Merry Christmas to all

And a Happy New Year!

Mosin-Nagant part 2

Pictures of a battle classic. I took pictures of both of my Mosin-Nagants. One pre-war hex receiver from 1932 and the other a war rifle from 1943. It's not too hard to see the changes made due to the increased demand caused by WWII. 

Update on New Mosin

During the ten day waiting period, the pawn shop where I bought the gun managed to find the bayonet for it in their back room. As with the rest of the gun, serial numbers matched. Unfortunately, they didn't include it in the original deal and I had to buy it separately (although for less than the normal market value of a bayonet). I find the "lost and found" bayonet to be mildly suspicious, and have no plans on buying any other guns there, unless they're a really good deal. Pics later.

Hamas vs. Egypt

Rather than deal with Hamas using tunnels to get into and out of Egypt, the Egyptian government has decided to build one hell of a moat.
And I quote:

And unlike the fierce resistance and international public relations campaign Hamas mounted against Israel in August, the terrorist group that governs Gaza appears to not be seeking a head-on fight with Cairo.

The difference is, Israel cares about what the international community of the very caring and sensitive says and thinks about them.  The Egyptian government doesn't.

New Mosin

In ten short days (@$!#ing CA waiting period) this will be mine. An M91/30 hex receiver Mosin in great (for a Mosin anyway) shape. All serial numbers match, but it is unfortunately missing its bayonet. I'll be acquiring another bayonet to replace the missing one, but it just won't be the same as the original bayonet would have been. Even so, this is still a pretty good find.

The Unarmed Felon

By law, felons can't own guns. This seems like a good idea on the surface. After all, felonies are serious crimes, and felons are often dangerous criminals. It only makes sense to keep guns as far away from them as humanly possible.
The problems with this line of thought are as follows:

1. Career criminals don't really care about laws. Their options for procuring a firearm illegally range from making it themselves out of PVC pipe, a nail, and a rubber-band (although some "garage guns" meet or exceed the safety and effectiveness of professionally manufactured firearms) to buying off of the black market. And if all else fails, they can default to items which are, used properly (or improperly) quite dangerous, such as knives or baseball bats. The lack of a gun does not magically make a dangerous criminal into a law abiding citizen, as certain mentalities can always find something to use as a weapon, to deadly effect, no matter the situation.
2. Reformed felons do care about laws. This means that, by choosing to reform, they are limited in their self defense options. An unrepentant felon will always have an advantage over a reformed one, simply because the reformed is no longer willing to break the law.
3. It is effectively impossible for any single human to be aware of every single felony that it is possible to commit. Moreover, ignorance of the law is no excuse. Thus, it is entirely possible for generally law abiding citizens to commit felonies and not find out about the existence of the felony until the handcuffs are being applied.

What's your political lean?

I'm a: Objectivist Libertarian Non-Interventionist Reactionary
http://www.abtirsi.com/quiz2.php

Veteran's Day

On this Veteran's Day (or Armistice Day, depending upon location) remember this:

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13

Range Day!

I just took my AR-7 Henry survival rifle and my M91/30 Mosin-Nagant shooting. .22 ammunition is still ridiculously difficult to find - I got lucky and had a friend who gave me a 500 round brick - but 7.62x54R is available at reasonable prices (about $100 + shipping for a 440 round "spam can")
There is nothing quite like going out into the desert and shooting old electronics with a rifle whose design predates radio as a communications tool. And then bayoneting them.

Fully Assembled AR-7

M91/30 with bayonet and sling

Heads, I win, Tails, you Lose

There is an irrational madman shooting at you and your family. So far, he's missed, because you and your family have taken concealment. You go to return fire, but the madman is using his own daughter as a human shield, and in order to shoot him, you have to shoot his daughter.
Do you:
A. Do nothing but huddle behind your concealment until the shooter shoots you and/or your family through your concealment

B. Shoot him through his daughter.

C. Try to reason with the irrational madman, even though other people who've tried to reason with him have been shot at, and you've already tried it with no result.

There is only one ethical answer - B. Anything else results in the murder of people who you are supposed to defend.

As an outside observer do you blame for the daughter's death? The man who shot her in order to defend his family, or the man who used her as a human shield?

This is the situation that Israel is currently in. They can do nothing as Hamas shoots rockets at their citizens, they can try to negotiate with Hamas, or they can grit their teeth and shoot at Hamas, despite the terrorist group's willingness to hide behind human shields. Israel chose least bad of the three answers, and they cannot truly be blamed for it.