[emphasis added, click on the link]
OOoooooo ... scary!
But while the term "High-powered rifles" may scare little girls, it's suggestive of "Another Gun Ban Movement" ... which might be scarifying to little old men.
In truth, the Left, the 'Anti-Gunners' and other media whores are becoming more adept at inventing new political platforms from which they can attack The Embarassing Second Amendment.
As usual, there is no definition to the term. In my home state, it was illegal illegal to hunt deer with a caliber less than .25* (which has since been changed in the game laws).
Now that the .223 and the .22-250, etc. are legal to hunt 'big game', does that mean that every deer rifle in America will be confiscated by the Gun Haters?
Well, that does seem to be the trend.
But remember: "Nobody Wants To Take Away Your GUNS!"
Just the dangerous ones.
Oh, and if you have a moment, see the under-the bar parts: 310
Reich goes on to clarify that he has "nothing against white-male construction workers. I'm just saying that there are other people who have other needs as well". ... "Criteria can be set so that the money goes to others" who are (women, non-white males, etc. etc. etc.)
(Rangel wants to "... find some way to establish formulas to expedites there where Governors are going to be forced to find some kind of formula to find out how to get the money where the hemorrhages are."
In other words, this is defined as NOT a way to improve the infrastructure ... bridges, roads etc. .. but to redistribute money from productive workers to wanna-be workers who have not the experience to know whether their work will result in another bridge collapse.
In the view of Reich and Rangel, the 21st Century America will rebuild and replace America's Roads and Bridges (etc) not only using the "Lowest Bid" contractors, but also using relatively unskilled labor.
Why is this a valid assertion?
Because Reich (and Charley Rangel) want to to base hiring on Race and Gender, and Economic Need, rather than on demonstrated competency.
While it has yet to be proven that the best use of Economic Stimulus funds will be to address "Shovel Ready" Infrastructure, R&R (Reich and Rangel) seem determined to play both the Race Card and the Victim Card when addressing the vital role of Infrastructure Rehabilitation.
Would I feel comfortable driving across a bridge built by R&R's New Deal Workers?
Whether you think the AK47 is "The gun that changed the world", or a piece of junk, you can't deny that the availability of a relatively cheap, relatively reliable honest-to-gosh Assault Rifle has put a lot of firepower in the hands of a lot of people.
Often these are people whose concept of firearms maintenance is primitive at best. We're talking about the same folks who think shooting full-auto bursts into the air, with no concern about where the lands round, is 'kewl'. *(embedded video is 27.l3mb from Yahoo, downloads as you play it.)*
Click on the Defense Tech link for the full information, which also includes links to accompanying text AND a plethora of personal comments. You'll find that as many people there mirror your own opinion ... almost regardless of what your opinion is.
I can't speak for the accuracy of Josh Rushing's commentary, but it's 11+ minutes of interest for this Vietnam Veteran.
One thing which should be mentioned: When I was in Vietnam, I heard rumors that the U.S. forces (especially "Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols -- LRRPS or LURPS) had found it effective to leave captured AK-47's where wanna-be VC could find them.
The 'top' of the breach on the AK was latched by a spring-loaded latch at the rear. The LRRPs would weaken the spring-metal on the latch so that it would hold it down until the gun was fired. This was done by simply stressing the metal. When the AK was fired, the latch would soon give way so that the breach cover released. This exposed the bolt and mainspring, allowing the bolt mechanism to travel past its designed limits. The bolt would be ejected to the rear with great force, speed and momentum causing grevous injury to any body parts in its path.
So rumor went. If the rifle was fired from the shoulder, it would be expected to, minimally, crush a cheek-bone. In actual practice, it was probably fired from the hip and the injuries were not likely to be fatal or even debilitating ... unless it broke an arm or took off a chunk of the rib-meat.
I can't attest to the veracity of the story, but it was some small consolation to those of us in the boonies.
A more believable war-story (all these from the 1st Infantry Division in 1969-1970 in the Dian area) is that of a young 2nd lieutenant on the first night of his first 8-day patrol. He had a squad of his platoon spread out in-line in a night ambush covering a known VC path. In the middle of the night a VC discovered the ambush, found a place at the end of the line and hosed the entire squad with a banana-clip (30 rounds) from his AK. They young lieutenant was not the only U.S. soldier to lose his life that night.
You can say what you will about the AK-47, but I know that it worked often enough to be an effective weapon in Vietnam.
Speaking of which, if you watch the video you will see comments about the unreliability and tendency to jam of the M16.
The early M16 did not have the 'forward assist' feature. Most of the problems were caused by fouling of the bolt, which allowed it to move forward without actually going into battery. It was difficult to recognize this situation, and more difficult to correct it.
Later versions (in place when I went 'in-country' in September of 1969) featured the forward-assist, and we found this to be an entirely reliable way of insuring that the rifle was functional
an understanding that not only the rifle, but also the magazines and the ammunition needed to be cleaned regularly
appreciation that magazines (both 20-round and 30-round) needed to be 'underloaded' by two rounds to insure reliable feeding
the issue of plastic 'zip-top' baggies to keep loaded magazines clean and dry in magazine pouches
a regimen of using up 'old ammunition' between missions on the practice range
the practice of always cleaning your rifle (often including using barrels of gasoline as a solvent!) EVERY time you completed a mission, and quick-cleaning your rifle at least every other day whether you used it or not
During the 12 months I was in Vietnam, I never heard of a single major malfunction with an M-16 when these procedures were observed and ritually practiced.
The M-16 was still a mouse load, and those fast, light bullets still couldn't be relied upon to push through the jungle to their target. I carried an M79 grenade launcher (loaded with 'canister' rounds ... buckshot) and backed up with HE rounds and flare 'illumination' rounds, as well as a 1911 .45acp pistol.
Still, my platoon never got a kill that wasn't directly attributable to artillary, the claymore mine, "booby traps" or the M-14 carried by our point men.
I got a letter today asking for information way beyond my experience. Maybe you can answer some of these questions:
I'm Lee ****** and I live in Spokane. I've been active in USPSA pistol shooting since March and am having great fun building guns, reloading ammo, and shooting a large quantity of rounds. We do a little 3 Gun activity at a couple of shooting clubs in the area and I am thinking of buying a used AR-15 (Rock River). I caught your blog in a Google search and thought I'd ask for some advice, if you have the time.
Do you reload for the AR? Is it any more difficult or hassling than standard pistol reloading? Is swaging of military primer pockets as easy as I have read it is? Finally, should I look for a .223 or 5.56 chamber?
I'm running a Dillon 650.
Thanks for the help.
If you can answer some of these questions, either post here or send me an email. I'll forward it to Lee and I'm sure he'll be grateful for your help.
Even if you do choose to contact Lee directly, the next reader who has these questions might appreciate the information here, so ... comments would be appreciated.
