Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
While I usually review gear for my own needs, since I really only care about the things that matter to me, I’ll pass on a nice little gear review site for all the ‘geardo’s out there: http://www.militarymorons.com/
While I usually review gear for my own needs, since I really only care about the things that matter to me, I’ll pass on a nice little gear review site for all the ‘geardo’s out there: http://www.militarymorons.com/
Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
What did Santa (or Santa’s thong-clad minion) get the very undeserving Commander Zero for Christmas? One of these bad boys. Burns gas cannisters, kerosene, gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, camp fuel, white gas…anything you dont wanna smoke a cigarette near, this baby will burn it. Yowza!! And since my liquid fuel o’ choice is the lovingly stable and deliciously long lasting kerosene, this thing is going to fit right in. Order up a few spare parts, find a good container to hold it all in and this baby is going to get bumped to the top of the gear list. For those keeping track, i currently was using a Coleman Peak1 multifuel stove with an extra generator for kerosene. Also have an old primus #71 (http://stovecollector.tripod.com/images/primus71_50s_60s_m.jpg) that is all brass and is basically World War One technology..no pumps, no no pressurizing, no fuel bottles. A simple and utterly foolproof little cooker. Its an amazing example of low-technology that equals high-tech and then surpasses it with its no moving parts and unbreakable materials..not a lick of plastic on the thing. (Reference: http://stovecollector.tripod.com/br_primus.htm) However, despite its bulletproofness, one drawback is that its pretty much restricted to the one fuel. The Omnifuel, however, will run on whatever I can find … and extremely useful quality to have when you never know what fuel may be available. I could scavenge out of oil tanks, car gas tanks, truck diesel tanks, kerosene lamps, etc, etc. Truly, a Mad Max-suitable piece of gear.
Mondo cool.
I’ll pull a fuel bottle out of the bunker tonight and try it with camp fuel to familiarize myself.
What did Santa (or Santa’s thong-clad minion) get the very undeserving Commander Zero for Christmas? One of these bad boys. Burns gas cannisters, kerosene, gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, camp fuel, white gas…anything you dont wanna smoke a cigarette near, this baby will burn it. Yowza!! And since my liquid fuel o’ choice is the lovingly stable and deliciously long lasting kerosene, this thing is going to fit right in. Order up a few spare parts, find a good container to hold it all in and this baby is going to get bumped to the top of the gear list. For those keeping track, i currently was using a Coleman Peak1 multifuel stove with an extra generator for kerosene. Also have an old primus #71 (http://stovecollector.tripod.com/images/primus71_50s_60s_m.jpg) that is all brass and is basically World War One technology..no pumps, no no pressurizing, no fuel bottles. A simple and utterly foolproof little cooker. Its an amazing example of low-technology that equals high-tech and then surpasses it with its no moving parts and unbreakable materials..not a lick of plastic on the thing. (Reference: http://stovecollector.tripod.com/br_primus.htm) However, despite its bulletproofness, one drawback is that its pretty much restricted to the one fuel. The Omnifuel, however, will run on whatever I can find … and extremely useful quality to have when you never know what fuel may be available. I could scavenge out of oil tanks, car gas tanks, truck diesel tanks, kerosene lamps, etc, etc. Truly, a Mad Max-suitable piece of gear.
Mondo cool.
I’ll pull a fuel bottle out of the bunker tonight and try it with camp fuel to familiarize myself.
Hmmmm…8.9 earthquake on the other side of the planet. A nice reminder that some Bad Things are just totally unpredictable (at least, in the sense of knowing where or when). I mean, if you live in California you have to know that someday The Big One is coming…you just dont know when. My particular part of the planet isnt know for massive earthquakes but they have happened in the past. Last biggie was around the 1955-era. Yellowstone Park is always threatening to go off, and Mount St, Helens is a few hundred miles west and we did get plenty of fallout from it when it let go.
Still, the most Ive ever felt has ben a 2-point-something that basically shook the bed a little bit and left me wondering ‘what the hell was that’? The Californians who read this will snort and say that they dont even get out of bed for anything below a 3.5, Im sure.
However, having said that, I wonder how many Californians take seriously their responsibility to be prepared for earthquakes. I know that theres obviously a certain amount of government-mandated preparedness in the form of gas valves, house construction, etc, etc. But I wonder how many Californians actually keep the usual stock of food, water, ammo, batteries, etc.
Short of the house collapsing on top of my head, Id say Im pretty well covered for just about anything short of a direct hit. But theres always more stuff to buy…(grumble).
Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
Took the CZ to the range yesterday along with a few LMI’s to try 1000-yard shooting. It was 8 degrees out and thats pretty cold when youre used to 25-30~ degree weather. On the bright side, heat mirage wasnt much of a concern. Wore the Flectar parka and it was up to the task. Shoulda worn warmer socks though…one of the LMI wore a pair of Mickey Mouse/bunny boots and they apparently served him quite well. Looks like Im going to have to hunt a pair of them down and buy them. I was still getting the feel for the CZ and my 9x scope was no match for the distance of 1000 yards so I just shot 100 yard stuff. The LMI were shooting 7mag and .308. I personally thought the .308 would be pretty spent and thus less accurate by the time it got there, but it acquitted itself nicely. Holdover? Well, the conversation went like this: “Okay, sighted in for 300 yards, so its 25 clicks of elevation for 1000″, “Add two more clicks for the colder temperature”, etc. See, at that range you dont just think to yourself “I’ll hold four feet over the target”…no, you calculate your ballistics on a computer, print a little range card with the various distances noted, and then you mark down the correct number of clicks to adjust your scope. Of course, for this to work you need a very good scope (average cost of the scopes used we $900 each) and your ammo has to be quite consistent. When all that is said and done you head down the range and see a group thats about 6 or 7 inches big and you think “Thats horrible” until you realize thats .7 MOA…the equivalent of shooting a .7″ group at 100 yards…and that those shots all would hit a man sized target at well over half a mile away.
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Took the Mr Heater ‘Buddy’ to the range. It worked adequately enough to warm hands and feet but it really works best in an enclosed space. The brain-numbing cold didnt have much of an effect on it although the Coke I was drinking froze in the three minutes I left it alone to go take a leak. Thats cold.
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Things at the house are a bit chilly too. I was negligent in getting the storm windows up so thats a priority for today. Additionally, I need to make sure theres no under-the-door drafts or anything. Heating bill was outrageous last time.
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Im going to ditch the Remington brass and pick up some Lapua or Hornady Match cases. I may be on the right track with the IMR 4895 but I’d like to try some of the Varget or blc2 loads. Any idiot can hit a playing card at 100 yards…I didnt spend this money for 100 yard shooting. I want the maximum effective and accurate range. Not necessarily 1000 yards but probably 600yards or so at least.
Took the CZ to the range yesterday along with a few LMI’s to try 1000-yard shooting. It was 8 degrees out and thats pretty cold when youre used to 25-30~ degree weather. On the bright side, heat mirage wasnt much of a concern. Wore the Flectar parka and it was up to the task. Shoulda worn warmer socks though…one of the LMI wore a pair of Mickey Mouse/bunny boots and they apparently served him quite well. Looks like Im going to have to hunt a pair of them down and buy them. I was still getting the feel for the CZ and my 9x scope was no match for the distance of 1000 yards so I just shot 100 yard stuff. The LMI were shooting 7mag and .308. I personally thought the .308 would be pretty spent and thus less accurate by the time it got there, but it acquitted itself nicely. Holdover? Well, the conversation went like this: “Okay, sighted in for 300 yards, so its 25 clicks of elevation for 1000”, “Add two more clicks for the colder temperature”, etc. See, at that range you dont just think to yourself “I’ll hold four feet over the target”…no, you calculate your ballistics on a computer, print a little range card with the various distances noted, and then you mark down the correct number of clicks to adjust your scope. Of course, for this to work you need a very good scope (average cost of the scopes used we $900 each) and your ammo has to be quite consistent. When all that is said and done you head down the range and see a group thats about 6 or 7 inches big and you think “Thats horrible” until you realize thats .7 MOA…the equivalent of shooting a .7″ group at 100 yards…and that those shots all would hit a man sized target at well over half a mile away.
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Took the Mr Heater ‘Buddy’ to the range. It worked adequately enough to warm hands and feet but it really works best in an enclosed space. The brain-numbing cold didnt have much of an effect on it although the Coke I was drinking froze in the three minutes I left it alone to go take a leak. Thats cold.
=====
Things at the house are a bit chilly too. I was negligent in getting the storm windows up so thats a priority for today. Additionally, I need to make sure theres no under-the-door drafts or anything. Heating bill was outrageous last time.
=====
Im going to ditch the Remington brass and pick up some Lapua or Hornady Match cases. I may be on the right track with the IMR 4895 but I’d like to try some of the Varget or blc2 loads. Any idiot can hit a playing card at 100 yards…I didnt spend this money for 100 yard shooting. I want the maximum effective and accurate range. Not necessarily 1000 yards but probably 600yards or so at least.
Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
Finaly, finally, finally got the CZ to the range. Took about four shots to get the scope ‘in the neighborhood’ but it wasnt nearly as ammo-consuming as I expected. I’d thrown together some handloads the other night, just something out of the book, and they shot okay enough. What I need to do is pick up a keg of BL(c)-2 ’cause I think thats going to be the way to go. Also some more ballistic tips.
The gun is pretty heavy so felt recoil was ridiculously light. My .30-30 carbine kicks more. The set trigger spoils you for the non-set trigger. As I said, these werent exactly precision loads….they were Remington brass (which I’ll be replacing with either Lapua or Hornady Match), IMR 4895 (I really prefer the ball/spherical powders for this sort of thing) and some Ballistic Tip 165 gr.
Shot for 3-shot groups. At 100 yards out of the 6 groups I shot half were less than 1″ the rest were less than 2″. Not a great start, but I still need to futz around with the ammo and the barrel is still probably just getting broken in. Regardless, it was enjoyable and challenging to shoot in the 20 degree weather when your fingers can barely feel the trigger. Wind was blowing too, but at 100 yards it couldnt have made that much drift.
Anyway, I think the gun has potential and I look forward to playing with it alot more.
Finaly, finally, finally gotr the CZ to the range. Took about four shots to get the scope ‘in the neighborhood’ but it wasnt nearly as ammo-consuming as I expected. I’d thrown together some handloads the other night, just something out of the book, and they shot okay enough. What I need to do is pick up a keg of BL(c)-2 ’cause I think thats going to be the way to go. Also some more ballistic tips.
The gun is pretty heavy so felt recoil was ridiculously light. My .30-30 carbine kicks more. The set trigger spoils you for the non-set trigger. As I said, these werent exactly precision loads….they were Remington brass (which I’ll be replacing with either Lapua or Hornady Match), IMR 4895 (I really prefer the ball/spherical powders for this sort of thing) and some Ballistic Tip 165 gr.
Shot for 3-shot groups. At 100 yards out of the 6 groups I shot half were less than 1″ the rest were less than 2″. Not a great start, but I still need to futz around with the ammo and the barrel is still probably just getting broken in. Regardless, it was enjoyable and challenging to shoot in the 20 degree weather when your fingers can barely feel the trigger. Wind was blowing too, but at 100 yards it couldnt have made that much drift.
Anyway, I think the gun has potential and I look forward to playing with it alot more.
Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
RIngs arrived. The Leupold Vari-X II is sitting on the gun as we speak. I’ll load up some ammo over the next day or two and take the thing out Monday. I need to get in touch with one of my target shooting buddies and see if he has a device for checking the scopes ‘level-ness’ once its on the gun. Still gotta go shopping for a bipod though.
