Category Archives: Gun Fun

Any Thoughts on an Old Rifle?

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Via email from Paul K.

I was thinking who I know (I only know a gun people) who would appreciate this, and perhaps have some comments about it.

Yesterday I dropped in at a local gun shop and saw a rifle on display marked “Dutch Beaumont-Vitali (Dutch), 1888 11.38 x 50”. It’s apparently modified — shortened barrel, 22 inches instead of the original rather long barrel.

I never heard of it or that caliber so I did some looking. Apparently it’s one of the first metal cartridge repeating rifles, black powder of course. https://www.militaryrifles.com/netherlands/beaumont7188 is one description. There are even some webpages that discuss how to make brass for it, and reloading for it. But, amazingly, Buffalo makes new ammo for it, not cheap but not insane.

Oh yes, the price is $299 if I remember right, or maybe $249. Not all that high for sure.

I’m tempted…

A Sign of Deconsolidating Democracy

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Quote of the Day

When each side starts talking about the other as a threat to democracy — whatever the reality is — that’s a sign of a democracy that’s deconsolidating.

Daniel Ziblatt
January 7, 2024
A government professor at Harvard University and co-author of the book How Democracies Die
One attack, two interpretations: Biden and Trump both make the Jan. 6 riot a political rallying cry | Kansas City Star

Reading the book description on Amazon indicates it is a far from objective book. It was released in January of 2019 and appears to be aimed squarely at former President Trump:.

The good news is that there are several exit ramps on the road to authoritarianism. The bad news is that, by electing Trump, we have already passed the first one.

I just want to move into my bunker in Idaho, stock and grow food, reload ammo, and practice long range shooting.

Bullets Versus Cell Phones

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Via an email from Jacob at Widener’s Reloading & Shooting Supply.

Mythbusting: Cell Phone Stop A Bullet? – Wideners Shooting, Hunting & Gun Blog

There’s a brutal difference between fact and fiction. The things we see in the entertainment industry may look cool on screen but have no basis in reality. For example, in Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps, Richard Hannay’s (Robert Donat) life is saved when a hymnal in his pocket stops an assassin’s bullet. This popular trope has been used and reused many times over the years with a variety of objects all conveniently being able to stop a bullet.

Unfortunately, in the real world, we’ve all seen reports of shootings occurring in public locations. Many of which have been designated as “gun-free zones.” Fortunately for some, nearby objects and personal effects have prevented bullets from impacting their intended target. One of the personal items commonly reported on in these situations is the cell phone.

Will a cell phone stop a bullet? The team here at Widener’s decided to test this myth, take a look at what we discovered below.

Short answer, “No. You are still going to get hurt or killed after the bullet, even .22 LR goes through your cell phone.”

It was, as always, fun to see the video of bullets blasting through stuff.

Let Them Sit at Home and be Afraid

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Quote of the Day

I was thinking that Russians would now know that is what Ukrainians are capable of.

Let them sit at home and be afraid.

Vyacheslav Kovalskiy
December 4, 2023
Ukrainian Sniper Breaks Cover to Claim World-Record Hit of More Than 2 Miles

Via email from pkoning.

Yes, there was more than a little luck involved. But he and his spotter made a lot of their own luck too. Awesome shooting.

Also from the article:

Kovalskiy’s shot hit around 12,470 feet, around a third longer than the Golden Gate Bridge. That distance would break a record of 11,600 feet set in 2017 by a member of the Canadian Special Forces in Iraq.

The 58-year-old former businessman’s journey to martial mythology started just before day break on Nov. 18, when he and his spotter, a partner who calculates distance, wind speed and other variables, set up positions across the river from a Russian military base in the Kherson region of east Ukraine.

…

Kovalskiy and his spotter wonder why there is so much skepticism about a shot of this distance when targets, albeit stationary, have been achieved at these lengths several times in competitions such as the King of Two Miles in the U.S.

The two men are no ordinary snipers. Kovalskiy has been winning long-distance shooting competitions in Europe and North America for decades and first met his spotter at such competitions in Ukraine.

One has to wonder if things get a little on the sparkly side of normal in this country if the competition shooters will be among the first to be rounded up and sent to the gulags.

Prepare and respond appropriately.

Plastic Stronger Than Steel

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This was nearly two years ago. Where can I get a plastic gun barrel for my .300 Win Mag?

Using a novel polymerization process, MIT chemical engineers have created a new material that is stronger than steel and as light as plastic, and can be easily manufactured in large quantities.

The new material is a two-dimensional polymer that self-assembles into sheets, unlike all other polymers, which form one-dimensional, spaghetti-like chains. Until now, scientists had believed it was impossible to induce polymers to form 2D sheets.

Such a material could be used as a lightweight, durable coating for car parts or cell phones, or as a building material for bridges or other structures, says Michael Strano, the Carbon P. Dubbs Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT and the senior author of the new study.

“We don’t usually think of plastics as being something that you could use to support a building, but with this material, you can enable new things,” he says. “It has very unusual properties and we’re very excited about that.”

See also Irreversible synthesis of an ultrastrong two-dimensional polymeric material | Nature.

Professor Pew CLP Review

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A few weeks ago I received an email requesting I review a CLP (Clean, Lubricate, and Protect) product for guns:

Hey there,

This is John with Professor Pew, a small Detroit-based gun care products company (affiliated with BravoBelt). Your blog caught my attention and we’d like to learn more about your brand collaborations.

Our website: www.professorpew.com

What’s your process for getting on your product review schedule? Happy to send you a bottle of our CLP (on the house) to test the waters. Just need a good address.

Let me know if you’re interested.
  
John
Brand Partnerships & Development
www.professorpew.com

I looked at their website and was skeptical for multiple reasons:

Welcome to Professor Pew, a plant-based gun cleaning, lubricant, and protectant company.

I haven’t used a CLP product in decades. My reasoning being that any product which is multipurpose must be a tradeoff and have inferior performance to a corresponding set of single purpose products. There can be advantages related to lower cost, size, etc. but function performance has to take a hit in a multiple function product.

When I read about the “plant-based” aspects of the product I rolled my eyes. They added another constraint and corresponding tradeoff.

But I agreed to review their product and they sent me an eight ounce bottle:

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I cleaned two dirty guns with the CLP. I was shocked at how easy it was to get them clean. The most amazing part was the cleaning of the barrels. Usually there is carbon in the edges of the grooves of my pistols. I either leave it or use some bore past, a patch, and bronze brush to get most of it out. With this CLP I left it in the barrel for five of the recommended (as found on the back of the bottle) 2-5 minutes. I scrubbed it a few strokes with a bronze brush it and pushed a clean patch through the barrel. The barrel was clean! No line of black in the edges of the grooves.

There were other areas of the guns, corners in particular, that never get very clean which were now cleaner than they have ever been since the guns were new. This is an awesome cleaner! And there was no strong obnoxious smell.

But how about lubrication? The test which some lubricants fail is an extreme cold test. I lubricated one gun and wiped off the excess oil. I then put it in a zip lock bag and put it in the deep freeze overnight. The next morning I pull the gun out of the freezer, removed it from the zip lock bag, racked the slide, and exercised the hammer and trigger multipole times. Everything worked as expected. I have seen the slide on guns take two seconds or more to creep forward until they contacted the round which failed to chamber. The hammer would fall so slowly they would only make the slightest of dent in the primer. The lubrication had turned into a high viscosity grease at the cold temperature. With this CLP, I could not detect any velocity reduction.

I don’t have a quick and easy way to test the protective qualities, but I did have one more test.

I took a freshly lubed gun and put it in my brass dryer. I let it dry for about an hour to see the results. My usual lubricant will be essentially dry to the touch. Professor Pew CLP did not dry out to a film. It was still slightly moist.

For demanding dusty and/or sandy environments I probably will still use the Interflon Fin Super but Professor Pew CLP will get the nod in other situations.

You can get Professor Pew CLP direct from their website or from Amazon.

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If You See a Bulge

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Quote of the Day

If you see a bulge in a conservative woman’s pants, it’s a gun. If you see a bulge in a liberal woman’s pants, it’s a penis.

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Blaire White @MsBlaireWhite
Tweeted on February 27, 2023

I do not think knowing her political affiliation is required to distinguish between a penis and a gun in her pants.

What is this thing? Is that a light?

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The scope seems a little odd to me too.

Online Ammo Bank

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This is a little different:

AmmoSquared Addresses Growing Demand for Alternative Assets

Nampa, ID – AmmoSquared Inc., the pioneer in online ammunition backed holdings, is answering the call from consumers seeking non-traditional ways to diversify their assets. The company offers a unique service by allowing customers to accumulate and store physical ammunition holdings off-site, providing an innovative way for individuals to build and protect tangible wealth while hedging against economic uncertainties.

As the global economy faces unprecedented challenges, many individuals are turning away from traditional asset accounts that can be vulnerable to fiat currency shocks such as stocks, bonds, and money market accounts. AmmoSquared’s ammunition-backed digital wallet offers a new approach for those concerned about the declining value of fiat currencies and the risks associated with conventional financial institutions.

“Ammunition is a physical, tangible asset that will never be worth zero,” says AmmoSquared CEO Dan Morton, “It’s more stable than cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which are still too volatile for most people to reliably use as an alternative store of value. Ammunition is more like gold, with intrinsic value based on the effort and cost of raw materials. It will never be worthless, nor will it vanish due to a tweet or hacker.”

AmmoSquared has developed a user-friendly platform that allows customers to build, store, and manage an ammunition inventory online. The company offers over 60 different caliber options to cater to the diverse needs of its customers. Asset holders take advantage of AmmoSquared’s secure, climate controlled, storage facilities, ensuring their ammunition holdings are kept in optimal conditions to preserve its value.

The company has also introduced features typically found in financial products, such as limit orders, percentage gains and loss tracking, and the ability to exchange between different calibers with just a few clicks. These features, combined with an easy-to-use interface, make AmmoSquared an attractive option for those seeking to purchase and store ammunition as an alternative safe haven for their excess funds.

AmmoSquared, which started in 2015 as an ammunition subscription service, has evolved into something akin to an ammunition bank. They offer customers a unique way to diversify their savings into a tangible, useful asset. As dollar dominance wanes and people seek alternative safe havens for their excess cash, AmmoSquared provides a practical, secure solution that helps protect customers’ wealth in these uncertain times.

For more information about AmmoSquared and its innovative ammunition solutions, visit https://ammosquared.com/.

About AmmoSquared Inc.:

AmmoSquared is pioneering an online ammunition wallet or “bank account”, offering customers an innovative way to purchase and store ammunition while still meeting their everyday shooting and hunting needs. With a wide variety of calibers available, AmmoSquared’s platform provides a user-friendly experience that allows individuals to manage and diversify their assets with ease. The company is dedicated to providing secure storage solutions and exceptional customer service, positioning itself as a leader in the burgeoning ammunition depository market.

For further information, please contact:

marketing@ammosquared.com

www.ammosquared.com

Better than New

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I loaned a rifle and case to a Boomershoot Staff member who doesn’t own any guns. His were all stolen out of a moving trailer shortly after he got out of the Navy and he hasn’t replaced them yet. This was his first Boomershoot, and I figured he had to do some shooting. Loaned him a suppressed AR with a suppressor. After the first High Intensity event, I cautioned him to wait until the suppressor had cooled off before putting it back in the case.
After the second High Intensity event, he didn’t wait a sufficiently long time, and it melted a hole through the lining of the soft case. He felt terrible about it and wanted to buy me a new case. I decided I would talk to Barb and maybe we could repair it rather than replace it. It wasn’t catastrophic damage:

Barb thought a patch probably would work. But she didn’t have any. I went looking on Amazon for patches. Then I thought, I really should look for something that can tolerate high temperatures.
TA-DA!!! Meet FLASLD Aluminized Heat Shield Thermal Barrier Adhesive Backed Heat Sleeve Up To 2000 Degrees Fahrenheit:

For $20, I got enough adhesive backed shielding to line multiple cases.
Here is the finished product:

It is better than new.

Boomershoot 2023 registration is open

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Just a reminder, Boomershoot 2023 registration is now open to everyone. With over four months until the event (May 5th, 6th, and 7th) the event is already nearly 40% full.

If you sign up now you still have a great selection of shooting positions. If you wait too much longer the positions best suited for your equipment and skill level may be much more limited.

Learn more about Boomershoot and then sign up. It is a real blast!

Shooting a dead bolt

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Via Widener’s:

Mythbusting: Shooting A Deadbolt

We never get tired of watching movies, but we often watch scenes play out that aren’t realistic. Their approach is believable, but the way they go about solving problems defies logic, engineering, and sometimes physics. Take deadbolt locks as an example. When a character shoots a deadbolt lock, it disintegrates and the door busts wide open. It looks good on screen, but what happens when you shoot a deadbolt in real life?

That’s the question we set out to answer with this project: Whether the action we’re presented with on the big screen has any authenticity to it. We wanted to find out what really happens when you shoot a deadbolt with various calibers to see if Hollywood did their homework.

They shot at the lock which never resulted in gaining access through the door and most of the time cause the lock to be inoperable. Basically, shooting a shot or two make it less likely for you to gain access.

I would have thought you could do better by shooting at the doorframe just inside where the bolt engaged the strike plate. They sort of addressed that idea:

Why Not Shoot The Bolt Out Through The Door?

For starters, it’s not that easy to hit it. The bolt itself is only about an inch tall, making it a very small target even from a few feet away. If you do hit it, it’s going to take multiple shots to cause it to fail, and even more shots to cause the door behind it to fail.

In any case, if you are serious about opening a door via a projectile, a few ounces of Tannerite or Boomerite over the strike plate would open the door on the first try.

Barrett Firearms is now Australian owned

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NIOA Acquires Barrett Firearm

Australian defense contractor NIOA Group announced today that it had acquired 100 percent of Barrett Firearms, expanding the company’s global reach. In the same announcement, NIOA Group CEO Robert Nioa confirmed that Barrett would continue to operate under its own brand. All management and staff at Barrett’s Murfreesboro, Tenn., manufacturing facility will be retained, and production will continue as normal. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

It sounds as if civilian sales will continue.

I don’t really have the money to buy and feed a Barrett but I want that possibility to exist for other people.

Boomershoot 2023 entry opening soon!

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Registration opens for staff 1/9/2023 6:00:00 PM Pacific Time.
Registration opens for previous year participants 1/14/2023 9:00:00 AM Pacific Time.
Registration opens for everyone 1/21/2023 9:00:00 AM

As Boomershoot 2022 participants know we had some issues with placement of long-distance targets.

Due to issues mostly beyond the control of the landowner we were only able to place a few targets near the 700-yard area berm. Most of the details have been worked out for this year with a different area for some of the long distant targets.

You can see the new target area by visiting the entry website Available Positions web page.

Select an available position and you will find an image with all the target areas for a given position. Some shooting positions will have parts of one of the available target areas blocked by the tops of trees. The shooting position specific image (the bottom image) is several years old, and the trees have grown. The top image of available target areas is from August 2022 and closely represents the view from the East (left) side of the shooting berm. Choose your shooting position to take this limitation in mind.

Prices have increased. Boomershoot was losing a lot of money on the dinner and breaking even on the High Intensity event. There have been donations offer to cover the price of dinner for ALL participants. If one of these generous offers comes through refunds will be given to everyone who has signed up for dinner at the new price.

Let me know if you have questions or see typos or errors on the website.

Sign up here.

Quote of the day—Just the News Staff

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Democrats with ambitions of broad gun control in the United States face a major stumbling block in their efforts to enact those policies: American voters themselves.

Gun rights remain broadly popular in the United States, even after years of Democratic efforts to turn high-profile mass shootings into major gun control initiatives.

A long history of gun ownership, coupled with robust constitutional protections for firearm ownership here, have led to one of the largest private gun stocks in the world.

The enduring popularity of guns in the U.S. was underscored by a recent RMG Research poll conducted by Scott Rasmussen, one that earlier this month found some support for new gun laws among voters  but far more overwhelming favorability toward gun rights.

Just the News Staff
December 30, 2022
As Democrats ramp up gun control, a supermajority in U.S. think gun ownership good for society
[This is essential. Over time, SCOTUS rulings will match the culture more than the culture will match SCOTUS.

Keep up the good work. Take a newbie to the range.

Yesterday I took a new coworker to the range. He is former military and likes guns but all his guns were stolen a year or so ago and had not replaced them. I took him to the range and let him shoot several of my handguns and introduced him to Steel Challenge like shooting (with multiple paper targets) and USPSA stages. He said he really enjoyed that and it was nothing like he had ever done before. He plans to get a new gun soon. I plan to take him to a Steel Challenge match when the weather gets better.—Joe]