Brake

So I am shopping online for parts to build a new “Ruger” 10-22.

(not that it will have many (if any?) Ruger parts in it)..

Anyway, I find that about 2 out of 5 retailers AUTOMATICALLY  disqualify themselves….

Hint:
If you aren’t aware that is is spelled Muzzle *BRAKE* not BREAK, then I really don’t want to do business with you. Period. Just because spellcheck doesn’t flag it doesn’t mean it is the right word. Really, it tells me that you have zero knowledge of the products you retail…..None at all, or you wouldn’t spell it wrong.

(Although, I can’t find any reason that a .22 caliber rifle needs a muzzle brake anyway, to be honest, but if you choose to buy one, that is your business).

A muzzle brake is a device for redirecting propellant gasses to the rear (or upwards) to reduce felt recoil.(Wikipedia)….We are talking a .22 rimfire (or .17HMR) here. Not too much felt recoil anyway, to be honest. Not like you are shooting on full auto or anything….

Kinda like putting a “Flash Hider” on your 10-22. Flash hider? No need for one no matter how dark you shoot in . (But again, should you choose to waste spend your money on one that is up to you….)

Now both *might* be useful on a pistol, but on a rifle?

And for gods sake. learn to spell it right if you want my business.

I’m open to suggestions from anyone as to specific parts to buy or vendors to use…If they can choose the right word in their descriptions.

They bloom in the spring

But only on even numbered years….

No, I am not talking daffodils, nor Tulips, nor Crocusses (crocci? Croccu? Crocus?)

Anyway, what I am talking about is the proliferation of political signs.

Meh, were it not a choice of the lesser weasel evil, I’d not vote for a one of ’em.

In light of the events last week:

Listen and think:

Waco happened, Ruby Ridge happened… others as well… Partially because we didn’t know, were less well informed due to the Government being able to spin information and because they had a pet news media….Then, the internet was in its infancy….But they happened because we as a nation, and we as patriots, and we as CITIZENS allowed them to happen.

Because we forgot the lesson.

I am proud of those folks who won against the BLM….and somewhat ashamed that I wasn’t there with them..
 

At least the rain stopped

After I was done….

So I lend my Kubota tractor and loader and bush-hog to a friend about 20 miles away from my house last week, so he can do a bit of land clearing at his new digs and general yard cleanup for a week or so.

He’s done, his yard looks Fabulous!  and I’ll need the thing this week, so I get my yard work and general home improvement tasks done about 4…looking at the weather, I can make it to his house and load up the tractor onto the trailer and just beat the rain home with enough time to unload, if I don’t dawdle.

Over to his house I go. We load up the tractor and just as I am leaving, the rain starts.

No big deal, it’s coming in from the west, and I am going east.

 Half a mile from his house, I am out of the rain.

Cool.

So about halfway home, I see smoke coming from the right side of the trailer….looks like a wheel.

I figure that it is a brake dragging (with the torque of the diesel engine, it is hard to notice until you see smoke). I pull into a (very handy) Home Depot parking lot and get out to look. Things are warm, but not hot,  no smell of smoke, so I back up a few feet and then pull forward. Nope, doesn’t appear to be any brake dragging, and I can’t see any smoke…..I pull out onto the State Highway and start for home.

4 miles later, I see smoke again. as I am pulling over to a turn lane so I can see what is going on, I hear the muffled Bang! and feel the familiar wobble and shake as the tire begins its final death dance against the fender.

I limp the truck/trailer at an idle for a mile to a nearby truckstop and pull in so I am out of traffic and on reasonably level ground to change the tire.

As I get out, the rain begins. At first a tiny drizzle, but as I get the jack out and the 4 way wrench and all the other accoutrements of tire changing it begins to build.

So I crack the lugnuts and jack up the trailer with the tractor on (Hydraulics are a WONDERFUL thing) and pull the blown tire…which is totally shredded.

Dismount the spare and put it onto the hub.

Some dude (“Cletus” kinda looking guy) wanders over and says:

“Flat?”

“Yep” I reply, (not wanting trouble by asking “WTF does it look like? You think I’d be jacking this pig up in the rain if I didn’t have to? “) as I snug up the lugs.

“Lucky you had a spare”. (Luck? Not a bit. I planned for the eventuality that I might blow a tire)
Cletus isn’t getting too close and isn’t saying anything, but seems fascinated by my actions, as if he had never seen anyone change a tire, so I continue my task.

As I jack the trailer down and tighten the lug nuts, the rain, of course, fades to nearly nothing. As I put things away, the show over, “Cletus” wanders off. And the rain ends.

I get home (no issues) just in time to unload the tractor from the trailer in the rain….and it ended just as I was parking the truck after unhooking the trailer.

At least it was fairly warm.  Coulda been 34 instead of 60.

Tortises (tortisii?) were unavailable for comment

So….. with all the BS going on at the BLM and the Bundys…

I guess now that all the solar Reid controversy and the Turtle Sanctuary or conservatory or whatever and the euthanization of thousands of “endangered” turtles…

This whole thing really wasn’t about saving turtles, was it? It wasn’t about conservation and it wasn’t about “endangered” turtles that aren’t and it wasn’t about anything but using the Federal Government to squeeze the little guy.

Except in this case the little guy had fangs…and lots of friends.

What caliber

For moles?

Little bastards are destroying the little grass that I have left.

Advice? Special loads for your favorite caliber? Barrel lengths and/or scope combinations?

And no, filling the tunnels with flammable gasses isn’t the optimal solution. Don’t ask me how I know.

After I deal with the damned moles, then I’m gonna start on the Chipmunks.

I got a question:

Not to beat this Bundy/BLM thing to death, but I have questions:

Are the BLM “Police” really law enforcement officers?

How do they have the right to close public roads (and “Public” lands) to keep people away from an area?

While the above was happening where were the true law enforcement officers: Sheriff and Nevada Highway Patrol? One would have thought that they might have been interested in such happenings in their state/county, and possibly the citizens therein. Were I a citizen of that state (and especially Clark County, I’d be asking….

Enquiring minds want to know…

ETA: News reports all say that the “Tea Party and Militia” protesters were “Heavily armed with rifles”. Strangely, I have yet to see even one photo or video clip showing even ONE rifle. Not one.
Is this just spin? Fears that the Feds had that some of the protesters might have had the ability to project force if they were fired upon? Or were there really rifles in the crowd?

Victory

 Controlling the signal:

So it seems to work like this:

something happens, and the people get interested…

People get interested enough to put things on the internet.

Enough people read it and then make posts,show video on YouTube,Vimeo and so on…Facebook entries,etc.

Then people begin to show up in support of the action,

Video is taken (More YouTube), and then more people show up.

Eventually, a reporter (notice I didn’t say “Journalist”) takes notice and broadcasts it on local media

If this happens often enough, National media takes notice, All those people make good press.

And shortly thereafter, once the light is shown on an overreaching government, the situation is resolved.

People won this for the nation today. Support of the Bundy’s got enough media attention that the BLM had to either back down or have their actions placed under close scrutiny.

It may not be over, but Saturday, April 12th was a victory, a great one.

The difference between this situation and Waco and Ruby Ridge was that people were informed early and in detail thanks to the internet, and some folks reacted early enough to get there before the situation could be contained and the story controlled by the feds.

Thus endeth the lesson today.