Thankfully, I’ve got the great guys at Infinite Arms / New Frontier Armory to go hang out with when I need to decompress

11 June 2010 - Infinite Arms PPSh-41 submachine gun

Being a licensed manufacturer, Infinite Arms can make brand new machine guns like this PPSh-41.  Not all of the parts are new, but the registered portion – the receiver – is a brand new part.  This type of submachine gun was developed in 1941 in the Soviet Union and was widely used in WWII.  It’s definitely not light and because of this and the 7.62 x 25mm pistol caliber it’s chambered in, it’s said to be very controllable in full-auto fire.  What’s really cool is that if all goes as planned I’ll have the chance to try out this very gun on 3 July 2010   I might not be allowed to own this gun, but thanks to Infinite Arms, I have the opportunity to get acquainted with a very cool piece of history

11 June 2010 - Infinite Arms / New Frontier Armory - Silencerco .22 Sparrow

Most people think that silencers (or suppressors – the BATFE uses both terms) are illegal.  That’s just not true for most places in the United States.  As a matter of fact, private ownership of suppressors is legal in AL, AR, AK, AZ, CO, CT, FL, GA, ID, IN, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NM, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI, and WY.

You can’t just go down to the local gun store or hardware store, drop money on the counter, and walk out with your new equipment but it’s not all that difficult either.  You just fill out the forms, get ‘em signed by the Chief Law Enforcement Officer (CLEO) in your area, get fingerprinted, photographed, and send the whole packet into the BATFE along with a check, money order, or credit card number to pay the $200 tax on the transfer of ownership.  The feds run a background check which is pretty much the same as  the one for any firearm purchase from a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) wh0 deals in firearms, affix a tax stamp to the paperwork, and send it back to your Class III FFL and you can take it home.

There are quite a few misconceptions about owning items regulated under the National Firearms Act of 1934 (AKA the NFA).  They think the feds can come into your home at any time, that you have to keep a record of how many rounds you fire, that they can only be used at approved ranges, and all sorts of other notions.  None of that is true.  It doesn’t matter if you own an NFA controlled item – the feds (and any other law enforcement agency) still need a warrant.  You can use your machine gun, silencer, short barreled rifle, short barreled shotgun or Any Other Weapon (AOW – generally disguised guns or smooth bore pistols) anywhere it’s legal to shoot.  The only real restriction is on interstate transportation of the NFA controlled items and even then it’s easy to do.  You just have to get permission from the BATFE by faxing in a form.

The silencer you see in this post is a Silencerco Sparrow which is made to be used on rimfire guns like .22 and .17 caliber.  It’s full-auto rated in case you own a registered machine gun in one of those calibers.

11 June 2010 - Infinite Arms / New Frontier Armory - Silencerco .22 Sparrow disassembled

I’ve been planning on purchasing a suppressor for quite some time now.  After shooting some of them, I’ve been hooked   I hate hearing protection (plugs muffle everything and muffs get all sweaty and muffle or distort sound) and these make all those problems disappear.  Eventually I want to get a .45 1911 with a suppressor along with a silencer for my PSL, but that would be prohibitively expensive.  The .45, threaded barrel, and suppressor would be $2,000 if I keep the pistol cheap

There are many reasons to own a suppressor.  They make shooting much more pleasant not only from the standpoint of noise, but also by reducing felt recoil.  .22 rounds may not be all that noisy from a rifle, but they’re FREAKING LOUD when it comes to pistols.  Rimfire suppressors aren’t all that expensive and with muzzle mounted units like the Sparrow I can use the same can on both my 10/22 and a pistol to be purchased later.  I’ve shot some of these cans that are so quiet that the loudest thing you hear is the hammer hitting the firing pin

The downside of rimfire suppressors is that rimfire ammo is dirty in a couple of ways.  First you have the carbon and debris from the burning powder which can accumulate on the internal parts.  The other thing you have is a spray of molten lead coming out of the barrel of the gun because rimfire bullets aren’t copper jacketed like most centerfire is.  This mist of liquid lead particles cools and hardens on the internal parts of the silencer.  The combined accumulation of carbon and lead causes suppressors to become heavier and due to decreased internal volume they also become louder.  Sealed suppressors have to be shipped back to the manufacturer for cleaning which takes paperwork from the BATFE, time, and money (usually about $120) about every 1,000 rounds.  I don’t know about you, but that’s like an afternoon of shooting to me.

There are quite a few “user serviceable” cans out there for centerfire and rimfire these days.  The problem is that they all have the baffles in contact with the outer tube as well as threads for attaching the end caps on that tube to attach the end caps.  You have to unscrew the end caps and then pull the core out against the accumulated lead and carbon to clean it all.  If you damage the registered part (the one with the serial number – usually that tube), you’re on the hook for another $200 transfer tax payment to the BATFE no matter if the new one is free or not.

Silencerco went a different route.  As you can see in the picture above, the half shells go over the one piece (monolithic) baffle stack which is then slid into the outer tube before the end cap is screwed onto the baffle stack.  There are no threads on that serial numbered part (you can’t damage it with cross threading) and it’s never touched by the flame, carbon, or lead from the ammunition as it’s fired so it’s very unlikely to be damaged.  Adding to the ease of servicing, the half shells can be pried away laterally from the baffles so you don’t have to try to drag the stack out against the crud and the threads never come in contact with any nasty stuff either.  Because that serial numbered part is the only thing that has paperwork hassles associated with it, replacing a damaged end cap or baffle stack is as easy as shipping anything else.

I’ll say right up front that the Silencerco Sparrow is not the least expensive rimfire suppressor on the market.  I’ve seen new rimfire suppressors from other manufacturers which cost as little as $175 while the MSRP on the Sparrow is around $450.  I was quoted $375 for this Sparrow yesterday at Infinite Arms which is of course subject to change   Normally I try to stay as inexpensive as possible, but this is one time where spending extra money is worth it.  With a $200 transfer tax that has to be paid every time ownership changes, nobody sells their used silencers.  Why would you when you’re talking about something that’s this inexpensive with that much tax on it?  The way the design of the Sparrow minimizes the chance of damage to the registered part while enhancing the end user serviceability is enough for me to allocate the extra funding for this model

11 June 2010 - Infinite Arms / New Frontier Armory - Silencerco .22 Sparrow monolithic baffle

11 June 2010 - Infinite Arms / New Frontier Armory - Silencerco .22 Sparrow monolithic baffle

11 June 2010 - Infinite Arms / New Frontier Armory - Silencerco .22 Sparrow monolithic baffle

I’ve talked about the baffle stack and I thought I’d give you a better look at that part of this unit.  By allowing the propellant gas from the gunshot to expand and cool in a controlled manner while slowing its exit, the silencer keeps the noise down.  It’s a lot like the muffler on your car.  Mufflers usually have baffles which work in a similar manner – they slow and control the exhaust pulses from your engine.

The bullet passes from left to right in the pictures above.  As it passes through the hole in the center it allows the gas to enter the next chamber.  You can see that they’ve done some research and development on the cross sectional shape.  Instead of a slant baffle, they’ve gone with this shape to decrease the possibility of bullets tumbling and causing baffle strikes.  It also helps to keep the shift in point of impact vs. point of aim to a minimum.  This can be a big problem with some silencers – you put your suppressor on the gun and the bullet hits in a different place relative to where you were aiming.  That’s not good

11 June 2010 - Infinite Arms / New Frontier Armory - Silencerco .22 Sparrow stainless steel threads

This stainless steel thread insert at the base of the suppressor is where the silencer meets the gun barrel.  The rest of the unit is aluminum to keep weight down to an incredible 4.7 ounces.  That’s important to keep your gun comfortable and balanced in your hand, but steel is ideal for the required strength at the interface point.

The other thing to notice are the scallops machined into the end cap.  Those are there so you can use a special tool to help take the unit apart.  Most other suppressors need a specialized tool to be able to take them apart, but it’s really optional on the Sparrow due to its design.  They say they sell very few of them.

11 June 2010 - Infinite Arms / New Frontier Armory - Silencerco .22 Sparrow

OK, I just had to do a close up shot of the logo and markings.  Even though it’s still in the store’s inventory and I’ve been told not to worry about showing a serial number, I fuzzed it in the picture for the privacy of whoever buys this one in the end.

That’s all I’ve got for this post.  Here’s hopin’ y’all weren’t too bored and maybe that you learned something from all my ramblings   You’d can bet I’ll have a post up sometime in the next year or so when I get one of these for my own personal use

I also have to say thanks again to Infinite Arms for giving me the chance to see, handle, and photograph all this cool gear

Have a great weekend everyone

I figured I’d take a couple of pictures with my newest equipment – the three megapixel camera in my LG enV3 camera – and use those for today’s pics 8)  No, it’s not as good as my Nikon or my Canon, but it’s a camera phone and I’d say a pretty good one at that

1 January 2010 - Raw image from the LG enV3 in subdued daylight

1 January 2010 - Rotated and cropped image from the LG enV3 in subdued daylight

Most of the pics you see on this site have been rotated to straighten them up and then cropped to look normal.  I wanted to show the before and after, especially with this camera.  When you crop a picture, you’re just looking at a smaller portion of the overall image so little imperfections and grain become more apparent.  When you’re looking at an image that’s only three megapixels instead of ten, that grain is going to be more evident.  The first picture here shows the image as it came out of the camera so you can see what it can do in this lighting while the second shows what it looks like with just a little tweaking.  Overall, I’m pretty impressed

On a side note, I have to say that Sonic has a really good breakfast burrito

1 January 2010 - Raw image from the LG enV3 at night

You may have noticed by now that I do a fair amount of photography at night.  Not only is it one of my favorite times, but it’s just when I have time available in the winter.  It’s also a bit challenging due to the limitations imposed by low light levels and the ability of film and sensor chips to deal with that lack of illumination.  Add in the factor of longer exposures (more likelihood of blur due to camera shake) and a more open aperture (less depth of field) and it gets a bit trickier.  This shot was fairly well lit, so the enV3 did a decent job even hand held.

I’ll still keep my Nikon at hand for much of the time I’m out of the house, but I’m really beginning to like my new phone for lots of reasons that have nothing to do with phone calls or text messaging

Have a great day and a happy new year, everyone

Um, yeah.  I’m not a big fan of the whole Illuminati thing, but this goes far beyond that.  It’s one of those things that I really can’t wrap my head around.  I’m sorry, but I actually paid attention in school and I’ve gotten (what I consider to be) a halfway decent education outside of school as well.  How people can go through life like this is seriously beyond me.  I’d have thought that people would understand that there’s something wrong with inflation and ballooning the money supply even if they’d never heard of the Weimar Republic.  Do they really not get that doubling the money supply halves the value of the money?  Do they really not get that they may not get a pay raise, yet will still be held to the same payments on half the effective income?  I’m getting nauseous here, no kidding.

But it’s not like this is the first time something like this has happened.  Take the above clip from Penn & Teller.  Use the chemical name for something universally understood otherwise to obfuscate the meaning of what you’re saying (dihydrogen monoxide sounds a lot like carbon monoxide), give them the bad points in a way that twists the truth of your meaning just a bit (causes excessive urination, found in baby food, used by nuclear companies etc.) to scare them about it and people will seriously sign a petition to ban water   I seem to recall that the Berkeley City Council almost went through with this, but that really wouldn’t surprise me – they thought making it a crime to detonate a nuclear device within the city limits was important enough to actually follow through on.

Another thing these videos illustrates in my ever so humble opinion is the way people have been taught to fear that which they do not know or understand.  If they don’t know how to do something, they’re likely to hand that task off to someone and pay them to do it.  If they don’t understand the concepts behind something, they’ll fear it instinctively.  Yeah, I’m going to guns here because I meet so many people who just don’t know anything about them and therefore fear them.  They would rather ban them than take the time to know how to safely deal with them, even if they’re not going to use them.  Another example would be taxes.  I know people who are intimidated by a 1040 EZ form and would rather allow a professional to prepare their taxes.  They only have ONE source of income.

If anyone ever wonders why I’m so freaked out on a daily basis, this is a part of it.  When people don’t understand basic economics, chemistry, or anything else it seems, I wonder what these herd animals will do if something happens to cut off their support.  They could panic.  Which would be very, very bad.  How many of them don’t know how to cook?  I mean really don’t know how to cook anything without a set of directions?  How many of them don’t know to boil water for safe drinking or how to start a fire if their electric stove goes on the blink?  How many can sharpen a knife or give first aid?

But the biggest thing that scares the #$*@ out of me is the thought that they can be easily persuaded to sign petitions to increase inflation and ban water because they don’t understand what the %*#^ they’re hearing.  If they’ll go along with this, they’ll go along with anything that any politician can pull out of his or her hat.  They’ve done it in the past, they’ll do it in the future, and these people can VOTE!!! It really makes me wonder if this lack of common sense and meaningful education has been the objective of those who’ve shaped the school systems all along.  I’m not usually one for conspiracy theories, but this one begs for an answer and I really can’t discount that one.

When I present a problem, I try to have a solution to it.  Rather than just saying that dung stinks (which does nothing about the situation), I like to try to be part of the solution.  My suggestion is to get a decent self education if you don’t understand something.  It’s why I’m going to go buy my hunting license, why I’m going to learn to actually get my own food etc., why I’ve gotten together a basic first aid/survival kit, and why I’ve never considered “Global Warming” to be a human problem.  About that warming bit – just how did we get out of that last ice age and how did it occur in the first place if we weren’t around to cause it?

I’m seriously considering the makings of a school for basic life skills.  How to change the oil and fuel filter in your car, how to make a fire, give basic first aid, cook a real meal without directions, and how to balance a checkbook and the basics of economics for example.  Maybe not a school so much as a series of seminars or meetings with professionals willing to share their knowledge.  Nobody attending will likely turn into Davy Crockett, open a bank, or become a mechanic, but maybe they’ll have a better idea of just what the real deal is and be able to handle life a bit better.  It’s just a thought for now, but who knows about the future?

Lest anyone get the wrong idea, I want to say up front that I’m nowhere near a genius when it comes to anything.  What I do consider myself to be is educated enough to recognize when I’m being confronted by a pile of manure.  I may not know how to build a car, but I can work on one within reason – oil changes are a known quantity for example and I won’t fall for someone telling me I need “blinker fluid” or “muffler bearings” which I know for a fact has happened in the past to others.  I may not be a five star chef, but I can safely cook a piece of meat and start a fire.  I’m certainly no paramedic, but I know basic first aid.  I’m seriously contemplating learning to sew, knit, and make clothes and shoes as well.  It can’t hurt, right?

We seem to have outsourced so much of what we do in life that we’re losing the basic knowledge of how to do much of anything that doesn’t involve pressing a button or handing over a credit card.  I think it would be a good thing if we were to change that around a bit.

Stay safe and educated out there

With this in mind, I decided to do just a quick comparison between my new Streamlight Stylus Pro and my old everyday carry (EDC) light – a Maglite Solitaire.  Aside from the difference in power (1xAAA vs. 2xAAA batteries), there’s also a difference in the means of producing light.  The Streamlight uses a very bright LED while the Maglite uses an incandescent bulb.  This isn’t a fair head to head test and I know that.  It’s intended to be a demonstration of the reasons for the upgrade and the results of it.

5 December 2009 - Flashlights - Maglite Solitaire and Streamlight Stylus Pro

On the left is the Maglite Solitaire and the Streamlight Stylus Pro is on the right.  The Maglite is 3.25″ long and weighs .795 oz. while the Streamlight is 5.5″ long and weighs 1.95oz.  Both are pretty darn light, but the Maglite has a definite advantage when it comes to both size and weight, but that’s not all I’m after here.  I personally don’t have any problem at all with carrying a bit of extra weight – just check out one of the pocket knives I carry on a daily basis in addition to a multi tool   While I don’t mind carrying a bit of extra weight and a bit larger piece of gear, you still won’t see me carrying a Wicked Lasers Torch

5 December 2009 - Flashlights - Streamlight Stylus Pro shining on a Maglite Solitaire

5 December 2009 - Flashlights - Maglite Solitaire shining on a Streamlight Stylus Pro

5 December 2009 - Flashlights - Maglite Solitaire beam on the left, Streamlight Stylus Pro on the right

While they’re not the greatest comparison shots in the world, these should give you a decent idea of the difference in brightness between these two lights.  Manufacturer specs for the Maglite Solitaire show that its average light output is 3.5 lumens with a continuous run time of about 3.5 hours.  The Streamlight Stylus Pro, on the other hand, can put out up to 24 lumens for up to 7.5 hours.  I don’t care who you are, that’s a HUGE difference   Aside from the extra battery, the Streamlight uses an LED that consumes much less power, puts out more light, and also features a digital power regulator.  That power regulation means that you don’t start off with a super bright light that gets dimmer as the batteries drop off

I don’t remember how much I paid for the Maglite, but it’s going for about $5.00 from what I can find online.  I paid about $25 at Bass Pro, but I much prefer to buy in a brick and mortar establishment.  Yourcornerstore.com has the Stylus Pro for only $17.82 + shipping and Amazon.com has it for about $20 + shipping.

And this is how I found out about the Streamlight – yep, it’s a Nutnfancy review   If you’ve been around here for a while, you’ll probably be familiar with Nutn and why I like him.  For those who haven’t got a clue who or what Nutnfancy or TNP is, you’ll want to check out a few previous posts like this one, this one, or this other one   With over 500 videos, advice and reviews that make sense, and a whole bunch of cool gear to review, Nutn is one of my favorite subscriptions on YouTube

So, is it worth it?  This would depend on you and your requirements, but for me the answer is a resounding YES   I can take an extra three quarters of an ounce in weight and an extra 2.25 inches in length if it gets me that much more light and that much longer burn time.  I’ll probably keep the Maglite around for a while longer and I might even try to modify it to LED lighting, but it’s still not going to match up to the Streamlight.  One other thing the Streamlight has going for it is that pocket clip.  It’s strong and it has a hole in the top that can be used for a place to attach a lanyard.  I’d say it’s $25 very well spent, especially when you need a flashlight and you’ve got something that’s this good.  Here’s hoping this helps at least one person out there

Have fun, everyone

Su-27 Flanker - For sale at Pride Aircraft - Click on this image for seller's website

Su-27 Flanker - For sale at Pride Aircraft - Click on this image for seller's website

What you see before you is the mighty Sukhoi SU-27 Flanker   This jet is a fire breathing monster that can give an F-15 or F-16 a run for its money and Pride Aircraft has two of them up for sale 8)  In case you’re wondering, YES I WANT ONE !!!

I’m still trying to figure out why several people have expressed fear at the idea of me owning one of these…

Thanks again, Jason