Article on Fox News this morning regarding their new express lane entry into the state capitol. Just show your CHL permit and walk right in. This is how it should be!

Ruling on McDonald v. Chicago, SCOTUS incorporated the Second amendment under the 14th. Good news for gunnies! Full opinion is here.

I recently sent an AR-15 receiver out to Orion Arms to be engraved with SBR markings. I was very happy with the results, the price was excellent, and the turn around was very fast - just 9 days door to door. I highly recommend them, and will use them again in the future.

============

As a rather funny aside, when I shipped the receiver, I wanted to make sure that I didn't need to make any special declarations. I approached the woman behind the UPS counter, handed her a box about the size of a paperback book, and asked if I needed to do anything special to ship a rifle to a manufacturer. She looked at the box, looked at me like I had 3 heads, and asked "This is a rifle?". I went through the whole spiel: non-functional, just the regulated part, shipping to a manufacturer. She said, "So there's a rifle in this box?". I found it funny. At any rate, no ammo so no declarations & no problems!

There's was a story in the news yesterday about a religious militia in Michigan getting raided. It sounds like they were going to do some bad things, and got caught. Great, I'm all for locking them away.

The part of this that has me somewhat concerned are the multiple videos of them training posted all over the internet, which were picked up by the media. The good citizens of the United States were bludgeoned with scary video of armed and camouflaged men, who were not Soldiers, practicing things that Should Only Be Practiced by Soldiers.

Clearly, I'm a believer in civilian training. My concern stems from similar videos posted on the internet by reputable trainers. While you and I know that these are Good Guys, many will not be able to make the delineation. Guns have been largely off limit to politicians for a while, but civilian training would make a sweet target for the gun grabbers. It has me concerned.

I knew this case was being argued, but was not following closely. This quote is being passed around the web, and deserves it.

"Justice Sotomayor, States may have grown accustomed to violating the rights of American citizens, but that does not bootstrap those violations into something that is constitutional".

Alan Gura, Arguing before the Supreme Court on McDonald V. Chicago (pg 5)

One of these things is not like the others....

Click the pictures to embiggen!

One of those muzzles is more than twice the size of the other. That is my new AR-15 upper from Rock River Arms, chambered in .458 SOCOM. You may recall I posted on Nov 2 my thought process on choosing this round over the .50 Beowulf, the other contender to scratch my "Big Bore" itch. After an 11-week wait, it was delivered.

I've not had a chance to haul this to the range, but once I do y'all be the first to know. However, my initial impressions are favorable. It came with a single rail gas block and a free float aluminum handguard, as well as an oversized A2 style flash hider. Mounted on an A2-stocked lower, the gun is a little muzzle heavy, but not as much so as my 24" stainless barreled AR. The barrel looks like a 3/4" water pipe - very solid and impressive.

I did purchase a couple of boxes of commercial ammo to get some immediate gratification before I start cooking up my own. Loading recipes for this caliber are few and far between despite the vast selection of projectiles available. I've gathered a few from the internets, but will have to be careful about working up a good load. The commercial stuff should help by serving as a baseline.

I've already got a nice selection of components in hand, including a couple hundred of the the 500 gr Barnes TSX-DG solid shown above, in case I need to put down a charging cape buffalo in southeastern Pennsylvania. I've also got a few 300, 325, and 350 grain hollow points and "Flex-Tip" on hand or en-route to play with. I fully expect this to be a blast to shoot!

It's been no secret around here that I've been yearning for a big bore rifle, possibly built on the AR platform. I've always assumed it would be a .50 Beowulf, because it's a .50 caliber, and the name is cool, screaming "Epic Beastslayer of Legend!" After extensive research, I've changed my mind, and placed an order for a new AR upper. Except for the name, which screams "Playstation Kiddie", the .458 SOCOM offers more potential than the Beowulf.

Both rounds are expensive and only offer factory loadings from one manufacturer. To get the most from either round while maintaining any kind of economy, hand loading is necessary. The SOCOM allows for many more options, ranging from 250 to 600 grain projectiles, including "Dangerous Game" style solid rounds. The SOCOM uses rifle bullets, instead of the handgun bullets fired by the Beowulf. The SOCOM puts more velocity and energy out of a 16" barrel than the Beowulf does out of a 24" barrel for a comparable bullet. The SOCOM uses unmodified GI magazines, while the Beowulf requires slight modification to the feed lips. Lastly, the SOCOM has suppressors available.

I've placed an order for a Rock River Arms upper half, and have placed orders for loading dies, brass, and assorted projectiles. It will probably be a few months before I receive the upper. In the meantime, I'll need to spend some time reviewing various loads, then I'll need to acquire the proper powder - unfortunately nothing I have in stock should be used to propel this round. I've got some Winchester large pistol primers, but might need to pick up something else.

I think for now I will keep this as a "spare" upper, rather than matching it permanently to a lower receiver.

I've stopped at the gun store several times in the last couple of months, including yesterday, to put my hands on a Kel-Tec P3AT. It's a nice little gun, damn tiny, and would drop right into a pocket. I would like a pocket gun to carry when I can't carry a gun. Loaded with 80gr CorBon DPX, this gun gets about the same performance as a snubby .38, in a smaller package, and with faster reloads. My store has about a half dozen in stock, in an assortment of colors, for about $260. Except for the current shortage of .380 ammunition, I can't see a downside to buying one.

So why can't I bring myself to buy one?

=====================

All is well here, generally speaking. The girl child brought home the pig flu, but had so mild a case of it that we dismissed it as "just a cold". Then the wife became infected, and it knocked her on her ass, despite the early administration of Tamiflu. Somehow, despite caring for both of them, I avoided getting ill. Perhaps the Vitamin C & D I've been taking.

Fall is upon us - the leaves are all over the ground and just waiting for me to do something about it. We've turned the heat on to help take the chill out of the house in the morning. I'm looking forward to a cold, snowy winter - my favorite time of year.

It looks as though I won't have time to take a heavily armed walk through the woods this year. It's a shame, I enjoy doing that. I've been meaning to get another hunting rifle - as I've continued to upgrade my PBR, it's gotten heavier and heavier. Great fun and great accuracy from the bench, but I'm not real interested in hauling it through the woods. The current optics on it are a little much for the short-range shots on deer I might be presented with around here, anyway. I'm thinking a nice light .270 with a fixed 4x scope should be more than enough. However, keeping it in .308 makes more sense logistically.

=====================

I read today about the newest product offering from Monolithic Domes: Cabins. These are preformed domes that can be trucked in from their factory in Texas. I'm sure shipping a 9-14 ton concrete shell isn't cheap. The shell itself isn't cheap either, starting around $15,000 unfinished. But, I still find the concept of a concrete home extremely appealing.

Lone Wolf Distributors, that is...

They have conversion barrels that would let me shoot .357 SIG through my Glock 20. That seems like a very cost effective way to get into that caliber. Not nearly as much fun as buying a P229 or G32, though!

It seems the Great Ammo Shortage of 2009 is beginning to let up a little. Some of the big names are beginning to have some in stock.

To celebrate, I just ordered 1k of 10mm, 1k of 5.56, and 2k of .22LR. The wife, she is going to hurt me.