First pic from the destined-to-be-sucky A Team movie

I love it when a plan comes together. Sigh. First pic from the destined-to-be-sucky A Team movie:











Mini-14? Check.

BA's van? Check. Mohawk? Check.

Shoulder rigs? Check(?!?)

M4gery with tacticool optix? OK, check.

Cigar. Check.

Anyone care to ID the rest of the hardware? Bigger pic here.

SC survivalist's "arsenal" siezed. Local newspaper sighs relief.

The Columbia, SC State newspaper breathlessly reports this morning that a recently deceased Lexington County man, thought to be a "survivalist" has an arsenal that included...gasp...100 rounds of .223 and 4000 rounds of .22 LR and a pound of black powder!!

Explosives were inside the house and in storage buildings outside, said Lexington County sheriff's spokesman Maj. John Allard.

The deadly store included:

- Seven live hand grenades

- Two live German World War II-era hand grenades

- One live Japanese World War II-era hand grenade

- 40 hand grenade fuses

- 100 rounds of .223-caliber tracer rounds

- One pound of black rifle powder

- 4,000 rounds of .22-caliber ammunition

- Three kits that could be used to convert AR-15 assault rifles into fully automatic weapons

- 60 practice grenades that can't be detonated

Authorities also found various trip wires, two 4-pound bags of sulfur, two ammunition canisters and a thermos containing an unidentified chemical.

Now I will go as far as saying that having 7 or so live grenades around the house is not only illegal, but generally considered not a great idea. Especially if they're vintage WWII. Live. Grenades. It's odd that they focus more on the ammo than the "kits that could convert assault rifles into fully automatic weapons".

One of the commenters notes that the based on the "reporting" he had nothing to shoot any of the ammo with. My guess is that the nephew should start digging around the back yard looking for the really valuable stuff. Probably at least 3 EBRs and at least 1 .22 buried back there somewhere with some junk silver.

And come on "arsenal" ? - I've probably got 2000 rounds of .22 in the trunk of my car. GASP!

IPDA practice session with the CCSC

I finally got off my can and shot my G17 at an IDPA practice session that the Central Carolinas Shooting Club does every Tuesday at Sportsmans.

I am so hooked.

Really nice people. Excellent instruction. Capital "F" Fun.

I was a little flaky on the first CoF - this being my first time shooting with a timer. I could come up with 4 or 5 other excuses to go along with that one, but let's just say I did not score well. 3 targets at about 10 yards - 2 shots to the body and 2 to the head. 1 reload. My 2nd shots were almost all 1s or 3s and I missed several head shots. Boo.

I calmed down a bit, slowed down a bit, and started getting some zeros on the remaining Standard Exercises. Consistently. Even on the head shots. Go me!

My shiny moment was finishing a strong-hand/weak hand drill (3 targets - 10 yards - 2 shots strong hand - 1 shot weak per target) with zeros across the board.

Many of the Sportsmans and Aim Right team shooters demonstrated amazing speed and accuracy. I've got a lot to learn before I shoot a qualifier. Because oh yes, I will be shooting a qualifier. I gots me a hobby now.

I thoroughly enjoyed the company of the other shooters and had a great time. I've got to get another cover vest though - mine is a little tight across the back and there's no easy pocket to drop a magazine into after a Reload with Retention or Tactical Reload (Look at me with the lingo).

And...practice.

Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL) is a sack of crap.

Florida Democrat Congressman Alan Grayson on the Republican Party: "They're not going to be winning the Nobel Peace Prize themselves anytime soon, they probably wish that there was a Nobel Prize for fear, a Nobel prize for hatred, a Nobel prize for racism, you know then they'd be in the running."

I don't consider myself much of a Republican anymore, but I do consider that Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL) is a sack of crap.

Cool 24 hours

Posting has obviously been light. Busy with work and not too much to say.

2 cool things in the mail in the last 24 hours:

and

Now I can carry in Georgia, Alabama, and West-By-God too. Amongst others

Elaborate multi-camera rig elegantly captures giant redwood tree

Michael Nichols, a National Geographic photographer, rigged up a ridiculous camera setup that was strategically lowered from the top of a 300-foot tree to the ground in order to get an astoundingly tall (and downright breathtaking) shot.

from Endgadget

Affordable quality knife. American Made!

Mulliga at Shangrila Towers reviews the Kershaw Skyline. $40 at Wal-mart.

Illegal immigrant planned to kidnap little girl for ransom.

Illegal immigrant, 25 and estranged wife plot to kidnap a little girl (or little girls) for ransom after he saw them while he was painting their house in Cornelius, NC.

Parents originally called police in early September, saying a man was at the bus stop in Cornelius early one morning, said Maj. David King with the Cornelius Department. The parents provided a description of the car, but it left before police could get there.

On Sept. 22, they got another call from parents. This one said the man taking pictures was back, and this time they had a license number.

I think that probably covers roughly half of my paranoia as a father and an American. Good grief.

Great quote of the day from Alan Gura via Joe Huffman

Joe Huffman quotes Alan Gura:

The freedoms we enjoy as Americans are secured to us against violation by all levels of government. State and local politicians should be on notice: the Second Amendment is a normal part of the Bill of Rights, and it is coming to your town.

Man oh man is that made of Win.

Roman Polanski is a child rapist.

Marko makes the definitive statement concerning the child rapist Polanski and those who would defend him:

Roman Polanski is a child-raping shitbag, and anyone who puffs up and defends that piece of garbage in any way needs their moral compass severely recalibrated, preferably with a framing hammer.

The whole Polanski affair has just reaffirmed what I’ve known for a long time: When it comes to defending one of their own, Liberals are just as capable of hypocritical excuses for shitbaggery as Conservatives.

Defending the indefensible? Asshats.

Making South Charlotte smell like greasy chips for 30 years!

Congrats to Frito-Lay on making South Charlotte smell like greasy chips for 30 years!

I enjoy eating almost all of their glycemic-index wrecking, cholesterol maxing, cruddy fingerprint leaving crunchy potato-based goodness, but if the wind is right, there is a 2 mile stretch of my daily I77 commute guaranteed to make you throw up a little in your mouth. Courtesy of the fine folks at Frito-Lay.

SCOTUS to see Alan Gura again

Taking on a major new constitutional dispute over gun rights, the Supreme Court agreed on Wednesday to decide whether to apply the Second Amendment to state, county, and city government laws.

via everyone.

Range Day! (or Range lunch break, I guess)

Today I got to take my only friend in Charlotte to the range. I won't call him a first time shooter, but it's been some time since he's shot anything, and by his own admission his last outing was of the "let's shoot those cans with my roommate's Glock" variety.

We met up at Firepower on my lunch break and spent a quality hour in lane #2. After we reviewed the 4 Rules and I was confident he could follow them (and recite them back to me) we started off with the Smith & Wesson 63 to warm up.

I just replaced the J-Frame's factory wood grips with a set of Pachmayr Presentation Grips that I found used for all of $12. This was a major, major improvement to this fine pistol. The factory checkered wood grips look cool and "vintage-y", and the stag grips that came on the pistol look cool too - not so great for the shooting though. Using the budget Federal Bulk-pack ammo I was getting respectable groups all the way to the wall.

My friend warmed up quickly to the revolver, and it turns out he has a bit of an eye for shooting. He'll probably be better than me (not much of a challenge there) before too long, once he gets rid of his flinch and works on his stance and grip. He was getting everything in the 8 ring or better, with a few outliers.

Next up we brought out the G17, and he really took a shine to the Glock. Both of us were shredding the inside of the 9 ring with 2 precious boxes worth of American Eagle FMJ from my cache. My "tacticool" Streamlight TLR-2 laser-flashlight combo turned out to be a little out of adjustment, so we did not use it much, except to get the laser roughly lined up on center.

Then we used the only ammo we bought from Firepower - a box of PMC .38 FMJ ($18.99 - ouch) to see how he did with the S&W 642 that is my current carry pistol. Even after I warned him, he was surprised by the recoil and report, but adjusted quickly and enjoyed the big bang from the lightweight 5-shot revolver. We shot all 50 rounds with the silhouette target at about 15 feet.

After that we switched back to the Model 63, picked up a bullseye target and shot some CCI 22. I am very happy with the new grips on this pistol, and the CCI ammo is much more accurate than the bulk stuff. My friend had some issues adjusting back to the .22, probably the anticipatory flinch - but when he used the last 10 rounds of 9mm in the Glock to finish up our trip he was back on target.

"Anyone who complains about the lack of regulation concerning firearms is a bleeding idiot"

Linoge:

"...if you ever have interactions with police officers involving charges brought against you, it is highly inadviseable to make any sort of public statement about them until they have been resolved.

In other news, anyone who complains about the lack of regulation concerning firearms is a bleeding idiot."

He's got my vote.

Republican wants to be South Carolina's next adjutant general launching his campaign with what he called a "machine-gun social."