Parrothead Jeff & Friends » Guns

Voyages on Two Wheels – Christmas Eve 2011

Parrothead Jeff — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 08:31:02 +0000

Long time readers will likely remember that I actually have a small interest in firearms even if I’ve neglected it for quite a while One problem I’ve had with guns and shooting this year was that I really don’t like taking the car. Sorry, but the motorcycle drug is in my blood Carrying a long gun on a motorcycle without causing any number of problems can be a challenge. Another problem is that my bike really was never meant to travel on any surface other than tarmac and my favorite shooting spots are a considerable distance from any prepared surface.

24 December 2011 - Good times and gun smoke at the Clark County Shooting Park

Well, today I managed to get out to the Clark County Shooting Park with my AR-15 and Heritage Rough Rider revolver Feeling the recoil, hearing the report of the shots, and smelling the gun smoke all helped bring about a nice feeling of calm Someone down on the rifle side of the facility even had a machine gun! It’s been too long since I’ve heard automatic weapons fire which is always comforting to me for some strange reason

24 December 2011 - My wonderful bike with a new bit of luggage

What was even better today than a normal shooting trip was that I managed to do it on the V-Star

The inspiration for this trip came from my need to test a new bit of kit for the bike that I’ve recently acquired. You see, on a long trip I have motorcycle stuff like a quart of oil and alternate shield in one of the saddle bags and the CPAP takes up 90% or so of the other one. That means I have to find another way to carry all my clothes and such which has always meant using a back pack. It’s worked, but it’s not the most comfortable thing in the world. I’d rather have that load on the bike somewhere. I’ve looked at luggage racks and a few other things, but they tend to be expensive and they’d be useless if I get a different bike in the future.

My solution was to purchase a pair of Rok Straps from my friends at BMW Motorcycles of Las Vegas and a 35 liter Sea To Summit Big River dry bag from the nice people at REI. The Big River dry bag has something I felt was rather important for my travels – tie down points on the sides of the bag. The less expensive version doesn’t have these and I’d rather be able to pass my tie down straps through something like the attachment points on the Big River than to trust only friction and compression. I figured this system would keep the load on the bike instead of on me and would keep the clothes dry without using a trash bag inside of the main bag. I also noticed that the bag looked just about big enough for my AR-15′s upper half…

Yep, it fits OK, so it is just a little tight The load in the dry bag drew no notice and the trip validated my theory of going cheap and adaptable vs. buying an expensive and specific sissy bar bag or top box

I’ve got quite a few pictures all edited and ready for posting, but it’s getting a bit late. I’ll be back with more pics tomorrow, but until then I’ll wish everyone a very Merry Christmas

Picture(s) A Day – SHOT Show 2011 – Day One

Parrothead Jeff — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 08:50:11 +0000

Folks, I’ve been busy, sick, and just plain tired in the time between SHOT Show and now. Between a 13 day work week a short time ago and near pneumonia, it’s been a bit rough. I’ve been sitting on these pics since then so that I could do something reasonably good with them and I’m going to do my best tonight

18 January 2011 - Heading to SHOT Show 2011 at the Sands Expo

I think this was when it finally hit me that I was really going to SHOT Show. Look at those banners

18 January 2011 - Gemtech G5 and HVT - 5.56 and 7.62mm quick disconnect suppressors

At the beginning of my first day, I was really looking at different options for a suppressor for my AR-15 and the Gemtech HVT was very high in the running. It’s not too heavy, it’s quick disconnect, and it’s 7.62mm which would be nice for multi-caliber usage

18 January 2011 - Troy Industries Covert Approach Pistol - Integrally suppressed Ruger MK III

Something really cool and new from Troy Industries was this integrally suppressed .22 pistol. I imagine it’s very quiet and I like the glass breakers on the muzzle too. It’s a bit out of my price range, but maybe sometime in the future…

18 January 2011 - Nemesis Arms multi-caliber takedown precision rifle

18 January 2011 - Nemesis Arms multi-caliber takedown precision rifle receiver

The Nemesis rifle is a really neat piece of equipment. Swap barrels and magazines and you’ve just changed calibers. Of course, you can also break it down small enough to fit into a back pack. This would be nice for a few reasons such as allowing a SWAT officer to make a discrete entry into a building.

18 January 2011 - Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic in Duracoat digital camouflage

18 January 2011 - Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic - Part of a set along with a Tactical Rifles bolt gun

I can’t leave out Coonan Inc. Dan Coonan is a really great guy as were the other members of the team. When talking about the Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic, I have to paraphrase Ferris Bueller – If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up

Switching between .357 Magnum and .38 Special is a simple matter of swapping out a recoil spring. Really, it’s soft shooting and a tremendous amount of fun. Pricing starts at around $1,200 but this is one of those rare times when I’d be quick to say that it’s entirely worth the money

18 January 2011 - Yankee Hill Machine - Titanium 7.62mm and stainless steel 5.56 mm suppressors

Yankee Hill Machine brought out a few new suppressors for SHOT 2011 – in titanium! YHM makes products the way I like them – functional and affordable I have a YHM Diamond free float quad rail and I was seriously considering one of their suppressors. A stainless steel YHM 5.56mm suppressor will set you back about $500 before the $200 NFA transfer tax which is considerably less than you’d pay for a similar suppressor from other manufacturers.

18 January 2011 - A new, more secure case from OTIS Technology

I’ve written before about OTIS cleaning kits for guns – they’re my choice If you’ve not noticed from past postings, I’ve owned guns in .22, .32, 9mm, 7.62mm, 5.56mm, 7.62mm, 7.5mm, and 12 gauge. The kit you see above is similar to mine – compact, light, and it will clean all the guns I own This kit is actually improved over mine – the brushes and other accouterments are are all held in place much more securely.

18 January 2011 - Prototype .22LR version of the STG-44 from German Sport Guns

German Sport Guns (GSG) is the company that made my 1911 pistol in .22 LR and American Tactical Imports brought it in. They actually make a whole line of guns in .22 that are quite different from your average rimfire. Think MP-5 and AK-47, but lighter, cheaper to shoot, and much less expensive than the real thing This is a prototype of something they hope to bring to the U.S. sometime late this year or next year and I wouldn’t mind having one at all

18 January 2011 - Black & tan Kel-Tec PF-9

18 January 2011 - Coyote Tan Cerakote Kel-Tec PF-9

18 January 2011 - The KSG - Kel-Tec Shotgun

And there’s no way I could forget to include Kel-Tec here! I confess that I really was overwhelmed by all the stuff going on at SHOT and I didn’t get nearly all the pictures I’d have liked. Still, I managed to get a couple of cool ones from Kel-Tec You’ve seen a few pics of the KSG before and you know my PF-9 but I hadn’t seen them done in desert tan Cerakote

Folks, that’s all I’ve got for Day One of SHOT 2011. There will be more when one of my friends gets the pics off of his camera

Have a great night

Pre-SHOT Desert Shoot – Photos by Oleg Volk, Editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Parrothead Jeff — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 01:34:32 +0000

Folks, I apologize for taking so long to post these, but I’ve either been incredibly busy or sick since SHOT Show. Still, I figure better late than never

I wrote an earlier post about the fun we had on 17 January, but I have more pics now thanks to Oleg Volk Oleg was kind enough to allow me to post these for my remembrance and your enjoyment. He took the pictures and I did the editing Here’s hoping you like ‘em

Dan Coonan of Coonan Firearms with the Kel-Tec KSG - Kel-Tec Shot Gun - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Dan Coonan of Coonan Firearms joined Oleg Volk, Glenn Bellamy, our friend Mike, and yours truly out in the desert for some fun and photography. Oleg had the new Kel-Tec Shotgun (KSG) on loan from the good folks at Kel-Tec and we got to play with it. I think it’s safe to say that we all liked it

Glenn Bellamy modeling the Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Dan Coonan and his Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Oleg took quite a few photos of the Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic and I can see why! This pistol is based on the 1911 platform, but fires either standard .357 magnum or .38 special rounds. All that’s needed to switch between calibers is a different recoil spring The 357 Magnum Automatic isn’t an inexpensive gun, but you surely get what you pay for

The model for the day’s photo shoot was Glenn Bellamy who’s an intellectual property attorney and a truly nice guy I had a great time getting to know him out there.

Dan Coonan firing my Kel-Tec PF-9 - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

We brought out an assortment of firearms aside from the KSG and the 357 Magnum Automatic. I brought all four of my pistols and a few rifles. We had a darn good time all around with everything

Glenn Bellamy with the KSG - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Is it just me, or does Glenn look like a natural with the KSG and vice versa?

Dan Coonan and his Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Dan Coonan and his 357 Magnum Automatic – Quite a pair of American classics

Yours truly with my Fuji digital camera - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Oleg was also kind enough to take a couple of pictures of me and I think they’re some of the best I have from any recent outing

Oleg Volk with an Infinite Arms PPSh-41 - Photo and editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Oleg Volk firing an Infinite Arms PPSh-41 - Photo and editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Oleg had always wanted the chance to fire a PPSh-41 and Infinite Arms made that a reality Of course, he couldn’t run the camera and the gun at the same time. I was honored to take over camera duties and get these pictures for him Oleg told me these are my images and I have the rights since I took them and I told him he’s welcome to use any of my pictures at any time for any reason. I’m thankful to have had the opportunity and I look forward to helping Oleg out again in the future

Glock 17 with an Infinite Arms auto sear - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Glenn Bellamy firing a Glock 17 with an Infinite Arms auto sear - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Yours truly firing a Glock 17 with an Infinite Arms auto sear - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Infinite Arms showed up later in the evening and brought a few fun items for us to enjoy as well Here we have some great shots of a Glock 17 producing a fountain of spent shell casings at a rate of somewhere around 1,200 per minute

Dan Coonan firing his Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Improvised flash bang anyone? Yep, that’s what it looks like when you fire a Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic in the dark

Infinite Arms M92 Krinkov after dark - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Mike firing the Infinite Arms M92 Krinkov after dark - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Glenn Bellamy firing the Infinite Arms M92 Krinkov after dark - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Another rather enjoyable item brought to us by Infinite Arms was the wonderful M92 Krinkov If it looks like a really short AK-47, that’s because that’s what it really is. Oh yeah, this one’s full-auto too

Someone else asked me how we managed to attach a flame thrower to the gun and I had to explain what they’re seeing here. That fire is the remainder of the burning gunpowder and the hot gases from the round that was just fired. It’s so much more pronounced with a short barrel because there’s not enough room for it to really expand and burn before the bullet exits the muzzle. You don’t really see it much in daylight, but as you can see it is rather pronounced at night

Sig Sauer and an Infinite Arms auto sear on a Glock 17 - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

And yes, this really is how some of us go to dinner – armed with an openly carried handgun The Glock with the auto-sear was just along for the ride and was unloaded. It was thought best not to leave it in the car

Dean’s Place was the restaurant we chose for a great Italian meal after a long day in the desert. The food’s great as is the service and it served as a perfect end to the day

That’s it for tonight. I’m still sick and I need some rest before work tomorrow. Have a great day everyone

Links to people and businesses in this post:

Oleg Volk – www.olegvolk.net

Infinite Arms – www.infinitearms.com

Coonan Inc. – www.coonaninc.com

Kel-Tec – www.keltecweapons.com

Oleg Volk and the PPSh-41

Parrothead Jeff — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 08:13:31 +0000

Oleg Volk and the PPSh-41

Folks, I haven’t forgotten you Life’s still been rather busy all around and work as well and posting has suffered more than I’d like. I have plenty of pictures to share and a new and a new addition to my AR-15 that’s more functional and money saving than cosmetic as well

This is just a first picture from the last week and I hope you like it Working on photography and going shooting with Oleg Volk was a great time as I’ve said before. Of all the pictures I took of him, I think this one has to be my favorite because he looks like a kid on Christmas morning Oleg said he’d always wanted to fire a PPSh-41 and Adam, owner of Infinite Arms was able to make that happen

That’s it for tonight, but I’ll be back soon

Picture(s) A Day – Shooting & Photography With Oleg Volk and Friends

Parrothead Jeff — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 10:36:14 +0000

UPDATE!!!

Oleg Volk, one of my favorite photographers (with a link to his site on the right ), just published a couple of pictures I took of him while we were out shooting! He was kind enough to loan me his camera and I can’t wait to get more of those pictures edited for publication, but I want to do it right. CLICK HERE for his latest post on his blog with those really cool pictures

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Folks, it’s been one helluva day and I had a real BLAST I’m seriously tired, but this is a good tired

I met up with Oleg Volk and our friend Mike early in the morning and we hooked up with Dan Coonan and Glenn Bellamy a bit later. Glenn is an attorney (one of the good ones ) and Dan is a manufacturer of fine firearms. Dan, Glenn, and Oleg had never been out in the desert before, but they seemed to like it. Our mission was to get photographs of Dan’s creation, the Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic as well as the new Kel Tec Shotgun. I’m happy to report the mission was accomplished and then some! We even had some fun later in the evening that I will have photos of in a future post

I’m going to keep this post fairly short when it comes to words, but I wanted to get these pictures posted as soon as possible

17 January 2010 - Oleg Volk working with Glenn Bellamy and the Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic

17 January 2010 - Glenn Bellamy and the Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic

17 January 2010 - Oleg Volk and Glenn Bellamy discussing the next photograph

17 January 2010 - Oleg Volk and Glenn Bellamy making the magic happen

I consider it to be a privilege to have been able to take the photographs above. Oleg is a superb photographer and a forceful advocate for freedom. Just getting to meet him was cool enough, but going shooting in the desert and taking pictures with him was even better

17 January 2010 - Thanks to Oleg Volk, I got to try out the Kel-Tec Shotgun!!!

On 4 January 2011, Kel-Tec announced a new gun in development. Until now, they’ve only produced handguns and rifles. Kel-Tec surprised me quite a bit with their newest innovation in firearms – the Kel-Tec Shotgun or KSG I decided to wait to blog about this interesting new gun for a couple of reasons. First, I was just a bit preoccupied at work due to the rain damage in California. The second reason was that I was pretty certain I’d see it at SHOT Show 2011 and I wanted to use my own pictures instead of somebody else’s. I never thought I’d actually get to shoot it myself, but that’s just what happened today and I can say from my initial experience that I WANT ONE I’ll have video a bit later, but this pic will have to do until then

17 January 2010 - Evening and moonrise in the Nevada desert

17 January 2010 - Oleg Volk and his camera out in the Nevada desert

The light was fading fast, but I managed to get a decent picture of Oleg with my own camera Like the video of the KSG, I’ll have to ask you to wait for more that I took using his camera and with his guidance which really kick ass

17 January 2010 - Dan Coonen with his gun - the Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic

I apologize for a bit of motion blur in the second picture, but I had to get a couple of pictures posted of Dan Coonan Dan is a truly nice guy and the manufacturer of the Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic which is a rather amazing piece of machinery. The 357 Magnum Automatic fires .357 magnum and .38 Special ammunition and is based on the 1911 platform. Switching from .357 magnum to .38 Special requires only a simple change of the recoil spring. I shot this fine handgun with .38 Special and it kicked about like a .22 Later in the evening, we managed to get some cool pictures of the muzzle flash which is impressive with .357 magnum ammunition Oh yeah, those pics and some video from early in the day will be along a while later as well

After shooting for several hours in the desert, we headed on over to a nice Italian restaurant and had a superb dinner and great discussions. Glenn picked up the tab for all of us and Dan picked up the tip for which I am very thankful I can’t say enough just how wonderful today was. I finally got to meet Oleg who I’ve known online for years now and I made some new friends as well. Days like today are the ones I will remember fondly and not soon forget

That’s it for now, but there will be much more from SHOT Show 2011 tomorrow Until then, have a great day