First batch of ten arrived..finally. Next batch of ten will be shipped next week.

Supposed to have been here today butit appears UPS is living up to its union-staffed abilities. Should be here tomorrow. Apparently it was not only delayed by weather but also by a ‘late train’..whats next? Commanches?

In Transit
Rescheduled Delivery: 03/26/2007
Shipped to: MISSOULA, MT, US
Shipped or Billed on: 03/16/2007
Service Type: GROUND
Weight: 6.00 Lbs

Package Progress
Location Date Local Time Description
HODGKINS,
IL, US 03/21/2007 1:41 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
03/21/2007 1:00 P.M. A LATE TRAIN CAUSED THIS DELAY
WATERTOWN,
CT, US 03/19/2007 11:05 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
03/19/2007 7:04 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN
WATERTOWN,
CT, US 03/16/2007 11:12 P.M. ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS CAUSED THIS DELAY;THE MOVEMENT OF THE PACKAGE WILL RESUME AS SOON AS THE WEATHER CONDITIONS ALLOW
03/16/2007 11:12 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN
US 03/16/2007 3:27 P.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

Still nothing from Stag. I was told last week that one order of ten lowers had gone out the previous week. Still not here. If they ain’t here tomorrow I’ll call them and hold their feet to the fire regarding tracking numbers and shipping info. So..patience, mi amigos. Its a busy time in the AR-making biz.

Off to the range today. More work with the HKlone and the Bushy Dissipator.
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After having scoured the ‘For Dummies’ website it appears there is no such thing as ‘Alternative Energy For Dummies’ or similar text. Fortuntaely, theinternet beingwhat it is, there should be a zillion webpages out there with the info Im looking for.
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Had yet another end-of-the-world dream last night. Cant recall all the details except it involved lotsa hungry people and there being a rather bright and menacing looking fire on the horizon. I attribute this to eating things before bed that I know I shouldnt. That and watching ‘Jericho’.
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I have found an issue with the PTR, by the way. The stock has a crack in it. Its not a crack from use, its more like someone laid the gun flat and stepped on it…its a shallow depression on the side of the stock towards the buttpad. I cant recall if it came that way from the shop or not. Nonetheless, a quick trip to Cheaper Than Dirt finds me these for twenty bucks a set. I have three on their way. The cracked stock isnt compromised in terms of function, it doesnt even look damaged…you have to really look at it in the right light. But….it bothers me knowing its there. So, that stock, being still serviceable, will be sanded down to a rough finish and painted winter camo for winter use. Moral: inspect all guns closely before purchase. Im quite certain this damage did not happen on my watch…but since Im not 100% on that I cant very well demand the GunPimp do anything about it. My careless.
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Still havent gotten around to picking up the riflescope I want. The reason for that, so far, has been that the things I have been buying of late (mags, PTR, etc) are things that may be unavailable in the near future. While its possible that fine tactical optics may someday be restricted that seems far less likely right now than the guns and mags being restricted. So I utilize my resources accordingly. However, I havent been snoozing on my CZ550… I did pick up a few more mags for it giving me the total of six mags that I wanted. Need to pick up some 30mm rings, a really good sling and a few smaller, inexpensive items and I’ll be squared away on that.
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Was in the bunker last night putting away some ammo and while Im not completely satisfied on things, I am ‘okay’ on many of them. Good supply of food, ammo, lighting, batteries, firstaid, etc, etc. Still some deficiencies I need to work on, but its getting there.
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I was talking with someone the other day about generators…specifically propane vs. diesel. I said I liked propane for its ease of use and storage as well as for its abiility to run an entire house..heat, light, power, etc. The other person commented that this was true but diesel had one advantage propane did not – portability. That is to say, you cant really go down to your neighbor or buddys house and borrow twenty gallons of propane to put into your 500-gallon tank in the yard. Its not that man-portable without special gear. Diesel, on the other hand, can be carried around with a bucket. While it is possible, i suppose, to empty barbecue bombs into a bulk tank with an adapter its probably more easy to pour a five gallon jerry can of diesel down a funnel.So….something to think about there.

Well, my BK&T TacTool arrived today. I like it. Its just the ticket for cutting, smashing, prting and cutting your way out of a building, vehicle or other wreckage. I need to rummage through thebunker and find some old webbing to test the web-cutting hook on.
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Also received my 100 HK91 mags. Thats it, I’m done! I’ve got enough of the darn things now that I am not going to contemplate getting any more. For the record, 75 mags will fit in a 40mm ammo can. Nine will fit in your average .30 cal. can. I have two 40mm cans and five .30 cans sitting in the rack right now with “HK91 mags” written on the tags. Dude, thats alot of mags.

Speaking of mags, someone asked me in email about best deals for AK mags. So far, its this: http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=282484 12/$80 or $6.67 ea. A darn good deal..esp. since they are nt Chinese manufacture.

Mmmmph..I missed out on the content for a possible group buy by just a few minutes. One of my vendors was closing out on Chip McCormick Shooting Star blued 8-rd mags w/ pads for $8.50. Called and said I’d take 30…was told they had three. :::facepalm:::

On the other hand, I had to order a Glock 27 for someone today and although it was, unfortunately, out of stock they had plenty o’ mags on hand so I wound up with 15 G17 mags and 5 more G18 (33-rd) mags. That should pretty much cover me on the Glock mags for a while.

I understand that HR1022 is still in committee, hopefully dying a slow death, but if it does pop outta committee and make a dash for the next phase then I need to be well positioned to avoid getting caught flat-footed.

My latest batch of 100 HK91 mags hasn’t arrived yet but I expect them this week. At this rate I can start putting ‘DONE’ on quite a few columns of my ‘gun needs’ spreadsheet. I’ll be done with HK91 mags, done with Glock mags (unless another G17 or G19 or a lovely G17L shows up.) A receipt from Stag for the latest orders of lowers showed up in my snailbox today so they should be here tomorrow or Friday. That’ll be ten to fill orders and then the remaining orders will be filled when the final batch show up about a week or so after. Did some math and it looks like I’ll have three extra lowers, all with pistol papers. If anyone is interested lemme know. Same price.

Speaking of group buys, the next Mountain House #10 (the large cans) purchase will be June. It’ll run June 1 until June 30. Cans will be available in cases of six as last time but there will also be the option of buying individual cans, although you’ll get better savings on full cases of six. When it starts I’ll have Excel and tab-delimited spreadsheets available to calculate costs and shipping weights.

Which reminds me I need to get my spreadsheets up to date for the stuff in the bunker.

Additionally, I need to get radio active. Need to have the girlfriend research radio options. Specifically, something that covers the bands she’s licensed on as well as the usual bands that would be in the more common, widely available Cb, FRS, etc. and similar radios. Of course, it’d also be nice if it ran off 12v. as well as household AC, was durable, easily hacked, adaptable for use with a wide assortment of accessories, etc, etc. Then there is that little matter of having to get around to setting up an antenna in the yard. Sigh. No rest for the wicked.

Anyone recall how the supply ofcheap Chinese steel-core 7.62×39 was shutdown because Oly made a 7.62×39 semiauto pistol? The ammo which had previously been rifle ammo was now considered ‘handgun ammo’ and since it had a steel core became ‘armour piercing’ handgun ammo? Remember that? I mention itbecause Taurus is coming out with a .223 Rem. revolver. All that lovely SS109 ammo might, might, might be a thing of the past……….Opinions?

Oh man, I dont know what I did to prompt the wierd dreams but I had the most bizarre dream last night. Whats it got to do with the things I post here? Oh, keep reading….

I dreamt I was living back in NY. I was taking the subway home and got off at the wrong station. As I walked through the station to find the train Im supposed to take home, I become aware that the illegal handgun, in this case a S&W 622, is shifting around uncomfortably under my jacket where I have it tucked into my waistband. So I wander through the station until I meet this large cop played by, interestingly, by Barry Shabaka Henley (Lt. Castillo from the Mimi VIce remake). So I say to him “Can I get to Kings Highway from here?”. He says I can and then calls me by name. I ask him how he knows my name. He says he knows everythign about me, he’s my guardian angel. “Yeah, right.”, I say. I notice his uniform is missing a badge, gun and radio and I point this out to him saying of he really were some sort of otherworldy figure he’d have gotten little details like that correct. He shrugs and says the current uniforms are too uncomfortable but that if it’ll make me hapy…and suddenly a badge, radio and gunbelt materialize on his polyester uniform. That gets my attention. Pepole are walking by staring at me and I realize its because to them I’m standing int he middle of the subway station talking to empty space. No one else, naturally, can see him. I ask him why he’s here. He says “To keep you from making a mistake. See those doors up there?” he says pointing to the doors at the top of the stairs leading to the platform. “Yeah?” “You want to close those and the other doors in the next 35 minutes.” In this dream I take this as a sign that something very bad, very loud and very radioactive is going to happen in about 35 minutes. I start walking towards the stairs and Im no longer in the subway station, instead Im in an office building. I hear on the radio about some big international going on, probably at the UN, and Im thinking to myself ‘this is it. Whatever happens is because of this international event.’ I wander the office building noting where the windows are, the exits and thinking how Im going to shelter in place when things go south in a hurry in x minutes. Although I dont have any interaction with him, he’s more of a spectator, theres another otherworldy person standing around watching, played by, and Im not making this up, Marc Singer. As I’m roaming this office building trying to get my ducks in a row, I notice theres a girl walking around who, for lack of a better term, is causing mischief..tainting peoples coffe, disconnecting their phones, etc. and apparently no one can see her except me. So what we’ve got here is another otherworldly type causing mischief. See a pattern here? Good and bad guys in this drama? I’m listeningt o the day to day stuff going on around me and I think to myself ‘all this is about to change’ and thats pretty much when theres a big flash of light. I hit the deck and yell for everyone to do likewise, get away fromn the windows, cover their head, and close thier eyes. I hear screaming and feel a wave of heat. I hear more screaming as the windows explode inwards and people nearby them get peppered with glass. More screaming as people are blinded by the intense light. I open my eyes just a fraction and even through my hands I can see how bright it is. After a moment I open my eyes. Where the light had come through the indows everythign is burining hot to the touch and some people burn themselves badly as they brush up against file cabinets and metal door frames. Im on the floor and all I can think is “I need my bag” and Im wondering if Im going to have to shoot anybody. Im crawling around on the floor and as Im reaching for my bag I think that things are going to get very ugly very fast. One of the other survivors is crawling around on the floor with me and finds a paper bag full of candy from an office party. I comment that they should hide it since people will probably kill them for it later as the food runs out. I get to my bag and start trying to find my way out of the building. About this time one of the ‘bad’ guys corners one of the ‘good’ guys (the Marc Singer one) and kills him in a most disturbing manner … he stabs him with some object and all the flesh melts off of him leaving a clothed skeleton crumpled on the floor. The bad guys stare at the mound of bones and clothes for a moment and it rises, reanimated, into a skeletal zombie…as do the hundreds of dead office workers. All heading to the stairwells to head to the floor Im on. So now Im in this darkened office building, I hear shambling all around me, all Ive got is this .22 auto and Im hoping to hell I’ve got a couple boxes of .22 ammo in my bag. I grab my flashlight in one hand and pistol in the other and start running, throwing shots down stairwells as I run by. Then it occurs to me, ‘hey, this has to be a dream. If I just open my eyes I’ll be fine’. So thats what I do and -presto- Im back in my bed unable tog et back to sleep.

And that wasnt the only wierd apocalyptic dream I had last night either, but it was the most entertaining and disturbing one. Zombies, guardian angels, b-list actors, d-list actors, end-of-the-world-and-all-I-have-is-a-.22 angst, that dream has it all.

Ten lowers shipped last week. Ordered another ten yesterday. That should be enough to fill all orders. The last batch will, according to the sales rep, take about a week before it gets shipped. Updates as they come.

Since I’ve forsaken the FAL for the PTR-91 (hereafter referred to as ‘the 91’ or ‘HKlone’) I need to go shopping for spare parts. The good news is that since the wehrmacht bundswehr dropped the G3 to go with the G36 theres plenty of G3 parts being dumped on the market (as well as a bazillion magazines…god love ’em). So, now I have to go shopping for spare parts which is a bit wierd since historically the HK guns usually dont break anything. However, Capt. Insano did have a major moment of doubt and questioning of faith when a trigger part on his USP40 broke. I think he’s still rattled by it, which might explain his devotion to his CZ-75 collection. Anyway….

So, parts to buy? Well the usual – anything that utilizes a spring, firing pin, extractor, various pins, etc. looks like a good spare parts kit can be put together for less than fifty bucks.
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Five Stag lowers arrived Friday and have been sent out to various people. Theres two more orders of ten receivers on the way. (The smaller orders ship faster.) Its going to be FIFO, for the most part, so if you ordered Friday youre probably at the back of the line.
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So…whats your average preparedness freak to do when he’s a) pretty much done on his food stockpiling and b) pretty much done on his firearms acquisitions? Well, the smart answer is: recover financially and after a pause add more to your stocks. But, in reality, theres always something that needs stocking up. I need to lay in some mags and ammo but otherwise Im pretty well set gunwise. Need to move on to energy and, specifically, ‘short-term disruption solutions’ (i.e. localized blackouts). Additionally, and Ive been dragging my heels on this for way too long, I need to get some sort of bare-bones self-sustaining system in place for running radios and LED lighting. Fortunately both of those dont draw alot of power and dont require inverting to AC.

Still need to put together the money for a nice vehicle though. Every time I see a nicely restored FJ roaming around town I think to myself “damn, I need one of those”.
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EDIT: okay, almost done. Still need the .50.
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And, as if I dont have enough things in the world to spend money on, the girlfriend and I still need a nice chunk of real estate for that lovely, heavily-fortified ‘weekend cabin’ in the woods. That lovely, idylic place where we can get away from the hustle and bustle of normal life (well, that and the rampaging hordes of radioactive zombies). That, my friends, aint gonna be cheap. However, dont need to do it all at once. Just the land itself would be good since it almsot always goes up in price as time goes by. Can drop a bunker on it later.