Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Veterans Day

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There are many veterans who deserve credit for keeping our nation safe and free by putting themselves in harm’s way. Not all such “harm’s way” scenarios require combat or the battlefield. Sailors who work on the dangerous decks of aircraft carriers, Soldiers who prepare ordinance and test weaponry, Marines who carry out firefighting missions, Airmen who crew patrol and transport aircraft and Guardsmen who patrol our coasts in aircraft and on the sea.

Special thanks go out to combat veterans as well as those who have risked their lives in training and support roles. God bless them all.

11 Nov 2009 by Culture Military

Stockpile in the Gun Locker

stockpile.jpgIt’s been about a year now, that ammunition has been scarce here in California, and, indeed, the entire nation. In particular, handgun calibers are not only difficult to find, but when you do find them, they’re expensive.

We have tried to stockpile enough ammo to be able to take any of our guns to the range. We’re not hoarding the ammo, but keep enough on hand that when a particular caliber is unavailable, we can still shoot some, and restock the pile when the caliber again becomes a available.

The last few months, there has been a greater availability, mostly at our shooting range, but not so much at retail outdoor and sporting stores in the area. Again, the range has some but you pay about 50% more than over a year ago.

In the image (click to enlarge), top left shelf, we have handgun calibers .45 ACP, .357 magnum, .38 special and 9mm. Below that, we store magazines and holsters. The bottom two shelves are where we keep the shotgun ammo, 12 and 20 gauge.

10 Nov 2009 by California Firearms Second Amendment

Train to Oblivion

In a crushing blow to freedom, Pelosi and US House Democrats just threw us all under the train . . .

Train to Oblivion

From the Patriot Post:

Political Futures

“The push to get a health care reform bill through the U.S. House over the weekend was a classic political maneuver called ‘changing the narrative.’ It worked. Last week was a really, REALLY, bad news week for the Obama Administration. There was so much bad news that one story cascaded over another and, ultimately, they cancelled each other out. … The decision to press for a Saturday vote on health care was formulated as soon as the Obama Administration realized how bad the job numbers were going to be. When the election results came in Tuesday night, that made the need to change the narrative even more important. After the Fort Hood horror, it became imperative. Among those voting for the health care bill was the new Congressman from NY-23, Bill Owens, who had said during the campaign that he was opposed to the public option. … No matter how much the popular press pretends that the vote shows real momentum for a major overhaul of the nation’s health care system, it was approved with a [five]-vote margin which does not sound like a choo-choo train racing across the Capitol Rotunda toward the Senate Chamber. The narrative may have changed for now, but the problems facing the Obama Administration continue to grow.” –political analyst Rich Galen

09 Nov 2009 by Beltway Kabuki Whacko Politics

Range Report

sw908s.jpgWe decided to take the 9mm pistols to the range today. We brought a hundred rounds of 9×19 ammo. I brought my Glock 26 subcompact and Damsel brought her S&W 908s. The latter being a little workhorse with a single-stack 8 round magazine. This nice little gun has been one of our most reliable guns but seldom sees much praise when we post about shooting.

Image: Damsels 908s after clean-up. Click to enlarge.

We actually have two of these, a ‘his’ (in black) and ‘hers’ – this one – the ‘s’ after 908 indicates ‘silver’ finish. As I said before, these guns have been pretty reliable. We have had them for several years, shoot them regularly, and have only replaced the slide springs and spring guides in them after one of the two was showing some wear.

We also took two shotguns today – the 12 gauge Remington 870 Security Shotgun and Damsel’s 20 gauge shotgun. As usual we took 25 rounds for each gun. You can read more about shooting them here.

08 Nov 2009 by Firearms Shooting

Model Train Show

This is the second year we took in the model train show at our local Botanic Garden. I love all trains – full size and models. Had we known about this annual show earlier, we would have started coming to them a long time ago.

We saw live steamers, electric trains and streetcars, realistic models and a lot of toys and whimsy. The layouts were intricate and nostalgic since most were set in the great train eras up to and including WWII.

The video starts with some stills of the indoor exhibits and then some video of the outdoor train sets. This was a family event and the kids loved watching the trains as much as us old guys.

The outdoor exhibits were set up near the cactus garden. I ran into a former colleague of mine, also retired, who was an exhibitor in the outside displays. We talked about how good it was that everyday was Saturday except for Sunday these days.

I would love to take up model railroading as a hobby, but I seem to have enough expensive pastimes as it is. You know, the cost of ammo and vacationing take their toll. We’ll just have to vicariously enjoy the train hobby at these shows.

07 Nov 2009 by California Culture Entertainment

Winners

Michael Ramirez skewers Nancy Pelosi‘s claim, that Tuesday was a big win for the far left:

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UPDATE: Nancy would likely say that CNN won the ratings wars, too . . .

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Finally, this from the Patriot Post:

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06 Nov 2009 by Humor Sports Whacko Politics

Godspeed The Ft. Hood Victims

ft-hood.jpgDamsel and I have the Ft. Hood victims in our thoughts and prayers tonight. We are still following the news as it develops.

Looking around the internet and watching the news, we see various reports and opinions about this horrific event. I found this tweet from K.J. Lopez, who blogs at the NRO Corner, very interesting:

re fort hood: why do we reflexively rule out terrorism?

Given the identity of the alleged shooter, Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan, we have to ask the same question.

Image: Ft. Hood commander Lt. Gen. Robert Cone making statement to press

UPDATE: Talk about the inmates running the asylum – Hasan was an Army psychiatrist!

UPDATE: Col. Terry Lee (RET), a psychiatrist who worked with Hasan, told Fox News that several times Hasan made radical statements and thinly-veiled threats against US involvement in the War on Terror.

05 Nov 2009 by Islamic Terrorism Military

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