Walkin in a Binker Wonderland

Borrow a Sharpie?

Then he can add a grenade launcher.

Biker Carry

Looking back on last year's post on our CCW Renewal class, I reread the comments questioning LBC's choice of holster. Sure, if she fell straight back off the bike, she'd be in for some hurtin' in the spine department. But now imagine putting the scooter down on the asphalt...and coming down on a holstered pistol with your hip. I think the second scenario is the more common cycle accident.

Lisa's "nug" wasn't a factor in her recent accident, but she says she's got a bone chip floating around in her hip thanks to her Glock 19 from a previous skid. I wish her speedy healing and a sweet new ride paid for by the assclown who hit her.

Packing Heat!

Bloggers pdb (NC) and Billy Budd (AZ) qualified for their state's Concealed Carry permits this weekend. Yay!

I took the Renewal Class at Marksman last year. Lisa the Biker Chick was the youngest applicant there, and at a (ahem) fraction of a decade older, I was second youngest. Our instructor lamented privately that with Arizona going to mail-in renewals in the future, many of the seniors who hold permits will have seen their last bit of professional instruction. Several of them needed remedial marksmanship guidance to pass the very simple range qualification. Hey, Marksman: y'all already have a Ladies Night...how about a Seniors Night?

Grin

Caption/Photoshop Friday

Pork, the One You Love! (Comma optional)
On top until Monday.

Caption or Photoshop (or create a ytmnd audio/video extravaganza!) this picture and you could win a one-week Blog Ad on my sidebar!

Judging begins Monday PM.

Oh yeah, this week's winner is Ator of Lone Blade Clan!

Thanks for playing, everybody!








Other contests:
Support You Local Gunfighter(1st Place last week!)
Bagel Blogger (1st Place last week!)
Bravo Zulu
Bullwinkle Blog
Outside the Beltway
Sgt Hook
Right Pundits
Conservathink

Oh ,yeah. I missed Fastnacht Day this year

Good thing I was busy elsewhere last night!

Remora

Some time between my mid-morning nap and my work on the Youtube video today, the Saloon and Shootin Gallery welcomed its 150,000th visitor. At its regular pace, the blog would have reached that mark a week or two from today, but thanks to links from Tam and Kevin, the traffic spike pictured at the left put it over the mark.

Since G00gle doesn't seem to consider the Saloon an internet resource, it's nice to be noticed by bloggers who are. Heck, even before the Zumbo Affair, I'd have to occasionally check View From the Porch to see if Tam had linked me...no, it was just everybody in the Blogosphere surfing from her Blogroll.

I'd like to thank those readers who hang around here for their support and comments.

We now turn to our regularly scheduled nonsense.

And G00gle? Bite me!

Things you find in a video game

Was surfing through my video game folders looking for some sound effects to use on the next Space Opus episode when I found some MP3's in Steel Panthers: World at War, a WW2 version of my favorite battalion-level combat game. Besides a few orchestral pieces dedicated to the 101st Airborne, there were two versions of "Never Be Cold Again" by Beth Smolko. Wow. Google led me to the song's story in the SP:WaW game forum.

Apparently Beth is not currently in the recording business and okayed the use of the song as long as it was properly credited. Most of the forum posts are over three years old; perhaps a little renewed attention will get her to produce more beautiful stuff such as the acoustic version embedded here.

Air Map to Peace in the Middle East

Three Arab states in the Persian Gulf would be willing to allow the Israel Air force to enter their airspace in order to reach Iran in case of an attack on its nuclear facilities, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Siyasa reported on Sunday.

Hmmm

Let's see. What will it be tonight? Academy Awards on ABC? Or Dogfights marathon on the History Channel?


Duh.

Context

Inspired by pdb.

Gotta Post Something...

Grambo Strikes Again

These people must be stopped! Don't they know how to act like sheep?

It's the Thought That Counts

It's a chipmunk, Fluffy.

Stray Pooch

Anybody lose a handsome doggie in the Three Points AZ area?

C'mon, fess up. My buddy Jen-Jen has plenty of mutts to feed.

HoloSight Shooting

Reader GaryN asked me to post on shooting with the EOTech holographic sight. I'm no expert on the device, but I know what I like. The sight offers no magnification of the target picture, but when used correctly, projects a quite visible reticle right where the rifle shoots at a specific range.

My first order of business will be to tune my iron sights to be dead-on at around 25 yards, the average distance at which practical targets appear in the gun games I play. Then, I can adjust the HoloSight reticle to appear at the tip of my front sight as viewed through the rear sight. I like this feature because I don't even have to be at the range to calibrate the Holosight. After this is done, I can drop the back-up rear sight out of the way and place the dot on the A-zone and pull the trigger. Rather than monkey with the Holosight at further ranges, I'll make note of the point of impact at 100-yard increments and ensure I apply "Kentucky elevation" at those ranges.



With many optical scopes, it's imperative to keep a good cheek-weld on the rifle; otherwise, you'll get the "black fuzzies" or no target picture at all. With all the movement and contortions 3-Gun competition involves, I can just keep my attention over the top of the rifle and shoot when I place the reticle on the target.

(Note that the camera on macro-focus blurred the reticle...when focused downrange, or at least as far as the front sight, the reticle is sharp. Eyes aren't as fussy as my camera.)

On a flattop AR, this highly desirable relationship between iron and glass sights is called "co-witnessing." With my Springfield .308, I'll just have to sight it in at the range, since mounting the HoloSight does not allow use of the iron sights.

Readers, feel free to kick in any advice I missed.

A Little Gray in the Muzzle, But

This ole wardog still has teeth.

Allow me to coin the title "Grambo" for this courageous gent.

Assclowns

I last ordered something from Art.com about 8 years ago and they've been spamming my Email weekly ever since. I finally updated my profile to hopefully end the Emails...and they rewarded me with a discount that expired over a week ago!


What a business model.

Oof!

Bonus Fertography

Runt.

Friday Fertography

Got 7,000 Yen?

And this proves what?

It is ALIVE!

Got the GG&G A2 Backup Iron Sight from the FedEx guy yesterday! BoG2 is now ready for the range! I ordered the sight along with an EOTech Holosight, mounted on GG&G's Accu-Cam. I kinda got alarmed when the company notified me that EOTech was dribbling out their products at such a slow rate that I might have to wait 10 to 12 weeks. (3g's site now quotes a 16-week delay.) Since a lot of EOTechs have appeared atop M4 and M16 flattops in the war zone, I was all in favor of waiting my turn to get one so the grunts could get theirs first. Turned out to be a 3-week wait for me...I guess choosing the low-end product that's not NVD-ready and takes shorter-life AA batteries worked out in my favor.

So...BoG2 already had a Holosight, right? That sight belongs to BoG2 exclusively now. The new one, with it's quick-change cam, gets to shuttle between Lil Thumper and the 9-mm AR as needed. And my next flattop....

I better get to the range soon.

Don't Be a Martyr, Jimbo

Jim Zumbo,

In comments to your "apology" (in the now-defunct blog), I wrote that I forgive you for your slurs, because that was the Christian thing to do, but I'd never trust you again. It's been pointed out that Catholics aren't "Christians," so allow me to re-posture my forgiving in a paradigm more in line with the faith to which I marginally belong.

Catholics perform something called the Act of Contrition (believe me, your apology didn't sound very contrite) whereby, after they confess their sins, they do penance (usually a series a prayers) asking for forgiveness. I won't pretend to speak for the thousands of other defenders of American freedoms who were so upset by your words, but allow me to suggest a penance that might return you to their good graces.

1. Keep blogging, even if you have to start at the bottom. Blogger/Blogspot is free! Good writers will get readers; sponsors may follow. I know a few thousand guys and girls who'll be reading you just to keep a wary eye on you, so you might start under a pseudonym at first.

2. Return to humble beginnings afield. Hunt on public lands on your own dime, preferably with working-class companions, and a WalMart-grade firearm. If you don't have any working class friends, make some. Try a small Rod & Gun Club with more Ford and Chevy pickups in the parking lot than Range Rovers and high-end SUVs. This should aerate the "vacuum" you've been living in.

3. Check out some High-Power Rifle and 3-Gun Matches; participate in a few. You'll meet some good people and see some good guns, even black plastic ones. Not a terrorist in the bunch, I'll bet.

4. Take a tour of Gunsite or any of the other fine training schools that offer a battle rifle course. You'll get an good eyeful of AR/AK-format rifles and hundreds of decent, law-abiding Americans drilling with them for duty or fun.

5. Strive to heal the rift between "Fuddite" elitist hunters and those who use firearms for defense and sports other than hunting.

6. Blog 1 through 5. Rinse, Lather, Repeat.

7. If any of the previous forms are beneath you, please fade to obscurity and enjoy the life left to you. We'd rather have you back in the fold. I wish you a long life, either way.

Don't:
1. Become a Lord HawHaw or Tokyo Rose for the Brady Campaign.
2. Despair.

For any of you offended by the imagery of my graphic, it already had the Barrett .50 in it, so it wasn't particularly holy to begin with. As to my allegory...I'm saying my Hail Marys already.

So THAT's Why They Do That!

PhotoShop Challenge

At SondraK's.

Caption/Photoshop Friday...uh Thursday!

Got a good caption or Photoshop for this picture? Send it in!

You could win a one-week Blog Ad on my sidebar! Remember, you don't need to have a blog to win a Blog Ad; I'll advertise your business, favorite cause, or a pic of the bass boat you have for sale.

Woohoo! Response to this contest has been so good, that I'll put up Blog Ads for First through Third Places!

Update: Wow! Some great entries this week. Three bloggers win the ads with these great captions:

1. Adjustah: "The new Wii controller peripherals are getting just plain retarded..."

2. Tam: "I know they're out here somewhere. How hard can it be to spot four guys lugging a plywood KC-135?"

3. John D.: "Overwhelmed by a feeling of patriotism in the wake of 9/11, Fred Flintstone joins the Bedrock Air National Guard."

Much good stuff this week; everybody, thanks for playing!

Photoshops:


Serr8d







KeesKennis










Other Contests
Support Your Local Gunfighter (1st Place last week!)
Gone Rick Motel








Rodney Dill
BagelBlogger
Willisms
Bravo Zulu
Right Pundits
Bullwinkle Blog
Wizbang

Crazy Aussies

Happy Presidents Day!

Jim Zumbo, Staples Stock Clerk

Read the funny at Sharp as a Marble!

H/t to Countertop

Given Enough Villagers

Given enough villagers with torches and pitchforks, marching not in fear and ignorance, but with a firm resolve and knowledge of what is at stake, we can move mountains...and monsters.

Remington Arms has ended its relationship with Jim Zumbo.

Confirmation at The War on Guns.

Feel Free to Pile On

I must be living in a vacuum. The guides on our hunt tell me that the use of AR and AK rifles have a rapidly growing following among hunters, especially prairie dog hunters. I had no clue. Only once in my life have I ever seen anyone using one of these firearms.

I call them "assault" rifles, which may upset some people. Excuse me, maybe I'm a traditionalist, but I see no place for these weapons among our hunting fraternity. I'll go so far as to call them "terrorist" rifles. They tell me that some companies are producing assault rifles that are "tackdrivers."

Sorry, folks, in my humble opinion, these things have no place in hunting. We don't need to be lumped into the group of people who terrorize the world with them, which is an obvious concern. I've always been comfortable with the statement that hunters don't use assault rifles. We've always been proud of our "sporting firearms."

This really has me concerned. As hunters, we don't need the image of walking around the woods carrying one of these weapons. To most of the public, an assault rifle is a terrifying thing. Let's divorce ourselves from them. I say game departments should ban them from the praries and woods.

Article and Comments here.

Hat tip Blogonomicon.

Outdoor Life responds:

As a point of clarification about this blog, it is important for everyone to realize that the opinions expressed here are Jim’s and not necessarily those of Outdoor Life.

I’ve been friends with Jim for many years and have shared countless great times with him talking about both hunting and guns. While I totally support Jim’s right to express his point of view—this is his blog after all—I don’t happen to agree with him on this matter.

His position that AR- and AK-style rifles don’t have a place among our “sporting arms” is not one that I personally, or Outdoor Life as a magazine, happens to share.

In the six years that I’ve worked at Outdoor Life we have never wavered in our support of our Second Amendment rights, which don’t, and shouldn’t, make a distinction about the cosmetic look of the guns that we choose take to our local gun clubs or into hunting camp.

That said, I don’t expect every other hunter and sportsman out there to have a set of opinions that moves in lockstep with mine. So while I don’t share Jim’s view on this, I also know that he is still the same wonderfully talented and good-natured person he was before this post went up. For those of you who have followed him for all or part of his more than thirty years at Outdoor Life, I would ask you to bear that in mind before damning him with personal attacks.

John B. Snow
Executive Editor
Outdoor Life

At last, he pulls the foot out of his mouth.

I guess he's gonna check into rehab now. That's the fashionable thing, nowadays.

Ready for your Shot?

Grumpy Dog

Grumpy, cranky dog Maggy.


















Poor Marley dog, so misunderstood.

Bonus Fertography

Impostors!

Bear and Thumper.

H/t to bcangel

2.16

Today an Evil Tyrant celebrates his 65th birthday. Wish him justice: a violent end against a pockmarked brick wall.

On the other hand, for his not-so-evil blogosphere avatar, 65 spankings might be more appropriate.

Protestor? Or Honest Tranny?