3/16/2006
Righty or Lefty?
I'm looking to purchase a shooting jacket and rifle sling to work on my high-power style shooting. Problem is, I can't decide which side I want to shoot from. I'm right handed, but I'm left eye dominant. When I was on the rifle team in college, I shot right handed, but I used a blinder so my dominant left eye wouldn't mess me up.
The big thing going for right handed is that pretty much every rifle out there, at least the service rifles, is set up for righties. Garand, M-14, Springfield...the only one that I could use left handed without much trouble is the AR-15. Actually, I don't know how tough the M-14 would be-the bolt release wouldn't be a problem, and neither would the safety and mag release, but clearing a malfunction would be tough. So, pluses for the right: that's the side I'm most familiar shooting from, and I can use it with pretty much any rifle.
For the left side, it's the dominant eye (and in basic training, we always made the privates shoot with their dominant eye), and I don't have any bad habits to unlearn.
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3/15/2006
One Month Til BAG Day
Thanks to Denise at The Ten Ring for the reminder.
Last year, I knew exactly what I wanted: an AK with as many evil features as I could get, to celebrate the expiration of the "AW"B. This year, I'm not so sure. Part of the spirit behind BAG Day, without a doubt, is to buy something that would get the panties of the likes of Sarah Brady, Dianne Feinstein, and Chuck Schumer in a bunch.
Problem is, there aren't really any guns out there of that type that I'm interested in. I've already got all the Evil Black Rifles that I want-at least until the Robinson XCR or the FN SCAR-H are available to the public. There aren't even any modern handguns that I really want.
What I'm really interested in right now are old, full power, semi-auto battle rifles. Especially the SVT-40, the SAFN-49, and the M1 Garand. I already have one example of each, but nothing close to as complete a collection as I'd like, especially with the FN-49s, since those come in more than one caliber. Problem is, all three types are on the pricey side, especially, again, the FN-49s (I'm looking for a 7mm and a .30-06). Plus, they're a challenge to find, except for Greek return M1s from CMP.
Now, if I can't find an SVT-40 or FN-49 that I can afford, my next choice would be a Finnish M-39 Mosin-Nagant rifle. There's an antique one I've got my eye on at one of the web-based retailers.
Of course, the holy grail would be a Finn-capture SVT-40, but those tend to be quite pricey.
ADDITIONAL: Just to torture me, one of the guns stores here in town has, right now, both a Remington Rand M1911A1 for $600 and a Colt M1911, vintage 1918 or 19, for $700. I'd love to buy them both. But for BAG Day I really want a gun I can actually shoot.
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9mm AR Progress Update
DPMS rear site, along with some assembly tools, is on the way from Brownell's. Unfortunately, the DPMS lower parts kit is backordered. And I'm still waiting on the lower receiver.
Oh, and I'm on TDY until late next month, while all the stuff is at home.
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Arizona Can Do It, Why Can't Washington?
HT: AlphaPatriot
Voter ID Goes Smoothly In AZ
Also file under: Things Tim Eyman could be doing if he wanted to be actually useful.
Arizona voters passed Prop 200, requiring voters to provide government issued ID (American government, not Mexican) showing an address which matched the address on the voter rolls in order to vote. The system got it's first test yesterday in a recall election and apparently worked quite well.
Although mandated to prevent voter fraud, the new rules stirred fears from some voter advocates that disenfranchisement and intimidation would result. Minor inconvenience and slight confusion appeared instead.
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The Arizona Advocacy Network and Metro Phoenix League of Women Voters surveyed roughly 500 voters leaving polling places in heavily Hispanic areas of Mesa. Advocacy Network Executive Director Linda Brown said most voters were having little problem.
Now, given that Washington has pretty much moved to all fraud mail balloting, this wouldn't be quite as effective here. However, if this could be combined (or, if legally required, packaged as a two Initiative package) with the Grassroots Washington's initiative requiring all voters to reregister and provide proof of citizenship, requiring that voters provide both proof of citizenship and proof of residence when registering.
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3/14/2006
Interesting Stuff on the Used Rifle Rack
Uncle Sam has once again sent me back to the Yakistan Training Center. No actual training today, so I journeyed to one of Yakima's gun stores to see if they had anything new since my last journey here. When I was here before Christmas, I bought an Egyptian FN-49 and an International Harvester M1 Garand from this same store, so I was hopeful.
They didn't having anything straight milsurp (my favorite gun buying addiction), but they did have a few interesting specimens. Couple of sporterized milsurps-a Krag-Jorgensen with a Redfield peep sight for $150 and an Enfield of some type-label said Mk III (No. what Mk III?) for $100. The most interesting one, though, is what I'm pretty sure is a civilian Mauser hunting rifle in 7.92x57mm. It's got a bead front sight, no rear sight that I can find, stripper clip guide, receiver rings drilled and tapped, scope mount present on the rear but not the front. Stock most definitely not military, and has a gold disk on the right side saying "Signature Series" or some such. Markings on the receiver say Mauser, Berlin, 1936. Oh, and the safety doesn't look like the usual Mauser military style. At $85, I'm very tempted. I want to run a couple patches through the barrel-it and the bolt were dirty. But I'm quite tempted.
Anyone have any idea what this might be? Civilian hunting rifle, or sporterized GI bring back?
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