must be gold plated according to their pricing.  The only real interest here is to take it dove hunting and see if I can pick off one or two that come close by for bragging rights. "Heck, I don't even need a shotgun to get my limit. All I need is a derringer". I would carry it as a backup bug occasionally but $500 for a two shot?

The previous show in Tucson at the Expo Center was also pretty poor. Guess that I will have to head up to the next one that is held in Phoenix at the fairgrounds to get to a larger venue. Sounds like a road trip. Phx gunshow in the day and over to Bass Pro for some gator tail later!

I Like Christmas, I Like Cookies Too!

I found a great tree for Christmas!

We set it up, took a picture, sent it to our daughter and announced that we were cutting back this year. With both daughters being gone, it just wasn’t the same and I wasn’t in the mood. We took down the cute little tree, put it upstairs and proceeded to decorate. Here is my obligatory picture of decorated antlers.

I had a fun time this Christmas. Daughter #1 made it home to visit and that is always a pleasure. My wife and I tend to buy our own items for the other to present. She got a nice ring and I bought a gun safe. The safe was a screaming deal as one of my co-workers won it in a raffle and had no use for it.

We picked daughter #1 at the airport on Christmas Eve. I had special presents for everyone to open prior to going to service that evening. I informed them that I had contacted the church and they were in agreement for us to join in with their band for a number or two. They both viewed me with those skeptical glances that tell me that they know me too well.

My wife received a couple of slide whistles so that she could match the key of the songs. I believe that the wiener dog was her favorite.

Our daughter got the kazoo and tambourine. She is very talented at both but that is no surprise to me as she has always been able to walk and chew gum at the same time.




I could switch from the jaws harp to the spoons at a moment’s notice. The spoons were good but I think that the jaws harp was defective. I could not make any noise but some irritating twang come out of it

We played around, practiced and laughed a lot. When it came time to leave, I noticed that they did not seem to have their instruments with them. They refused to take them with them! I was sorely disappointed and tried to convince them that the church was depending on us but this was to no avail. The last song at service was very lively and our daughter leaned over and commented that she should have brought the tambourine.

I received some great presents but will not post any pictures of underwear or socks. Daughter #2 and son-in-law #1 got me a very nice replica knife along with a bowl. Let me know if you can translate.


They are currently in Okinawa and come up with some interesting items.

Daughter #1 got me a big candy cane while at Disney.

My wife got me a masonic square and compasses that folds to expose a dagger.










Santa brought me some gun oil made out of Liberal Tears – Now With Bacon! I don’t know how I could add anything more than what is on the bottle.
No not the bottle of Cholulu, the other one. Perhaps that is what makes their eyes tear.

It was a fantastic Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!
Not Christian? See if there is something below that fits the holiday season for you.

Happy (pick one)!

Bodhi Day - Buddhist; 8 December – Day of Enlightenment

Festivus - Fictional; December 23

Hogswatch - Discworld; 25 December

HumanLight - Atheist; December 23 - celebration of "a Humanist's vision of a good future."

Hanukkah - Judaism; starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar.

Kwanzaa - Fictional; Created by Maulana Karenga - A fake "African" holiday contrived in 1966. He was a prominent black nationalist during the 1960s, when his organization was involved in various violent operations. He was sent to prison in 1971, after he and some of his pals tortured two women with a soldering iron and a vise, among other things. He emerged from prison in 1974 and he got himself installed as the chairman of the Department of Black Studies at California State University at Long Beach. CSULB wasn't the only American university that got the racial willies during the 1970s and set up a tin-pot black-studies department, but CSULB was the only one that hired a chairman who was a violent felon.

Pancha Ganapati - Hinduism; 21–25 December – modern five-day festival in honor of Lord Ganesha.

Yalda - Paganism; 21 December – The turning point, Winter Solstice.

The New Barbarism

Bill Whittle rides again!

Diet of Nope, Part II

My weight loss has become inherently obvious even to the most casual observer. I am 70 pounds down now. People ask the same question, “Are you hungry?” Well, it is a diet by definition so I do expect to be hungry before the next meal hits or I would not be losing weight.

The next beauty of a question is asking if you can eat a particular item and then proceed down a grocery list of similar items. You would think that after the third desert item asked that you could anticipate the answer. I have learned that saying no is not a good answer and you must answer in generalities to try to keep this session tolerable.

·         Can you have Twinkies? No, no sweets.

·         Can you have pie? No, I just answered that.

·         Can you have potatoes? No, no starches.

·         Can you have pasta? No, I just answered that.

·         Can you have bread? No, no white flour.

·         Can you have whole wheat bread? No, by law it only has to be 50% whole wheat to be able to do the advertising. It is half white flour.

·         Can you eat meat? Yes, any kind.

·         Can you eat fish? Isn’t that meat?

·         Can you eat vegetables? Most, but not all.

·         What about carrots? No, they are high in sugar.

·         Can you eat fruit? Some. Only blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries for this stage of the diet.

·         What about apples? No, because of the sugar. Didn’t I just answer this?

THIS GOES ON FOREVER IF YOU LET IT!

What has actually surprised me is that after a line of questioning like this, I have been adamantly and at length informed by a couple of people that, “Well, there is no way in h$ll that I would go on a diet like that! There is no way I would give up …(fill in the blank)... because that is my favorite food!” This is usually stated in a confrontational manner as if I was recruiting. You started this conversation so don’t complain at me if you don’t like the answers I provide. I don’t normally respond as I really don’t give a rat’s patoot what you do or eat. This type of response is always from a person who needs this program or any program much worse than I do. I swear that if any of the buttons popped on that shirt, it would be traveling about 3,000 fps and would probably kill you or at least put your eye out!

I asked one individual, after listening to his lengthy rant, if he had guilty or jealous feelings about being overweight since it seems like you are very unhappy with my answers and successful weight loss. He doesn’t talk to me much anymore. Imagine that?

The 7^th was the last of my deer season. I am disappointed as I could not grow antlers on anything this year. However, it is so nice to have that 70 pounds off when out in the field! I plan to take another 40 pounds off and then see if I am where I want to be.

Almost a Darwin Award Candidate

RTFM: Man Loses Fingers When Gun Explodes Due To Using Wrong Powder

I have never seen a manual on a black powder rifle that did not warn against loading smokeless powder in Big Print. This sounds like one of those moment with these magic words, "Hold my beer and watch this."

Top Breaks

Many years ago I had my first opportunity to shoot an H&R 999 Sportsman 22 LR 9 shot top break and I was hooked. 

 I thought that being able to drop all nine empties in one motion was just the cat’s meow and it was quite accurate. The money and opportunity to purchase one never seemed to coincide until a few years ago. I finally saw one at one of the gun shows that was in really good shape, negotiated, and purchased it. I was pleased to see that there is a speed loader available for it! 

You must realize that one cannot own just one top break as they are just too much fun. My next find was another H&R 22 but a short barrel 7 shot that had the definition of a bad trigger.

None of the smaller (read Saturday night special) H&Rs from this time period had smooth actions. I believe that any weapon that did not exhibit a gritty long irregular pull was rejected and sent back to manufacturing for further rasping and sand imbedding. It is still fun to shoot. This one usually just gets loaded with 22 shorts. There is a definite lag between the shot and target impact at twenty yards!

Still not having enough, I ran across an H&R 5 shot .32 S&W.

It is not the 32 long so the ballistics are anything but impressive. Standard load is an 85 gr. Bullet with a muzzle velocity of 600 FPS. I would suggest that you could load up a little bit but would advise against in these older guns. Some of the earlier H&R 32s used black powder cartridges and should not be fired with smokeless. I figure that you could use one of these to stun those pesky chipmunks assuming that they don’t see the bullet coming and move out of the way. I just thought that there was lag from shot to target with a 22 short (about 1000 fps) until I shot this one. You could swear that one could fire and then run downrange to catch the bullet. It only seems that way as the fastest sprinter can only achieve about 28 MPH or 41 FPS. Brass is still made by Starline so there is no need to pay the ridiculous prices for Winchester factory ammo.

I also found an H&A (Hopkins & Allen) in 32. I probably did not need two 32 S&W revolvers but the price was too good to pass. These are not as well constructed as the H&R.

 You might ask, "Why two 32s?" I may well respond with another question, "Who do you think you are, my wife?"  

Well, I already have the dies and you never know when the chipmunk zombie apocalypse is going to hit.

  The future is not clear so it is unknown what will be the next top break but I am pretty sure it won’t be another 32!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Diet of Hope

My Doctor, you know, Dr. Vinnie Boombatz, recommended that I change lifestyle and get rid of the excess weight. I have gotten a bit too heavy. OK – make that a lot too heavy which just tends to aggravate the heck out of my back. The doctor told me:

·         You’re so fat that I bet when you lay on the beach the people feel sorry for you and try to roll you back into the water.
·         The last time I saw something that big it was grazing.
·         If you get on a scale does a card come out saying one at a time?
·         Does your bathtub have stretch marks?
·         I bet your belly button makes an echo.
·         Are your clothes made by Omar the tent maker?
 
OK Doc, I will try the diet. The recommendation was to try Dr. Gann’s Diet of Hope.  This diet is actually tailored for diabetics. I am not diabetic of even pre-diabetic but I need the weight loss. The initial program is for six weeks and future events depend on the results from that first set. That means that you will be this diet for some time. I have been on it for three weeks now and I would estimate that I will need another ten weeks to get close to a proper weight.

Two days into this diet, I renamed it the Diet of Nope. Can I have bread? Nope. How about pasta? Nope. How about potatoes? Nope. Can I stand in front of a bag of potato chips and drool for a while? Nope. Cereal? Nope. Dairy? Nope. Nuts? Nope. There is a log book that has suggested guidelines for each week and you are to write down what you eat and weigh yourself daily. The log book has a cover sheet where I put white out tape over the “H” in Hope and put in an “N”. Now it is formally the Diet of Nope! This log goes with you to your weekly appointments. Let’s see if anyone there has a sense of humor.

The log book accompanied me for the first weekly. They seem to have a sense of humor. Everyone was having a chuckle over the Diet of Nope. They are still joking about on my weeklies.

They ask silly questions like, “Do you feel hungry?” “Only when I am not eating and about 15 minutes afterward.” I responded. “This is not a starvation diet.” She said with emphasis on the first three words. It is not a true starvation diet but it gets close. I have been on a pure liquid diet for a week a couple times for other problems and this is reminiscent but not quite there. I am not sure how you could actually be losing weight without occasionally being hungry.

The professionals say no alcohol. Spoilsports. Aside from the obvious 70 calories per 1-1/2 ounce of whiskey, what are the detriment effects of alcohol on a weight loss program? Can I fit alcohol, as an occasional item, into a low carb diet? They don’t seems to be forthcoming on any answer except for the standard, “We don’t recommend any alcohol.” Perhaps I will try a different tact at this week’s appointment. “I am going to have 3 or 4 shooters once a week. What should be the diet for that day?” That amount is what it takes for me to get a warm fuzzy feeling. Keep in mind that I am 6’7” and my trim weight would be about 255 pounds. One or two shooters does nothing.

There are foods that I really, really miss. I will be glad to get the weight loss part done and see what I do get to eat on a more normal basis. They are probably hiding that menu so as not to scare you away. All kidding aside, it is an effective diet. Dang, one hour past supper and I am hungry. Guess I will go have my treat of one cup of sugar free Jell-O. That will fill you up! Not!

South Tucson Shootout

Man Armed With Sawed-Off Mosin-Nagant Engages Officer inShootout, Dies.

The Mosin is usually not highly accurate in its original configuration. I wonder how the accuracy is after a cut down. The officer wins at 65ft! Good, he must one of the few that actually practice.

Back Pain is a Pain in the …….Leg?

The last couple of months have been very busy so I have been remiss in my blogging duties. August brought about some lower back pain along with a disturbed nerve. During that time period, I could draw you a very nice map of the sciatic nerve down my leg. There was another nerve but I do not the name of that one. There was no comfortable position except for sitting at the dining room table with elbows on the table. Bed was out as there was no position that worked. The first night had no sleep and I slept for an hour the second night with my head in my hand at the table. THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING, IT IS ALMOST DOVE SEASON! My regular doctor was out so I saw the practitioner. She prescribed some muscle relaxers and anti-inflammatories. I was told to go over to X-Ray right after the appointment. The radiology people wanted me to lay flat. Hahahahahaha. That was not happening as this position would fully light up the sciatic. I commented that it would probably be wiser to try to do this after I had some time with the scripts. Radiology agreed and off I went to return in a couple of days. L2 to L5 damage is moderate or severe depending on which one. Ah, the follies of my youth and the arthritis of age.

The muscle relaxant did not do much as the dosage was weak for my size. If I doubled up on the muscle relaxant then I could actually sleep for a few hours. I found that sitting in the bed all propped was about the best I could do.  It was slowly letting up.

This was really crappy as it was interfering with important things like DOVE HUNTING. Naturally, I still went out. I would hobble a few yards from the vehicle and plop down in a camping chair. I don’t shoot for crap from a chair as I was making sure that I did not twist around. Miss 6 doves, stand up and shoot a couple, sit and miss more, stand up and shoot a couple more……..I did not shoot a limit but had some fun.

I got ready for work as was walking across the floor and everything lit up like a tilting pin ball machine.  Damn, no dove hunting or work today. I took the last two muscle relaxants that afternoon and thought that perhaps I could lay down on my left side as that didn’t seem too bad during x-rays. That wasn’t working either. When attempting to get up, I felt (heard) a grind/pop that also did not feel good. There I was, sitting at the dining room table again. A few hours passed and started to feel better. By evening I could tell that the last pop must have been a re-alignment as I was feeling much better. My leg and back ached at bed time but it was all left over trauma. Don’t get me wrong. This was no miracle cure as I still felt like someone had beat me with a bat from all the swelling and muscle cramps. There was a doctor’s appointment for the next day.

I actually felt almost human the next morning as I had gotten a straight 4 hours of sleep. Off I went to see my regular doctor (dang missed another morning of dove hunting). He reviewed the x-rays with me and checked me out. Now I am off to PT and diet to drop the excess weight.

The following weekend, I drove to San Angelo to see daughter #1 and watch SBDA boat drags. Woo hoo! I love the smell of nito-methane wafting across the water! I was still sore and slightly nervy but the drive was fine as the car seat is comfortable. My wife does question my sanity on certain topics. “Do you really think you should be going dove hunting?” "Probably not but I have my cell phone",  did not seem like a satisfactory answer. “Do you really thing you should be going on an 11 hour drive?” Sure, why not, the seat in car is good. I would get that look that every woman gives a wayward male when she disapproves of your actions. I took doves with me so that we could have dove stew while visiting. Mmmmm. The trip was fun and I am back for my PT and diet.

Hawkins 54 Cal

I saw a Cabela's Hawkins Black Powder kit rifle for sale on backpage.com in my area. The price was right so I arranged to have a look see. This rifle kit is complete in the box with the little parts still being sealed in the plastic bags. I like some of the BP rifles so it is now mine. I see that the current offering from Cabela's is a Tradition kit but this one is of Italian decent. One could tell it was Italian even without the paperwork from the faint aroma of olive oil and sun dried tomatoes!

Now there are decisions to be made. Wonder how olive oil would due as a preservative? I think that I will stick with a hard satin finish on the stock so it will be Minwax Antique Oil.

What to do with the barrel....bluing, browning, gun-kote? The rifle would have to go to someone (gunsmith etc) for bluing or gun-kote. I like the idea of browning the barrel but it is a pain to do with either available method. One method requires a very humid area to work in for a day or so. This is difficult in Tucson. I guess that I could let the family know that the downstairs bathroom won't be available for a couple of days! I am sure that would go over well.

The other requires heat prior to applying. This also sounds like a pain. It is possible to de-grease it and just let it set around until you have the proper patina and then oil it. This would only take a few months.

I have had a few suggestions already such as pink furniture and barrel with a Hello Kitty stuck on the patch box or perhaps camouflage. These suggestions were met in the same manner as presented, with laughter. We shall see what is decided.

I am going to start taking pictures of the before, during and after so that they can be posted later on. Fun times ahead!

Robin Williams - RIP

So funny, so quick and sometimes not so PC!

Why Stop at Regulation?

FEC chairman warns book publishers at risk of regulation at heated meeting

"Goodman for months has been warning that some in the FEC are keen to start regulating the media, despite a longstanding congressional ban on doing so."

Why not go all the way and show your true colors FEC? Let's have a good old fashion book burning and get rid of those nasty books you don't agree with. There is a lot of company where the FEC is trying to take us but none of it is good. Anyone bring the hot dogs and marshmallows?

Squirrel 1; Hunter 1

He Got Shot In The Buttock

We continue the squirrel saga. The squirrel got the better of this one even in death. Best watch out for those tricky squirrels...
Bounce on over to the link for the rest of the story.

This one even has my favorite color - red plaid!

I will give this a one Flaming Squirrel rating!