2006 Croc Match: The A-team

I didn't get as many really HOT videos of the 2006 Croc Match as I had wanted, so I've been pretty low-key about presenting pictures and videos of the excellent, hi-round-count match as I should.

That is, until I received a link to this YouTube Video from Norm the Ungrateful.

Production values and resolution on this 5:07 minute video are extremely good. I only received the link from Norm an hour ago, and in the meantime I've written this paen to his excellence both as a competitor and as a video editor, plus I've watched the video at least a dozen times.

I'll watch it a dozen times again, and in absolute awe.

I've not seen many videos which so perfectly demonstrate the fast-shooting, target rich environment nature of of this exceptional match as this.

When I get the code for this hot-music, hot-shooting video from Norm, I'll include it here so you can click-and-watch the action.

Until then, you'lll just have to content yourself with double-clicking what I consider to be one of the premier videos in IPSC competition to date.

Participants include Norm, Zac, Chuck, Yong Lee and Glenn.

"427 rounds in 2 days". You only have to see the followers-on about1:40 into the film to realize how awesome these performances really are. The video is a great demonstration of how FAST you have to shoot to win at this level of competition. The music is perfectly choreographed to support the action. Don't be fooled by the slow start; it sets up the viewer to truly appreciate the movement/very quick target engagement. To be able to shoot this fast, and still get hits ... that is the epitome of IPSC competition.

Fasssst action, perfect reload after perfect reload, and an implict understanding on the part of the competitors that speed wins. These are the components of a excellent IPSC video, and Norm has it all.

If you never watch another IPSC video this year, you have GOT to see this one.

If you have never shot the Banzaii Ballistic ("You Got Bullets?") Croc Match before, you have to be saying to yourself:

"Next Year in Dundee!"

Proud Grandfather

You'll have to bear with me for a bit here.

I've just become a grandfather for the fifth time.

My daughter, Jennifer, just gave birth to her second child, Jack.

(Son Ben has three children: Lizzie, Connor and Jacob.)

I don't yet have pictures of the new grandchild, and maybe I can resist the impulse to display them here ... newborns yield photos which are only of interest to the immediate family.

But I do have pictures of Jennifer, and her 'little brother' Ben.


Jennifier and Benjamin were born on the same day (July 30), two years apart. So, for her second birthday, Jennifer received a brother.

She wasn't sure what to do about that, at first.


Eventually, she figured it out.

They've been each other's "Best Friend" ever since.


When they each found someone to marry, they have provided me with a steady stream of grandchildren.

This is ALWAYS a reason to celebrate, so please join me now as I welcome little Jack.

Now we can only hope that his Big Sister, Samantha, appreciates him as much as her mother did HER brother.

Sunday Night Funnies

The Urban Acrobatics videos are becoming daily more prevelant. Some of them are excellent. This one has a "theme" .... The Chase, from Bore Me dot Com.

Here's one without the theme. Note: background lyrics not 'work friendly'.

Think deoderants are boring?

In case there is any computer-owner in the Western Hemisphere who hasn't yet seen the Diet Coke and Mentos Experiments .....

More leaping tall buildings in a single bound. I've seen this guy before. (lousy video quality, but still impressive.)

But if you don't know what you're doing, don't try this at home!

Of course, you can still get hurt just driving down the street, minding your own business. Watch the big red truck with the white, too-long trailer. Don't worry, we've got a fix for excess trailer length.

But remember, whether you enjoy the ride or not ... don't expect any sympathy from your mother.

It was technical service response calls like this that caused me to switch from AOL to ... almost anybody.

For those masochists among us, here is a 32 minute film featuring the 9/11 conspiracy theorist barking moonbat David Ray Griffin (9-24-2005).

Should you watch it? The moderator is Representative Cynthia McKinney of Georgia. Use your own judgement. (No, I couldn't get through it either.)

By the way, here is the Popular Mechanics refutation of the 9/11 conspiracy theories.

UPDATE: Omigawd! Somebody has a 1:21:50 video on the "9/11 Cover UP". (Also referenced as "Loose Change", for whatever reason.) I tried to watch it, but the video quality is to low to read the documents it purports to reference. (H/T Les Jones)

Colt CCO has some comments and reference to further refutations. In case it's necessary.

In keeping with the 'shooting sports' theme of this blog, here is the redoubtable Beer Cannon.
(More Beer Cannon videos are available at the same You Tube webpage.)

And a guy letting someone shoot the bottle off his head --- Shades of William Tell ( William Tell Overture not included.)

Here is a video of a guy who took a photograph of himself every day -- for six years.

How about Street Magic? You like Criss Angel? Here's his Half A Woman illusion, where he has two women pull another woman into two parts on a park bench. Pretty scarey.

Here is a 21-minute video on Criss Angel illusions. An excellent showman. Once.

Sure wish I could play pool like this kid.

Videos are a blast, aren't they?

USPSA: Mike McCarter for President!

At a club match last weekend (September 8, 2006), Michael "Mac" McCarter announced his intention to run for the position of USPSA President in the next election.

Through the years which represent the lifespan of this blog, I have often lauded the merits of Mike "Mac" McCarter.

Mac is currently the Section Coordinator of the Columbia Cascade Section, is the past president of my home club (Albany Rifle and Pistol Club ... ARPC), and is currently the "IPSC Coordinator" of ARPC.

While holding these and other local offices, he has:

• Dragged ARPC from the muck-and-mire of the least-regarded club in the section to what is arguably the best club in the section;
• Improved ARPC's physical assets to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars of improvements for competitive pistol shooting, without taking one thin dime from the other disciplines at the club;
• Established standards of competition which have served, by example, to benefit the entire section;
• Brought two USPSA National Matches and two Area 1 matches to the Section within the past four years of his tenure (this in a section which had NEVER BEFORE hosted a level-III competition;
• Started an aggressive USPSA Junior program, finding sponsors and recruiting participants, so that today Juniors may participate in Level-III National Competitions at little or no cost to their families, thus helping to ensure the continuation of IPSC competition in USPSA to the next generation;
  
• Been the subject, or a proment person, in many USPSA Front Sight articles (I know, I wrote one or two of them);
• Made the Columbia Cascade Section one of the most active, vibrant and productive Sections of USPSA.

For the past year, I have suggested to, and encouraged Mac to run for the office of USPSA President. He has had little comment since then, and in fact seemed embarassed by the suggestion.

No more. He has announced his candidacy, and to my way of thinking this is an encouraging sign that USPSA is still a viable competitive entity.

USPSA has elected 'place-holders' for most of its existance. Ever since Colonel Jeff Cooper left office, our leadership has been adequate, competent, almost appropriate ... but not charismatic.

No more. We NEED a Leader.

Mike McCarter is definately a Leader.

For the past ten years, USPSA has struggled to retain the level of membership it had when new preidents came into office. Presidential leadership has evinced the priority of NOT losing more members than it attracted. Only in the past year ... of an eight-year presidency ... has membership increased to the point where USPSA was willing to boast of increased membership.

In the meantime, membership in the Columbia Cascade Section has increased such that it represents a significant portion of the USPSA membership. From year to year, some sections increawse membership while others lose membership. On the average, CCS has not only maintained its average number of members, but has increased it. More, these new members are juniors and their families, which suggests that the new members are more likely (especially in view of the available sponsorship) to be retained.

I submit that Mac McCarter is the most viable USPSA Presidential Candidate that we have seen for the effective life of this organization.

And when the ballots are sent out, in a year or two, I encourage all USPSA members to remember that Mac represents the hope of us all that USPSA will endure for the benefit of our sons and daughters in Competitive Shooting Sports for the future.

It's news, but it's not NEW news!

Today we present a special issue of Cogito Ergo Geek. We once called it "BlogMeat", but we over-used tha termt. For this single occasion, representing "The Night When The Geek Woke Up In The Middle Of The Night And Couldn't Get Back To Sleep, And Looked Up Old Blog Entries Out Of Sheer Boredom", we'll take a look at Gun Blog entries going back in time.

As an added bonus, this allows me to renew links to some of my favorite firearms-related websites, as reflected on my sidebar.

First, let's look at a Tucker Carlson interview with a Brady Campaign to Prevent Handgun Violence (formerly Handgun Contro, Inc.) lawyer discussing Indiana's revision to Concealed Carry laws. Indiana voted to issue Concealed Carry licences "for life" rather than require renewal every four years. The Brady Bunch objected, and Carlson called the Brady representative "unprepared" when she couldn't cite statistics on the number of Indiana CCW licensees who have been arrested for violent gun crimes. Read the show transcript here; search for "Brady" to find the applicable segment. (Show date July 6, 2006. H/T Packing.Org)


NEXT:

From Xavier Thoughts, a July 19, 2006 segment showing a male teenager who seems to break every rule of gunhandling safety while sitting at his kitchen table . The big Accidental Discharge sounds bogus to me ... and to others. Also, while he (the "Idiot With Guns #41") racks the slide of what looks like a very old Colt 1911, the hammer doesn't appear (to me) to have actually remained cocked. In short, while it illustrates the violation of basic safety rules, the entire filmstrip appears contrived. But don't take my word for it, go see for yourself.
H/T The Ninth Stage. (The link is at the bottom of the page, as of this writing.)

NEXT:

As long as I'm mentioning The Brady Bunch, allow me to gloat one more time in referencing their premature announcement on August 24, 2006,that the California state senate passed the egregious AB 352.

As I wrote on September 07, 2006, this impossible dream collapsed with the surprisingly realistic appreciation that enforcement of this law would be hugely expensive, completely ineffective, and was ultimately nothing more than the imposition of economic burdens on legitimate firearms owners in a thinly disguised end-run around the Second Amendment to establish ipso facto gun control. So ... Stamp THIS!, Brady!

FINALLY:

Here's a difficult subject, based on a September 5, 2006 editorial in the New York Times.

(This link may not work for you, unless you are an on-line subscriber to the NYT. It didn't really work for me, even though I signed up for the free subscription. After the day when it appears, an article is archived by the NYT and you can't see the full text of the article without buying it. I'm not inclined to pay $4.95 to read a single article in the NYT, or even to read the whole thing 365 days a year. If you are willing to buy the article, please send it to me and I will include it where it can be read for free by others.)

The article is entitled:

Editorial Observer; Once a Progressive State, Minnesota Is Now a Fief of the N.R.A.

It concerns the "Shall Issue" Concealed Carry law that Minnesota passed last year. Basically, the author ("VERLYN KLINKENBORG") is against it.

Gun-Pro Progressive, a Maryland gun-blogger, fisked the article in NYT Editorial–How Out of Touch Can You Be?, and I was entirely impressed by the logical approach to these falacious anti-gun arguments. (Click here to read his justifacation for being a pro-gun progressive ... a fascinating read.)

If you don't care to read the whole article, here are a few of the comments. Maybe they will convince you that it's worth your time:

But to me, owning guns and knowing how to use them properly was part of a civic bargain. I would leave the police work to the police, and they would leave the squirrel hunting to me. The notion that 38 states would have “concealed carry” laws in 2006 would have seemed insane, a regression to a more primitive idea of who we are.

Being able to defend yourself is not taking police work away from the police. It is NOT the police department’s job to provide for your safety as you go about your daily business. That’s well established caselaw, something Verlyn seems to have missed. See Castle Rock, CO. vs Gonzales.

Seems he’s missed that actually 40+ states allow private citizens to carry. You’d think if allowing CCW permits led to bedlam and mayhem and a “regression to a more primitive” state of affairs, you’d have heard about it by now. It’s amazing to me people like Verlyn can look at a map of the United States, and see state after state where the passage of Shall Issue laws has been a complete non-event (no blood in the streets, no anarchy, no OK-Corral-On-Every-Corner scenarios), and not realize that they’re barking up the wrong tree. It’s as though they’re thinking “well it didn’t cause hell on earth in the first thirty-odd states that went Shall Issue…but it’s going to happen soon! Really!”

Actually, it's 48 states, as I mentioned last March.

The editorial writer mentions several other issues which are central to the gun-control frantic efforts to obfuscate the issue:

"The application for a concealed-weapon permit appears to have been created by people who believe the real threat in carrying a gun is the loss of privacy entailed in filling out the form. Yet it isn’t possible for a member of the public to find out who has received a permit and may, in fact, be packing heat."

This isn't just a "privacy Issue" as Pro-Gun Progressive argues. It's also a safety issue.
A few years ago I wrote (not on this forum) about a lady friend of mine who lives and works in Portland, Oregon. She lives in the suburbs, so she drives her car to a light-rail nexus and takes the train to work. While waiting for her morning train one cold winter morning, she was approached by a group of yobs who started their typical aggressive intimidating cant about how she should give up her purse because they needed the money in her purse more than she did. Cold and frightened, she put her hands in the pockets of her overcoat.

The yobs were immediately intimidated. The "Shall Issue" bill had recently been passed in Oregon, and the yobs knew that she could legally carry a firearms in self-defense. They accused her of having a firearm in her hand, and cursed her vigorously. But they retreated, and never threatened her again.

She had been 'tagged', in their mind, as a person who was a 'non-victim'.

The great value of "shall issue" laws is not that it allows people to carry concealed firearms, but that the yobs of the world don't know who is a non-victim. Perhaps this is an unintended consequence of these acknowledgements of an individual's right to self defense, but it is one that may act to the benefit of even those who falaciously believe that police are their first line of defense against criminal aggression.

But there’s a bigger problem. By focusing so obsessively on an individual’s rights — in this case, the purported individual right to bear arms in the library — all other rights are shoved aside. Police departments are forced to grant concealed-weapon permits to individuals who have almost none of the training and certainly none of the restrictions that police officers have.

Heaven forfend we be a little concerned about individual rights (this is why an old lefty like me hates anti-gunner nonsense so much–rightfully so, we make a lot of hay about George Bush’s NSA program invading our privacy and ignoring our individual rights, we want invidual choice when it comes to abortion, gay marriage, religion, free speech, you name it…but not when it comes to protecting your own life). What rights are being shoved aside? You don’t have a right to insist that I can’t protect myself.

And he uses the old canard, that we’re not trained properly.

Training.

What is it good for?

It's good for a lot, if you're going to use a firearm ... let alone carry one.

The idea that police officers are poorly trained, underpaid bureaucrats who spend their on-duty hours eating donuts and harrassing hookers has been with us for far too long. I personally know a number of LEOs who work hard at gun-handling skills and are some of the most daunting IPSC competitors in the area. (I also know some whose gun-handling skills are nearly non-existant, and who frighten me whenever I share a range with them, and a few of them are members of what passes for S.W.A.T. teams locally.)

There are two points here:

One is that the police are not obligated to protect you from aggressive criminals. You're on your own, Pal, and if you don't want to be mugged, raped and murdered it behooves you to learn how to protect yourself in the best way that seems possible.

The other is that not ALL police officers, perhaps not even the majority, are incompetent when it comes to shooting. As long as a significent number of LEOs consider firearms profeciency to be, for whatever reason (self-defense, job competence or even casual firearms competition), a priority ... all those who know that competent shooters are on The Force may serve to dissuade the yobs from challenging them in the field. This is A Good Thing for civilization.

I think that local police agencies are making a big mistake by not publicizing the competitive accomplishments of their LEOs, and it seems a likely subject for a future post. If everyone knew that Officer Krupki was a Grand Master shooter, the yobs would be praying that the next time they mug a person ... the responding officer would not be Officer Krupski.

UPDATE: September 21, 2006
I've been given a copy of the original NYT article, and I've posted it for your consideration here.

Colonel Cooper

I don't know if there are any other blogs which are devoted almost entirely to IPSC/USPSA competition, so I feel an obligation to inform you of the most current news regarding Colonel Jeff Cooper.

He is currently suffering from a severe physical infirmity, a problem with his back, which has precluded almost all physical activity, including the addition of more Cooper Commentaries.

We hope that he will recover and continue guiding us in, among other subjects, The Way A Man Should Live.

We (not the 'Editorial We', but you and I) join Xavier Thoughts in wishing The Colonel a speedy recovery, but I must warn you that it doesn't look good. When a man of such seniority is confined to his bed, it requires a strong constitution for medical assistance to offer relief.

You can find the latest report on the Cooper's Commentaries page.

This makes me particularly grateful to Dillon Precision, which provided reprints Cooper's two-volume set of the Gargantuan Gunsight Gossip, of which I have spoken in previous articles and which I am still reading; slowly, and carefully.

No, I still don't agree with everything he says. But I still admire the way in which he says it.

Colonel Cooper is the Father of IPSC, in every sense of the term.

Whew!

Here's a big "Whew!" for terrorists, and those who fight them.

ABC News "The Blotter" has an article about testing which is being conducted to determine the effectiveness of anti-carbomb barriers and anti-penetration materials for buildings.

You really need to read the article to understand what you're seeing, and it has links to all of the short crash-dummy tests. But they have ALL of the tests on a single film, which you can see here. (2:29 minutes. Ignore the short commercial film at the beginning.)

Also;

From my friend Bob H., I received a film which demonstrates the awesome power of the .50 BMG in the hands of an American sniper.

Here's the text which Bob sent to explain it:

These are some examples of the fight in Afghanistan.. These video shots are not made through the shooter's telescopic sight... they are made looking through the spotter's scope. The spotter lies right next to the sniper and helps the sniper to find and home in on the target.

The sniper is using a 50 caliber rifle. A 50 cal. round is about 7-8 inches long and the casing is about an inch in diameter. The bullet itself is one-half inch in diameter and roughly one and one-half inches long. Pay close attention to the beginning of the video. A Taliban is laying on top of the peak in front of you... when you hear the! shot fired... watch what happens.

The sniper is also about a half mile away... or more. It is not known if the sniper team is Marine or Army.

You can download the film here (2.32 mb WMV-format movie).

A broadband connection is recommended to watch any of these videos.

A strong stomach is recommended to watch the sniper video.
You won't believe the "Hang Time".

Crazy Croc Match Results

You didn't win.

http://www.columbia-cascade.org/Special%20Events/ccs_championships.htm

Read "The Ten Ring"

I've been reading "The Ten Ring" for some time now, because it's a well-written Gun Blog and because it often presents articles which are of interest to me.

I usually go to it from Michael Bane's Shooting Gallery, because I spend a lot of time there both writing and reading the other folks Michael has linked to.

Tonite I was reading an especially fascinating Ten Ring article about 'Another Hysterical "Gun Owner"', and it occured to me that as often as I read this blog .... maybe you don't!


Sure, the blog frequently includes articles that don't interest me.

I'm pretty sure that Denise and Sam don't get much out of my IPSC-related articles, either. They don't shoot the sport, and my articles on The Croc Match (for example) probably don't float their boat.

But they spend a lot of time on RKBA subjects, and that does interest me.

You may not spend much time on the Bane Shooting Gallery website (though you'd be a damn fool not to), so I've not only written this article to draw your attention to the, I've also added them to my sidebar under "Places I Recommend".

I strongly encourage you to go check them out.

Heck, they may even add ME to THEIR sidebar!

Stamp THIS!

CA Legislative Info and Contact Tools


Microstamping ammunition in Kalifornia (AB 352) has been defeated!

(GIF courtesy of NRA Members' Council of California)


You may recall that California tried this kind of Closet Gun Control before ... last year, and it took a year to defeat it in the Senate. I blogged about it April 27, 2005, June 5, 2005, June 8, 2005, and June 12, 2005.


In the June 12, 2005 article I said:

Another bill, AB352 (not previously mentioned here), would require that new firearms sold in California after a certain date would automatically stamp each cartridge case with the serial number unique to this firearm. Parenthetically, we should note that this constitutes ipso facto registration of every new pistol sold in California, because the purported purpose of this measure is to aid in criminal investigations whenever a firearm is used in the commission of a crime.

In order for "... (automatic stamping of) ... each cartridge case with the serial number unique to this firearm..." to be effective, ALL applicable firearms must be registered.

So much for the 2nd amendment.

This may not, in retrospect, be completely clear.

If you (a Law Enforcement Officer) happen upon a scene where an ejected case is found, you may discover that the case is indeed stamped with "... the serial number unique to this firearm..."

This is of little value without being able to tie the serial number of the firearm to the owner. The only way to do this is to require that each firearm be registered.

This means the firearm must be registered, and the logical extention is that when registration is legally required, confiscation cannot be far behind. California has proved that logical extention when it first required registration of "assault weapons", then (California's Attorney General Bill Lockyer) used that same registration list to enforce confiscation ... without compensation, if you recall.

Fortunately, AB 352 has (as of August 31, 2006) FINALLY been voted down. It's difficult to imagine how an illegal gun-control law could fail in Kalifornia, but it has, and that's A Good Thing.

Jim Shepherd in "The Outdoor Wire", (my favorite online Shooting Community Information Resource; subscribe here), has the story:

The California legislature has failed to pass the "MicroStamp" legislature reported last week in The Shooting Wire. As introduced, AB 352 would have led to significant price increases for consumers on all firearms, with the Attorney General of California then having the right to require serialization of all ammunition.

Micro stamping would have made it difficult to sell firearms in California; serialization would have ended sales as all firearms and ammunition manufacturers agree that while micro stamping would have been difficult, serialization would have been downright impossible.

Despite the failure of the measure, it is another example of the measures anti-firearms legislators are willing to take in their campaign to remove firearms from legal owners in California. Micro stamping, the heart and supposed intent of the bill would have forced manufacturers to use a patented process available from a single manufacturer. Legal experts tell us that fact could have formed the basis for a stay of the bill. Neither did the fact that micro stamping was being mis-applied in this supposed application. Micro stamping has proven effective in identifying tiny computer components, but it was not designed to turn the firing pins of every firearm into a tiny stamping machine, pounding the model, serial number and manufacturer of the firearm into every shell casing.

The damming fact about the legislation's intent, however, wasn't in any of the hard facts, but the soft actions taken to "slip in" language permitting the Attorney General to require serialization of all ammunition sold in California "at a future date." That brought a collaborative campaign against AB 352 by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), National Rifle Association, California Association of Firearms Retailers and the California Rifle and Pistol Association.

"We could not be more pleased with the outcome of this vote," said Lawrence G. Keane, senior vice president and general counsel for the NSSF, "this legislation would not only have forced an unproven and costly technology upon both firearms consumers and taxpayers, but it would have allowed for the banning of all ammunition in California."

Micro stamping and ammo serialization opposition was not limited to the industry. Major law enforcement and taxation opponents also opposed AB 352 as price increases of as much as $150 per gun were projected for consumers and all taxpayers would have paid for micro stamping on law enforcement firearms.

"We have always said that further research into microstamping, like the study currently being conducted at the University of California, Davis, would be necessary before the legislature considers mandating this very dubious technology," added Keane. "By defeating AB 352, the California Assembly passed a measure of common sense."

That study not withstanding, micro stamping had also been proven by independent research to be easily defeated by either using common household tools to remove the stamping surface from original firing pins on weapons or by simply using a replacement firing pin and removing the original.

While the defeat of AB 352 may be passage of a measure of common sense, the preponderance of evidence from California may indicate that common sense will only prevail until the next effort to ban firearms.

We'll keep you posted.

--- Jim Shepherd

You may remember that I talked last year about Kalifornia's SB 357, which proposed that all ammunition sold in that state be pre-stamped with a serial number which would allow the identification of each round by manufacturer and even the individual box ... which would presumably identify the original purchaser.

You may also remember that I said it would increase the price of ammunition ten-fold, without producing the proposed benefit of identifying criminals by the ammunition left behind.

If you don't remember, or weren't aware of the controversy at that time, I urge you to go to the links published above and relive those sterling days of yesteryear when Kalifornia's Korrupt Kongresspersons started their end-run to use phoney Crime Control laws to generate Economic hardship on legitimate gunowner.

Their end purpose was Gun Control, and the curtailment of Constitutionally guaranteed rights.

These people don't have the Good of The People in mind, folks. They don't want to solve crime. They couldn't care less about criminals. They will always, eventually, catch the Gypsies Tramps and Thieves.

They want to disarm the people who elected them. They want to control you.

They're afraid of you, because you have the ultimate means to curtail governmental corruption.

Any politician who votes for gun control does NOT have your best interests at heart. He wants to enslave you, for his own benefit.

And the politicians who tell you different?

They're the worst of the lot.

Use YOUR vote to kick the blackguards out of office. You don't need to be politically savvy. All you need to do is review their public record on Gun Control Issues.

If they vote for Gun Control, they vote against you. All other issues are just background.

UPDATE: September 11, 2006

An August 25, 2006 article in CNSNEWS.COM ("Gun 'microstamping' bill passes California Senate") ... obviously written before the final vote ... has more information on the bill.

It's frightening to see how close this transparent effort to effect gun control in California came to becoming the law of the land.

Just one more reason for me to be thankful that I moved back to Oregon from California back in 1976,

H/T - Front Sight, Press

Black Beauty Is Dead

Colt!

The very name evokes imagery. A new-born stallion racing with the wind, Ferrari's rampant horse icon, and that of the Colt Firearms Company of Hartford, Connecticut!

Well, nobody has read "Black Beauty" for 20 years. Enzo Ferarri is dead, and so is Colt Firearms Company of Hartford, Connecticut.


Between the Single Action Army, and the Browning 1911, Colt managed for generations to sell every firearm they designed and produced. The phrase "Colt Legendary Quality" was well earned, as the fit and finish of Colt firearms were evidence of the craftsmanship of the near-unique production values of this famous company. Sons followed fathers into the factory, and took pride in their efforts to create the finest production firearms of their times.

The 1980's were the watershed for Colt. In 1984, when the U.S. Military replaced the 1911 with the egregious Beretta 92 as the standard-issue military sidearm, Colt (having largely ignored the civilian market, with the possible exception of small-niche revolvers) found itself a producer looking for a market.

Colt Firearms suffered a schizophrenic personality split, being divided between the "Colt Defense" military/leo/Private Security market and the lackadaisical "Civilian" market represented by Colt's Manufacturing Company LLC.

Somewhere between way-back-when and now, their union workers went on a wage-strike that lasted for four years. Colt hired unskilled workers to fill current orders, and the "Legendary Colt Quality" went straight down the tube. Eventually even their contracts for military firearms (such as the AR-16) went to foreign competitors.

The company tried to improve its relationship with the civilian market, but the lack of quality (and the misunderstanding of what their potential customers wanted) produced even more guns without a cause, and the few customers they had were even more disappointed with the quality.

The '90s were marked by another bankruptcy, somewhat mirroring that which the company had survived in the 19th century.

Colt sold to "Foreign Interests", which had no understanding at all of the American gun market. The new owners, eager to curry favor with the existing Clinton Administration, made public statements in favor of gun control. The American market for Colt firearms completely dried up in protest; the only mitigating factor was that the (foreign) owners of S&W made similar public statements. This did not actually relieve Colt's profitless misery, but perhaps it did help to spread the blame if only because S&W's 2000 official, formal accession to the Clinton White House coersion to require (S&W) dealers to accomodate extensive and intrusive Gun Control measures which impacted ALL of their trading, not only those which involved firearms obtained from the (S&W) manufacturer. For example S&W dealers might be proscribed from selling at gun shows.

This anti-gun movement was, of course, fueled by the gun control zealots who resorted to lies in their effort to demonize guns. But here we saw the very people who built the guns supporting those who would undermine their business and their customers' ability to buy their product.

Their customers reacted with acrimonious market boycots.

Where are we now?

Who knows?

One thing is for sure: Colt is looking for a sugar daddy.

According to Jim Shepherd of "The Shooting Wire" (unfortunately, an article available only to subscribers and not available as an independent Internet link), one possible buyer of Colt's Manufacturing Company LLC might have been STI:

Other stories, including the sale of Colt, have dragged on longer than the Florida elections. Today, there's still no definitive resolution to the saga. An arbitrarily high valuation of the civilian side of the business ended that outright sale option in the Colt soap opera.

STI, the company that was ready to buy the civilian operation, has moved on, announcing upcoming production of a single-action revolver called the Texican. It will be aimed at the upper echelon cowboy action competitors, following the same model that has made STI's "race guns" major players in practical shooting.

With a highly successful, manufacturing-oriented business model, STI may, indeed, make a dent in the cowboy market - especially if STI contributes bonus money to cowboy action the way it has in practical shooting. The Texican may find its way into the holsters of the new generation of single-action shooters, despite the fact SASS has continually shied away from the idea of "win money" and sponsorships. STI's move into cowboy action may lead to the recognition that professional shooters exist in cowboy action.

(Link to the "Texican" is mine; it does not provide any "Texican" content, only a reference to its perhaps-future into STI's "Legacy" line of products.)

How 'dead' is Colt?

It's so dead, it hasn't even the organization needed to sell body parts.

If Black Beauty (to invent a parallel) can't even be sold to a glue-factory, that would be unfortunate. That Colt's Manufacturing Company LLC can't be sold to a solid, reputable and prosperous company like STI, which would certainly produce a resurrection 'in a manner reminiscent to Lazarus', is a sad commentary on the Firearms Industry in America today.

Crocodile Hunter Zero - Stingray One

Crocodile Hunter Stever Erwin died (news release September 4, 2006) while filming in the ocean off the Great Barrier Reef.

He apparently approached a Stingray too close, frightening it. The Stingray flipped its tail up, under his ribcage and into his heart.

He was DOA at the mainland.

Erwin is best known for a 2004 incident in which he held his infant son in his arms while feeding ('taunting'?) a crocodile.

Erwin was 44, and is survived by his wife and children, including (apparently) his four-year-old son.

If there is any justice here, it is in that he was survived by the son who was part of his actions which attracted international approbation.

Michael Jackson Take Note.

USPSA Website Member Area Password

For those of you who didn't notice, the "Members' Area" website has been assigned a new Username and password.

According to Rob Boudrie in the Brian Enos Forum:

The old and new password will work concurrently for at least a month or three.

The reason we change the username and password, rather than just the password, is to allow an overlap. We can have multiple username/password pairs, but only one password per username.

I hadn't noticed this. If you haven't either, I encourage you to drag out your September/October 2006 "Front Sight" magazine (Volume 23, Number 5) and look at the very bottom two lines in the center column of Page 1 to get the new "Username" and "Password".

No, I'm not going to give it to you here. This website is open to everyone, not just USPSA members. Changing a secured (or even 'private') website password from time to time is "A Good Thing". I wouldn't presume to compromise USPSA's security measures.

USPSA Presidential Election

According to my Geekish Spidey-Sense (and the USPSA By-Laws), we in the United States Practical Shooting Association are soon to begin the process of electing a new President.


I remember the Presidential Debate which took place at the 1999 Limited Nationals in Las Vegas, Nevada. Michael Voigt was the winning candidate, and he is completing his second term in office.

According to the USPSA By-Laws, the president is elected for a four-year term of office ... which suggests that campaining should begin next year (2007) and the new President should take office in the following year (2007).

ARTICLE 6 - ELECTION OF PRESIDENT AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS: 6.1 The President:

The President shall:

i.) be elected by vote of the individual membership, one vote per member,

ii.) be elected for a term of four years,

iii.) take office on January first following the year of his election,

iv.) serve until his successor is elected and takes office,

v.) be a resident of the United States Region, and

vi.) be Life Member to hold office.

Therefore, by my figuing, we should be looking at a new campaign season in 2007, with the elected president to take office in 2008.

It's not too soon for us to begin thinking about what we want in a new USPSA president. I haven't been thinking about this for too long, so the following list may be a little thin, but it seems to me that the criteria for a new president should include the following (Note that when I speak of "He/Him/His", I do so in the general sense of gender-nonspecificity; I'm certainly not suggesting that a female candidate would be less qualified, and if one should be proposed the future discussions would use the pronouns "She/Her/Hers"):

• The goal of a president should be the advancement and improvement of 'Practical Pistol' (and by extention 'Practical Firearm') competition within the United States of America Region of IPSC.
• Personal/Professional advancement or aggrandizement should not be a reason for his candidacy.
• Candidates should be able to identify and define specific goals which would lead to the advancement of USPSA competition and the organization.
• Milestones and timelines (eg: establish active programs to recruit juniors should result in the increase of membership by x number of new junior competitors by 20**) should be identified and should be a reasonable goal.
• Specific steps to achieve these goals should be defined.
• One of the primary planks in the candidate platform should be a determination to establish and fund new marketting efforts.
• Candidates should be able to define "growth" activities without reference to "creating new competitive Divisions" to "attract new shooters whose (gun, magazines, caliber, etc.) have not yet been separately been acknowledged". We already have so many divisions it is almost impossible to field sufficient competitors in the 'niche' divisions to justify distributing awards. The goal should be to encourage more mainstream shooters, not to diversify to the point of absurdity ... which we may already have done.
• The relationship between IPSC and USPSA has (tentatively) been re-defined to allow USPSA to maintain IPSC Regional certification without ignoring traditional values and legal restrictions in USPSA. The next president should be able to start with this concept and establish a formal relationship without conceding valued USPSA priorities.

Some of the planks I've mentioned may not seem important to you as an USPSA member. Others may not be clear, because I haven't done a good job of defining them.

There may be other planks which you think are important indicators of a viable candidate for USPSA president, but I haven't mentioned.

If any of these situations define your priorities, I encourage you to comment here. The goal is to achieve a consensus of what a viable candidate for USPSA President should look like BEFORE we begin to evaluate the resumes of the candidates.

Also, this may be a good start for candidates to consider what the 'hot button' issues of this election may be, and begin to consider how their own priorities fit with the General Membership.

I know this isn't a "forum" context, as it doesn't really allow for full comentary. However, you may choose to take this concept to another website (such as the USPSA Forum or the Brian Enos Forum) and discuss it there.

You will note that I haven't even mentioned competition rules. It is my expectation that a presidential candidate who meets the criteria already mentioned will also be able and willing to negotiate a reasonable next-version of the USPSA Rule Book with IPSC, to the satisfaction of all concerned parties.

Don't agree?

Tell me why!

PS: I don't want this to sound like a criticism of the tenure of Michael Voigt. He has served honorably and productively for two terms, and among his many accomplishments are both the glastnost ("openness) and perestroika ("restructuring") between IPSC and USPSA.

NB:
I apologise for appearing to suggest a similarity of relations between IPSC and USPSA with those between the "World Community" and USSR. The situations are not similar, but the terminology is remarkably appropriate even though the sociological / political division was much more pronounced for the USSR.

Dean Speir

I received an email from Dean Speirs, who wrote the articles (in The Gun Zone) which inspired the KaBOOM! article.

His comments were pungent (and I mean this in the very nicest sense), to the point, and informative.

In subsequent exchanges, he gave me his permission to reprint his email, which I do here in grateful appreciation.

Well, I must say... and well, again!

A friend found your Jerry-the-Geek KaBoom piece and passed along the link. My blushes!

Coupla comments on that particular blog entry:

1. Gawd!, I wish I'd written "the tendencies of nervous, high-strung or over-stressed pistols to blow up during shooting," so I will add it to the kB! FAQ page somewhere with a (wholly self-serving) cite and link to your blog.
2. Minor erratum:
   

   We saw that in the John Wayne western movie Rio Lobo, essentially a 1970 remake of the 1966 Wayne Western El Dorado

   Delve a tad deeper into IMDb, Brasshopper, and you will learn that both Westerns were very directly remakes of 1959's Rio Bravo, all three being written by Leigh Brackett, directed by Howard Hawks, and starring Wayne.
   
   And if you ever wanna see a more modern "plugged barrel KaBOOM!," rent a copy of The Girl Hunters, in which Mickey Spillane plays his own detective creation!
3. Under the heading of "I was there and I'm surprised that you weren't:"
   

   The KaBOOM! factor was never important until some daring young man (probably Brian Enos) realized that the all-but-forgotten .38 Super cartridge could be used in a pistol which had higher magazine capacity

   I'm shocked... shocked, I tell you... that you don't know that the real culprit here was one Michael McCormick. He was the one who really pioneered the .38 Super in IPSC and almost single-handedly brought beards into vogue on the shooting fields of USPSA. "Chip" was the only one I saw at World Shoot VI in '83 shooting Super. I've since been informed that their may have been one other, but aside from a couple of Europeans shooting "Minor Nine," everyone else I saw was shooting .45 ACP. Chip finished 15th as I recollect, and seven months later, when I was at Steel Challenge, Super had been discovered in a huge way! (Yeah, I know... different power factors factor into this issue.)
4. Continuing in that section:
   

   ...but with a longer cartridge case it had the capacity to legally "make major" ... if loaded with MORE POWDER and which avoided the IPSC rule relegating 9x19 cartridges as "minor power".)

   Now this is very definitely your realm, not mine, but wasn't the "If the headstamp sez 'Luger' or 'Parabellum,' then it's minor!" rule instituted circa '89 or '90, long after hoisted the Super flag?
5. Persevering:
   

   At about the same time, they discovered compensators.

   Again I demur... I'm going up on the name of the South African shooter who actually got the ball rolling at the moment, but the shooter who (again I'll use the word) "pioneered" compensated guns here was Mike Plaxco, and that was circa 1981. WS VI two years later was still ruled by five-inch guns, however.
6. You're getting pretty far afield when you get to the Glock stuff, but then perhaps I'm being "too critical here." But you do have a factual error or three there, mostly in the model designations. But then that'll just allow the Glock Flock to dismiss you as a crank.
   
   Just remember this: Gaston's sole motivation to entering the .40 S&W market was a big "neener neener neener" to Smith & Wesson.
7. Glock has yet to adequately address the "not fully supported caseheads" problem.

I'll sign off here before you go on the nod.

Thanks for the kind words and the links.

If you're ever at a SHOT Show, I'll stand the first round... the second and third as well if Bane continues buying with his usual reckless abandon!

• Dean Speir <DeanSpeir@thegunzone.com>

«-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-»
Formerly Famous Gunwriter / The Gun Zone Maintainer

http://www.thegunzone.com

Annual Review

August, in Geekistan, is the month where we are encouraged to provide input to our Annual Review.

Since my boss has no clue what I do from day to day in the Professional Computer Geek Community, there are a series of categories in which I must Score Highly to achieve a salary increase. Among these are "User Support" and "Initiative". (More on this in a minute.)

I'm already overpaid for doing the thing that I like to do, which makes me a happy feller, so my contribution to this process is probably at the Underachiever level. I don't care. I have enough money to pay my bills and load ammunition for the next club match, and pay match fees. I plan to work until I die, so in happy grasshopper fashion I don't worry all that much about planning for my retirement. Social Security and my Pension, it says in my annual reports, will provide me almost as much money as I spend on rent today. So I'll go live under a bridge, just me and SWMBO and our XL650, and we'll live as long as we live.

Some people, though, seem to have problems.

For example, here's a story of an English Postman, who either got tired of carrying around a bunch of Dead Trees for not discernible reason, or thought his customers (the junk-mail receiving people on his postal route) may not enjoy receiving junk mail any more than he enjoyed delivering it.

At his own expense, and on his own initiative, he had some flyers printed up describing the procedure they could follow if they did not want unsolicited solicitations delivered to their mailslots.

Sounds like Customer Service, right?

But according to his employer (the Royal Mail) has suspended him pending an investigation.

A Royal Mail spokesman said that the Door-to-Door scheme was vital for the company's ability to compete on an equal footing with other delivery organisations. The company delivers a quarter of Britain's unaddressed mail. The spokesman said that the deliveries provided a much-needed service to small businesses and consumers.

Apparently, the British equivalent of UPS and Fed-Ex (which, come to think of it, are probably UPS and FedEx) are such strong competitors for delivery service, the Royal Mail is reduced to Doing The Job That Englishmen Won't Do ... delivering junk. And anyone who undermines that essential function may freely be considered a traitor to The Service.

I hear you saying: "It's The Economy, Stupid!"

Yeah, right. As a "customer" of the U.S. Postal Service, I could do with a whole lot less Dead Trees (Safeway flyers and offers to increase my manhood. Oh wait, that's Email Spam, right?) which go into the ashcan before I unlock my front door.

---------------------

Here's another one, a lot closer to home:

The Firefighting Industry in Idaho must be experiencing a market-slump, because ...

SALMON, Idaho -- A federal firefighter accused of persuading a friend to set a brush fire on the city's outskirts has been charged with conspiracy to commit arson.

Sounds reasonable to me.

If your business is Fighting Fires, and there are no Fires to Fight ... Hey! Demonstrate your initiative by inviting a friend to start a few fires in a worthless clump of brush. You and your cow-workers can Make Good Money and Start Your Own Business by fighting manufactured fires.

Seems reasonable to me. Good training, and that clump of sagebrush was probably just a forest fire waiting to happen anyway. Why not? Heck, they pay you the same whether you're fighting fires or just sitting around the Station House.

But do they give you crediti for Initiative.

NOOooooo!

They want to throw your fanny into the hoosegow. Does that seem fair to your?

Me either.

Of course, I don't live in Salmon, Idaho. If I did, I might have a different attitude. But I live in Oregon, so what do I care if Idaho changes it's State Motto from '"Esto perpetua" (which apparently means "May It Live Forever" ... don't ask me! Like you, I thought it was an American State) to "French Fries, Anyone"?

Excuse me: "Freedom Fries".

So, if you're a firefighter in Idaho, you don't get bonus points on your Annual Review for "Initiative". Seems anti-American to me, but maybe it has to do with the State Motto being a Spanish Saying. I don't know. I don't get paid for this stuff, I just cut&paste the quotes.

It seems to me as if the only way to get ahead is to completely ignore The Rules, which don't make sense to an ordinary man, and just ... do your own thing. Make up your own rules. Don't worry about your Annual Review, they're gonna slaughter you anyway. Might as well have it done under YOUR terms, right?

Here's a story about the Iraqi Army, which seems to be more of a "regional militia" than a "National Army".

These guys are perfectly content to live and work in their home state/province/county/parish (I don't know what they call their area, do you?) but feel that moving to another state/province/county/parish as their AOR (Area Of Responsibility) is just asking too much.

You can't blame them. They know what they signed up for. Maybe nobody else knows, but THEY do! They were asked to "defend the Home Front", and that's just what they're gonna do. That doesn't include fighting people they don't know to defend people they don't know. They're just going to ... literally ... defend their home. They may not have been drafted by their "Friends and Neighbors" (read: people they grew up with, and know personally) but they have a pretty good idea that if they were born in southern Maysan province and are later requested and required to go defend Baghdad .... you gotta ask yourself: "Do I Feel Lucky!"


I'm going to assign this one to the category: "Know and Support your Customer Base", and I'll give them an 8 out of 10 possible points for knowing what their job is and who their customers are.

Okay, that's not on the form.

But it oughta be,.

Croc Match Update

Administrivia, Match Director Announcements & match start time,
Registration Confirmation, (recent addition: links to match scores and photos)

I'll keep this on top of the Blog for a while, for your convenience.

Administrivia:

Entry Form (a PDF file)
Photos and Videos from 2005 Croc Match
Previous Geek Blog about the match.

There's a problem with the TeamCroc website, so the promised registratation confirmation didn't happen. You'll find it here effective (currently) August 24, 8:47pm PST.

Notes from the Match Director, Paul Meier:

Entry fee has been held to $65 for the match, sorry we couldn't get the word out faster.

Sat. morning check in from 8 am on, presentation address at 9 and shooting to follow. Sat. 5 stages with the last 3 left for Sun.

Wait until you see the shirts, they are outstanding. I have a limited number and everyone will want one. To start they are red polos and have a well you'll have to see them. This is the 10 th Anniversary so they are special! Since you know me I don't have to say any more.

Right now I have 96 shooters if everyone shows up. Next week is HELL week for a few of us to put every thing together.

(I don't have photos of the shirts, or I would include them here. Paul, are you listening?)

Registration Confirmation: 2006 Crazy Croc Shooters
(If your name is here, your match registration is confirmed. These are listed in the order in which the entries were received.)

UPDATE:
Since the match has long been completed, I have removed the competitor list from this article. Many people don't like to have their names posted on the Internet, and out of respect for their privacy I have returned to my usual policy of not identifying by full name those who are not 'public images' or who have not already acquired a certain amount of celebrity in other internet sources.

However, you can see the match results here, and visit my Video Shooting Gallery here to see some photos and videos of the match.

-- end of competitor list as of August 24, 2006 --

Brits lose another 'subject'

The Hobo Brasser sent me another one of those "Second Amendment Lists" today. I read it, nodded, thought briefly about blogging it and then thought again. Everybody who reads this blog has probably already read a copy by the time I get it, so why bother?

Then I read the article in the Times Online which suddenly put a whole new face on it.

First, here's the List:

FIREARMS REFRESHER COURSE

1. An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject.

2. A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone.

3. Gun Lock: The original point and 'click' interface.

4. Gun control is not about guns; it's about control.

5. If guns are outlawed, can we use swords?

6 If guns cause crime, then pencils cause misspelled words.

7. Free Men Do not ask permission to bear arms.

8. If you don't know your rights you don't have any.

9. Those who trade liberty for security have neither.

10. The United States Constitution (c) 1791. All Rights reserved.

11. What part of "shall not be infringed" do you not understand?

12. The Second Amendment is in place in case they ignore the others.

13. 64,999,987 firearms owners killed no one yesterday.

14. Guns only have two enemies: rust and liberals.

15. Know guns, know peace and safety. No guns, no peace nor safety.

16. You don't shoot to kill; you shoot to stay alive

17. 911 - government sponsored Dial-a-Prayer.

18. Assault is a behavior, not a device.

19. Criminals love gun control -- it makes their jobs safer.

20. If guns cause crime, then matches cause arson.

21. Only a government that is afraid of its citizens tries to control them.

22. You only have the rights you are willing to fight for.

23. Enforce the "Gun Control Laws" we have; don't make more.

24. When you remove the people's right to bear arms, you create slaves.

25. The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.

26. ".. A government of the people, by the people, for the people..."

Sounds familiar, right? Pretty much a no-brainer for you and me. Cleverly worded, but the message is one we've been hearing and voicing for years.

The link at the top (right-click on the article title) points to the article describing how an East Londoner was rewarded for his refusal to let the Goblins in his neighborhood intimidate him.

Last January he was assaulted by "a gang of youths" (we call them 'Goblins'; in London they call them "Yobs" and feel they are fueled by alcohol and lack of curfews!), who slashed his face and his neck with knives.

He called the police, gave them names and descriptions, and carefully bagged his blood-soaked clothes to the cops would have physical evidence.

The police did ... nothing.

His fiance' called the police EVERY DAY for five weeks after the assault, with the result that the police ignored them, failing even to come pick up the clothes.

This week, the Goblins came calling again. This time they had a gun. They shot him dead on his doorstep, in front of his fiance' and their three-year-old son.

The media finally got into the act, and raised enough of a ruckus that ... the police showed up. They picked up the bag of bloody clothes, which had been sitting in the victim's cupboard for SEVEN MONTHS. Then they went away again.

As of four days ago, the word was that the police were investigating.

The police are investigating their own handling of the original assault.

The fiance's father said:

"I think Peter would still be alive now if the police had acted earlier. We were told the police were overstretched. I said to them ‘Where in the pecking order is attempted murder?’ As far as I am concerned attempted murder is quite a serious thing."

I agree. I bet you agree, too.

Let me see; the Brits made private ownership of guns illegal, to 'combat crime'. Crime still occurred, so they outlawed knives, too.

In response, the Goblins attack this poor man with Knives. When it became clear that the victim wasn't going to yield to their intimidation, and understanding that the police weren't going to arrest them for using one illegal weapon, they used another illegal weapon to murder him.

Chances are they'll skate on the murder charge, too.

You're thinking I'm being too harsh on the police. You may change your mind when you read this paragraph in the article:

It was revealed today that a 14-year-old arrested over Mr Woodhams’ murder this week had also been held in connection with the earlier stabbing.

Still think I'm being too harsh? These police are 7,000 miles away from me, and at that distance I'm not capable of physically pointing a shaking finger in their faces and screaming "J'Accuse!" with spittle flying all over their neat bobby uniforms. Still those yo-yo's in blue are as responsible for that poor man's death as the "14-year old" child ... who the police had ALREADY pegged for another knife assault.

Why wasn't the victim allowed to arm himself, since he was an obvious target? You tell me.

I know what the stinking British Government says about their Unilateral Personal Disarmament.

But I keep thinking about the sad case of British farmer Tony Martin who killed a burglar and spent several years in prison over it. (During his trial, Martin asked what else should he have done when he was invaded in the dark of night by two criminals ... for the second time. The State said he should have "shouted for help". Martin at the time lived on an isolated 350 acre property, nobody could possibly have heard him. The police couldn't possibly have arrived in time to protect him if he had called them, and if they 'chose' to respond. The dead burglar's accomplice was arrested and spent 18 months in jail while Martin was sentenced to life in prison. The government gave the accomplice, who had 34 other offences on his record, 5,000 pounds to finance his civil lawsuit against Martin. Martin was finally released a couple of years ago, but he couldn't go home. He lives in hiding, with the full expectation that his life will be taken by other criminals as soon as they learn where he is. The police have no other way to protect him except to keep him in an 'unofficial prison' for the rest of his life ... which means until the police allow their own security to be breached. How hard can that be?)

The Brits have a shameful history of covering up their own ineptitude when investigating the murder of their subjects (not 'citizens' .... 'subjects' ... see Rule 1, above.) Two years ago, a white 15-year-old Glascow subject, Kriss Donald, was murdered by an Asian Gang. The police chose not to investigate it because it wouldn't be politically correct.

I cite these few cases ... there are literally thousands of them available ... to demonstrate the Hell On Earth that life has become for an honest man in a nation (a former EMPIRE!) gone mad with misguided social engineering.

Going back to the list, the rules hi-lited in red are only those which most directly apply to the East London victim's situation. In truth, all of them apply.

When we ignore these truths, as simple and trite as they seem, we leave ourselves as vulnerable as those poor British Subjects who are forced by their Socialist, Totalitarian government, under threat of lifetime incarceration, to trust their personal safety to the care of an uncaring, incompetent, intrenched bureaucracy.

There's one more thing I have to say, and then I'll go outside and kick the neighbor's cat:

12. The Second Amendment is in place in case they ignore the others.

Gargantuan Gunsite Gossip: V1 #2 1984

Do you remember that I mentioned earlier the problem with reading Jeff Cooper's GGG books?

Yeah, that's right.

There's so much "good stuff" in it you can't hope but bookmark it.

The problem is, you end up with bookmarks on every page. Any attempt to be 'more selective' is bound for disappointment. It's nearly impossible NOT to find memorable comments or essays on every page.

I know this is true. I tried.

Therefore, I'm going to present a few of the 'memorable' quotes here, and on future articles. I'll probably drop a quote or two here and there in blog articles which aren't obviously intended for the purpose too.

I don't do this to enlighten you, although that may happen.
I do this so I can get the toilet paper and kleenex bookmarks out of my book, so it closes the way it should.

Are you ready?

Okay here we GO-o-o-o-o-o-o!

Question: "What is the first principle of knife throwing in combat?"
Answer: "Don't."

Basic self-defense: when you have only one weapon, and it is designed for close-combat, don't throw it away by attempting to turn it into a missile-weapon. You probably aren't trained for or effective in that, and the weapon is certainly not designed for that.

But of course, Cooper said the same thing, but more efficiently and more poetically (if such a word can be implied.)

This is why we're quoting Cooper. The comments are just to separate the quotes.

To shrink from proffered violence is not only dishonorable but futile. Whenever a man, clan or nation makes a policy of submission to deadly threat, social order is consciously subordinated to evil. Thus, the only moral and effective response to a threat is the stop-thrust.

Now the Free World faces the terrible problem of the Iranian bomb-riders. Anywhere -- outside the Soviet Union or China -- an Iranian will blow you up, together with himself, if you do not do what his masters command. And anytime you yield to that command another will be forthcoming -- at whim. We cannot live with that. And we cannot just hope that it will go away.

What do you propose?

It's amazing that the things Cooper said TWELVE YEARS AGO are so pertinent to the world today. But then, that's why we're quoting him today.

When you think about it (if you think about it), this is entirely applicable to the following quote.

It's all about submission, and when we get to the 21st century we'll learn a LOT about that!

"At the heart of socialism lies the fallacy that human problems can be solved by social reorganization."
Solzhenitsyn

Solzhenitsyn, of course, was familiar with the very heart of Soviet "Socialism". He wasn't really familiar with the modern Socialism, which is gutting Europe today. He thought that Russia was the very model of the modern Major Socialist Country. But of course, that was Communism and as such was much gentler than 21st Century Socialism.

Except for Stalin's starvation of millions of peasants, of course. The modern Europeans have a long way to go ... but they're working on that.

The Islamofascists are determined to contribute in any way they can.

We'll have to wait for Cooper's Volume II to address that.

x

Bill Gates' Retirement

Bill Gates is retiring, and Dave Letterman presents the MicroSoft tribute to its founder.

Don't miss this hilarious attempt by MS to build a simple 2.7mb WMV file.

I don't know who put this together, but I stole it and installed it in Geek's House Of Weird on Jerry the Geek's Shooting Gallery.

[doink!]

Still Crazy: 2006 Croc Match

I'm going to The Croc Match.

Hear the phrase in your mind.

I'm going to The Croc Match.


Now make it sound like the Disney character, "Goofy Dog".

That [guffaw!] goofy childish enthusiasm, unabashed, heart-felt. This is the way I feel about the Croc Match.


A moment of dignity, please. The proper name for The Croc Match (historically) is:

The Crazy Croc Banzaii Ballistic (You Got Bullets?) Match.

Yup, I've got bullets, yup yup, and I'm going to The Croc Match with a bunch of bullets all loaded up in my LAST 1200 cases after experiencing one too many "lost brass" matches.

I'm not sure whether we'll be permitted to pick up brass on this match, either. Sometimes you can, sometimes you can't. Mostly, as long as it doesn't slow down the match, you can grab a case or two on most stages.

Mostly, you don't have time or energy. You're too pumped from the endorphin rush of blasting a box (plus) of ammunition downrange all day.

This year's match is scheduled for Labor Day Weekend (September 2-3, 2006) and it may surprise you that you have two days to compete in a match with "only" eight stages.

It sounds more reasonable when you consider that they will require more than 450 rounds to complete the match. If you use the minimum, you can figure on an AVERAGE stage of more than 50 rounds per stage.

Expect some 60+ round stages. It's traditional. And expect to see a lot of steel targets including large arrays ofPepper Poppers and US Poppers, free-standing plates, plates that pop-up IPSC targets, plate racks and at least two Texas Stars. Again ... "You Got Bullets?" Also, the Dundee Boys (Paul and Bill) are big on special props and activators and moving targets. My prediction: you'll see at least one Swinger that moves really, really fast!

Don't show up with only 450 rounds. Don't show up with only 500 rounds, either, because:

1. We don't know the minimum round-count yet. In fact, the guys at the Chahalem Valley Shooting Club ... the Dundee Practical Shooters ... probably don't know, either. It could take over 460 rounds, based on past experience.
2. It only takes one re-shoot of a 50+ round stage to completely screw up your ammo supply. (One year, I reshot a stage 3 times because I kept hitting the cable between a pepper popper and the moving target it activated. About 200 rounds on ONE stage; good thing I brought 800 rounds to that match that day!)
3. Count on at least one malfunction; the biggest hi-round-count match in the PNW, perhaps in America, is tough on guns. You'll lose track of where you were and end up re-engaging at least one 4-target array. Take my word for it.
4. In a major match, if there's any way to screw up -- you'll find it. I always do.

So are we clear now? If you're going to The Croc Match, bring a LOT more ammunition than you think you will need. Best advice I can give you is to bring twice as much as you think you will need. Better to have too much, and not need it, than to bring too little, and need it.

SWMBO and I will be there with something like 1200 rounds. Minimum. A lot of that (over 500 rounds) will be loaded with new, never-been-used, Winchester brass. In case you missed it, Dillon is now selling Winchester brass for the .38 Super at $141/thousand. I just ordered another thousand, because after I finish this match I won't have a lot of brass left.

Oh, by the way, if you haven't already signed up for the Croc Match, the match fee bumped up from $65 to $90 as of August 7th.
NOTE: See the UPDATE at the bottom of the page.

The theme is "Still Crazy" (Crazy Croc Match?) and refers to the Paul Simon song "Still Crazy After All These Years". That's appropriate, because I know you're asking "Hey, Geek, if you're so short on brass and the match costs so much, why are you even going there?"

Well, the title speaks for me. After all these years (ten) of shooting The Croc Match, I'm still crazy about it.

The fact is, I passed up a match (The Columbia Cascade Sectional) this month simply because I wanted to save brass so I could shoot The Croc Match. The Sectional Tournament was a big part of the 2006 Points Race ... class winners are awarded a slot to the USPSA Nationals. Yeah, you still have to pay for it, but you don't have to wait for an opening and you don't have to pay premium prices for it. All that, plus bragging rights. I would rather go to The Croc Match than to the USPSA Nationals, given the need to make a choice.

You may recall that last year I shot the match but SWMBO didn't. Instead, she took my digital camera and spent two days watching OTHER people shoot, and filmed them as they did that. Between here excellent photos and videos, and the contributions of Ron Downs, I ended up with a HUGE library of IPSC Video footage and Still-photos. I spent much of the rest of 2005 pumping the match with videos of The Croc Match, including The Jungle Run (which must be experienced to be believed, but the videos go far in providing the 'look and feel' of the stages.)

However, I've always felt guilty about making SWMBO shoot pictures, while I shot targets, so this year I have been determined to sign us up for the match -- both of us -- even if we're so short of brass that I may have to fall back to a back-up gun (probably the excellent STI Edge in 10mm, even though I can't really see the sights) if we run short of ammunition for the STI .38 Supers.

Note to The Hobo Brasser: Yeah, I hear you out there in Cyber-land, talking loud about how I should be ashamed of my selfish self. Well, I don't need your encouragement to feel shame. If one of us finishes the match with the same gun used at the start, it will be SWMBO. I don't expect to win my class anyway so I may as well admit that I'm there for the sport, not for the competition (which is fierce!)

For a look at last year's match, you can see blog entries of Yong Lee's winning performance on Stage 5: The Doors, Junior Stephan Kemper's Jungle Run, and a summary of stages one through five as well as stages six through eight.

The Jerry the Geek's Video Shooting Gallery has even more photos and videos of the 2005 Croc Match, so you can see what you may be face this year. (Videos are thick here.)

You can still sign up for this match. Here is the entry form. (I just sent in my entry today, one for me and one for SWMBO.)

And if you don't sign up, you don't get your picture taken!

UPDATE: August 24
I just received an email from Bill Marrs, one of the Croc Match organizers. He informs me that the 'fee increase for late entries' has been waived. Everybody pays $65!

At last count, they have 90+ entries. Last year they very much wanted to have over 115 competitors, and I suspect their goal is even higher this year.

The Columbia Cascade Section has hosted a LOT of Major Matches this year, including the Area 1 match and the USPSA Multi-Gun Nationals. Add to that the Columbia Cascade Sectional and the Single Stack Tournament, local shooters have had four Major Matches in less than two months ... and we still have the Croc Match and the Glock Match (alliteration is coincidental, I'm sure) to go before the end of the season.

My guess is that "out of town" sign-ups have been as heavy as previous years, but local shooters are finding this a VERY expensive competitive season.

The Croc Match has been scheduled as early as May in some previous years, and the Sectional as late as September. That helped spread out the season, oftern providing no more than one Major Match per month -- or, to look at it another way, per paycheck.


I can't find a competitor list, or a web site for registration confirmation (which is suggested on the entry form), but I expect to see that locals are in the minority at this match. Which means that if you've never been to a Croc Match before, this is your best chance to compete in the biggest high-round-count match in the country where there are short lines to the rides!

You can't find that at Disneyland.

Hobo Brasser

New recurring topic: humor from The Hobo Brasser.

Our new Supermarket near our house has an automatic water mister to keep the produce fresh. Just before it goes on, you hear the Sound of distant thunder and the smell of fresh rain.

When you approach the milk cases, you hear cows mooing and witness the scent of fresh hay.

When you approach the egg case, you hear hens cluck and cackle and the air is filled with the pleasing aroma of bacon and eggs frying.

The veggie department features the smell of fresh buttered corn.



I don't buy toilet paper there any more.

I offer this because, like toilet paper, it's cheap and convenient.
But not always delicate.

Administrivia

Just to keep you updated on what's happening at Chez Geek:

SIDEBAR:
I've removed "Matt Burkett's Shooting Thoughts" from the sidebar. The last past was October, 2005. Apparently Matt hasn't had a thought since then, and while that's okay by me it doesn't make sense to link to Plymouth Rock when nobody has a reason to go there. Those who are interested can do an Internet Search, which may bring them to this article, from which they can go read whatever they find.

Future Posts: Cooper's Corner
I usually just rant here, as you may have noticed, or talk about The Church Of What's Happening Now.

But once in a while I Get An Idea, and follow it up.

The last time this happened, I posted three or four Kipling poems. I did that because I had been buying and reading Kipling books, and I was very impressed with what I found there.

Problem was, nobody else was buying. I got a dozen hits on the articles, and interest quickly dropped off.

However, a few weeks ago a couple of months ago way back when I mentioned that I was going to buy the 2-volume set of Jeff Cooper's Gargantuan Gunsite Gossip books, and I did, and I've been reading them.

In the process, I kept finding cogent comments, phrases and entries which I found particularly interesting. So about a quarter through Volume I, I began stuffing bookmarkers on those pages with the thought that I might quote them in future nothing-happening-here-but-don't-move-on moments.

The trouble is, by the time I got halfway through the first volume, I had so many bookmarks stuffed into the book it was greatly increased in volume. (Pun intended.)

Bigger problem: When I'm reading in bed, I stuff the book with kleenex. Well, that's what disposable, plentiful, and close at hand.

When I'm reading in The John, I stuff the book with toilet paper.

Thankfully, it's unused TP.

But the book is becoming cumbersome, so the next time I'm moved (sorry!) to include a blogmeat article, you'll be treated to a bunch of direct quotes from the book.

Hopefully, you'll be urged (sorry!) to buy the books for yourself, because what I'm going to include is just the tip of the iceberg. Or the top of the pile. (Sorry!)

While reading the books, I've been impressed that the periodic contributions presented a micro-view of the issues of the day. A glimpse of history, so to speak, because the first book starts with the Guns&Ammo articles of 1981.

The other impression is that Cooper's Corner (as the recurring column was called in the G&A editions) constitutes the first Blogger.

You may compare the series with Ruark's columns in Field and Stream, which went on and on for 20 years and resulted in such published volumes as "The Old Man And The Boy". You may compare them unfavorably. But they weren't the same thing.

You can talk about O'Connor (The American Rifleman), and Skeeter Skelton (I miss all of these excellent shooting-sports writers too much!), but they aren't the same thing as Cooper's Corner.

Cooper didn't write vignettes, as the others did. He wrote stream-of-consciousness. He wrote short, fragmented concepts. He didn't write short stories. Much of what he offered was highly opinionated, confrontational, opinionated and rarely Politically Correct. (He got booted from G&A, came back, refused to kneel, was ultimately booted For All Time. ) I often disagreed with Cooper, occasionally was outraged, found him barbaric and/or offensive ... and upon rereading for the third time, I still do all of the above.

But I found him eminently readable.

Go to the sidebar. You'll find the link to his current writings. I still read him every month, even though he's become less productive in his later years and we are lucky to find a new article every season.

How often today do you have the opportunity to read a man who still writes in the Editorial "WE" (even though he 'gave it up' in 1991)? And how often, within that vanishingly small community (Does Buckley use "WE" any more? I think not!) do you find it so difficult to determine when he is using the Editorial "WE" and when he is using the Imperial "WE". I think it is trending to the latter, and I don't consider it A Bad Thing.

After all, The Man DID start IPSC.

Bearing in mind that he increasingly distanced himself from the trend toward gamesmanship which he found so egregious in the '80s and the early '90s, and did in fact sever all connection to IPSC in the late '90s because the sport had lost, in his opinion, all connection to the concept of "Practical" competition, his is still and shall for evermore be ...

The Guru

I wouldn't have it any other way.

Even though I went to The Dark Side three years ago, I did so because I just couldn't see Iron Sights any more. I would have preferred to compete in Limited 10, which is the class in which I made B rating in 1999 (before I couldn't read without glasses any more.)

I would like to think that Cooper, in his eighties, would use a red-dot sight if he could just get past his outrage.

On the other hand, why should he?

After all, he's right.