Preparing for the zombie apocalypse

[[ES] Mindflayer]

I'll post video and photos later today.

My Ruger SR-556 stovepiped during the shooting on Sunday. A bit disappointing, but we did get more than 100 rounds through it. I blame the cheap Wolf ammo and my failure to note an FTE before slamming back the charging handle on a new magazine. I love this rifle - it just feels good to shoot.

Todd picked up a Blackheart International AR-15. He was leaning toward the Ruger as well, but the "Made in WV" sold him. It is a gas DI AR, as opposed to my piston, but in reality they both feel the same. The Blackheart is built very well - Magpul BUIS, Magpul stock, aluminum receiver, Stark grip, nice heavy barrel.

As far as looks.... The Blackheart is an F-15, the Ruger is an A-10. I know, some people say looks don't matter, but they clearly do or bi-tone handguns would not be so popular.

We also had two AR-10s (Rod and Todd) and the recoil was a bit of a surprise after firing the 5.56. It was not the kick but the muzzle rise and time to reacquire that got me.

Saturday was the handgun range. Todd and Rod told me this was not going to be the high-tech store and range I may be used to in NoVA. The store was, IMO, like most gun stores. A couple of guys that know their stuff, guns under glass, rifles on the wall. The big difference is that in NoVA many stores have their rifles out where anyone can pick one up.

Fired my new XD 9mm Subcompact that everyone swore would kick too much due to the short barrel and weight to be accurate. I'm calling bullshit on this as it shot just fine. It's a fun gun to shoot, and once I get the Pearce extension for smaller (13 round) magazines it will be even more comfortable.

Rod thought swapping out .38 for .357 after firing through one cylinder was a good idea. I'm still a firearms newbie, so it was the muzzle flash that got me more than the increased kick. I was like, "HOLY JESUS THIS THIG IS SHOOTING FIRE!"

[[ES] Rooster]

LMAO! Sounds like good times!

Yeah, my GP-100 is a beast. .357 is, however, one of the most versatile rounds out there.

Glad to know your sub shoots well. Or, more precisely, you shoot it well. Many cannot make the transition. Sounds like you are  natural!

Both of my ARs are beat up a little. When it comes to throat cutting time, the only thing that matters is who is a better shot.

Typically, any gun will need a good break-in period. Wolf, for all the bad press, is good ammo. Make sure you aren't getting a build up of laquer on your extractor.

Part II: Things YOU should know!

Feeding live rounds, and extracting spent brass smoothly is the most important function of your rifle. Yes, yes, it needs to shoot straight, blah, blah... If you can't count on your rifle to cycle 100% of the time, it doesn't matter if you can hit a gnat's rectum with it. You'll have a malf at an inopportune moment and end up exceedingly deceased before you can clear it.

New rifle break-in: Follow manufacturer's recommendations, if any. Otherwise, just shoot it. It takes functioning (i.e., firing) to know if your new gun is going to cut it.

Extractor: Get a D-fender. Google it. Buy it. Install it. ‘Nuff said.

Lubrication: Your brainless buddy, the one who said “run it dry man!”? Ignore that shit. In fact, ignore anything he ever says again because he obviously can’t pour piss out of a boot with the instructions on the heel. Get a good lubricant. No, not fucking WD-40! Get something intended for firearms! Now, take out the bolt carrier group and soak the shit out of it. Yeah, the fucking breech too. Now shoot
 see? Freakin’ magic , right?

Cleaning: Look, a gun is a machine. A machine with tight tolerances
 No, it ain’t a Swiss watch but it still has moving parts that require lubrication in order to slide efficiently one upon the other
 kinda like you and your ol’ lady, got it? A gun gets hot. Durr! Lubrication+unburnt cordite +lead fouling+heat=gunk. Yes, dammit, that is a technical term! For emergency situations, lube and a brush will keep your AR running as long as you have ammo to feed it with. BUT, you need to strip that bitch occasionally and give her some love
 take the bolt carrier apart, right down to the firing pin and CLEAN IT.

Function test: Having said that you need to take your AR apart, do me a favor ok? Read the damned manual! Know your weapon!
Improperly assembling your weapon can result in catastrophic failure when fired.
Go online and google “AR Function Test”. Do it. Every time you clean your weapon. DO IT!!

Spare parts: It would be best to keep an entire BCG spare (for heaven’s sake! What have I been talking about for five minutes?? Bolt Carrier Group = BCG. Sheesh!), but if you can’t afford that, at least keep a spare firing pin and extractor/extractor spring (D-fender! Google it!). They even have grip inserts and vert grips that will house an entire BCG on your gun. Pretty cool, eh?

Oh! While we’re talking about the BCG, get your gas key properly staked. No goddamnit, those lil dimples AIN’T enough! I said properly staked!

Rooster will now take stupid questions


END Part II - Rooster's "Odd shit that YOU need to know!"

[[ES]Vetril]

The 223 I picked up is Blackheart International BHI-15S. http://www.bhigear.com/bhi-15-s-carbine-1.aspx. Made in Philippi, WV. And a service-disabled, veteran owned small business. An extremely well made, solid, good gun so far. It compliments my AR-10 A4 carbine very well. Now I need to decide
on sights. The flipups are great. But, I would like an optical option. I mounted a Trijicon RX30 on my
AR-10 for how I want to hunt this year.

All great info, Rooster. Thanks!

[[ES] Rooster]

It's more tongue-in-cheek than anything else. Nothing you can't get off the net with even mediocre google-fu.

I just felt like channeling every nut-job, gung-ho, a.j. squared away DI I ever knew while trying to be humoruos.

[[ES] Mindflayer]

Also added an XD 9mm Subcompact to go with my XDM 3.8" 9mm. Fired it for the first time this Saturday - a couple of low fliers at first until I got a feel for the gun and shorter grip. (The target behind mine is Rod's.) As you can see, I still have a lot of room for improvement.

[[ES] Rooster]

All those look like center mass to me 'Flayer! That'll get the job done! Nice!

[[ES] Mindflayer]

My take on the current counter-SCOTUS ruling on McDonald versus Chicago:

http://www.mindflayer.net/2010/07/17/on-the-second-amendment/

[[ES] Rooster]

Well thought out 'Flayer.

The militia language has been picked apart, rearranged, and then picked apart a million times. It has always seemed rather clear to me, but you all know my views...

To me "well regulated" is a pretty simple concept. First, you have to remember what the militia was when this country was young. It was every day average citizens. Each county, burgh, and town was expected (not required by the State) to provide a "levy" of armed men in time of need. Local government did not provide arms. Each man was expected to bring his own. Second, you have to understand that "civillians" had access to all of the military technology of the time.
"well regulated" simply meant that the men who would fill the leavys had proper kit. Arms in working order, the requisite skill with which to use those arms effectively, and the mindset (courage perhaps) necessary to fight.

Basically, militias were groups of neighbors who gave thier groups a military sounding name and marched out to fight.

[[ES] Mindflayer]

I forgot about the Militia Act of 1792. That Act required able-bodied men to keep a musket or firelock or rifle - the state of the art at the time - and the supplies to use and transport it, and also mandated training thereof.

We have, of course, seen more and more regulation since that is how governments work. Keep in mind the heavy influence of Classical Greek literature and philosophy on the Liberalists and the Enlightenment. Consider the very heavy influence of John Locke who wrote of the right of revolution - which the fledgling United States of America had just done.

Seems pretty clear to me.

[[ES]Vetril]

Read the letters and writings of the founding fathers. The intent is clear and, in the case of Jefferson, very concise and unmistakable. They loved them some guns, personal freedoms, and despised government overstepping its bounds. Too bad 4 of the supreme justices, while admitting this, don't agree it pertains today (essentially). The ruling, while encouraging for us that desire personal freedom and by extension personal responsibility, brings with it some very disturbing (to me) stances by those other justices.

[[ES] Rooster]

Read the letters and writings of the founding fathers. The intent is clear and, in the case of Jefferson, very concise and unmistakable. They loved them some guns, personal freedoms, and despised government overstepping its bounds. Too bad 4 of the supreme justices, while admitting this, don't agree it pertains today (essentially). The ruling, while encouraging for us that desire personal freedom and by extension personal responsibility, brings with it some very disturbing (to me) stances by those other justices.

I bolded the part I liked the most.

Personally, I am not old enough to have known a time with out activist judges legislating from the bench. What is disturbing is that we as a country continue to allow it. I believe the only reason SCOTUS ruled the way it did as a body is because, politically, they had no choice. Even the extreme left realizes that in this political climate any action seen as weakening further any fundamental right, even one as historically disposable as the second seems to be, is unwise.

As I've seen here in Georgia, it doesn't seem to matter what the LAW is, as long as you can find a Federal Justice who shares your political viewpoint. It is clearly quite legal to carry a firearm onto MARTA by State law... unfortunately, a Federal Judge doesn't think you should and, well, the effect is law or no law, you can still be arrested.

As for SCOTUS... if the political winds begin to blow in a different direction, you'll see some truly "disturbing" reversals quickly thereafter. Mark my words.

[[ES] Mindflayer]

Federalist Papers #46, Madison:

Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached, and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of. Notwithstanding the military establishments in the several kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the public resources will bear, the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. And it is not certain, that with this aid alone they would not be able to shake off their yokes.

Anti-Federalist Papers, #28:

Tyrants have never placed any confidence on a militia composed of freemen... There is no instance of any government being reduced to a confirmed tyranny without military oppression. And the first policy of tyrants has been to annihilate all other means of national activity and defense, when they feared opposition, and to rely solely upon standing troops. Repeated were the trials, before the sovereigns of Europe dared to introduce them upon any pretext whatever; and the whole record of the transactions of mankind cannot furnish an instance, (unless the proposed constitution may be called part of that record) where the motives which caused that establishment were not completely disguised.

[[ES] mouse]

O SNAP

[[ES] Mindflayer]

A bit harsh and hops around a bit until you get used to it. Put 40 rounds through it; adjusted for the last half and did alright. Shooting my 9mm range after this felt easy.

[[ES] Mindflayer]

Mmmm hmmmm, .45 ACP.