Funny

Frank, appreciate the grin.

Like it was made for it...

Well, because it was. A couple years ago, when I first purchased my Mk VII Deagle (contraction of Desert Eagle, FWIW), I had no idea how hard it would be to find a quality holster for it. Enter this leather version from Zahal. I found a link to these guys from this guy. Ordered on 21 July 2010, received in Vance, Alabama from Shoham, Israel on 03 August 2010. These folks were quick to ship, the order is correct, the quality appears sufficient, the price was good, and, oh yeah, no one else (that I have found) makes something like this (at least, commercially).

Having just put all of this together, I have no useful opinions except... It appears to be sturdy. It certainly fits the Deagle correctly. It is pretty much exactly what I was looking for. Happy to have found it and happy to have contributed to the Israeli economy.


As received, the little Deagle picture is a magnet they sent along and I have covering the address sticker.


Mk VII Deagle and right side of holster.


Mounted Deagle (right side). I made the scratch that can be seen near the muzzle end when I opened the package. No big deal to me as it will certainly receive worse than that at some point.


Mounted Deagle (left side).

A Hippie, I am not...

No surprise in any of this... Linked to it from Crucis'. I do not think that, because I ponder before a declaration of war and recycle things that make sense, I am even 4% hippie.

You are 4% hippie.

Ok, you conservative soul. Do you even believe in global warming? Loosen that necktie a little, and try some organic food. It actually does taste better. And go to a farmer's market--they're fun.

Are you a hippie?
Take More Quizzes

Okay, so I suck...

I haven't posted since Christmas. Lots of stuff has been going on and, truthfully, I have had nothing of any use to say.

In the last six months, I have moved forever into my, now our, home... y'all should get to meet her sometime. Seriously, if it can make my grizzled self a better person, it should be therapeutic to anyone.

In the last four months, the company that I work(ed) for was sold to a supplier and I was to move away from Sweet Home Alabama to rot in hell North Carolina or good God no, Delaware.

In the last two weeks, I have accepted an offer that will keep my happy ass right here where it belongs.

If I happen to get unlazy, I will write a bit about the new Harley (FLHR), how I have chosen to pack important items, the mail-order odyssey of gunsmithing via DVD (I might be an idjit, but it never hurts to remove any doubt) and various/sundry other items.

Seven Points and an Arm for Christmas

I now have a mantle gun, time to clean it up a bit and go find a place to display it. Reckon that and the rack from yesterday afternoon will make a fine start to the trophy room... wherever I put it. Thank you Keith, I had forgotten how great a successful day in the woods was. Truthfully, in the recent (and not so recent) past, hunting meant heading out to the woods and not really hunting, but just hanging out. Back to the arm at hand, I love the story that goes with this firearm. I will find a place to display it very soon.

The story goes something like this... A gentleman enters the gun store looking to sell his grandfather's shotgun. The gun store owner disclaims any desire to purchase this firearm. My friend chooses to purchase this and ultimately gifts it to me on Christmas day. The rest of the story, so far, is that this gun fed that old man's family, in some part, for 75 years here in central Alabama. I am proud to display this worthy old veteran in my home. I very much appreciate tools with a history and a story.

After a little bit of steel wool and some Intertoobing, the mantle piece was manufactured by Iver Johnson Arms & Cycle Works of Fitchburg, Mass. USA and is marked as Champion (maybe Model 36, doesn't say it, but most of the letters are buried under rust or simply worn away). It is a twelve gauge, is missing its butt plate, probably manufactured in the 1920's and probably early on based on a serial number in the low teen thousands. It is in horrendous shape, but has sooo much character.

In a similar vein, I have deer meat getting ready for the freezer from yesterday afternoon's hunt after grounding a nice little seven point that was taken after a great lunch with friends and family of friends. Thank you Keith and Terry. I introduce all of you to the newest member of the gun safe to have proven itself capable... a Remington 700 in .270 Winchester. Oddly enough, I bought this one from the same guy, rather recently. It is only the second time that I shot it and it is its first time in the woods... not bad for a first outing. :)

What a great Christmas. Belatedly and again, Merry Christmas to all. :)

When I saw this...

at Lipsey's... you know what happens next and it probably goes without saying... Merry Christmas to me, once again. Somehow, a firearm that says "Come and get it." (paraphrased) tickles me near to death. :)

The Great Escape

Thanks Mike.

Greetings from...

Chicago Midway

and ultimately, New York City.

As has become normal, apologies for the quality of the cell phone pictures.

Merry Christmas to Me

Again, apologies for the fuzzy cell phone picture. By the way, that is a mouse pad flipped upside down that it is residing on... just for a bit of size perspective.

I was at my favorite crack store the other day and this was in the used firearms cabinet. Yup, it had to come home with me... It is a baby 1911-similar pistol from Colt, chambered in .380 ACP. I had no idea that it existed and this is just stupidly cool, in my whacked little brain pan.

Introducing the Mustang Pocketlite from Colt. I saw it, fooled with it, inspected it and had to bring it home. It cleaned up easily, just a little gunk on the bolt face and in the barrel. Other than some real minor wear marks, it looks new. It has already put a couple hydra-shok hollow points down range. I am just tickled that it came home with me today.

As with everything else, when I get around to some range time... blah, blah, blah. I am just happy that it is clean and safe.

A little bit better picture.

Great, more books to order

Max Brooks... I had no idea, thanks Molly. ;)

Merry Christmas

Sorry for the fuzzy cell phone picture. I hope to do better with better equipment this weekend.

Apparently, we knew it in the 50's

Thanks Mike.

Maybe this would make me better at skeet...

Thanks Mike.

Partially Crimped Hornady TAP/FPD...

12 Gauge 00 Buck.




I haven't run across this before, the crimp is not fully closed. I found it when I was arming the Strategic Twelve Gauge of Doom^TM --more on that later. I plan to disassemble this one and attempt to find the root cause. Perhaps wad not seated properly, perhaps double charge of shot, etc... If I puzzle it out, will relate here.

Update
I emptied the shot from the improperly crimped round and counted eight pellets. After removing the shot, I noticed that the wad was inserted into the case unevenly. After pressing it into place, I reloaded the shot and was able to press the crimp closed.

I chose to weigh this shell with its four box mates and the results are as follows...
--I have no idea why there is such a large gap between this text and the data tables and between each data table. My html is mighty dated and rusty, but the following should have worked pretty well - any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Apologies for the large gaps in the post, it looks dreadful, but I do not know how to fix it and the searches so far have yielded no answers.

Round	Crimp Status	#1 (g)	#2 (g)	#3 (g)	Avg (g)	Ind Stdv
1	Improper	39.318	39.317	39.318	39.318	0.0004714
2	Proper	39.279	39.278	39.278	39.278	0.0004714
3	Proper	39.259	39.260	39.260	39.260	0.0004714
4	Proper	39.192	39.192	39.193	39.192	0.0004714
5	Proper	39.254	39.254	39.255	39.254	0.0004714

The weighing cycle was Round one to five repeated three times and the values recorded. The Avg (g) is the average of #1 (g) to #3 (g) for each round. The Avg (g) is the MS Excel function average and the Ind Stdv is the MS Excel function stdevp, yes, I know that a population of three is about useless in talking of standard deviations. I used it to show that, for the three measurements taken, the deviation is essentially the same and therefore the instrument yields repeatable results. I have certified standard weights that I could have used to prove this, but for the purposes of this blog... Lab Suiter, please... I am just not going there.

The improperly crimped one certainly seems to weigh more than its brethren, but this one has been handled (by me) to a much larger extent than the rest and it is possible that I have altered the mass inadvertently by too much touching. And maybe, it just weighs a bit more. The point being that I did not handle each of these with tongs or gloves.

The point of this exercise was to determine whether this shell might have been double charged. I believe, reviewing the data at hand, that there is little to no danger of this possibility.

Pop Stdv	Pop Avg	+3 stdev	-3 stdev
0.041	39.260	39.382	39.138
Pro Cri Stdv	Pro Cri Avg	+3 stdev	-3 stdev
0.032	39.246	39.343	39.149

The Pop Stdv is the MS Excel function stdevp used on the entire data set. The Pop Avg is the MS Excel function average used on the entire data set. +3 and -3 stdev is the Avg +/- 3 stdv. The Pro Cri Stdv is the MS Excel function stdevp used on the properly crimped data set and the Pro Cri Avg is the MS Excel function average used on the properly crimped data set.

Data gathered using an Ohaus (uncalibrated since move) Adventurer (Model AR-3130). Left uncalibrated as the actual value was unimportant, the difference in each member of the population was.