Canned Sunshine

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Its interesting to read some of the other blogs out there these days in regards to the actions going on in Ukraine. There’s definitely a contingent of people who are certain that the current course of action, and the ‘permission’ given to the Ukes to use the US supplied long range munitions, will lead us into a genuine nuclear scenario.

Nuclear weapons are interesting weapons and deterrents. Ostensibly, no one wants to be the first to use them but no one wants to be the last to use them either. What is more liekly to happen if someone launches a (small) nuke at someone….the receiving side and it’s allies restrain themselves form retaliating in kind in the name of the moral high ground? Or they retaliate in kind?

Is the current likelihood of nuclear war, or at least a couple ‘tactical’ or ‘limited’ nuclear uses, higher or lower than what it was during the Cold War?

I was pretty sure the Russians weren’t going to invade Ukraine and I was quite wrong about that. My ability to reasonably predict the future is, obviously, not that great. Do I think someone is going to open up some canned sunshine in this conflict? I really don’t know. I think that it would be alot like the situation the Israelis were (supposedly) in back in ’73 – When their back was to the wall and it looked like they were gonna take it in the shorts, they made a somewhat public show of prepping their nuclear weapons for use and Nixom quickly fired up Operation Nickelgrass and turned on the taps of materiel. I could see the Russians letting the satellites see them moving nuclear munitions to a ‘ready’ position and suddenly US pressure for Kiev to make ‘reasonable compromises’ occurs. Of course, we’d never know about it…but I bet if there’s a dramatic shift in policy towards compromise or appeasement, I’ll bet its because someone put on a show for satellites.

But, do I think anyone will heave a nuke, even a small tactical battlefield nuke, at someone? No,but I’ve been wrong before.

On the other hand, it’s always a good idea to be prepared just in case. And even if thes no nucelar exchange, those preparation work for other non-nuclear disasters as well. I mean, if you’re prepared for WW3.5 youre probably prepared, by default, for lesser things like hurricanes.

TurkeyFest 2024

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Or, as others call it, ‘Thanksgiving’.

Personally, I don’t restrict my gratitude to one day of the year. I’m always aware of what I do and don’t have and who is or is not responsible for that.

This year, I’m thankful the election didn’t go to Harris. I’m also thankful that the fourth quarter of the year was pretty good to me market-wise. And, of course, I am thankful to me for all the cool and good stuff I’ve done for me this year. Thanks me!

The problem, if you want to call it that, with being aware of what you do and do not have is that it makes you very sensitive to things that threaten that status quo. I can sit in front of a giant plate of turkey, potatoes, stuffing, pie, and ice cream, and while I’ll enjoy the heck out of it I’ll also be very aware that just because I have it now doesn’t guarantee I’ll have it next year. But..I’d bet folding money that the odds of me having an abundant holiday next year are a darn sight better than a lot of folks. Again…thanks me!

And lets hope next years Thanksgiving doesn’t go like this:

Article – The oldest known firearm in the U.S. unearthed in Arizona

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A bronze cannon recently recovered by researchers in Arizona appears to be the oldest known firearm ever found in the continental United States. According to experts, analysis indicates the 40 lbs weapon was likely owned by one of history’s most famous and notorious conquistadors, although he may never have fired it in battle.

A 500-year old swivel gun is an interesting find. My favorite, though much younger, is the ’73 Winchester found propped against a tree.

Every now and then someone digs up an ancient, pitted, rusted ‘relic’ here in Montana. The stories those guns could tell………..

Incomunicado

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Still screwing around with Bluehost to figure out why my email is all wonky. Practical up shot is that I owe a few of you guys some email. I got your emails just fine, so … messages received. But outgoing is a different story. Will let you know.

ETA: I suppose I should take this opportunity to reply, as discreetly as I can, to a couple emails:

  • Regarding magazines: Yes, please. My mailing address.
  • Holosight: I just picked up the PS2x and like it a lot.
  • Dozen: I’ll be around for Christmas and will let you know when your stuff arrives.
  • Avid Fan: Find help in Galatians 6:11, 15:2, Acts 3:3, Revelations 18:7, Jonah 6:8, John 6:22, Luke 1:7

The Montana boys

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You know, every so often I make a post and people leave comments that mention they are in Montana as well.

So, I’m a bit curious. How many of you folks are actually living in this fine state? You can be as vague as you want, but I am curious to know how many of you reside here in Montana.

I am willing to bet money that some of you have mutual friends with me, and I would not be surprised if I’ve met one or two of you and not known it.

Avoiding freezing to death

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18

Fall is definitely on the way out. The evenings and early mornings are getting downright chilly. Time to pull the Filsons out of storage and start gearing up for the cold.

I have absolutely no faith that anyone can predict the kind of winter we’re going to have. In fact, I genuinely believe most weather forecasts in Montana should just be a pre-records loop of “And now here’s Ted with the weather. Thanks…might rain, might not. Back to you Steve.”

However, getting caught unprepared is always something to be avoided. And it doesn’t have to be something dramatic. It can be something as stupid as you ducking out of your house without a jacket to just run to your car for a forgotten item, and locking yourself out of the building. People have died in this town from similar experiences. A few years ago some old guy got locked out of his car and froze to death. Maybe he didnt have the strength to bust a window, or maybe he was just reluctant. But either way, he became a statistic because of something as simple as forgetting that his car auto-locked when he got out of it.

I keep a heavy coat and other outwear in the truck, and I have a spare key on the outside of the truck to get into it in a crisis. But I also keep the Winter Module in my Bag O’ Tricks(tm) and that’d definitely make a difference in a pinch. But….the main point here is: don’t go outside without proper clothing even if its only for a few minutes…because life has a way of throwing curve balls at you that will suddenly turn ‘a few minutes’ into an hour and you can lose a lot of toes and fingers to the cold in an hour.

Its that time of year, guys. If you took the sleeping bags and blankets out of the truck over the summer, it’s time to put them back in. And for the love of Crom, raingear in winter is always a good idea. Because cold and wet will kill you a zillion times faster than just cold. Suspenders and a belt, guys.

Ruger fail

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I purchased a couple Ruger MPR 556 rifles when they were on sale a couple months ago. A close friend was having a birthday and I decided to gift them one of these rifles as an upgrade to their current M4gery. So, I open the box and go to grab the rifle so I can do a quick confirmation of the serial number and….

The Magpul pistol grip comes off in my hand.

WTF? Somehow this thing left the factory with no grip screw or grip screw washer. That’s not nice. Fortunately I had other MPR’s to fall back on. I wrote off an email to Ruger politely suggesting that they might wanna have a talk with whoever is supposed to inspect these things before they leave the factory, and to please send me, at no charge, the missing parts.

And now I have to go grab my USMC TM for the M16 and find their checklist of what to inspect and verify when getting a rifle warmed up for service.

I am a bit of a Ruger fanboy, and every manufacturer sometimes has something slip past the goalie, but it’s still a bit alarming when it does. Now I have to detail inspect everything on that rifle to make sure the grip screw wasn’t the only problem.

Still a Ruger fan, though.

9mm AR carbines

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Anytime anyone makes a post about a pistol-caliber carbine there is a contingent of people who feel compelled to demand the poster explain how they feel served by a carbine in that caliber as opposed to the carbines ‘normal’ chambering of 5.56.

I’d like to save everyone some time and bandwidth by skipping that argument and just move on to the guns.

Although I have dozens of 5.56 AR carbines, I didn’t have any in 9mm. I do have some Mp5 clones, and a couple Ruger PC Carbine/Chargers that take Glock mags, but I’ve been wanting something that had all the function and form factor of the AR platform.

When you start looking at 9mm ARs you notice something interesting – very few Glock-compatible ARs have last shot bolt hold opens. This is because of the mechanical contortions of getting such a device to work with a magazine that is wildly different dimensionally from an AR mag. Most manufacturers simply sell ARs that don’t have the last shot hold open, but…some do.

I ordered up a carbine from Angstadt Arms. Their website said that their guns would lock open on an empty mag and that’s what I was looking for. Their website also said their barrel was threaded 1/2×28 which would let me use a couple of the 9mm cans I have here on the shelf.

Surprisingly, while the AA carbine lived up to the last shot hold open, they did NOT thread their barrel 1/2×28. For reasons that I am sure make no sense, they threaded it 1/2×36. I cannot overstate what an inconvenience this is. This means that I need to order a different adaptor for each 9mm suppressor I wanna use on this thing.

What I wound up doing is getting a tri-lug adaptor for the gun, and then a tri-lug adaptor for the Obsidian suppressor. So, at least this way I can use the tri-lug on my Mp5 clones as well.

However, I fired off an email to Angstadt Arms asking them why the rifle I purchased did not have the threading that was clearly denoted on their website description. No answer yet.

And, because one is none, I also ordered KE Arms version of the same gun except built on their one-piece polymer lower. This should be a very lightweight gun. Will post about it when it gets here.