Category Archives: Gun Fun

Gun Song- Don’t take your guns to town by Johnny Cash

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A classic.

Johnny Cash wrote and performed for a lot of songs over the years, and a lot have something to say. In spite of the title the moral in this one seems to be as much “avoid strong drink” as it is that on any given day you might meet the one guy faster than you. Leaving it behind means that it’s an option you don’t have.

I do like one of Heinlein’s ideas from “tunnel in the sky.” The idea of going unarmed means you think “hide!” and “run!” rather than “I’m a tough SOB,” and a more cautions attitude can be a great life-saver. I think better training is a better choice that actually being unarmed, but hey, whatever gets you to the right mental place.

My HP-35 calculator died

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When I went to college in the fall of ‘73 they were teaching engineering students like me how to use slide rules. But the HP-35 scientific calculator had been introduced in 1972 and a few other students had them. It was an amazing thing. The HP web page (linked above) says:

HP asked a local market research firm to do a market study. They did and determined that the HP-35 Scientific Calculator would never sell because it was too expensive. Bill said “We’re going to go ahead anyway.” The product was so popular that HP couldn’t make them fast enough.

Bill remembered, “We figured, in the first year, if we could sell 10,000 calculators, we’d break even. We sold 100,000.”

I played with one for a little bit and then went to the University Book Store and bought one. It cost $300. That was a lot of money then. An entire year of school with books, tuition, room, and board was on the order of $2000.

I brought it back to my dorm room and the engineer across the hall from me came over and we played with it until dawn. It was absolutely amazing.

I eventually owned several different HP calculators. I programmed them and spent a lot of time “crunching numbers” for my electrical engineering problems.

I had gotten at least two different battery packs in the late seventies for my ‘35 when the old NiCads died and then ran it on the charger for years. The power switch got a little flakey and some of the keys got some bounce in them and I would have to sometimes fiddle with it to get it to work right. But it always would come through for me.

My HP-35 sat on the shelf a lot after I got newer calculators but when I set up my reloading bench back in the mid ‘90s I got it out and left it there. I would use it for estimating how many rounds I could get from a pound of powder or muzzle velocities and “power factors” from alternate powder charges or bullet weights.

As I was unpacking my gun room today I plugged it in and it would not turn on. I don’t know if it is the power supply, the power switch, or something else. It doesn’t really matter at this point. As of last month I have had it for 40 years.

I have another HP calculator I’ll put on my bench. If it lasts 40 years from when I bought it then it should last for at least another 10.

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What caliber for hunting?

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I seldom hunt but I do know a fair amount about ballistics. I only see one thing I disagree with on the info graphic I found here:

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I’m pretty sure a .50 BMG would work fine for even the largest “Jurassic class” game.

Win prizes and meet “The Gunny”

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Optics Planet is giving away a free trip to Las Vegas plus a bunch of knives and a meeting with “The Gunny”. The knives include:

  • One (1) AU03-N Aura SEAL Knife (X0-KN-SLSL-AU03-N) (Value: $60.00)
  • One (1) TF-1 Trident, Partially Serrated Black TiNi Folding Knife (X0-KN-TR23IO-TF-1) (Value: $114.00)
  • One (1) F18-N Voodoo Hawk, Black, Black F18-N (X0-A2-F18-N) (Value: $75.00)
  • One (1) F06PN-CP FastHawk Tactical Tomahawk with Nylon Sheath, Polished Finish, Black F06PN-CP (X0-A2-F06PN-CP) (value: $50.00)
  • One (1) DarkEnergy 247 Lumen Tactical Handheld LED Flashlight with Belt Clip, Large (DE-02-X0-FL-DE-02) (value: $130.00)
  • One (1) M37-N SEAL Pup Powder Coated Knife, Nylon Sheath (X0-KN-SLPOP-M37-N) (value: $98.50)
  • One (1) MC02-N SOGFari Black Machete, 18in Blade w/ Sheath & Pouch (X0-KN-SJH76TS-MC02-N) (value: $33.00)
  • One (1) PowerAssist Multiool w/ Nylon Sheath, 15ools Combined, BLK Oxide Finish, Black (B66N-CP X0-M3-GAS8U-B66N-CP) (value: $126.50)
  • One (1) Gunny Folding Knife – Limited Edition (X0-KN-SOG-GFL01-L) (value: $520.00)
  • One (1) VL02 VULCAN MINI Folding VG-10 Kn (X0-KN-HSG12-VL-04) (value: $188.50)
  • One (1) Bowie 2.0 Knife (X0-KN-S1T-L) (value: $248.50)
Sweepstakes info.

The odds of winning depend on how many people enter so please don’t enter as it decreases my odds.

Rifle cartridge pens

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I use paper only infrequently and when I do it is almost always with a pencil so pens are of very little interest to me. But having a pen with obvious rifle cartridge components does make a good statement. And I’m sure there are people for whom it would make a good gift so I give you this:

Quote of the day—Jeff Soyer

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A drone from PETA? Think of it as another trap shooting opportunity.

Jeff Soyer
October 24, 2013
PETA Now Using Drones to Spy on Hunters
[I wonder what the legality of shooting down a drone is. Shooting it down over the owner of the drones property almost for certain is illegal. Shooting it down over public property probably is is illegal. But shooting it down over your own property or the property of someone who gave you permission? That might be legal.

To do this right I think you should do it in one of two ways, neither of which is that suggested by Jeff:

  1. Radio controlled fighter plane with working gun(s).
  2. Explosives filled clay pigeon. It launched as close as possible to the drone then shoot it to detonate it.

I’d give you bonus points if instead of the clay pigeon you launch a milk jug filled with gasoline in combination with the explosives such that the detonation of the explosives disperses the gasoline and ignites it. It would sort of be like using a tactical nuke to remove a stump in the back 40 or an artillery shell loaded with sarin gas to take out the wasp nest. It would be more expensive than necessary but with PETA “making a statement” and “sending a message” is probably more important than the loss of the drone.—Joe]

Gun Song – God and Guns by Lynyrd Skynyrd

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Lynyrd Skynyrd is a country rock band that has been around a while, originally forming in 1964, and having their strongest popularity in the 70s. They lost three member in a plane crash in ’77, but still had enough to reform for a while later.

This particular song is pretty basic country-boy southern rock with clear vocals.

Hunting with suppressors?

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Perusing the WA  hunting regs, I see nothing at all about using suppressors. In the part about Prohibited Hunting Methods it talks about caliber, crossbows, shooting across roads, etc. But nary a word can I see about suppressors. Is it legal? Anyone know for sure?

Gun Song – Blunderbuss by Jack White

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Not really about guns, but a cool title and an interesting song, particularly if you like blues.

Jack White a relative piker (born in’ 75) compared to most of the folks that have made the Friday gun-song list, but he’s got some talent. I always find it fascinating how many different types of voices can sound “good,” even when they are not really what I’d call smooth. His voice sounds pretty rough and strained to me, but still “good.” it is a bit like listening to the “Perhaps Love” duet between John Denver and Placido Domingo: Denver sounds great, until the professional tenner starts singing, and you realize how much difference there is in the “quality” of their voices.

Me? I sing in the (off)key of pirate, and hov no professional training or knowledge or particular skill, but I sort of know what I like when I hear it.

Gun Song- Tommy Gun by The Clash

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The Clash was a popular punk rock band mostly in the late 70s and 80s. Surprisingly, they were a fairly political band. A lot of punkers were against “the man” and leftists, and they were no exception there, but they also didn’t like the bleak “nothing is worth it” nihilism that so many embraced to justify their lack of morals.

Anyway, another Friday, and other gun song.

Quote of the day—Mike

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A couple weeks ago I moved a guy that was really into audio stuff. His place was filled with speakers. He loved them more than anything. They are his life. We move different things for different people. For him it was his speakers. For you it is books and lead.

Mike
September 15, 2013
[As I mentioned earlier I moved to a new clock tower on Sunday. Rather than climb all those stairs with all those heavy boxes, two gun safes, and other stuff I hired  movers. For the most part Barb and I just directed and supported them with fluids and food. One of the movers was more chatty than the others and told me the story above.

Interesting observation even if it wasn’t entirely complete. He didn’t see the assembled bed or some of the other articles from that room.—Joe]

Gun Song – Janie’s Got a Gun by Aerowsmith

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Pretty dark song, but it’s one of the reasons for gun ownership – sometimes, you just have to take care of things yourself. If you do, the only question is just how unpleasant it will be in the details.

Aerosmith has been around for a while, rocking out starting in 1970 (wow – 43 years ago!) (wiki for them here) Most of their stuff is hard rock, but they have a few that are not quite so head-banger.

First shots

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After separating from my wife last year I moved everything out of the house without any sorting and disposing of old stuff that really should have been thrown away years ago. There were hundreds of used targets. Over 99% of them should have been thrown. There were a few that I was pleased to find as I was sorting and throwing away stuff today.

This is one of them:

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These are the first two shots son James ever fired. It was July 11, 1993. He was shooting the first gun I owned. That was over 20 years ago when James was nine years old.

I remember daughters Kim and Xenia first trip to the range.

Kim’s first target was a milk jug filled with water which she hit. I’m pretty certain that would have been throw away even by a packrat like me.

Xenia, IIRC, missed the target (shooting a 9mm handgun as I didn’t have a .22) and didn’t want to shoot again that day. But what do you expect from a four year old kid?

On Race Gunning and TV

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I don’t do race gunning for the most part, which of course qualifies me as an Internet Race-gunning Expert.

I just finished watching an episode of 3 Gun Nation. By the way; Internet TV is really the best way to watch TV. You don’t have to program a recorder to catch your favorite shows. They’re all recorded on the server, so you just go and pick out what you want, whether it’s live or whether it’s two years old.

First impressions after the episode; Wow, but there are a lof of gun malfunctions! It seemed that every shooter had to deal with a malf on at least one stage. I do not know. Is it that the guns are so specialized that they’re accepting less reliability as a role of the dice, such that when the gun doesn’t fail you get a super duper stage run? OR, is the show edited so as to highlight malfs? After that experience, I can almost envision a moment in the sport wherein someone uses a stock standard gun, wins, and is accused of having had an unfair advantage.

Watching the shooters do their run-throughs prior to shooting a stage continues to mildly disturb me. I’m thinking of a skit. It’s a defensive situation, and the defender demands a run-through before the bad guy is allowed to commit his horrible act of aggression.

There’s a conflict between calling it practical shooting and having a nice and safe spectator sport in which every shooter can maximize his performance. Wouldn’t it be just as fair for the shooters, and yet more of a practical exercise, if no one got to see the stage before shooting it? Or maybe have at least one stage no one sees before shooting?

On TV in general, a camera, a microphone and an editor can be used to depict reality, or to change it all around and mix it up. Say you want to experience the taste of a new apple variety, or you want to bring that new variety to the public. So you hire a chef, and by way of impressing us with his skills he dresses up the apple by baking it and covering it with caramel, cinnamon and nutmeg and topping it with a dollop of whipped cream.

It may be a really great dish, but in the processing you are robbed of the experience of the apple itself. Same goes with TV. If it’s a motorcycle show and I want to know how the engine sounds, they rob me of that experience by ALWAYS overdubbing heavy metal music on top of it. If you want to know something of the pace of the shooting event, you have to sort of guess, because of the fast editing and the slow-mos.