A Pistol Challenge for Charity

This post will stay on top through Veterans Day - scroll down for new content

A couple weeks back I mentioned the Valour IT fundraising challenge. Well, it ends on veterans day, and we're well short of the $240,000 goal.

In fact, we're only up to about $60,000 between all four teams; a far cry from last year where the Navy alone met the COMBINED goal for all four teams.

Here's the stats as of about 9am this morning:

ARMY $22,385
MARINES $12,948
AIR FORCE $10,649
NAVY $9,031

Given how short we are of the goal, I take little solace in the fact that we are beating Navy.

So, I'm going to up the ante a bit.

Anyone who donates to ANY of the teams during the fundraiser, send me a copy of your PayPal donation receipt for at least $150 (which I will verify with the folks at Soldiers Angels); and the person who donates the most, will win one of these, along with 5 magazines:

That is an FEG PA-63, in 9x18 Makarov. It's a decent little pistol, sort of a cross between a Makarov and a PPKs. It was designed as a police service pistol for eastern europe, so it's easy to carry, but the trigger is kinda heavy.

The pistol the winner receives has only been test fired, with all the magazines. It was purchased in either new, or arsenal rebuilt condition from J&G sales (I honestly don't recall. I think it is unissued).

Obviously, due to the wonderful ATF, unless you are in Arizona, this pistol will need to be transferred from my FFL to yours; but I will cover the shipping. If you happen to live in Arizona I will handle this as a private transfer. Unfortunately for you crufflers out there, these pistols are not C&R eligible.

I hate to limit the pool of potential winners, but I'm not sure if this would be legal to transfer to someone in California and Massachusetts (because they have "approved" lists), or any of the states that require a special permit for every pistol you purchase (New Jersey and Hawaii for example); but it doesn't have any of the nasty "assault weapon" features that would get it banned in some states . If it is legal, hey great; ask your FFL to make sure.

Also note, this pistol would not be recieved from, transferred from, or won from Valour IT or soldiers angels; it would be coming from me, Chris Byrne. This is my PERSONAL incentive to anyone who supports a charity I also support. No-one at Valour IT or Soldiers Angels is in any way involved in this little giveaway. So, if some anti-gun lunatic wants to get all pissy, they can come talk to me about it, not Valour IT. Personally, I know what my readers like, and that's guns; so I'm tailoring my challenge to the preferences of my readers. It's called "effective marketing".

I will accept receipts for donations occuring up until end of day Monday the 12th; and announce the winner Tuesday the 13th at 5pm local (Arizona - mountain daylight) so get me your reciepts before 5pm . I will accept multiple donations and count them together so long as they occurred during the fundraiser (including if they were dated before this post) . In the event of a tie (which I think is likely), the winner will be determined by whose donation (or whose latest donation to bring them up to total) is dated first (not necessarily who I receive them from first). Oh and I'm only counting down to the nearest $10 increment rounded down. I don't expect people to be parsing pennies for charity.

So, donate to a great cause. It's completely tax deductible, and maybe you'll get a gun out of the deal at the same time. Can't lose there folks. Please, donate if you can:

The 11th day, of the 11th month

It is now the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month, at Compiegne...

Today is three things:

First, it is Mel and my second anniversary.

Second, it is Veterans Day.

Third, it is Rememberence Day, or Armistice Day

In America, Memorial Day is for the dead, and Veterans Day is for the living. As such, first I wish to give thanks.

I thank all of you, still serving to defend out country; and those of our friends and allies; and those who are fighting to preserve freedom, liberty, justice, and humanity.

May god bless you and keep you.

I thank all of you who have served in the past; for the risks you have taken, and the sacrifices you have made.

It was over thirteen years ago that I first put on my countries uniform. Every day I miss it; every day I feel guilty I'm not still out there with my friends and my brothers.

But... today is also my anniversary; and it would not be if I had not changed my course, and I don't regret what has brought me here. I love my wife, and my children more than I can possibly imagine; or possibly express to you.

Finally, today is Remembrance Day (sometimes known as Armistice day); celebrating the moment that the first great war of the last century was ended; in the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month of the year of our lord nineteen hundred and eighteen.

On this day I also give thanks; for those who laid down their lives, and for those who lived; to keep Europe free.

Eighty eight years gone, and still every year we mark this day (though in America we reserve Memorial day for our dead, from all wars).

Rememberance day though; it still means something here as Armistice day; and it most certainly still means something around the world.. for now; for as long as the people remember... which I hope shall be always, but I fear shall be for not much longer.

Why is it called poppy day?

Britain, France, Belgium, Canada, Australia, Russia... and on the other side Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary (and the remains of the holy roman empire), Turkey (and the other ottomans)... an entire generation of young men in Europe were lost to the most futile, worst run war, in modern history.

In four years, 18 million men died (or went missing, which is mostly the same thing), and 22 million men were wounded.

In fact, Europe has never recovered from this greatest of historical mistakes. It was the direct aftermath of world war one that lead to world war two; which created the postmodern european culture that is slowly being destroyed from without and within by self hatred, depression, defeatism, socialism, and islamic fascism...

But I digress; I was talking about why it is called poppy day.

Flanders is a region of Belgium; where the fighting in the great war was at it's worst, along with Wallonia, and northern France. The worst battles of the war were at Ypres, the Marne, the Somme, and Verdun.

At the Somme alone, the British lost 20,000 dead in one single day; and the allied forces (mostly British) lost 120,000 dead, and over 375,000 wounded total; with 100,000 dead and 350,000 wounded on the German side. The battle lasted from July 1st , til November 18th, 1916. Almost five solid months of the most brutal trench warfare ever seen; and nothing to show for it but blood, and mud.

Perhaps 200,000 total dead at the Marne (1st and 2nd), perhaps 50,000 at Ypres, Perhaps 300,000 total dead at Verdun... (10 months, and the bloodiest battle of the war, though The Somme had the bloodiest day); and nothing to show for it but blood and mud.

There was an amazing thing though; that blood, and that mud... it became magnificently fertile soil; and soon after the fighting ended, all over these horrific battlefields, poppies began to bloom.

In the first great war; as had been tradition for most of western history; those killed in battle were buried in the fields where they fell. Their memorials were raised there; a tribute to those who fought and died, and a reminder to those who did not.

And there, in Flanders and Wallonia, and in France, and in Luxembourg; there lay an entire generation of men. Millions upon millions of white crosses, millions upon millions of unmarked graves in farmers fields; surrounded by millions upon millions of poppies.

A symbol of life, of blood, of the fight for liberty and freedom. The poppies among those men who died were taken up; first by the French and the Belgians, then the Canadians and British and Americans.

Today, the poppy is a symbol of rememberance; expressed best perhaps by this poem:

In Flanders Fields
--Lt. Col. John McCrae, M.D. (1872-1918)
Royal Canadian Army

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

1,2,3,4 Happy Birthday Marine Corps

"November 10th, 1775; By act of this second continental congress assembled... ...let it be directed that two battalions of Marines be raised consisting of one Colonel, two Lieutenant-Colonels, two Majors, and other officers, as usual in other regiments; that they consist of an equal number of Privates with other battalions; that particular care be taken that no persons be appointed to offices, or enlisted into said battalions, but such as are good seamen, or so acquainted with maritime affairs as to be able to serve by sea when required; that they be enlisted and commissioned to serve for and during the present war with Great Britain and the Colonies, unless dismissed by order of Congress; that they be distinguished by the names of the First and Second Battalion of Marines."

With that act, the second continental congress appointed Captain Samuel Nicholas the first Captain of Continental Marines; founding what would become the United States Marine Corps. In fact, Capt. Nicholas was the first officially comissioned officer of the nascent nation (prior serving officers held their original commissions, and were not re-comissioned into service of the continental congress until after September of 1776).

Nearly 30 years later, on April 27th, 1805 (my birthday in fact), the legend of the Marine Corps was cemented, when Lieutenant Presley T. O'Bannon recieved the Mameluke sword of Hamet Karmanli, the Bey of Tripoli, after a successful storming action at the battle of Derna; the first land battle for U.S. forces on foreign soil (an ultimately unsuccessful action to restore the Turkish Bey to the throne he had been deposed from).

To this day, all Marine officers carry the Mameluke sword; and to this day the United States Marine Corps are chartered to be the first boots on the ground, in harms way, from the Halls of Montezuma, to the Shores of Tripoli.

For all I make fun of them (and god knows I do), and for all their ooh-rah sometimes irritates me, I love Marines. D'you know why? Because they well and truly believe in five words:

Semper Fidelis

and

Improvise, Adapt, Overcome

Let me tell you something; with the belief in those five words, a motivated individual can do anything humanly possible, and some things that just shouldn't be; and a motivated team can do even more than that.

The Marine Corps Hymn

From the Halls of Montezuma
to the Shores of Tripoli,
We fight our country's battles
On the land as on the sea.
First to fight for right and freedom,
And to keep our honor clean,
We are proud to claim the title
of United States Marine.

Our flag's unfurl'd to every breeze
From dawn to setting sun;
We have fought in every clime and place
Where we could take a gun.
In the snow of far-off northern lands
And in sunny tropic scenes,
You will find us always on the job
The United States Marines.

Here's health to you and to our Corps
Which we are proud to serve;
In many a strife we've fought for life
And never lost our nerve.
If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on Heaven's scenes,
They will find the streets are guarded
By United States Marines.

Gee, there's a shock

The REAL Face of the NRA

I just got home from here.

Let me tell you, 2 1/2 days of instruction from Kay Clark Miculek, Lisa Munson, Sheila Brey, and Judy Woolley can do a LOT to improve your handgun skills.

Obviously I will be posting a lot more about the camp once I actually get a good night's rest.

However, as a teaser here is a of one of my fellow campers:



This is Jackie. Jackie is a Boston attorney with a love of revolvers and blued steel and wood (which I can MORE than relate to). Jackie is also an NRA certified instructor. I took this picture after I explained to her exactly what I intended to do with it.

So for all of you anti-gun folks who say the NRA is all white Southern redneck men, I beg to differ. Jackie is none of the above; AND a damn good shot.

Oh and yes, that is a 625 on her hip.

More to come later.

Mel

An Unfortunately Significant Portion...

...of what I do for a living:

What really gets me though is that because of this overhead; the "project cost" for, let's say a $30,000 server with an additional $30,000 worth of high speed storage and archive isn't $60,000 or $90,00 or even $120,000... It's more like $240,000.

A Grand Old Symbol

It was pioneering editorial cartoonist Thomas Nast who first associated the Republican Party with the Elephant symbol, on this day in 1874.

Nast of course was so well known for his inflammatory and often mean (though often equally piercing) comics, that his name became an ironic false etymology.

I prefer that symbol to this:


The other notable "achievment" of this day.

90 years ago this day, the Bolsheviks under the command of Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenins real name) and VladimirAntonov easily defeated the forces of Alexander Kerensky, who barely bothered resisting their capture of the winter palace.

14 years later, to the day, Mao Tse Tung began his red revolution in China.

...coincidentally, it is also Leon Trotskys birthday.

Pretty much my day today

Paying for it

Well, we had a great time camping and this weekend, but now I'm paying for it.

Mel is now off to her shooting camp; unfortunately both girls are feeling under the weather a bit, and apparently camping out with 28 degree overnight temperatures has made whatever crud I had early last week relapse a bit.

Thankfully, Emily is helping out while Mel is at the camp, so I'm not stuck with two sick girls and a sick dad; but still, one legged man, meet ass kicking contest.

So don't expect TOO much content this week...

Of course every time I write that I end up posting some 10,000 word epic the next day; but I can't think of anything right now that would make me do that.

A Trick of the Light

I'm going to show you three photographs, to illustrate a point.

I take most of my photos with a prosumer DSLR; which is jargon for a Digital Single Lense Reflex camera, that's one step below what pros use. IN particular, I have a Nikon D80, which is actually one of the more popular backup camera choices for a lot of professional photographers.

It's a spectacualr camera; but It's also about a thousand dollars, and being an SLR, it's fairly large. In these days of every cellphone being a camera... in fact up to a 6 megapixel camera in some cases (which is meaningless, or even harmful considering the size of the things, but that's another post), and teeny tiny little 10 megapixel point and shoots, I've been asked (many times in fact) "why bother".

It comes down to options, and control. POint and shoots are jsut fine is your subject is sitting still, in decent lighting, etc... ; and honestly thats what most people will use them for, most of the time, so most people will be happy with them most of the time.

But what if you want to shoot a subject that moving fast? Or in odd lighting conditions, or with a complicated background you want to fuzz out... or really any number of other situations or effects you may want to create. Frankly, even in the best point and shoots, you jsut can't do a lot of that.

Let me illustrate my point with those three photos I mentioned. The first is a photo from my pro-sumer camera, which certainly has a better sensor, and better optics than any point and shoot you're likely to find; when it's set in fully automatic point and shoot type mode:

These are completely unedited except to reduce their size by the way.

In this photgraph, you can see what the room would look like to non dark adjusted eyes coming in from a bright space; which is typical of point and shoot performance.

The room is actually about 28x16 foot, with white walls and ceiling, and bookshelves and seating lining the walls. The only lighting in the scene is from the blue LED on my stereo, and a couple of other small LEDs; plus some reflected light from the door crack of another room down the hall. Certainly there was less than 1 lux illumination across the scene. I was barely able to distinguish the camera at arms length.

This second picture is my camera in it's special fully auto night/dark mode; which emulates a faster film speed, and uses a slower shutter speed and faster aperature:

In that picture, you can start to see some detail, though not much. Again, clearly color vision isn't possible. This is about what my eyes adjusted to after a minute or two.

This is about the best you're ever going to get with any kind of automatic exposure, shutter, focus, and film speed controls... and frankly, there's no photo there; just a little blue blurriness.

Now, take a look at what you get when you use full manual controls, and the maximum capabilities of a pro-sumer grade camera:

Wow...

You can see the scene now. In fact, were the LED not blue, you'd have full color vision. Before I reduced the size, I was actually able to read some of the book titles.

Remember, these three pictures are the same scene, and same lighting. The only difference is the level of control over the exposure controls within the camera to take advantage of what light was available.

That scene was a 30 second exposure at f3.6, exp+5, iso 3200 (which is why it's so noisy/grainy). Both of the other photos only used about a 4 second shutter speed, and ISO 1600.

You just can't do that (or at least not easily, or well, or without unacceptable levels of noise) with even the best point and shoots. And of course you can't take a huge variety of shots that better equipment makes not only possible, but even easy.

I'm going camping up in the mountains of Northern Arizona this weekend, and if the sky is clear and the moon not TOO bright, I'll take some starshots to show you guys.

Sadly, this is a viable strategy

In fact, it's pretty much the basis for the entire "environmental" movement.

OK... She has a point

I work at home; which lets Mel and I be together a lot more than most other couples, which is great.

We were just having this conversation:

Chris: You know, you're spoiled. You get a hundred times more attention and affection than most women

Mel: True... but to get it, I have to put up with YOU.

I love my life.

Stuck on you

Recent articles on Strategy Page, and several postings on arms and military oriented sites and blogs have brought back the debate about the 5.56 nato cartridge and it's primary platform, the M16/M4. This time around, the proposal has been made that the 5.56 nato M4 has been holding us back from developing further, better, individual small arms for infantry combat.

Basically, the proposition is that the M4 and 5.56 are "good enough", that we are "stuck" with them. Even though there may be better choices available, we are getting the job done with what we have, so theres no reason to go for more, and no funding or institutional push behind any real efforts to do so.

I don't know if I'd quite put it that way; but the argument has merit. Taken on its own, the AR platform is certainly "good enough". Sure it has it's weaknesses, but so does any other weapons system; and on the plus side it's lightweight, accurate, generally reliable (when properly maintained, which is not nearly as big a problem as some seem to believe), relatively inexpensive (which, much as we don't like the fact, is a primary motivator in military acquisitions), and easy to train soldiers to shoot well with.

The 5.56 nato chambering is also "good enough"; though honestly the case for its replacement is far stronger. Although the chambering has significant advantages (light weight, accuracy, inexpensive to produce), it also has inconsistent to poor wounding characteristics in some of the areas of the enveope in which we are expect it to perform.

Really what it all comes down to though, are network effects.

Under certain circumstances, the more of a particular item that are in use, the more relative value that item has. This creates a barrier to entry that gets higher and higher as more of theitem are brought into use; creating a "self fulfilling prophecy". This is referred to as a "network effect".

Military rifles are one of those items subject to network effects, as are military issued cartridges.

The more rifles are issues in a particular type and chambering, the more relative value there is to maintaining (or maintaining compatibility with) that type and chambering.

In the case of the M16 and M4 variants of the Stoner AR10/15 Platform (as opposed to the Stoner 63 platform and the Stoner AR18 platform, which have their own variants), this network efect has not only made it the second most widely deployed assault rifle platform (after the AK of course), but it also is the huge family of accessories and infrastructure surrounding it.

You can see the dificulties involved in changing weapons systems in this excellent defense industy daily article about the M4, and the EXTREME resistance to not only the idea f changing weapon systems; but even to the idea of holding competitive trials to see if new systems can outperform the existing platform.

This may seem ridiculous, and even offensive (and it is); but the logic behind it is simple (if venal): The Army (who are the primary holdup) cannot under any circumstances admit to mistakes with the M4 platform, because whole careers of powerful men (hundreds, possibly thousands) have been built around the advocacy and acquisition of the M4. If the platform were to be beaten in trials, those careers could be ended right quick; and those are the people currently in charge of testing and acquiring new weapons.

From a purely technical standpoint, given this large family of compatibility, and of course given the political resistance to change, it becomes much easier to change chamberings than it does change rifle platforms; because, presuming the new chambering is not radically ballistically different, most accessories, infrastructure, and especially most training, are not chambering specific (excepting relatively minor issues with familiarization).

This is especially true if the new chambering can use existing magazines and rifles, with minimal modification; thus the 6.5 Grendel and the 6.8 SPC.

Both "mid six" rounds are designed to get the most performance out of the AR15 platform possible, with the minimum changes required. Shooting either of course involves more recoil and slightly different range and windage adjustments, but overall there is no retraining necessary to transition from 5.56 to one of the mid six chamberings.

Further, in my opinion (and I believe I have the background, and have done the research to be credibly called an expert on this), both mid six options offer a significant enough ballistic advantage to be worthy of adoption. Either will give a better than 30% increase in high percentage range, and a better than 25% increase in medium percentage effective range, with low percentage range effectively that of the 7.62 nato.

So why haven't we adopted one of them; or at the very least, opted to issue the 77gr Mk262 load for 5.56; which gives a significant amount of that improved capability, without actually changing chamberings?

Simply put: Logistics.

By changing chamberings we sidestep the barrier to entry for the rifle platform itself, but that ignores the barrier to entry on the other side of the weapons system.

The problem is overcoming the network effect of all the rounds in the pipeline; and all the equipment used to produce them, and all the distribution mechanism for them, and all the manufacturing effort behind them... I could go on.

I would guess that there are about a million M16/M4 variants in use with our military services today; and each one costs the government something around $400 (plus an additional $400 for magazines, spare parts, and maintenance over the lifetime of the rifle).

$400 million (or $800 including maintenance) is a fair chunk of change to be sure. But...

At appx. $0.14 a piece, and 4 billion rounds per year expended (current as of a few months ago - oh and we're currently only actually producing 2.7 billion rounds per year in two plants; 1.5 in one and 1.2 in the other. We're making up the difference out of production from our allies, and drawdon fo existing stocks), over the 10 year service lifetime of a rifle (I've seen M16s a hell of a lot older than that still in service by the by), and presuming we maintain current operational tempo for six more years, you are talking about almost $6 billion.

So, in terms of relative costs of operations; over the lifetime of the rifle, the cost percent of the rifle, vs the ammunition is very low (in this case the rifle is only about 6.5% of the cost, and the maintenance another 6.5%). Additionally, even very small changes in the cost of ammunition make HUGE changes in the cost of operations over the lifetime of the rifle.

Optimistic estimates are that even after the initial investment and ramp up period (estimated at from 2-5 billion dollars, and three to five years), full economies of scale will mean that the mid sizes would be something on the order of 15% more expensive to produce. That would mean about an additional billion dollars over 10 years, plus the startup costs.

Suddenly, the cost of changing chamberings climbs from $400 million, to something between $3.5 billion and $6.4 billion; in addition to the established costs of about 6 billion... so, potentially more than doubling the cost over 10 years.

And this isn't something you can easily and economically transition to. Before those economies are achieved, production capacity would simply not be available to meet demand, and one thing you absolutely do not want to ever do is fight a war while changing out your primary issue chambering, unless you can do it all at once; because logistically, you can't risk having half a division needing one type of ammunition, the other half needing another; when you are sending stuff by the shipload.

Worse of course, is that this example only takes into account the US; never mind all our allies, and nations we support around the world, who most likely would also transition chamberings; and who would have their own transition costs (likely equal to our own, given the relative sizes of militaries).

So, our barrier to entry here is this: Is the value of changing the chambering away from 5.56 nato equal or greater than $6 billion dollars; and the difficulty of changing chamberings in the middle of a war.

For right now, the answer is clearly no, at least as far as our government is concerned. As I said above, most of the time, the 5.56 chambering is getting the job done; and governments will take "adequate most of the time" over $10 billion dollars" most any day.

Putting that into perspective though, $10 billion pays for every single man on the grounds rifle and ammunition for 10 years....

...Or, it pays for the acquisition, operation, and ordnance of a single B2 bomber for 10 years.

...So maybe the government is wrong.

Crimp my style

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate reloading military ammo?

Here's why:


That little indented ring around the primer is the crimp. Most military ammo has crimped and sealed primers; and while they serve a useful purpose for the military, for reloaders they make things.. a little more difficult shall we say.

The best way to deal with crimped primers is to have a single stage press set up with a decap only die. That way you can just continuously decap the cases without any of the effort of resizing applied at the same time; because crimped primers can take a lot more effort to pop out, especially if they are sealed.

That leaves you with a decapped case that still has a crimp ring in the primer pocket. If you try and prime cases without removing that crimp ring, a number of things can happen. The best possible outcome is that the primers require a hell of a lot of force to seat. The worst is that the primers deform horribly on seating, ruining the case, jamming up the press, and possibly igniting (I've had all but the ignition part happen).

So let's not try that then OK.

Theres a tool called a crimp swager, that in one quick step presses out the crimp, re-swaging the primer pocket. It also needs to be set up in a single stage press; unless you get one of the free standing models that bolts to your bench.

Unfortunately, I don't have any of my single stages set up at the moment, I don't have a primer pocket swager; and I had 300 military cases to reload yesterday.

The other solution, is to ream the crimp out with a primer pocket reamer, which I DO have. Of course that's a hand operation, and you cant just ream the crimp off, you also need to clean and uniform the primer pocket and clean up the flash hole (actually you should do that on military, and a lot of commercial brass anyway).

At least I've got one of the RCBS time mate centers; because doing itcompletely by hand... well let's just say I wouldn't have made it through 50 rounds.

So what I did was, I took my Hornady .223 dies, which have a very long decapping stem; and I backed it out far enough that it was acting as a decapping and neck expanding die only. Then I set up my RCBS small base die to work the case; and I ran them through the progressive with just those two dies running.

Even then, the force required to cycle the press was.. substantial.

From there, I manually reamed every primer pocket, cleaned up the pocket and flash hole, and if necessary reamed and deburred the case neck; taking about 15 seconds per case. The whole process of prepping those 300 cases took me four hours; and that wasn't even loading them, it was just getting them ready to be loaded.

Let me tell you, 4 hours of grasping small, slightly slippery objects, and applying them precisely, and with force, onto tool small rotating heads... Well when I woke up this morning my hands were extremely unhappy, lets just say that.

Thankfully of course, once those steps were done it was easy to complete the job of loading; and it went through near as fast as pistol ammo.

Now tomorrow, 300 more of my match grade. I'm using Winchester brass on those, so thankfully no more primer pocket reaming. It's still going to be "fun" though, since I individually weigh each charge. Should take me pretty much all day. Good thing I can do it in between teleconferences... or for that matter DURING some of them.

"Green" but Not Humanitarian

Look what the BBTOH brought

Actually, it was yesterday afternoon; and I am going to be VERY busy this week. I've got a couple thousand rounds to load before we leave Friday afternoon.

Help them at home

"Greater love hath no man than this; that a man lay down his life for his friends" -- John 15:13

In June of 2005, then Captain (now Major) Charles "Chuck" Ziegenfuss, led an armored patrol in force into an Iraqi town where intelligence had indicated an ambush of U.S. forces was planned.

On arriving in the town, Cpt. Ziegenfuss was approached by a local resident, and informed of a large IED that was placed near his house overnight. Because his tank could not cross a bridge over a small irrigation canal to enter the town, Cpt. Ziegenfuss dismounted, and was proceeding on foot to investigate; when a second IED that had been previously buried under the roadway was detonated.

Cpt. Ziegenfuss was blown several meters into the canal; suffering severe shrapnel wounds over almost the entirety of his body excepting where he was protected by armor. He also lost half of one hand, part of the other, and much of the skin and muscle on his arms and legs to the blast.

I'm proud to say I know Chuck, and I've shot with him (he's a damn fine shot even still). He's a funny guy, with a hell of a lot of guts. A lot of other folks would've said "Well, I've had enough now"... but that just isn't the kind of guy he is. He's back on active duty, instructing ROTC cadets in his home state of Pennsylvania, and he plans on staying on active duty until they kick him out.

When Chuck was in the hospital recovering from his wounds (I should note, it's been two years and he is still in recovery; though he has been back on active duty since 2006); he figured something out: What he really wanted most, to help him get through the pain, and the boredom, and the mind numbing misery that is an extended hospital stay... was a laptop.

Thing is though, Chuck had two half hands, both wrapped in bandages. How was he going to use a laptop?

Well, he's not a quitter (there's an understatement). He had an idea, and he asked Soldiers Angels to help him out. Could they get him a laptop, with voice command software installed on it, so he could run the thing without using his hands much?

The Soldiers Angels motto is "Let no soldier go unloved", and these people move mountains, at great personal cost in time, energy, and money; to make sure that every soldier gets what they need to help them get through their times of hardship.

Turns out, the Angels more than lived up to their reputation, and they could indeed get Chuck a laptop, and they did, and it worked. He was able to keep his mind active, and keep communicating with the world at large even while he was laid up.

In fact, it was such an improvement to his morale, that he was able to (in fact he damn near forced them to) reduce his pain medication. So long as he could keep his mind occupied with other things, his pain didn't seem to matter as much.

Now, at this point, you might have got the notion that Chuck isn't one to lay down, even when he's lost 30lbs of muscle and bone, and is on enough morphine to kill a horse.

See, he figured, that if a voice activated laptop did so much for him, why couldn't they do this for other wounded soldiers. So he pitched the idea to Soldiers Angels; and Project Valour IT was born.
Voice Activated Laptops for Our Injured Troops - Valour IT.

Valour IT buys laptop computers, and accessibility accessories for wounded soldiers. Be they wounded in combat or training, if they need a laptop, and Valor IT has the money, they're getting a laptop and everything they need to make it work.

...If they have the money.

So far, Valour IT has raised enough to give over 1500 laptops to our wounded soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines; but there are more wounded men and women that could use our help.

So, just to keep this in the military spirit (and to use our rivalry to best effect), they have an annual interservice fundraising drive; with teams from and supporting each of the services competing to raise the most cash for the cause.

One should note, all the money ends up being used for ALL servicemembers; the money raised by the Air Force team doesn't go only to AIrmen. It's jsut a way of having a little fun while raising money for a good cause.

Last year, the Navy kind of stomped on everyone, raising more than twice as much as any other team. Well, this year, that aint gonna happen, if this former bluesuiter has anything to do about it.

This is a standard, tax deductible charitable donation, and I can't imagine a better cause. All my charitable giving for this year, and the foreseeable future, excepting that going to my parish, is going to Valour IT; and I ask you to please help in any way you can.

What is it?

Reader TBone asks: "I've got a new project in the works. See if you or your readers can identify this blast from the past."

Well, my guess is that it's a .38-45 Clerke; which was a .45 acp case, necked down to take .355 bullets.

It's hard to tell the diameter by perspective, and that would be a VERY rare and unusual chambering, but it would seem to be the closest fit. I'm pretty sure it's not a .400 cor-bon or a .38 casull; because it looks smaller than a .40, and seems to have more shoulder than a .400 Cor-Bon, and it's got a .45acp headstamp and doesn't take a small rifle primer like the .38 Casull.

What's your guess?

Does it really make much difference; or even much sense?

So, I kinda want one of these:



As a companion piece to the gift from the gods of boom. That, specifically, is a Dan Wesson Bobtail Commander, in 10mm

It's essentially a Dan Wesson frame (sorta... they are owned by CZ-USA but they do have their own factory in upstate New York.. unfortunately not the same factory they USED to be in in Palmer MA, but that facility was obsolete) with Ed Brown hard parts. The ones I've handled are excellent quality, and they just feel good in the hand.

Now, I really like the bobtail grip (though some very much do not, you need to try it first), and I've opined before that the commander length is my favorite 1911. Plus, much as I love my 5" 10mm, it is just a bit big for concealed everyday carry in Arizona (whereas I have no problem with my commander).

Now, a lot of folks think that in a 1911, the length of the butt is more of a problem than the length of the barrel. Those folks don't have rib cages like beer kegs.

I can (and have), quite literally, carry an MP5 under my arm. and not have it sticking out, so a fullsize butt on a 1911 isn't an issue; and the bobtail makes it even better (taking off the one major snagpoint in fact). Besides, I like to carry IWB; which tucks the butt in tight. It also puts the barrel lower than in other styles of carry, and therein lies the rub (literally).

Anyway, I think that would be a great companion piece as I said (and will complete the trifecta when I get a MecTec CCU to have a 10mm carbine as well).

Well, a few days ago a reader asked "Why bother with a 10mm from a 4" barrel. Wouldn't it just be a more expensive .40S&W at that point?"

Sadly, that's not a bad question. Why do I say Sadly? Well, because it SHOULDN'T be that way, but with much of the factory loaded 10mm out there, it is. Most factory defensive 10mm is basically loaded to +p .40 S&W levels; excepting the Winchester silvertip.

So, first, the good (as far as factory loads go anyway):

For comparison, the 10mm 175gr silvertips out of a 4” barrel will develop appx 1200fps and 559 ftlbs (about 50fps more from a 5"). The .40S&W 155gr silvertip develops 1200fps out of a 4” barrel, for 495ftlbs. With a 20gr mass difference at the same velocity… that energy difference is significant, but not overwhelming.

What IS a big difference though, is the penetration through 4 layers of denim. In a controlled expansion premium hollowpoint, that 10mm load will consistently penetrate 12"-14" of ballistic gelatin through denim. The .40 will only consistently penetrate to 9-10”.

Now, the bad... With any major factory load other than the silvertips , the numbers are downright depressing. When I said most was only at +p .40 levels I wasn’t kidding. The 180gr Federal Premium personal defense 10mm only manages 1030fps from a 5” barrel for 425 ftlbs. Their STANDARD pressure 180gr .40 load makes 1000fps for 400ftlbs. And that's before you account for the 4" barrel (You’ll typically lose about 50fps going down to a 4” barrel).

Most of the other major companies offerings are similar; following the general trend of the last few years with factory ammo de-magnumizing magnums (this is a reversal of the previous 60 years or so of trending the other way). It seems that once the "FBI load" came out and sold better than their previous full power loads, the factories took that as a sign that nobody really wanted a 10mm, they wanted an expensive .40S&W. Seems silly to me, but hey, I don't run the universe.

Back to the good news; there's a way around that problem. Go to a company like Doubletap, where they actually load close to a cartridges potential; and it’s an entirely different story.

The Doubletap 10mm 180gr controlled expansion rounds will do about 1300fps from a 4” conventional rifling barrel (a bit more from polygonal, and about 1350fps from a 5") for 675 ftlbs. The .40 s&w 180gr controlled expansion round will do 1100fps from a 4” barrel for 484 ftlbs.

Now THAT is a huge difference.

Doubletaps load, also happens to duplicate my best 10mm handloads (with the same bullet in fact); 180gr Hornady XTP at 1350fps (from a 5") and 729ftlbs.

It's good to know that there's still a way to get the performance you're SUPPOSED to be able to get from a gun, even if you don't handload (or if you don't want to use handloads for defense).

So, does it make sense to have a 4" barreled 10mm?

Sure... at least as much sense as it makes to have any 10mm at all. Or any other high intensity chambering for that matter. I have two commander length .45s (a custom commander, and a USP compact) and a revolver that are chambered for .45 super; none of them "make sense" much either, in terms of "needing" that much power to stop a badguy.

The .45 super isn’t a round that makes much sense, the 10mm isn't a round that makes much sense... heck, I’ve had a couple .357SIGS and they don't make much sense either. I love hot, high pressure rounds; but honestly, for shooting badguys, neither is necessary.

Handguns are handguns, rifles are rifles; until you get to rifle level ballistics, you’re never going to get MUCH more effective than .357 magnum or +p+ 9mm, or +p+ .45.

You’ll get a little bit more badguy whacking power from the much hotter loads, but not a huge amount. There's a small jump from +p+9mm to +p .40; then another small jump from +p .40 to +p+ .45; and another small jump to .45 super, and another to 10mm (actually, they're very similar in ballistic performance when loaded in the same weights).

Added up in total; the difference between a +p+ 9mm and a 10mm is about 55gr in weight, and the same velocity, for about 200ftlbs more energy. In handgun terms that's a lot, but from about 500ftlbs of energy (the floor of what I consider acceptable duty loads), up until you hit somewhere around 1250 to 1500 ftlbs of energy (depending on bullet mass, and design - basically hot .44 magnum level); the difference in wounding capability is actually pretty small.

Yeah, the 10mm is going to do the job better than the +p+ 9mm, but in comparison to a rifle, or a high intensity magnum hunting load (which most people wouldn't really want to carry on the street).... well, they might as well be the same.

'Course, just because it isn't strictly necessary, doesn't mean I don't want that little edge, or that I don't prefer the shooting feel of the 10mm to most other chamberings. It just means it isn't particularly practical or necessary.

The only particularly practical thing about either, is for use on other than humans. I like .10mm for walking in the woods, because you DO get more penetration out of it from a 5” barrel than the hottest .45acp; and for four legged furries, you can use that extra penetration. Same with .45 super (though .45 super really needs at least a 5" barrel to perform to potential and is better with 6"; because it has a relatively fat and heavy powder column).

Personally though, I just enjoy shooting the hot stuff. It's fun. Not only that; I find that in general I can shoot hotter rounds, faster and more accurately, than I can slower rounds. This flies in the face of convention, but it's true; I think because the faster round cycles the weapon faster.

So is the 10mm not much better than a .40?

Depends on what you mean by better I guess.

If it doesn't make much sense, and isn't all that much better, why do I shoot 10mm?

Because I can.

God's in his heaven

...All is right with the world.

At 10:05pm Mountain Daylight Time, the Boston Red Sox swept the Colorado Rockies 4 games to nothing to win the 2007 world series.

This is the seventh world series win for the Sox, the second in three years after an 86 year drought (which included 5 unsuccessful appearances, and 24 seasons finishing in second place in the American League).

Earlier today, the New England Patriots DESTROYED the Washington Redskins 52-7. In fact, they put their second string in during the middle of the third quarter when they were up 45-0, just to give them some playing time, and they scored another touchdown (though they allowed one as well).

This brought New England to 8-0, and gave them the highest scoring disparity through 8 games ever recorded in the NFL, 331 points fielded, for 127 points allowed ; and the highest average score through 8 games of 41.4 points.

Oh and Tom Brady has the highest quarterback ranking through 8 games ever (141.7); on the strength of 30 touchdown passes for 2 interceptions, 198 completions for 267 attempts (74.2%) and 7 sacks.

To top it all off, FN has announced that they will resume production on the Winchester model 70, made in the USA; as well as continuing production on the Browning HI-Power (it had previously been announced that it would be discontinued) and announcing a new line of rifles from Browning, the X-Bolt.

Today is a good day.