It’s Not Just Here

KevinLeave a comment

Quote of the day:

With their notorious sense of the absurd, Channel 7’s Sunrise program ran the online poll. It asked simply: “Who would you vote for?” and listed Kevin Rudd, Tony Abbott, Bob Brown and Mr Don Key (independent). To avoid confusion the poll carried photographs of the leaders, including a distinguished-looking donkey with handsome ears and a greying muzzle.

But with all the silliness these results have a serious point. They should be enough to provoke one of those infamous Rudd-rants and send Abbott in search of a long hard run.

The Opposition Leader polled 24 per cent, the Prime Minister 20 per cent and Senator Brown from the Greens 12 per cent. The donkey won in a trot, with 44 per cent. And nobody in the real world would be the least surprised.

It seems unlikely that Australia has ever gone into an election campaign with such a poor selection. Kevin Rudd is disliked. Tony Abbott is not trusted. And Bob Brown is seen as inhabiting a planet that most of us have never visited or wanted to visit.

There’s a serious crisis of political credibility in Australia, and the donkey is looking good. Political leadership has never been so evasive, nor has it ever been so blatantly dishonest. What’s disturbing is that voters may have become so numbed by the spin and lies they’ve become accepting of mediocrity.

— Neil Mitchell in the Australian newspaper the Herald Sun, Our leaders fail the test

Found at Jigsaw’s Thoughts

Range Report: Ted Brown LRB M25, Part 1

KevinLeave a comment

I finally took the M25 to the range today. I had 100 round of 175 grain Sierra Matchking reloads, 40 rounds of Black Hills 175 grain BTHP Match, and about 18 rounds of Black Hills 168 grain Match. I used the 168 to get on to paper, then shot some groups at 200 with the 175 grain Black Hills for a baseline. Then I ran a couple of groups of the same ammunition through the 700 5R just to compare.

The best group out of the M25 was right at 2″ at 200 yards, strung vertically, about 1.5″ wide. The 700 5R did about as well, though its dispersion was more horizontal. I ran some of my handloads through the 5R to compare, and the group sizes shrank just a bit, but that rifle really prefers the 155 grain Lapua Scenar bullet.

Remember back in 2007 when I wrote that post on reloading? I said in it:

Once the case is sized and decapped, wipe it clean with a rag or a paper towel to get the lube off. Again, PUT THE FIRST CASE IN YOUR GUN TO MAKE SURE IT WILL CHAMBER. Either that, or buy a case gauge.

When I did these rounds I didn’t have the M25, and I don’t have a .308 case gauge.

Guess what? I didn’t size them enough. They fit in the 5R just fine. They stick in the M25 chamber just short of being in battery. And I mean they stick. I had to use my foot to operate the mechanism to get the cartridge out.

Guess what I’ll be ordering right after I finish this post?

I need new scope rings, too. I wrote LaRue Tactical about the rings I have, and was advised not to use them with the scope base that comes with the M25. That base, manufactured by Sadlak, has a groove down the center of the Picatinny rail to allow the shooter to use the iron sights, but the LaRue rings have an abbreviated engagement surface, and it only makes contact with the Sadlak base at its corners. I can already see where those tiny contact patches have worn from recoil. THAT can’t be conducive to accuracy.

I took the M25 over to Black Weapons Armory here in Tucson, Friday after work to see if I could find anything that would allow me to move the scope back another inch. They had a lot of options, but none of them would work. Everything commercially available has cross pieces spaced four, five, six, or seven slots apart, but the Sadlak base has slots eight, nine, and ten spaces apart. Right now I’m not sure what I’m going to do, but I’m not taking it to the range again until I have new rings on it.

UPDATE: Solution found. It’s not optimal, but it’s acceptable. Sadlak’s extended rail for the M25 is (supposedly) available now, not in August as previously advertised. I’ll order one on Monday, and I have an order in for another set of Burris Xtreme rings now.

Advanced Warning – Tucson Bowling Pin Match

KevinLeave a comment

Sunday, June 13. Tucson Rifle Club, Action Range. Classifying starts at 0800 (8AM).

Pistols only, .38 Special caliber or heavier.

Course of fire:

Five standard bowling pins placed on a 4′ x 8′ table approximately 42″ high. For “Major” calibers (.40 S&W or higher) the pins are placed 12″ from the front edge of the table. For less powerful calibers, they are placed 18″ from the back edge. They are spaced 18″ apart across the 8′ width of the table.

The shooter starts from the “low ready” position, 25 feet from the front edge of the table. At the sound of the timer, shoot all five pins off the table.

Each shooter will have five timed solo runs to establish a handicap. After all shooters have been timed, shooters will be paired off in competition. Slower shooters will receive a handicap advantage. Two tables, two shooters. At the sound of the first beep, the slower shooter begins. At the sound of the second beep, the faster shooter begins. Whoever clears their table first, wins. Best three out of five determines the set winner. This way revolver shooters have a chance against semi-autos, stock guns have a chance against race guns. I determine the handicap delay. If I think you’re sandbagging, I’ll disqualify you or adjust your handicap to suit.

This is a double-elimination match. Losers from the first round will compete against each other, winners will compete against winners. Competition will continue until there is only one shooter left who hasn’t lost twice.

Cost to shoot is $10 for the first gun, $5 for each additional gun. A dollar from each entry goes into a pot. At the end of the match, a random drawing will occur. Out of those still present, someone will win the pot. The winner of the match just gets to be king of the hill for the month.

If you lose both sets in three games each, you’ll still have fired a minimum of 55 rounds. Trust me, you probably won’t be clearing a table with only five rounds, so bring enough ammo.

Hope to see you there!

Bad Gun Handling

KevinLeave a comment

I’ve been watching the BBC TV SciFi program Torchwood. Breda got me hooked with her video clip of one character, Gwen, getting trained with firearms (in Blighty!)

But in one episode I just watched, Gwen’s training seems, well, deficient:

As far as I could tell in that episode, Gwen hadn’t fired a shot, yet the slide on her pistol is locked back, and she seems completely unaware of it.

Oopsie!

(This is the kind of thing that irks my wife when I notice it.)

UPDATE: And in a related post, Mrs. Borepatch comments on why it takes an American to actually pull a trigger. EXCELLENT piece.