Hell in a Handbasket

Spam Me, Shall I Not Bleed?

2008-05-15T10:51:50Z

The site is undergoing a comment spam attack of rather hefty and annoying intensity. Comments have been closed down for a few hours in the hope that the server in Singapore which is paying such close attention to this site will lose interest and go play in more fertile fields. How will you, my valued readers, know when the comments are once more enabled? The ability to leave a comment will be restored when I write my next post. So if this little public service announcement is no longer at the top of the page, then you may comment to your hearts content.

A Shout Out to the Spammers

2008-05-15T00:58:07Z

I have been receiving a number of Email spams over the past two days. They say "YOU WINNER PEE-ESS-THREE!!!" Me am? Me am so happy! Me want thank to spammer for free gamer console! Hey, when did Bizarro start in on spamming? Well, he is a villain.

The Horror! The Horror!

2008-05-14T00:21:01Z

Steven has the skinny. In the name of all that is holy, I didn't even know that such people existed! Read the comments. Will has the perfect survival guide.

Stupid is as Stupid Does

2008-05-13T10:14:11Z

Chris shares a story about a stupid criminal he encountered in the past. There are many lessons that can be drawn from the tale, but I think that the most important is to pull your pants up and wear a shirt if you are going to attract the attention of the authorities.

In Honor of the Previous Post

2008-05-12T05:17:49Z

It Wasn't a Lollipop

2008-05-12T04:16:03Z

I let the dogs out in the backyard a few minutes ago. As is my habit, I stepped out on the back porch just to make sure that there wasn't anyone else out there already. This time there was something sharing the yard. I heard something scramble up and over the three foot chain link fence that marks the perimeter. It wasn't anything human, but it also sounded larger than a house cat. What the hell? So I drew the flashlight from my belt with my left hand, while my right hand drew my handgun. I kept the gun pointed down and next to my leg, my finger carefully off the trigger, while I used my flash to light up the fence. Nothing there. Must have been a raccoon or possum, judging by the way it was climbing over the fence instead of simply jumping clear. Just then I felt something touch my handgun. It was one of my dogs, who had come up behind me so he could lick the end of the muzzle. "You licked my gun!" I scolded him. "Now I have to clean it before it rusts!" I wonder if Glock owners ever have this problem?

Coyotes and Overarmed Street Cops

2008-05-12T03:37:44Z

I have posted two new essays over at The Chicago Boyz. In the first, I discuss how the Chicago Police Department has reacted to some recent shootings in their fair city with plans to equip the majority of their patrol officers with semi-auto M4 carbines. I openly wonder why they simply don't equip everyone with a shotgun, which would be cheaper, safer, and more effective. In the second post, I discuss how coyotes in southern California have attacked small children in three separate incidents over a five day period. The fuzzy, fell good attitude about nature that is popular there will change as soon as a child gets eaten, I would think. Anyway, click on over and see what you think. Leave a comment and tell me I'm full of dreck, if that is your impression. UPDATE Speaking of someone who disagrees, Brillianter weighs in.

Sometimes Even the Easy Stuff is Hard

2008-05-12T03:22:00Z

Existing Thing of To Which I Replied fame has a thoughtful, personal, and touching post concerning how he has struggled with manic depression. It is well worth your time.

The Reliability of .22 Long Rifle Ammo

2008-05-11T15:24:03Z

A question was asked by Mikee. "While this is somewhat off topic, may I ask what your experience has been with 22LR ammunition, regarding reliability of the ammo? I have shot as many brands of 22LR I could find over the past decade, and had very few failures to fire. Until recently, that is. One bulk box (550 rounds) of Remington Golden Bullet 22LR exhibited 4 failures to fire within the first 100 rounds tried. As I had two 22LR pistols with me at the range that day, I tried every dud in the 2nd gun, confirming that the bullets were the problem." "This is the worst box of ammo I have ever found. I have never had more than one or two rounds out of a bulk box fail to fire, and those duds show up only every once in a while." "Have I been lucky or is 22LR ammo becoming less well controlled out of the factories?" Judging by my experience, I would have to agree with Mikee when he says that he was just lucky up to now. Don't get me wrong, four failures out of the first hundred rounds is pretty crappy quality control. It certainly isn't typical. Four misfires out of a half brick of five hundred rounds? That doesn't happen every day, but it does happen to me on occasion. Four failure-to-fires out of a brick of one thousand rounds? That sounds about right! But keep in mind that it varies. Sometimes no failures for awhile, sometimes they pile up in a row. Sounds to me like Mikee just got a bad string. I always buy middling quality .22 rimfire rounds. Not the best precision ammo, but not the unpackaged cheapo junk that literally comes in a bucket either. I also stick to the name brands like Winchester and Remington, just not their premium line. And I still get failure-to-fires. Why is this so? I have no idea. There certainly are only a fraction as many dud rounds in centerfire ammo. Maybe one of my readers can shed some light on why this is so. So far as Mikee's last question is concerned, I would also like to say that I haven't noticed any more duds than usual in recent purchases. If quality has gone down, then up to now I have managed to dodge that bullet. (HA! I made a funny!)

Mining the Dusty Past

2008-05-11T01:08:25Z

If the post below tickled your funny bone, you might find this one to be worth the time.

Think Ahead!

2008-05-11T01:07:01Z

Ring in the Changes

2008-05-10T23:47:41Z

I've always been fascinated with history, particularly with the way inventions or developments lead to something new. What was mere fantasy before new machines are invented suddenly seems to be inevitable after they become commonplace. It is sort of like that old poem "For Want of a Nail", but in reverse. James Burke wrote and starred in a ten part television series entitled Connections (1978) which explored that very subject, following how new inventions would allow further advances in technology. He followed up seven years later with The Day the Universe Changed (1985), which focussed on how ideas or discoveries would suddenly force people to look at the world in a new light. I watched both series on my local public television channel here in the United States many years ago. I enjoyed them both immensely, and recommend both without reservation. So, does anyone out there want The Day the Universe Changed free of charge? All you have to do is follow this link. As Dr. Mercury, the blogger who has this all set up, points out that he doesn't know how long the bandwidth will be free for download. Better get your scoot on.

The Most Effective AND The Most Reliable???

2008-05-09T00:36:54Z

One of the recent Emails that I received asked me to recommend an off-the-shelf, commercial defensive cartridge for their autoloader. This wasn't unusual in itself, but my reader was rather demanding. You see, they not only wanted me to tell them which cartridge was the absolute tip top best so far as performance, but it also had to be absolutely no-excuses-accepted reliable as well! Hmmmm. Tricky, that. Before I discuss what I said in the reply Email, let me go off on a tangent for a moment. You see, I hate hate hate endorsing a particular product. This isn't because I'm holding out for the big money from the firearms manufacturers, as I don't think any of them realize that I even exist and are not about to make an offer. Instead, it has been proven time and again to me that one size or solution never fits all. I would be doing my students a grave disservice if I pointed to one specific caliber, firearm manufacturer, or make of handgun and said "THIS is the only thing you need, EVER!" Not only that, but I am very wary of anyone who does so. If they aren't getting paid to push a particular product, then such statements show a brand loyalty that probably blinds them to any faults in their favorites. Anyway, it does so happen that I could answer the question put to me by my reader. ]]> explained in the past that hollowpoints, AKA expanding bullets, increase the effectiveness of every shot that strikes home. This is why I strongly urge my students to use a gun that can reliably use hollowpoint ammunition, since any advantage that you can gain in a life or death struggle should be grabbed with both hands. The problem is that some autoloader designs are finicky with certain types of hollowpoints, and sometimes individual guns can get balky even though the design is essentially sound. There is really no way to tell of a specific gun is going to start to jam when loaded with a particular hollowpoint unless the owner tries a few hundred rounds out at the range. But there is one particular brand of hollowpoint that really isn't a hollowpoint! The ammo firm of CorBon offers a hollowpoint design named Pow'RBall. This is a conventional expanding bullet with a polymer ball stuck on the front. This means that the shape is the same as common ball ammo, which is the most reliably feeding ammo there is. If your gun starts to jam when loaded with this stuff, it will probably jam when loaded with anything. The problem with Pow'RBall ammo is the expense. It is important that the defensive shooter becomes used to their particular brand of ammo, so they really should go to the range and shoot off at least 100 rounds before they have to rely on the stuff to save lives. Since Pow'RBall ammo costs more than $1.00 USD per cartridge, this makes it too expensive to practice up to a minimum level of proficiency. Could someone just buy a box of the stuff and load it in their main defensive handgun without practicing? Well, sure, someone could do that. It would be a really bad idea, though. They wouldn't know what the report, the perceived recoil, or the point of aim would be like for that particular load. All of that would be a surprise the first time they had to draw their gun in the gravest extreme. The one thing no one wants when fighting for their lives is a surprise, let alone a whole string of them. Could someone just load their own? After all, the Pow'RBall stuff is nothing more than a conventional hollowpoint design with a little plastic ball stuck down in the cavity. Again, I don't see any reason why something similar couldn't be loaded up on your home reloading press. But I'm not really sure that it would be very practical. The first hurdle would be finding just the right sized plastic balls to stick into the cavity, and a Google search I just ran didn't turn up much by the way of little plastic balls for sale. Not only that, but the balls would have to be crimped in to the hollowpoint pretty solidly to prevent having them work loose in your magazine. It would be ironic to put together some of this type of ammo at home because you are worried about reliable feeding, only to have your gun jam because there are a few little plastic balls rolling around in the action. If you have your heart set on the Pow'RBall solution, then it looks to me like you are just going to have to resign yourself to paying several hundred dollars a year on practice ammo. But there are other options. The type of ammo I use for my own defense is Silvertips, which is a design offered by Winchester. I usually urge my students to start with this particular brand as a base for building experience, and then they can experiment with other designs until they find something that fits their own needs. Keep in mind that Silvertips, which is an older design, is neither as reliable nor as effective as the Pow'RBall. But they feed better than most hollowpoint ammo, they can be found in just about every gun store and shooting range, and they are significantly cheaper than most of the other stuff out there. Just the thing for training a new shooter. Anyway, that was my reply. Pretty long winded, huh? That means I better stop before this post grows any larger.

Someone Forgot the 60's Are Over

2008-05-07T15:36:48Z

Kendo vs Longsword

2008-05-05T13:34:10Z

In the post below I discuss how the Japanese fencing style known as kendo has enjoyed an inflated reputation of late, just as a katana is immediately considered by many to be more deadly than other sword designs. I came across a YouTube clip that shows someone employing kendo techniques against a fencer who uses a European longsword style. Note how the longsword, because only one hand is used to hold the weapon, is not only faster on the strike but also has more angles that can be used to hit your opponent, so the European fencer manages to land more hits. But also note how his strikes are weaker than those landed by the two-handed kendo style, so the Japanese fencer would have a better chance of injuring his opponent through armor.