Tale of the Tape- Week 1 - Updated

I discovered yesterday that my "accurate to 350lbs" doctors scale wasnt very accurate beyond it.

I stepped on the scale at the gym, and weighed 379, with all my gear on. I then weighed all my gear separately at 10lbs, so I weighed 369 not 364 as my home scale said yesterday.

An aside: Yeah that's the MINIMUM of what I wear every day. Often I've got another 5lbs stuck on me in various locations, and that's jsut in my pockets and belt.

Oh and 24 hours later, after having had some chicken strips, french fries, and a 2 liter of soda last night around 8pm, and nothing else sense (but having gone to the bathroom a couple times), my scale says I weigh 374, 10lbs more than it read yesterday.

No, I don't believe that either.

So I'm'na reset my week 1 starting point to be 369, and see if I can find a home scale thats accurate over 350lbs; and doesn't cost a fortune.

Crime, Punishment, and Poverty

A reader from the UK, on the Nation of Riflemen forums; brought up an interesting question:

"What's wrong with Canada? Please educate me.

I was under the impression that it had a higher standard of living by many measures than the U.S."

That was loooong time ago.

For a long time Canada was ranked fourth in standard of living, but recently the fell to 27th, primarily because of the rapidly increasing crime rate.

The Canadian per capita overall crime rate is higher than the US (again this is a recent thing). The Canadian per capita rape and murder rate are higher than the U.S. as well, when take as a whole. Of course there are areas where the U.S. rates are VERY high, and we'll get to the reasons in a minute.

The problem in Canada is mostly due to relatively ineffective court and prison system, and excessive social welfare support for the criminal underclass.

Please note, that doesnt mean all the underclass are criminals; but that most criminals are in the underclass, which is supported extensively by social welfare systems.

When criminals are not effectively punished, and in fact effectively supported by the state, then criminal behavior will be the easist path to "success" (as determined by material gain) for the underclass.

The biggest impact of welfare reform, and the rise of concealed carry permits in the US has ben a radical decrease in violent crime per capita all around the country, except in heavily urban areas where such permits are rarely if ever issued, and where state and local social welfare systems prop up the criminal underclass.

The violent crame rate in Florida was among the highest in the nation; the combined effect of CCW and welfare reform (which took effect in the same couple of year period) was to reduce violent crime by more than 20% in less than 10 years.

One might have noticed that as the welfare states of Britain, Australia, Canada, France, and other places have grown, so has their crime rate. At the same time their educational achievement, economic growth, and standards of living have all fallen, in some cases dframatically.

One might also have noticed that the less private firearms ownership there is, the more crime there is. Violent crime in the UK since the effective gun ban has more than doubled.

Why is that? Simple, and cliche but true "Where guns are outlawed, only outlaws have guns"

Where everyone has guns, people don't generally shoot at each other; because they know that guns arent some magical penis extension. They are tought from a young age that a firearm is a tool, and like other tools it can be dangerous, and must be respected and properly handled. There is no mythology of power or manhood surrounding the gun, as so many liberals assume (because they dont understand, and have no experience with guns, except as an adjunt of criminals).

Not only that, but people dont shoot others, because they know they'll get shot right back.

The fact is, the vast majority of violent crime is caused by poor morals, poor upbringing, poor education, and poor people. Not any one of these things is sufficient, you need to have most, if not all of them at the same time for a culture of violent crime to rise.

Guess what, social welfare systems almost deliberately cause these factors. Social welfare encourages (and sometimes requires) the abdication of personal, and parental authority and responsibility to the state. It provides significant counterincentive to self improvement, and to personal responsiblity. It discourages real parenting, and certainly discourages the strong presence of fathers, because if you have a father, you get no benefits. It discourages education, because why do you need when when the state will pay for you; it's jsut wasted effort.

Straight up, social welfare is the single most aggravating factor in the rise of violent crime.

The only factor mitigatitig these tendencies, is the presencee of arms among the potential victims. The firearm is the great equalizer, and when firearms are easily and lawfully available, no criminal can feel safe in their crimes.

In new york city recently, a repeat violent offender held a woman at gun point while his associates collected the belongings of her companions. The woman is reported to have said "what are you going to do, shoot me"... He did.

If the criminal hadn't been safe in the ssumption that he was the only one armed in that situation, do you think there might have been a different result?

You Ever notice....

Sometimes life repeatedly and vigorously kicking you down the road like a mexican childs plaything, with perhaps an extra ball kicking or three thrown in for good measure, is EXACTLY what you needed?

I have managed to get more done in the last two weeks than I have the last .. I dunno since Christmas probably.

Sometimes you just get stuck in something and you need that painful application of boot to head (NYAH! NYAH!).

I always was better in a crisis, and under pressure. Something about my personality I guess.

This week I got most of my bills paid at once (thank you everyone for your help there), started losing weight, joined a gym, fixed some things around the house, and fixed some things on the car.

Tomorrow I'm going to the final spring training game between the Redsox and Diamondbacks with my brother,; who BTW, makes the Jimmy fallon character in the (guaranteed to be horrible) American re-make of Nick Hornbys "fever pitch" (what the hell were they thinking there I'll never know) look like a piker... or a white sox fan.

This weekend I'm renewing my CCW. I didnt have time to get it done before until the grace period expired, and so I have to take the whole thing over again (16 hours, plus a range session, usually $110 + $65 to the state for the permit fee); but I got a half price deal on the course from a guy I did a favor for (Dan Furbee of Ultimate Accessories, good guy), so off I go this weekend.

Not that I would ever carry illegally. I obviously willingly disarm myself during this time when my permit has been expired.

I've still got more to go, and I still have the job situation to work out, and all that weight to lose; now I just need to sustain that motivation.

One More Sales Pitch

First of all guys, thank you so much for your support in the last couple weeks. I can't tell you how much it has helped, but I can say I've got my rent and bills covered for this month, with some money to eat on etc...

I'm still in the squeeze, but I have some breathing room now; from the sale, and from your generous donations, and I really appreciate it.

Ok now for the part that makes me feel a bit slimy, I still need to bank a bit more to make sure I dont go bankrupt before the end of the month.

So, I'm still selling the following items:

1. Smith & Wesson 686P : 7 shot, 2.5" barrel, boot grip. Almost brand new, with box and paperwork. Less than 100 rounds fired. Some very light surface scratches (from firing). Retail $669. Guns America prices vary from $420 to $575

I've had some interest in this, and got an offer a few days ago, but I haven't heard from the guy since, so I'm just putting it back up here.

2. Rado Sintra Platinum Chronograph which I have worn, but is in basically perfect condition because the thing is absolutely scratchproof. It's a titanium ceramic composite construction with a quartz crystal, platinum face, and saphire hands and markers. I don't have the box and papers for this, though I do have the extra links. Retail $2500, ebay and other auction prices vary from $1300-$1700.

Thankfully I won't need to sell any more guns, or any of the other stuff. If I can get these two items sold, hopefully I'll be worry free into next month, in case it takes a while longer for the new job to get going than they've been promising (I'm a bit paranoid after what I've had happen in the last few months).

Carnival of Cordite Submissions

Just a reminder folks, get those carnival of cordite submissions in to the gullyborg by Friday.

This week I've got at least one thing up there, and aI may have another.

http://gullyborg.typepad.com/weblog_archive/2005/03/reminder_1.html

Why bullpups are a persistently bad idea

For some reason, the the bullpup rifle keeps being put forward as a good idea.

I'm an engineer and a firearms expert, both by training and by inclination (if not by employment), I have a great appreciation for good engineering, and let me tell you, bullpups are poor engineering.

The bullpup rifle only has one real advantage; in that bullpup designs allow a longer barrel for a given overall length of arm.

On the other hand, the bullpup has MANY disadvantages:

• Bullpup designs are mechanically more complex, requiring a long trigger linkage, and control system linkages. This seriously degrades both control feel, and reliability, and increases bulk and weight.
  
  
• If a bullpup has a catastrophic failure, instead of the explosion being six or 8 inches in front of your eyes, its right at your eyesocket, or touching your cheekbone or ear. The only good thing is if the bolt flys back, it doesnt end up in your eye socket. They also tend to eject hot brass, and vent hot gasses in the vicinity of your eyes and ears
  
  
• Mag changes on a bullpup are much slower because they require more repositioning, and are difficult to see (if necessary) without fully dismounting the rifle.
  
  -- A conventional rifle allows you to see your mag changes, and is more easily maneuvered with your dominant hand, which makes mag changes easier in general. More importantly a human being can naturally bring their hands together in the dark. Magazine wells should ALWAYS be either in your dominant hand, or just in front of it, because it is far more difficult to manipulate anything dextrously that is located behind your dominant hand.
  
  
• Because of the positioning of the mag, bullpups can be difficult, or impossiple to fire while prone (though this is common with some other rifle designs as well). Note in the pictures below, the magazine is by far the lowets point of the rifle, and being located behind the dominant hand, it will tend to strike the ground forcing the muzzle downward. This also causes problems with mags being warped or ripped out of the magwell, or the rifle itself being ripped out of the users hand when hitting the deck; that a conventional rifle doesnt have (the muzzle will just bounce up)
  
  
• Charging the rifle and manipulating the operating handle is often more difficult, and sometimes can't be done without dismounting the rifle, or reaching over with your support hand.
  
  
• Bullpups are naturally balanced in a non-instinctive way; the balance point on most bullpups is in between your hand and your shoulder when mounted. The only way to correct this is to put heavy things in front of your dominant hand, or to make the weapon short and light enough that this wont make a difference (and even then it will still be more awkward and less instinctive to point). This will tend to make a bullpup shift unless it is tightly mounted to your shoulder, and especially will tend to shift during rapid fire. This tendedncy is somewhat countered by the position of your support hand so far forward on the barrel, but not sufficiantly so.
  
  -- A conventional rifle is balanced in between your dominant and support hands; and there're reasons for that. A human being natually handles things better that balance in the palm, or in front of it.
  

A lot of this can be worked around with training, but what it comes down to, is that bullpups are ergonomically incorrect for humans; you dont train someone to do something ergonomically incorrect, you redesign the equipment to fit human ergonomics.

The only good thing about a bullpup is the short overall length in relation to their barrel length; and that is not advantage enough to outweigh the disadvantages for most missions.

Well, that and the fact that they look cool, which is the real reason so many people are enamored of them.

A lot of folks have watched a lot of stargate (they use the FN-P90 PDW which isnt exactly a bullpup, but follows the same concept), and they do jsut look kind of futuristic.

The Steyr AUG was designed in 1976, and it still looks like a space gun:

Several countries have adopted bullpup designes as their primary service arm, notably Austria, and Australia (the AUG above), France (the FAMAS),

and the UK (the SA80 system).

The reasons cited are usually overall length, the extra accuracy afforded by the longer barrels allowed by the configuration, and some medical or efficiency studies showing that the bullpup was actually ergonomically correct.

Here's the thing, every study that the British did showing that the Enfield design was ergonomically correct, or that the reliability issue was solved, has over the past few years been proven to have been "Unjustifiably optomistic", or some other such euphemism for fraud.

Both the Enfield, and the FAMAS have proven to be rediculously unreliable, though at least the SA80 is quite accurate when it functions properly.

The enfield in fact is so poorly designed, that mounting it on your left shoulder will give you a black eye (and can break your cheekbone) and send hot brass and gasses flying into your eyes. You also cant fire the thing from the left side of cover without exposign your whole head and torso.

I am by just about anyones defniniton qualified to judge small arms quality; having fired weapons in anger, lugged various weapons through the field, jumped out of airplanes and helicopters with various weapons, been shot, trained people with various weapons, repaired and altered various weapons, and sold various weapons professionally.

I have tried the P90, the Enfield, the Steyr AUG, the Bushmaster M17, the FAMAS, and the IMI Tavor (the latter two held but not shot), and I haven't found any of them to be remotely comfortable, or anything but awkward. I've tried a couple of bullpup conversions from other weapons as well, same thing.

Until someone has shot thousands of rounds through them, had to change mags in the dark, and in cramped conditions, had to clear jams under combat condtions etc... they can't know how unsuitable they are as anything other than a niche weapon, to be used only where OAL is the most critical factor, but an SMG or collapsible or folding stock are inappropriate choices.

I can't actually think of any such niche, but I'm sure one will come to me eventually....

People say "Well the designs jsut arent good enough yet, I'm sure as they mature they'll get better, isnt it the natural way to go eventually?"

Engineers aren't miracle workers. We can refine a design until it's mechanically perfect, but
the point I'm trying to make, is that there is no way to design an ergonomic bullpup, because their design is inherently un-ergonomic.

A reader suggested building a .45ACP bullpup carbine as a great weapon for tankers and support personnel.

The only real advantage of the bullpup is OAL, and the longer barrels allowed by the configuration. Given conventional .45ACP ballistics, there is little or no significant benefit to having anything more than a 16" - 18" barrel (even for .45 super).

Given a 2-3" action length behind the breech face (about the minimum depending on exact design), and an 11" length of pull (common for carbines), the minimum overall length for a conventional carbine would be something like 32".

By allowing for an action that cycles into the stock (as in an AR) you can reduce the OAL by the length of the action for a minimum length of something like 29".

The kel-tec carbine, which has a 16" barrel, and cycles into the stock, just happens to be 29" with an 11" length of pull.

For comparison, the shortest normal version of the MP5 has an 8" barrel, and is 27" long with the stock extended.

The minimum length of a semi automatic bullpup design, given the same 16" barrel, 2-3" action length, and 11" length of pull, with a 2" buffer between the back of the action and your shoulder (about the minimum, no-where near the ideal ergonomically as it would vent hot gasses into your ears and hair) is about 20-21" or thereabouts.

Please note, that at 20", the gun would be extremely unweildy, and just plain uncomfortable. Your hands would be touching each other, with the muzzle just 2" or so in front of your support hand.

For comparison, the shortest bullpup I can find is the walther G22, (in .22lr) at 28.5" with a 20" barrel. Take off the extra 4", and you've still got a 24.5" gun. You might be able to cut a couple of inches off the stock (the normal configuration includes a 1.1" butt pad, but that's not included in the 28.5" measurement), but I don't think you could cut 3.5". Also a .45acp action might be able to be as short as a .22lr, but that would take some gyration. Given that, I think my 21" number as an absolute minimum is solid.

Now, extrapolating to assault rifles, let's do another comparison:

The OAL of an AR-15 (which has an 11"-13" length of pull depending on the stock) with a 16" barrel and the stock extended is 34" (collapsed is 30.5", and the A2 stock is 3/8" longer).

The OAL of a Steyr AUG (which has a 14" length of pull), with a 16" barrel is 27" (This coincidentally is the same length as the MP5)

There is a 7" difference between the two, which is about the same as the difference between the minimum length of a conventional carbine, and the minimum length of a bullpup carbine.

They are both about 5" longer than the minimum of a .45acp of the same configuration.

The difference in nominal OAL between the two calibers is only about 1", so I wonder if we couldn't trim a few inches off of either design, even accounting for the vastly different energies involved. I would guess we could trim maybe 3" off the length of a .223 carbine or bullpup, given the absolute ideal design.

Anyway the whole point of this analysis is to show that at the minimum lengths of their designs, the difference in length between conventional and bullpup designs doesn't really produce any real difference in handiness or maneuverability.

Now, try a little experiment. Take a yard stick, and cut it off to 22", put it up to your shoulder, wrap your support hand around it with the back edge at 14", and make a fist like you were holding a pistol grip jsut behind your support hand. This will simulate a 22" long bullpup carbine with a 16" barrel as described above.

You might notice that your elbow actually sticks out further than the muzzle of a 22" shoulder mounted long gun would. In my case its about 4" more. Now move the stick around, aim, bring your eye into aiming position etc...

You might notice that for comfort, you really want something at least 27" long. It will let you move your hand out to about 13-14", and move your support hand about 2-3" forward.

Now take a tape measure out, and measure the length from your fingertip to your shoulder seam.

Guess what, for an adult american male its probably somewhere from 24-27" (mine is 30", but I'm a pretty big boy).

Importantly, for comfort and control; you arm should be bent out to no more than half that distance, and no less than than half minus the distance from the center of your fist, to your first index knuckle when it is in trigger position.

So for most people the maximum length of pull should be no longer than 13.5", and no shorter than about 9.5", a fairly broad range (note this is ergonomics not tactics, a tactical crouch requires a shorter length of pull. as does body armor and LBE).

For your personal proper length of pull, make a fistwith your index knuckle in trigger position, then tuck your arm in and bring it up to the center of your chest, and measure the distance from the center of your fist, to the inside of your elbow. Most people will be 9-10" here, I'm at 11.5 (which is the LOP of the A2 stock)

It is worse to have a longer LOP than shorter, because as your reach is extended, you become less dextrous, and begin to lose some squeeze strength and steadiness in the hands (though the difference isnt very noticible till you are several inches too far out); though if the LOP is too short you will not be able to properly hold the weapon in the mounted position, and your accuracy will also suffer.

note: there are two ways to measure length of pull, from the butt to the center of a pistol grip, or to the face of the trigger. For conventional rifles it is generally measured from the face of the trigger, but for assault rifles it is generally measured to the center of the pistol grip.

Now here's a fun little piece of ergonomic science thats a couple thousand years old, and has to do with natural balance, and body mechanics.

The shortest end of the ideal length range of a long arm for a human to wield two handed; is the length from your index finger tip to the center of your shoulder joint, which as I mentioend above is between 25-27" for most.

Note:

This is also the longest an obejct intended to be wielded with one hand should be from the center of your grip to the tip. The ideal , is the distance from the tip of your index finger, to the center of your elbow, which for most is 14-16"".

The ideal length of an item to be wielded in the fist, like a handgun, is the distance from the tip of your finger to the crease of your wrist and palm, which for most people is 6-7". The object itself should be measured from the center of the grip to the end sticking out past the fist. Funny enough a Commander length 1911 is a little over 7.5" long, and about 6" to the center of the grip. Gee... I wonder...

The longest end of the ideal length range is the distance from the center of one elbow joint to the other (us from your elbow to the center of your chest, doubled), which for most people is from 36-40" (mine is 42)

The "ideal" length is the distance from your index finger tip to the center of your chest. On the average adult american male it's from 32-35" (mine is 39")

So for the average adult male, for natural balance the ideal length of a shoulder arm would be somewhere between 25" and 40", with the absolute ideal falling between 32-35".

Funny enough that's about the same length range as the rifles above, and of most assault rifles and carbines of the past 60 or so years. Even funnier, the 16" AR-15 is... wait for it... 34" long, dead in that range....

Hmmm, I wonder... Interesting how that works out really.

This little measurement scheme, in somewhat less precise terms; has been used for Bows, staffs (double the measurements), and swords since we started making them.

So, bullpups are only slightly shorter than their conventional counterparts (maybe 7 or 8" in the case of an assault rifle), nothing to sneeze at, but not a huge advantage in most cases considering thte missions they are intended for; they are unreliable, they are ergonomically incorrect, and they are more likely to injure their user.

I'm not denying there are situations where a bullpup is appropriate (some .50cal and/or sniper rifle designs for example, where the primary balance point is a bipod instead of your hand, and the cupport hand will ofetn be used as a support on the stock), but I can't see any conventional situation where a bullpup assault rifle is the right tradeoff to make.

But they look cool...

Why did you join up?

I suspect that at least half or my regular readers are either active duty, reserve, or retireed military, from various countries (which is why I amde the "how the hell did you find me" joke below).

A few months ago, Kim Dutoit asked, (referring to the men and women serving in Iraq) "where do we find these people", to which a reader responded"we make them" and another responded "we dont find them, they find us".

In the last few days, a lot of the high school and college aged posters on the Nation of Riflemen forums hasve been talking about enlisting, or applying for a comission. I gave them the advice I always give (which I'll post if anyone wants, but like I said, I think most of you already know), and it got me to thinking about this again.

So for my fellow active duty, reserve, guard, and retired service members (did I miss anyone?);
I ask why did you join up?

I've thought this through before, and distilled it down a bit. Sure I wanted fun, adventure, brotherhood, college money, and a challenge, (and I got all of that in spades), but there was something much deeper under all that.

I wanted to serve.

I had (and still have) a deep need to serve my country, and to protect it. I know in my soul that whatever it's faults we live in the greatest nation on earth, that we truly are the last best hope for mankind, and I feel it was and is my duty as a citizen to try and protect it.

It's why I went into the security business when I got out. I knew I still wanted to serve, but I also knew I wouldnt be able to put up with the bullshit of being a cop (or a teacher. or an EMT both of which I was qualified to do as well), so that was the next best thing. I got into the computer side of things because I already had the skills, and the money was good (late 90s especially).

It's also why I still feel guilty that I'm not in the sandbox right now. Yeah my knees are shot and I'm overweight, but you can damn well be sure that if I could pass a PFT, I'd be there right now.

What I'm drinking right now

It's called a high pucker factor, for reasons that will become readily apparent

Start with a 24 oz tumbler, and as much ice as you feel like (or a 32 oz if you like a lot of ice)

12oz 7 up (or halfway with the ice, to make it stronger)
4oz Dekuyper Sour Apple Pucker
4oz lime juice
4oz of Bacardi 151

I think you can see why it's called a high pucker factor. We mixed it up as a joke after an ... incident ... involving entirely too much of the aforementioned spirit, some unlawfully acquired government property traveling at a high rate of speed, and various scantily clad females of questionable moral persuasion.

Oh and if you dont get the inside joke, what the hell are you doing reading me? Not that I dont want you as a reader, I'm jsut wondering how on earth you managed to find me.

It has variations:

Substitute Vodka for a "Fucking James Bond Motherfucker Pucker Factor" (another inside joke)
Substitute Tequila for an "MFF pucker factor"
Substitute Gin for "The full english pucker factor"

Oh and when in the presence of anyone who has spent 13 weeks of fun in the sun with a gun, peach liqueur must be added for the "Huah pucker factor"

Blogus interruptus

Blogger is being extremely bitchy, I have two long posts that I've been trying to put up for two days, but they aint going through.

Hopefully this little shorty will go.

Wehn blogger stops vomiting, the bullpup post will be up.

Tale of the tape - week 1

Well, it's been 72 hours since I made my decision, and started writing my post "Going on The Pill", and there's been some progress.

I've slowly eased into to the supplement stack over the last three days, and I'm up to full dosage as of this morning. When you start a supplement stack you need to load your system up to a maintenance level, or you won't absorb them properly.

I haven't deliberately changed my eating habits, but my appetite has fallen off CONSIDERABLY. I've probably eaten about half my normal intake over the last three days, and doubled my fluid intake (mostly water, but also diet soda), without really being more than a little hungry.

My energy is way up, with little stomach upset though there is always some; you wouldn't beleive the amount of sludge your body desides to dump when you go on a stack.

I've also been doing the calisthenics, and any time I have spare eneergy I'm going pushups.

Lemme tell you, my arms and chest are sore, but in a good way. I know how far to push, and when to back off. What's amazing (though I've experienced it before) is just how quickly you see an increase in tone. Literally overnight your body starts rebuilding your muscle tissue stronger, and I'm able to do more pushups without a problem.

What I'm really diappointed in, is how far I've let my stomach go. Even when I gained that first 60 pounds, I maintained a lot of muscle tone in my stomach (it's a martial arts thing), and when I'm doing my pushups it's a little depressing how the gut hangs. Ahh well, nothing to do but fix it right.

Tale of the tape:

03/25/2005 - Weight 370, waist 52", chest 56", neck 21" - 34% bodyfat

03/28/2005 - Weight 365, waist 52", chest 56", neck 21" - 34% bodyfat

I'm going to do this update every week, and we'll see how I do over the next year.

Have you ever...

Been watching Buffy, and all of a sudden realized you have had the exact conversations that the three stooges (Jonathan, Andrew, and Buffy) have in one of their more ridiculous moments?

The James bond thing

The comic book villains things

The various X-files debates

The various star wars debates

The invisibitly argument

Also, have you ever been watching Buffy and been strongly reminded that Joss Whedon is a MAJOR fan of Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller, James Robinson, Warren Ellis, Tony Harris, Garth Ennis, John McRea, and Mike Mignola.

Enhanced Battle Rifle

I've been writing a lot lately about assault rifles, and the AR platform in particular; so I thought I'd change things up a bit and talk about battle rifles.

I've mentioned before that I own an M14, and that I love it; well, here it is:

I am the proud owner of a Smith Enterprises, Tactical Match Rifle , with the bush barrel conversion, the Smith gas lock front sight (basically an HK front sight), and the Smith Tactical Muzzle Brake.

This is the exact rifle (but with a different stock) the SEALs are using in the DM/SS role, as the Enhanced Battle Rifle; and is in fact built by the same guy (Ron Smith is the contractor for the EBR action rebuilds), to the same standards and specifications. Actually, mine is built on a forged, specially heat treated reciever with a TRW bolt and hardware, and a NM spec barrel, so it may be just a bit better (except for the stock, the current EBR has a McMillan job, and they are switching to the SAGE chassis).

I love this gun. It's accurate, reliable, soft shooting (to me anyway), fast mounting, and just beautiful to shoot.

I have mentioned in other postings that the main physical disadvatages of the battle rifle are it's size, and weight (the final issue being recoil of the major caliber). What most people don't realize, is that the M14 itself is actually quite a compact weapon, as shown in this picture:

That is the entire mechanical and functional structure of the gun. It's a bit blurry, but you can see the reciever itself is only 7.5" long, and the reciever with gas system is just under 24" long. The whole assembly weighs just six pounds. Though a complete rifle with a standard length barrel is 44" long; much of the length and weight of the platform is in the stock, and the longer barrel (standard barrel is 22", plus 4" flash hider, weighing 14lbs with a loaded 20rd. mag and optics).

In fact, the reciever is significantly shorter (in both length and height) than the AR, as you can see in this picture placing the barreled action, next to an AR (upper only):

In this picture you can clearly see that the M14 reciever is the same length as an AR upper (almost exactly actually). This M14 has an 18" barrel, and the AR has a 16" barrel; you might note, the end of the barrel on the M14 is only about an inch beyond the end of the barrel on the AR (the rest is muzzlebrake). If you take into account the extra 3/4" of lower revciever; then yes, that's right; for the exact same barrel length, the M14 is actually shorter than the AR. An 18" barrelled AR action, with a muzzlebrake is going to be about 1.5" longer than an 18" barrelled M14 action with the same muzzlebrake.

Now, the 18" barrel is the absolute minimum length for an unmodified M14 action (there are companies converting the gas system to be 2" shorter); and the AR can be made with a 10.5" barrel; but realistically, the AR's performance degrades rapidly in barrel lengths under 18", and especially under 16".

As to weight; as I said above, the basic weight of the 18" barreled action on the M14 is only 6lbs, the weight of an 18" barreled action on an AR is... about 6 lbs (depending on the exact configuration).

Of course all-up weight is another story. As I list above, the all up weight of the 18"m14 with scope and a loaded 20rd mag is 14 lbs. The 18" AR is going to weigh about 9 lbs with optics and a loaded mag.

The big differences in all up weight:AR stocks are very lightweight, and M14 stock are, to say the least, not; and a loaded 2ord M14 mag weighs twice as much as a loaded 20rd AR mag.

But 5lbs of extra weight for double the effective range and power...

Okay so we've got the length and weight thing out of the way, what about versatility? Thats one of the biggest selling points of the AR, it can be configured in so many different ways.

These next pics are going to make M14 lovers very jealous:

And again put up against a shorty AR (this time with a full A2 stock):

Did someone say the M14 wasn't versatile (Yes, that is an original early '60s vintage E2 stock and bipod)?

The M14 is one of the easiest weapons systems in the world to switch stocks on. Since the barreled action system lifts out in one single unit, and has metal lugs to mate up with the stock, you can swap the stock on an M14 faster than you can swap the upper on an AR.

Now this won't change calibers or barrel lengths for you, but still, it give you a lot of options; and some of those options are very versatile indeed.

NSWC Crane, in conjuction with SAGE Tactical, have just released their new EBR "chassis" to retrofit the existing EBR actions as the new Mk.14 EBR

When fitted out, the rifle looks something like this:

Actually this picture doesn't do it justice; you should really watch the video and read the article from Armed Forces Journal (some good AR and other fun stuff in there too BTW).

There are other M14 stock systems out there with similar features, but this is the first one that I found interesting; the reason being, that chassis is going to be EXTREMELY stable. The entire length is machined from a solid block of aluminum, and the M14 action locks into the chassis, just like an Accuracy International sniper rifle chassis does with an accurized Rem. 700 action.

This means no more worries about bedding, clamping pressure, stock crush, deflection, and action block fit; all of which are the main difficulties in keeping an M14 in top precision and accuracy (an M14 is relatively easy to make accurate and precise, but it's a bitch to keep it that way).

The things I don't like at all about it: the butt stock and pistol grip.

I DO like a collapsible stock with a cheekpiece and pistol grip; I just don't like THAT stock and pistol grip; and this is where the other great feature of the system comes into play; in terms of modularity, this thing actually puts the S.I.R. system to shame.

You see, every piece of the chassis except the bedding block itself is modular. You can unbolt and change each piece to suit you; even better, the stock and pistol grip are set up to accept any stock set for the most common shotgun in the world, the remington 870 (including fixed stocks).

This means that there are literally hundreds of different stock and grip options from dozens of manufacturers, and in every configuration.

Hell, you could put a traditional pistol grip stock on there if you wanted to (the kind used with most shotguns, not the kind used on an AR); or going the opposite direction, you could put an AR pistol grip and stock using one of the many adapter blocks sold for the Rem 870, which opens you up to the entire world of AR accessories.

Oh, you might have noticed, the system has a lot of rails. Well they can all be removed, or you can add more on... again with all those AR accessories....

The only real problem with the thing is, it aint cheap (well, that and the kinda ugly thing, but function has it's own beauty). The system is available from Fulton Armory for $499, but that's just the bare stock pictured above; figure another $250 for the rails, sling mounts, rail covers etc... (If you didnt think a buttstock could get more expensive than the Crane LMT, you were wrong.)

Of course, a McMillan glass stock, before it's properly fit and bedded, is actually going to run you just as much; and it wont be adjustable or collapsable, or have all those rails. Add in the cost of a good fitting and bedding job (about $400 for top quality work), and it's actually a bargain.

Actually, I'm willing to bet that with a good fixed butt stock attached to it, this chassis will produce better precision than the McMillan will; and for longer, in rougher conditions.

The EBR rifle itself as delivered runs about $2200-2350 depending on your exact details, and the reciever supplied (About $450-600 for the action, $1750 for the EBR conversion including heat treating, machining, bolt, NM bush barrel, NM trigger, NM gas conversion, sights, parkerizing and bedding); That's of course IF you can get Ron to build you one, and you can't because he's busier than a one legged man in an ass kicking contest.

Fulton does a similar package for pretty much the same price ($1799 plus the donor rifle)

Given the price of the rifle itself; and that, as I said above, a brand new McMillan stock will run you $600, plus another $300-400 for bedding job; it's not unreasonable to spend $500-750 on a stock setup like this.

I love my E2 stock, it's gorgeous; but if I had to deploy with my M14, this is the system I'd want for it.

Now, that brings us back to the advantages disadvantages thing. We've addressed length, versatility, and handiness; the only issues left are weight, and recoil.

The SAGE system is reasonably lightweight; a SAGE Mk. 14 EBR rifle will be about 3 lbs lighter than an M21 with the same length barrel (standard is 22"), and loses 2-4 oz per inch of reduced barrel length (depending on profile), for a maximum of a bit over 4 lbs weight reduction, to about 9.5lb total weight (without optics or mag). Since the biggest issue the M14 has is controllability with the heavier recoil of 7.62 nato, you really don't want to go much lighter; and again, in comparison to an 18" standard profile AR, theres only a 1.5-2lb difference.

Of course there's still the difference in ammo weight, and that's definitely a big deal.

I have said before, I consider 7.62NATO the ideal battle rifle caliber. It is accurate and hard hitting out to about 800 yards, and certainly to 600 yards. The only real problems with it are the bulk and weight of the weapons chambered for it (which we adressed above), the bulk and weight of the ammo itself, and the heavy recoil.

I'm a very large, strong, and well trained man who has no problem controlling an M14 in long rapid fire strings. I can empty a mag as fast as I can pull the trigger while keeping my hits on a torso at 50 yards; and make normal rapid fire (1 shot per 2 seconds or so) torso hits out to 300 yards (with optics), with no difficulty whatsoever.

There is always going to be a tradeoff with recoil and weight, but the extra power and range of the 7.62 definitely compensate for it; in roles where full auto fire is not required, individuals of reasonable strength can be selected, and proper training is available (such as DM/SS)

I suppose the best thing I can say about the M14; is that if I had to deploy again, this is the rifle I'd want with me, and this is the configuration I'd want it in.

Self Defense Stories

Reader Dave Dembiski posted in his blog about buying a Ken Onion blackout on my recommendation in "The Gift of a Knife".

This quote struck me:

"You can compress the handle against the meat of your hand with four fingers and flick the torsion bar out and up with a thumb fairly easily, and this opens the knife faster than my eye can follow. Throw in a little wrist action and it's near-instantaneous, and very sure. "Authoritative" was a word I've read describing the action, and that just about does it justice."

I think maybe I'm the one who described it as authoritative; or rather I know I have before, I'm just not sure if he's referring to me specifically in his quote.

Anyway it reminded me of some stories I'd posted up on the Nation Of Riflemen forums about self defense, and I thought I'd share them here:

I've never been in a firefight in civvy life, but I have been shot (it's no fun, believe me), and I've had a few times where I had to excercise my rights to defend myself (a side effect of my appearance, winning personality, and choice of work).

In Ireland (where I lived for three years) it's basically illegal to carry any kind of self defense device; but that never stopped me from carrying a simple little Ken Onion Blackout (or on occaison other things, but I ALWAYS had the blackout).

I was walking through a not so great neighborhood in Dublin when these two skangers started following me. Finally, they sidled up and the dirtier one said "So there, y'american are ya". I just looked at him "not exactly, but it'll do for now", "Ahh yeah, well... we'll be havin your wallet then" ... (knife I've palmed in my hand since I noticde them flicks out with a nasty little snick) ... "No I don't think you will".

If it were just a regular knife I'm guessing they would have kept pressing til someone (them) got hurt, but that authoritative little flick (and it is little, only a 3.5" blade) was just intimidating enough that they ran like schoolgirls.

Story number two also happened while I was in Ireland:

I played semi-pro American Football for three seasons with the Dublin Rebels. I used to spend my non-football weekends "mentoring" kids in temple bar (a neighborhood in Dublin). Basically I was just trying to give them some interaction with an adult who gave a damn, had some of the same interests as they did (heavy metal, role playing games, the goth thing etc...); and to try to keep them out of petty crime and off drugs. I was cool, American, military, had tatoos and knew metal; and I'd always spring for some food, or protect them from getting hassled or beaten up.

This fine day I was talking with some of the kids on a corner when this junkie, and what looked like his little brother, start to try and steal a bike a few feet away. I sent one of the kids to get the gardai (the Irish cops) and kept an eye on him. Well, as this progressed, one of the kids said "look at this fucking skanger stealing this bike here" loud enough for the scumbag to hear it.

The scumbag started getting hostile at that point and starts yelling "what did he fucking say". I just looked through him, gave him the dead face and said "I don't know, and I don't care; AND NEITHER DO YOU".

Well that shook him a bit, and he started to walk off; but then I saw the box cutter come into his hand. I pushed the kids back behind me just as he spun around and came at us screaming "Im gonna cut you fuckers".

I had a little bit of an Arnie moment and said "Now that isn't nice, you shouldn't threaten people with knives; and don't fucking swear".

While I was playing action hereo, I stepped inside his arc, got wrist control (to avoid the blade) and crossed him up; but he managed to give me a nice little slash across my cheek (shallow and ragged, healed without a scar thankfully).

I couldn't get a good angle on his hand and maintain control of him so I let the open wrist loose, came up under for a cross arm head lock, and pulled him in to try and establish head control so I could disarm him easier.

Well when I pulled his head in, the fucker managed to bite a quarter sized chunk out of my right pec (that one left a heck of a scar; looks worse than the bullet scars). That kind of pissed me off, so I stepped round him, came up into an arm bar choke, and then took his head off the corner of a brick building a couple of times.

The fucker kept trying to free his hand though; he just wouldn't stop fighting me.

At that point I had him completely under control so I just said "drop the knife or I'm going to keep hurting you".

Well, he didn't, so I reached up and started twisting his ear. "I'mna say it one more time, then I'm gonna kill you. Drop the knife".

Again, he didn't drop the knife, so I twisted a little harder and said "ok, thats it, in about three seconds I'm breaking your neck".

That got him to drop the knife.

A few seconds later the Gardai showed up and took him into custody; at which point he started trying to claim that I attacked, beat, and brutalized him, and that they should arrest me. Of course there were 50 or so witneses to what happened, and the whole thing was on CCTV from 4 different cameras.

It turned out the guy was a heroin junky, HIV positive, syphilitic, and had hepatitis. I had to get an HIV test, hepatitis etc... (actually three sets of them, once immediately, once after six weeks, and once after six months which I do anyway, every six months); thank god, all were clear. I also had to be chemically deloused (every hair on my body below the neck gone. Very itchy).

They charged the fucker with grevious bodily harm, and assault with an offensive weapon. They told him they were going to charge him with attempted murder (because of the HIV); and when they showed him the video tape and witness statements he plead out to 3 years. I was pissed the sentence was only three years, but I was glad the case didn't drag out into a long trial.

Oh and the kid was in fact his little brother; the junky was only 20, his brother was 11, and both had tracks covering both arms. Renews your faith in humanity eh.

So a few months later, I'm sitting up in bed reading at around 3am; and I hear a big clang.

I lived at the end of a dead end cul-de sac that has some footpaths running past it, with pubs at both ends of the paths. It wasn't too unusual to hear late night noises, but this one caught my attention.

Now I'm not the most trusting individual, so I go to the window and take a look, and I see some fucker messing around the side of my house; looks like he's trying to attach somethign to the house.

I slipped into my shoes; grabbed my tachi (no guns allowed in Ireland), and my mag-lite; slipped out my back door around the side of the house; and I popped the light.

Picture this: 3AM, you're doing something nefarious, and a 6'2", 24 stone (335lb), bare ass naked man holding a 3-1/2 foot sword and a big ass flashlight confronts you. What do you do?

Well he takes off running, and here I am chasing this fucker down the street, sword over one shoulder, flashlight over the other; screaming verious obscenities punctuated with the occaisonal "Im gonna enjoy killing you" and the like.

The guy managed to jump over a pretty good sized wall, so I let him go, and went back to the house to check out what he was doing.

I get in there, and I see the guy was messing with the gas meter. There was a timer, some bare wires, and some model rocket igniters on the ground. I called the Gardai, and they came out and took the report etc... but they didn't do anything with it (I can't begin to tell you how corrupt and incompetent the Gardai can be).

I was less than amused. I asked around and the word I got was that the guy I put away was a runner for a gang and they wanted revenge. I also heard it was the fuckers cousin, but we couldnt get any proof so the investigation never went anywhere.

The last story is from my college days:

In my last year of college a good friend of mine was raped and beaten by her "boyfriend". Now I'm not by nature a violent man; or perhaps I should say I am one who is very good at violence, but does not generally choose to use it. It takes a lot to get me angry, but one thing that will do it every time is rape or abuse of any kind.

My friend refused to go to police with what happened, and ended up getting hooked on prescription drugs. I was extremely unhappy about this; and in some places where I knew the scumbag hung out, I made very clear that I took exception to his continued breathing.

A couple nights later I get a knock on my apartment door at about 2am, and silly me, I open it without looking out first; experiencing the true joy of having a gun shoved into my chest for my stupidity.

Well, I was somewhat annoyed by this fact. Here's this guy, shaking like a chihuahua on speed (actually shaking like a piece of subhuman trash on speed, which he was) with a gun shoved very hard into my chest.

Of course this was his major mistake: NEVER GET WITHIN GRASPING DISTANCE OF SOMEONE YOU PLAN ON SHOOTING.

Even better, the genius was pushing so hard that the weapon was out of battery; and the safety was on.

I quickly slapped an offhand wrist lock, twisting the gun out of his hand and breaking his wrist and two fingers in the process; then popped his elbow and dislocated his shoulder with a palm strike. A quick followup with an elbow to the head and a knife hand strike to the throat, and he was down.

So I called up a couple of friends (including his victim); and we took him out into the desert, stripped him naked, and left him there.

Honestly I have no idea what happened to him; he was alive, breathing, mostly conscious and not seriously bleeding when we left. We even left him his shoes and a gallon jug of water. I never read anything in the newspaper, and no-one ever came after us over it; but I never saw the guy again, and as far as I could find out neither did anyone else in the area.

Yes, what I did was legally wrong, and was probably a sin in that it was only self defense because I goaded him into it; but I don't care. My conscience is clear and the statute of limitations has expired.

A little problem I'm having

So Head has finished his AK74 build, and he chose to use Brownells Alumahyde II .

Take a look at these pics:

I asked him about the finish, specifically the abrasion resistance and the thickness, and he came back with this:

If applied properly and allowed to cure fully, Alumahyde is the same as Gunkote. I've had the stuff of a beater SAR-1 for 5 years and over 20K rounds, multiple cleanings and lots of abuse, it even melted to a truck bedliner once because it was tossed hot into the truck bed. Alumahyde never failed. Abrasion resistance specifically, I don't know if you mean crawling through gravel or abrasion like slide against frame?

Its very thin maybe like a light coat o paint, thicker than molycoats but not as thick as such horrors as high temp engine paint. Think of the paint on an HK rifle, it is a perfect match. Doesn't affect moving parts at least on an AK. I don't spray the bolt itself and mask the breech area, while thin it is still a coating and I don't want to have headspace issues.

It sounds like this might be an interesting solution to a problem I have.

I have ridiculously corrosive sweat (I dissolve stainless watches and eyeglass temples over time). My EDC piece is a first generation Kahr K9, and I carry in a Kydex IWB.

The slide is stainless, but the finish on the corners is gone at this point, and if I don't wipe it down with oil after I take it off for the day, the bare spots will rust overnight pretty thoroughly.

You can see the results here in this pic of the Kahr superimposed over a G21:

Actually the rusting isn't as bad as it looks, for some reason my camera sometimes makes the highlights of my guns look orange (you can see the effect on the plastic frame of the Glock, which obviously can't rust), the pic on the right is what it looks like after it's cleaned, and you can see the bare spots.

I've tried cold blacking the piece a couple times, and it works for a few holster draws, but wears off too quickly; no matter how many coatings I use, which formula, and how long I let it cure.

I dont want to hardchrome the piece (I dont like the color), and black chrome over stainless can flake or chip, plus both are a bit pricey.

So what I'm looking for is a spray on finish that is somewhat self lubricating, corrosion resistant; and will stand up to being presented from, and carried in Kydex.

For a while I've been thinking about using Brownells GunKote , but I'm wondering if this might be a better option. I've seen a few gunkoted guns, I like the results, and I'm wondering which finish might be the better choice; so if anyone out there has experience with both, especially in hard use situations, drop a comment.

The Carnival of Cordite #6 is up

And the esteemable (not estimible as some would put it, wrongly) Gullyborg had this to say of me:

Speaking of military weaponry:

Chris of The Anarchangel has a lot (more) to say about military small arms. His post comes complete with a LOT of high-quality photographs of the arms he writes about, so be sure to check it out. Regular readers will know by now that when it comes to small arms for military, police, and personal defense, Chris know his stuff.

Well thank you very much sir; and to my readers, go, read, be enlightened.

Good Friday

Good Friday - The Black Crowes

We've been avoiding this for so long
Luxury is temporary than it's gone
I thought that we would happen
I guess I'm wrong
Well say hi on the street,
Then well move along
I know this will be awkward
But not for long
Cause soon you'll have a new boy
To sing you songs

I will not forgive you
Nor will I accept the blame
I will see you on good friday
On good friday

I'm sorry I couldn't do this yesterday
And tomorrow I am busy and what
It is I can't say
And saturday's no good
I got a show
So it's got to be good friday
Then it's so long

I will not forgive you
Nor will I accept the blame
I will see you on good friday
On good friday

You, you come and go when you please
I know unfulfilled heads
I know you do too
But i, you know I never see
Things through,
Never paid attention to you
But honey I tried.

I will not forgive you
Nor will I accept the blame
I will see you on good friday
On good friday

Expressions that irritate me.

There are certain words and phrases that just REALLY irritate me. They're used all the time, and every time I hear them I just want to smack the speaker

"Irregardless" : A conflation of irrespective and regardless. Common in the northeast, especially Boston, it's not a word, but if it were it would MEAN THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SAY!!!!!!

"I could care less" : No..... you COULDN'T care less genius, if you COULD care less, that means you actually care MORE.

"Needless to Say" : Needless to say? ... So DON'T FUCKING SAY IT!!! (honestly, 'm guilty of this one too).

"Accuracy Vs. Precision" : Most people think they are the sme thing, and use them interchangeably... NOT EVEN CLOSE

Accuracy is the tendency for something to be correct, or to perform to a minimum deviation from the desired result.

In gun terms (where it is most frequently mis-used), accuracy is the ability of the gun to put the bullets where the sights say they are going to go. If the sights are lined up with the X, the bullet hits the X.

Precision is another ball of wax entirely. Precision is the measure of consistency; the ability to preform the same action in the same way every time.

In gun terms precision is the ability of a weapon to group well.

What we want are Accurate shooters, and Precise guns.

An accurate weapon is a nice plus, but that's what adjsutable sights, or kentucky windage are for. The accuracy of the weapon itself isn't all that necessary to good maksmanship if the shooter is well trained and accurate. Precision (both that of the weapon, and the shooter) on the other hand is critical to good marksmanship. If a weapon doesn't put the bullet in the same place if you shoot it at the same place, it doesn't matter how well trained you are, you will not shoot well with that gun.

And finally...

"Proactive" : This is the ultimate no-no to me. It's become such a buzzword, and people have NO ACTUAL IDEA WHAT THEY ARE SAYING.

It's not a word. It's a prefix and a suffix with no root. People assume the root is act, or active, but in the definition used here, active is actually a suffix. If active WERE the root, the prefix pro would make the statement redundant, making the meaning active-active.

Proactive is a pseudo word that people take to mean the oppostive of reactive, but this isn't the case; the opposite of reactive is ACTIVE.

What people really MEAN to say is active , preventative, or pre-emptive, which means acting on existing information or supposition to prevent forseeable undesireable outcomes, or to ensure desireable outcomes.

Whenever someone says "proactive" to me, I know they are full of shit (at least on whatever they are talking about).

UPDATE: One more thing; I despise the current usage of multiple sentences where multiple clauses are more appropriate. Apparently; the proper use of the comma, the semicolon, and the parenthetical expression, have been forgotten by most.

Some have accused me of writing run-on sentences; but this is unjustified. I write sentences that use proper clause structure, and correct punctuation. The semi-colon is the proper punctuation mark for the separation of clauses; commas are the proper punctuation marks for separating phrases or subclauses within a clause; and the parenthtical expression is the proper punctuation set for digressions from, or asides to the main text (as well as annotation of abbreviation, or for references when a document is not footnoted).

(Yes, I deliberately wrote that paragraph so as to use many semicolons and commas as a demonstration)

In colloquial writing (as I most often use), this division is made relatively clear by the length of the pauses that would properly be used in speaking the text (and the parenthicals of course would be used for the asides). Colons are used for ordered lists, or to terminate the preface of lengthly external quotations; semicolons are used for long pauses, and to separate multiple clauses that have comma separated subclauses (if you could substitue " ,and ", or " ,but " , you should probably use a semicolon); commas are used for short pauses, and to separate subclauses within a clause. There are many cases where there is ambiguity in proper punctuation for a sentence, or a clause; and in such situations it is generally accepted (in colloquial writing) that the less formal mark should be used.

I may be dyslexic as all hell; and I think formal grammar is silly, as is the formal and stilted clause structure it enforces ; but I know my vocabulary and punctuation damnit. Formal punctiation serves a useful purpose; it allows you to read aloud in your head as the author intended; and it should be properly observed.

Some Overdue BlogRoll additions

I dont usually announce additions to my blogroll, but I figured I shouldn probably toss these ones on the fire here so to speak.

First, I've read the AAAARGH! (AHA thedonovan )for quite some time, but never bothered blogrolling. Well I've been getting a lot of traffic from them lately so I figured, hmm, I should probably blogroll them.

www.thedonovan.com

Fixed

Next, Says Uncle, same thing. Read forever, lots of traffic, you're blogrolled

www.saysuncle.com

Fixed

Next up, snugg harbor. Hom is the sailor, home from the sea, and writing good stuff

www.snuggharbor.blogspot.com

Fixed

David and Cheries new freedom blog started shwoing in my log,s so I started reading, and havent stopped

jeffersoniantoo.blogspot.com

Fixed

And finally I'm adding heads bunker, the firehand, because I think they's cool'n stuff

www.headsbunker.com
elmtreeforge.blogspot.com

Fixed.

I'm pretty sure Im missing some folks, but I've been up since this time yesterday, and they arent in my logs right now.

Oh I know who Im thinkgin of but I cant remember his blogs URL right now, the frequent commenter, Robert.

UPDATE: That would be robertopia.blogspot.com

Going on the Pill

Or rather Back on the Pills; Those pills right there... 35 of them in fact.

This is how you cheat when you want to lose weight, especially when your diet has been shitty for a year or two, and this is why:

The blurry picture on the left is me the day I joined the Air Force, at 265 lbs. The picture on the right is me, about 10 years later at 370 lbs.

I've been a very large man for more than half my life. I stopped growing when I was 13, at 6'2" and 265lbs. I spent the next about 10 years between 265 and 285 at around 12% bodyfat. The maximum allowable weight for my height is s'posed to be 218, but I was never on that chart, they always had to tape me, and I NEVER recieved a conditional.

A few minutes ago I got on the scale; 370 and I don't even want to think about my actual bodyfat. I stepped off the scale and took that picture. This is the heaviest I have ever been in my life.

The difference? I expended 3500-5000 calories per day for 8+ years, then I had a severe knee injury and didn't walk more than 6 feet without a cane for six months. I gained 60lbs of straight fat, and lost a lot of muscle in that time (which of course was replaced by, more fat). That was more than 5 years ago, and the lowest I've been down to since is 295, about 18 months ago, and of course that was without gaining back all that muscle mass.

I am an immensely strong man. I can easily take my bodywight over my head, even today, and I haven't seriously worked out in years. I can still leg press more than 4 times my body weight (I tried it again last year), even with my knees.

Unfortunately strength doesnt equal fitness, or clothes that fit properly. My health is OK; my blood pressure is low, and my choleterol is fine etc... but what it comes down to; I'm not happy with my weight, my shape, or my fitness right now. I used to run 2 miles in 12 minutes, today I get winded with too many stairs. When I was 19 I did 74 pushups in 2 minutes; I just timed myself, and I did 28. I used to do 68 crunches in 2 minutes, now, 38.

A few years ago (the month before my 8 years ran out) I was recalled to active duty. I didn't find out about the recall for a few months, because I was living in Ireland at the time and failed to notify the AF. I came back to the states that christmas to be closer to my mom, and soon after I got back, I went down to the Social Security Administration to get a new card. A few days later I got a registered letter telling me to report to my nearest armed forces recruiter, national guard armory, or enlistment processing center (I forget the exact wording) within 24 hours of recieving the letter or I would be subject to immediate arrest.

So I go down there and find out that I had been issued a recall order, and that I had been recalled to extended active duty. Of course I hadn't responded to the order because I was in Ireland at the time and didn't receive it. I got torn a new asshole, and I was threatened with all sorts of charges (I was seriously in the wrong, without doubt), and reduction to my permanent enlisted grade of e5 (I hold a reserve commission as a Captain which can be revoked), and they said that I was going back in. One little hitch, I was 345lbs, and had a 50" waist and 21" neck, for their bodyfat standard of 32%.

They said that I wasnt going to get off that easy, and that I would need to come back in and restest every six weeks until I made the weight, or until I turned 34.

Ouch.

After three months I made it to 295 and a 46" waist with that same 21" neck (it doenst get any smaller, jsut bigger when I bulk up), for a 26% bodyfat, then I levelled off and didnt change at all. After few months they decided that I only had to come back once a year. I think they accepted I wasnt going to make the weight, and the press about people not showing up for duty had died down.

The air force PFT standard is 1.5 miles in 9:36, 55 crunches, and 62 pushups, and a maximum of 20% bodyfat.

You can figure the military bodyfat measurement using some basic measuerment (its innacurate, but it's what they use) as shown here: Body Fat Standards

My measurements in the pic on the left:

Weight 265, waist 38", chest 52", neck 20.5" - 13% bodyfat

My Measurements in the pic on the right:

Weight 370, waist 52", chest 56", neck 21" - 34% bodyfat

The last couple years have not been kind to my weight, or my size. I've rollercoastered all over the place with my work involving so much travel, then my mother ... anyway I'm jsut not where I want to be.

Let me say this right now, if I thought I could EVER make PFT again, I would be doing it right now. I would be working for whatever it takes to get down to 20% bodyfat so I could serve again. The second biggest regret in my life is leaving the Air Force (I left because of Clinton. The biggest is marrying my ex-wife). It was the right decision at the time, and I wouldnt have missed the experiences I've had since then, but I miss my service every single day.

At my weight today, my knees are getting worse, faster than they should be. I'm worried about diabetes. My clothes dont fit right or look right.

This was me last september, about 20lbs lighter:

I can see a huge difference in what I look like today, and what I looked like just a few months ago, and I'm not happy about it.


Enough breast beating, enough whinging, enough bullshit, I'm going to change this. I'm tired of it, I'm not going to stay this way. I'm going to change this.

My birthday is April 27th; On April 27th 2006, 13 months from Sunday, I plan on weighing a maximum of 285lbs, with a maximum 46" waist, 52" chest and a 21" neck (giving me a 26% body fat score, and most likely a lower actual bodyfat).

Funny thing is, if you take the bullshit BMI calculation, that would still make be Obese with a BMI of 37 (26 is overweight).

I have an ideal goal of 265lbs, a 42" waist, 52" chest, and 21" neck. This would bring me down to 20% bodyfat by Air Force standards, and I plan on being able to pass all but the run section of the PFT. Honestly there's very little chance I will ever be able to run 1.5 miles again given my knees, but I can definitely bike instead, and I will. Hell, there's even a chance I'll make the new Air Force PFT standards (which are a little easier than they were when I went in). Since 2004, they allow people who can't run for medical reasons to ride the bike instead. If I do make it, then maybe 14 months from now I'll be back in uniform, I don't know, let's see.

So, how am I going to do this?

Well as I outline in my post "Fit, Fat, and Thermodynamics" it's not all that hard to lose up to 10% of your bodyweight, which in my case could be 37 lbs, and it's not shatteringly difficult to lose the second 10%, which would bring me down to jsut under 300. The last 15-35 lbs are going to be the real btich, in fact I expct theyll take up the last six months of that 13 month period by themselves.

The "secret" to maintaining or losing weight is thermodynamics. Eat whatever the hell you want, so long as you burn as much, or more calories than you eat. In terms of bodyweight, your body can't tell the difference between eating 1lb of fat (3500 calories) and 2lb of sugar (about 3500 calories).

If I want to lose 85-105 lbs, in 56 weeks, I'm going to need to average about 2 pounds a week.

Not only that, but because of my muscle structure (pretty damned massive), I tend to actually gain weight to start as I work out, because I gain lean muscle mass very rapidly, and lean muscle mass weighs 1.7 times as much as fat.

Really, I want to lose 145 lbs of fat, and gain 40 lbs of muscle, so in effect I'm going to need to burn 2.5 lbs of fat every week. Thats an extra 8000+ calories per week that I'm going to need to burn, and I'm going to need to get drastic to do it successfully.

My first step, I'm going back on the supplements. This supplement package is specifically designed to make MY body burn fat, and gain muscle (you need to get a professional to figure out what you need, everyones body is different). Every day I'm going to be taking the following

Morning afternoon and evening:

5 grams of creatine
100 mg 1-Androstene-3beta, 17betadiol (1AD)
600mg 19-nor-4-Androstenediol (Norandrodiol)
35mg guggelosterone
200mcg chromium picolinate
50mg ephedrine
65mg caffeine
100mg asprin
A broad spectrum muscle performance oriented multivitamin

Before Meals:

120mg Xenical (blocks absorbtion of up to 35 grams of fat)
500mg chitosan (blocks absorbtion of up to 10 grams of fat)
2 cblocks (Blocks absorption of about 35 grams of complex carbohydrate)

Overnight:

3 ZMA (hastens muscle rebuilding, and allows sterones to metabolize better)
A broad spectrum muscle performance oriented multivitamin
5 grams of creatine
200mg of Ester C

After a month I'll run out of the 1AD and the Norandrodiol because the FDA regulated them last year under new rules for supplements, which made every manufacturer drop these products for fear of liability suits. That said, it's the first month they'll be most effective.

I'm going to regulate my caloric intake to below 3000 a day, though I'm not eating much mroe than that now, in fact most often I'm eating less, but more importantly I'm going to be reducing both fat, and sugar in my diet. Protein protein protein; I'm not going to restrict complex carbs like on atkins, thats not good for you, but I am going to focus strongly on protein.

That means lots of chicken, nuts, and beans, some cheese, some pasta, some rice, a lot of broths that sort of thing. I've done it before when I was in hgihschool weightlifting and wrestling.

What I'm NOT going to do is stop eating the foods I like. I'm just going to tweak my habits a bit.

The most important thing I'll be doing however, is excercise.

My Condo is right across the street from a gym. I get a free month there. That month stats Monday, and I'll be in there at least 1 to 2 hours a day, every day but Sunday.

Every morning, and every night, I'm going to do 50 pushups, 50 crunches, 50 side straddle hops (jumping jacks), 50 leg lifts, and 50 flutter kicks.

I'm going to pick up a cheapass slant board, a weight bench bench, and some free weights (yard sales I'm thinkin) and stick it them in my home office, and instead of just sitting on my ass watching tv while I surf the web, I'm going to be doing random excerscise.

I'm going to buy a bicycle (another yard sale item), and ride every night, for at least 30 minutes (it gets too hot here during the day), in addition to the 30 minutes or more I'm going to do on the excercise bike in the gym.

I'm going to have more sex; No I'm not kidding, the more sex you have the better, it's great excercise, and great motivation. Even at my heaviest, getting sex has never been a problem for me, it's finding someone I actually want to stay with who isnt psychotic that's the problem.

I have a girlfriend, and we have lots of sex already (though not the last two months), we're just going to have more. I'm reasonably certain she'll be 0pleased with the idea as well.

Ok, sure, I'm going to fuck up. I'm going to miss days, I'm going to overdo it some and have to stop for a few days, I'm going to get lazy, but I'm going to keep going at it, until I'm where I want to be, and even then, I'm not going to stop.

At that point I should be burning 4000-5000 calories per day, and only eating 3000. Take that across a 6 day week (one day of rest), plus the 3000 for the sixth day, and I should be able to burn 4 lbs of fat per week under ideal conditions, which means I might be able to average half that, and that's about what it will take to get me to my goal.

I'm going to have to get used to being hungry, tired, and sore. but damnit, I'm tired and sore half the time now as it is, at least then I'll be tired, sore, and looking good.

I'll update the story as it goes along.

Comics Lovin

Some days, all your favorite comics are right on, all at the same time. A sample:

How many times I have had this conversion I can't tell you; "You said this, but what you really meant was this" No, I really meant what I said "No, I know you think you meant what you said, but actually what you meant was..." Man I jsut want to shoot those people.

The central joke of this oen...yes, yes you can indeed. I stop crackers for a living, and "Hackers" has nothing to do with hacking (except the fun in jokes and references inserted by the "technical advisiors"), but its got everything to do with style, and I love it for that.

I wrote it before, but oh how the mighty have fallen.

Chris Muir, genius, nuff said