The AR15 and dust

So "everybody" knows that the AR15 has dust jamming problems, and the venerable AK is unstoppable.

These videos show that it isn't necessarily true:


To be honest, a lot of the perceived problems of the AR platform as Eugene Stoner were genuine issues in the original M-16 model. Things like the forward assist (which I personally used ONCE the very first time I shot an AR when I rode the charging handle home) have almost been engineered to extinction... Sun Devil and others make smooth-side upper receivers for a reason.

Is the AK a tougher platform? Certainly! Its built to very forgiving tolerances because it was built in very primitive factories by relatively unskilled labor.

Is the AK a better platform? That I can't answer, and I own both an AR (built from the stripped lower up, but a purchased complete upper).

But I have to say, the complete flexibility of the AR versus the AK is a huge bonus in my book.

(Originally seen at The Firearm Blog: AR-15 and AK-47 Dust Test)

Easy come, easy go

So I went shooting with a buddy of mine who really liked the little Walther. He's really accurate with it, too, so its not just me: its a damn fine little mouse gun.

A while ago, I'd sold him my beloved Taurus 605 snubby Stainless Steel 5-shot revolver for his daughter: she was comfortable with his Model 85 so he'd given her that. Since then, she's moved to the People's Republic of California and didn't take it with her.

So my friend offered to trade me my 5-shot back for the Walther. Quick thoughts were I loved the snubby, already have lots of 38 special/357s, and the Walther was my only .380, so I agreed:

Easy come, easy go!

Got a concealment holster for an Apache helicopter?

It really bothers me that we have to do this, to hide behind anonymity because our livelihoods, careers, or future prospects might be threatened by something as basic as our right to defend ourselves. There is a terrifying irony in that; and I don't like irony. I don't like contradictions, and the fact that I am expected to feel guilty for carrying the means to defend myself is one of the worst.

I believe that I have a moral obligation to defend what I love with whatever I can. There are those who believe that a beaten and raped woman left to bleed to death in an alley is somehow morally superior to that woman explaining to the police how that brutish thug got his brains blown all across the wall there. I am not one of those people.

It is the capacity for moral choice that separates us from other thinking animals. If someone chooses to break into my home and threaten the lives of my family, I will do whatever I can to end them: they made a clear moral choice that demands that response. I would expect that if I chose to walk into a bank and threaten a person's life in exchange for money, that my life would be likewise forfeit. That's what it means to be responsible for our actions.

When men first encountered the Dodo, a tame, sweet flightless bird with no natural predators and therefore no instinct to defend itself, they clubbed them to death, to extinction. They did this not for the meat, which they didn't like, or for the territory or because they were loud or obnoxious. No, they did it because it amused them. They thought it was fun to club these creatures to death. These sorts of people are still out there, and one day they may overrun my land, kill my family, torture my friends and burn to the ground everything I have worked for. They won't, however, do so unopposed.

My new Walther PPK

Picked up a Walther PPK (made by S&W) from a friend the other day...he'd bought it for his wife (it fit her hand quite well) but not his. The wife likes her new Sig Sauer 9mm better, so the Walther was for sale, freshly back from the Smith and Wesson repair shop to fix the hammer-block issue (http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2009/02/25/sw-safety-recall-walther-ppk-and-ppks-pistols/ -- I'd have linked directly to S&W's site, but its wonked for me when I try to go to the URL for the recall.)

The PPK was on that list of "weapons I've always wanted" -- its the the frakin' James Bond pistol, fergoshsakes! But its also on the list of "calibers I've never been really fond of" so it was only because a friend was selling it that I really picked it up.

I'm simply not a big fan of the little .380 cartridge, and the Kel-Tec .380 I'd borrowed from a friend was hands-down the most painful gun I'd ever shot! My primary carry is a .40 S&W and while I have nothing against the venerable .45ACP, the kick has always bothered me enough to effect my shooting accuracy, and I've always thought the 9mm was a bit weak (but I'm beginning to change opinion here -- more on that in a later post). But the PPK is just a cute little gun, and as many friends have said in the past, guns are pretty much cash equivalents, so I didn't mind dropping some cash on it, especially to a friend.

I scrounged up some 380 ball ammo and headed to the range. At 7 yards, 6 rounds:

'

Thats one triple and one double. I was pretty darned impressed, but I have to say after 50 rounds my hand did hurt a bit. I'll probably swap the factory hard plastic grips for some nice hogue rubber ones.

Overall, I'm quite pleased with the little Bond Gun!

-- Revolver 223

Ok, so here's the deal: First Post

It seems so simple: I like guns. I have lots of friends who also like guns.

There is nothing wrong with this, and I have a Constitutionally Guaranteed Right to Keep and Bear Arms that Shall Not Be Infringed.

But... There are those in our society to whom an AR-15 is an Evil Black Rifle, and a Glock is a high capacity bringer of death. Between an uniformed press and uninformed populace, any gun has become an evil thing, and the fact that I'm not breaking any laws by owning them becomes unimportant, because of their fear. To a great extent, our world is ruled by FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt).

Let's face it -- in this modern high-tech world, its pretty easy to find out lots of things about lots of people, and while my friends and I who will be posting here are quite happily employed at the moment, things change -- and I'd rather not have some closed minded HR moron deny me a job because a quick google search turned up my name on a pro-2nd Amendment blog.

Therefore, my friends and I created Shall Not Be Infringed, a place we can post our firearm-related thoughts and pics without being singled-out as a "gun nut."

Welcome Aboard!

- Revolver 223
- S&W 40