I don’t know if I pointed this out before, but there’s a great online resource for downloading targets. It’s called targetz.com. You can download them in PDF format and print then out. All kinds of shapes are available, as well as fun targets.  Take a look.
Author: Sebastian
Rifles I Can’t Afford
The M82A1 in .50BMG is generally considered most useful in anti-material operations. For long-rang anti-personnel work, you can’t beat the .408 caliber CheyTac M100 and M200 rifles. It’s portable too.
The M100 Rifle
M-200 Rifle
Both pretty attractive looking pieces, but at 14k a pop, I’d rather have a Barrett M82A1. Also, Ronnie Barrett will sell you the same rifle he sells the military, and I can respect a company that respects its customers. CheyTac sells a less accurate version to civilian shooters because “we never want our incredible technology to fall into the wrong hands.” Piss on that. If I were a terrorist with 14 large burning a hole through my pocket, I’m sure I could get a military version of the M200 from the right person.
Shooting in Moscow, Idaho
Joe Huffman would appear to be the man to watch in regards to news about the Moscow shooting, since he lives there.
UPDATE: He now has some pictures.
Thinking About Reloading
I’m sure there are some of you out there that are reloaders. The price of 5.56x45mm has me seriously considering taking it up as a hobby. It looks to me like the money saved doing it yourself is really negligible unless you reuse your brass.
What are the advantages to reloading really?  Can it save money? How many times can you typically reuse brass? Is it worth it for me to invest in all the equipment to do it? Are there hazards? The ammo I spend the most amount of time shooting, other than .22LR, is .223, 9x19mm, 9x18mm and 7.62×39.  I think the latter two, because they are typically Berdan primed, would be hard to reload.  Any advise is appreciated.
Compressed Air Cars
Instapundit is talking about compressed air cars. The big problem with this technology is you’re essentially driving with a bomb under your car. Gasoline contains a lot of energy, but it won’t explode under normal conditions. You’ll get a hell of a blaze, but not an explosion.  Any compressed gas technology is going to have the fundamental problem of an explosion hazard, not because of the gas within being explosive, but because of the tremendous amount of energy being stored up in the tank. See this summary of a dive shop explosion that occurred when the tank failed.
Also, the net greenhouse gas savings here would be negligible, since it will take copious amounts of electricity to operate the fill up stations and compressors. This energy, if it comes from burning coal, will just shift the greenhouses gases to the power companies.  But still, this technology is more promising than the ones that involve reacting light metals with water to produce hydrogen.
As anyone who went to …
… Catholic School will tell you, you don’t mess with nuns.
Mayhem on the Streets of Japan
From an Association Press Article, it seems that there’s been a spate of violent crime in normally low crime (and gun free) Japan:
Japan, a country of 127 million people, had 1,391 homicides in 2005, compared with 16,692 in the United States. But overall crime in Japan jumped to 2.27 million cases that year, from 1.81 million in 1996, the National Police Agency said.
“Anxiety is mounting in Japan about the increase of high-profile crimes. Due to rapid globalization, the traditional rules and social order are changing dramatically,” said Jun Ayukawa, an expert on criminal psychology at Japan’s Kwansei Gakuin University.
The surge in high-profile violent crime has spurred debate over tougher gun-control rules, calls for strengthening the moral fiber of youth in schools and concerns about the state of parenting.
How do you get tougher gun-control rules than “You may not have them, except under very rare circumstances”? I suppose after the gun control advocates achieve their goal of banning guns entirely, the next step will be to double ban them. Because if the first ban didn’t work, clearly you need to ban them one more time, just to be sure.
A New Aquisition from Cabela’s
I joked with Bitter that every weekend she spends away from me, I will comfort myself by buying a gun. She’ll have to find out whether or not I’m actually joking. This weekend’s addition was a Ruger Mk.III Hunter 22/45. I got it at Cabela’s, which processes gun buyers with assembly line efficiency. I figured it was easier to get exactly what I was looking for there, rather than run around to 20 different gun stores to find it.
I was disappointed to see that Cabela’s is now requiring customers to check their firearms at the front desk. I’m happy that they at least provide a place to check, but do they have to state “For your safety, please be sure to check all firearms at the customer service desk”, or something very similar. It’s not for my safety. Maybe for the job safety of their lawyers or whoever insures Cabela’s, but certainly not for mine. Needless to say I paid the sign about as much attention as it deserved. Does anyone else’s local Cabela’s post signage? If you by a gun, they also escort you out with the purchase, and hand it to you after you exit the building. The whole experience certainly makes me more inclined to make my next purchases at the local gun stores, where not only do they allow customers to carry, but the people behind the counters are strapped as well.
Maybe Cabela’s should rethink their policy and ban their insurance company’s lawyers instead of guns. No insurance policy is worth pissing off your customers. Especially in a state like Pennsylvania where there are close to 700,000 people licensed to carry.
More Pictures of Bloomberg Gun Giveaway
Bitter had pictures earlier in the week.  Here are some more pictures from the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Bloomberg Gun Giveaway. He got some of the protesters.
Weekend Blogging
I might be blogging a bit more this weekend than normal.  Bitter is spending some quality time with Bitchy Mom, so we’re not together this weekend.  It marks the first weekend since Jan 21st that we haven’t spent together.
I think celebrating mother’s day a week late is probably a good idea. You can actually go out to eat without having to deal with the masses. Last weekend we just wanted some breakfast, and I ended up having to pay twenty dollars for a twelve dollar buffet.