Guns, Cars, and Tech

Author: oddball

  • Oddball gets a proper EDC flashlight

    For a couple years now, I’ve carried an INOVA Microlight on my keychain.  Handy little light, but at 6 lumen on the bright setting, not very bright.  While i have several other flashlights around the house and in the cars, they’re all a little too big for me to slip into my pocket with all the other crap I carry.

    I recently picked up a Fennix E11, which is a pretty handy little light.  At 105 lumen, it’s not as bright as some of the “OMG I’m blind!!!” tac lights out there, but it is sufficiently bright to illuminate most situations.  I’m also guessing that 105 lumen is bright enough to seriously distract a thug in the night.

    It’s also a good size.  It’s about the length of 2 AA batteries, and about 4mm thicker.  I use that as a gauge because it runs off of 1 AA.  I know all the cool kids are running around with flashlights that use CR123 batteries these days, but I like knowing that I can run into any drugstore, gas stations, whatever and find what I need to feed what I think has become my EDC light in addition to the little LED that hangs off my keychain.

    One thing that’s always annoyed me with a lot of the high intensity lights is the method to change modes.  Most of the ones I’ve played with have you cycle through the modes by pushing the button.  It’s not a big irritant, but it’s there.  The E11 avoids that issue by having you select the modes by twisting the lamp end.  Tightly closed is the maximum brightness, and twisted a bit back from full tight is a dimmer setting (they claim 35 lumen).  Of course, this light only has those two options, unlike many others, but those options tend to be flashing some sort of signal or another.  I guess having it automatically flash SOS is nice if you need it, but 99% of the time it’s just another button press you have to make before turning it off.  Oh, and button on the back of the light does turn the light on as you push down, so you can use it as a momentary switch if you don’t push down all the way.

    So far, I think I like this light.  I know I can get a brighter one, or a smaller one, but this works and seems pretty sturdy.  At roughly $26, it’s not a bad deal.

     

     

  • Kilted to kick cancer!

    Wait… I can claim that wearing a kilt is for a good cause?  Works for me!

    I’m not going to subject you guys to my ugly mug everyday like JayG is planning, but I may manage one a week.  Of course, most of the pics are going to be from Dragoncon this past weekend.

    This is my oldest kilt.  After 3 years of Naienko pestering me, I finally broke in and bought a Survival Kilt from Utilikilts.  Yeah, they’re expensive, but after 5 years of fairly heavy use, it’s still in good shape.  I’ve since bought 2 more kilts from them (that you’ll see later), and I was one of the folks that ordered the 5.11 April Fools Day tactical kilts (which you guys might see if they arrive in time).

    Oh, and if you’re interested in buying one yourself, Alt.Kilt is running a special sale to support Kilted to Kick Cancer.  Just use the coupon code “KTKC” and they’ll take 20% off!.  I don’t have one of theirs, but they have a good reputation, and you can customize the heck out your new kilt.

    On to the serious stuff.  I do have a buddy that is a survivor of testicular cancer.  I also lost two grandparents due to other forms of cancer.  Dealing with any form of cancer is not pretty, and is painful for not just the patient, but their loved ones as well.  Any ability to catch it early and possibly stop it before it becomes too serious is a truly great thing.  While I would love to see my donations reach or exceed the other folks participating, I’m not delusional.  I’m doing this purely to help a good cause.

    So, if you’ve got a few dollars sitting around, head over to my donation page, and throw a few bills at a good cause.

  • The good, the bad, and the broney

    Just got back in from geeking out with roughly 50,000 other geeks at Dragoncon.  As per usual, I had a blast, saw some good panels, met some good people, spent more money than I probably should have (hey!  I now own *3* Utilikilts!  And one of them isn’t black!), and almost certainly drank more than was healthy.  Oh… and I did get… some sleep… somewhere…. I think….

    Somehow, the folks at Dragoncon have figured out a method of dealing with handling out prereg badges that completely eliminated the line.  For those of you who’ve never been, prereg badge pickup has its own rather large convention hall, which is usually full with the line going out the door and around the block on Thursday.  It’s not unusual to see beach balls being bounced around the crowd.

    The actual con was good.  Saw some good panels.  Got to see several bands play.  I think for this crowd, the ones that you guys might know are Voltaire, the Cruxshadows (warning: link goes to site that autoplays music), and Emerald Rose.  All were good.

    I think the only down note was with the City Of Heroes meet and greet.  As Erin has posted, NCSoft declared on Friday that they were ending the game and disbanding the development studio.  The meet and greet turned into a kind of wake as we all told stories about our experiences in the game.  I think there were  four other couples besides me and Naienko in the room that had the game play a major role in our relationship.

    Oh wait… this is a gun blog… I’m supposed to post about guns… ummm… uh…. This is the best I got:

    Beeker: Zombie Hunter

    Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to fall over and die for a few hours.

  • Quick movie review

    Saw Expendables 2 on Friday.
    People were shot.
    Things were blown up.
    I thought it was awesome.
    Naienko was apparently expecting a coherent plot.
    Silly Naienko.

  • hehehe

    I just informed Naienko of the existence of tennis ball launchers for AK-47 pattern rifles and golf ball launchers for AR-15s.

    I have hurt her brain meats.

  • And these are the only ones with sufficient training?!

    By now, you’ve probably heard of the shooting at the Empire State Building this morning.  Some may call this a mass shooting (hey, there were 11 shot, 2 of which died), but that’s not the real story.  The real story is that the NYPD desperately needs to bump up their firearms training.

    Per the article, the attacker was out to shoot an ex-coworker.  He very much succeeded in this task.  Using a .45 caliber pistol with an 8 round magazine (probably a 1911), he shot 5 rounds into the former coworker, which killed him.  When two of New York’s finest responded to the gun fire, the attacker reportedly pulled the gun on the cops and may or may not have fired a single round at them.  The two cops then pulled their pistols and fired a combined 16 round at the attacker.  This trade happened at approximately 8 feet.  9 bystanders were injured and both the initial victim and the attacker were dead at the scene.

    First, let me make this clear, the situation as described in the article is absolutely a recipe for a righteous shooting by the officers.  I’m glad that they’re alive and the attacker is dead, rather than the other way around.  That’s not my issue.

    My issue is a case of shots fired vs shots hit.  The attacker fired 6 rounds (there were 2 rounds left in the 8 round magazine.  He may have fired 7 if he topped off).  5 of those rounds hit the intended victim, and, I assume, failed to harm anyone else.  That means that, by the official report, there was only 1 stray round that could have struck a bystander.  There were 9 other folks injured at the scene.  Even giving the police the benefit of the doubt, that means that a large majority of those stray rounds came from a cop’s gun.

    I realize that shooting a moving target that’s possibly slinging lead back at you from 8 feet on a busy sidewalk is not the same as hitting a target that’s standing still at the range, but dear lord!  Get this cops back to training, and make sure they can hit what they’re aiming at!  Especially if you’re going to say that those that wear the shiny little badge are better trained and will handle situations better than a carry permit holder could.

  • Signs that you’re getting old

    It’s not when you’re sore the next day.  It’s when it doesn’t kick in until 2 days later.

    I tested (and received) my second degree black belt in TKD on Saturday.  I managed to remember all my forms (all 18 of them), survived sparring, and broke many boards without difficulty (once it was determined that I had brought the wrong kind of boards).

    Today, I’m still tired, sore, and a bit bruised, but I did enjoy it and I’m a better person for going through it.

  • Question of the day.

    So here’s an interesting situation…

    I live in Tennessee, and my dad lives in Michigan.  We’re both into guns and own multiple firearms.  I have a gun sitting in my safe collecting dust that I know he’d be interested in.  One would think that I could just decide “hey dad, here, take this from your loving son and enjoy it in your good health.*”  Unfortunately, there are laws in the way.  First of all, it is my understanding that transfers of handguns across state lines (even a gift between family members) requires a NICS background check.  I’ve also been told that, while there is no “handgun registration” in the state of Michigan, there is a “handgun buying permit” (which incidentally includes the make a model of the handgun) that is required even for a gift between family members.  These two things means that this gift is going to have to go through an FFL.

    So, here’s the question.  I drive up there on a semi-regular basis.  If I were to drive with the pistol up to Michigan, could my dad and I simply walk into a gun shop and have them do the NICS check, or is there something that mandates that I send the pistol from somewhere down here through whatever is the preferred delivery service?

    Of course, I could go with what I’m guessing most folks do and ignore that, but… uh… I’m too pretty for jail.

    * If I actually said that to my dad, he would probably check to make sure it wasn’t some sort of bomb or other death trap.

  • Martial arts stuff

    Just wanted to give a nod to Linoge and his continuing efforts to get back into martial arts.  Like him, I took Tae Kwon Do in high school, almost made it to black belt, and then quit when I went to college.  For years after that, I kept meaning to go back but either work got in the way or I’d hide behind the all to common excuse of “well, I’ll start again after I get back in shape.”

    Ten years of that went by, and I was still sitting on my ass not doing it.  Fortunately, my girlfriend decided that she needed to do something to be more confident and learn how to defend herself.  I looked up my old instructor, saw that she was still teaching, and went down to rejoin the class.  After some “where the hell have you been?” from the instructor, we started class.  I became painfully aware that I was horribly out of shape, and those first few classes were painful.

    Fast forward a few years, and I’m still out of shape.  Much better shape than I was when I started the second time, but I still have more work to do.  On the other hand, I am now a black belt and will be testing for my second degree tomorrow.  Oh, and it’s been made perfectly clear by my instructor that if I disappear again, she will hunt me down and hurt me.  Much more so than she does in class.

    Anyway, it sounds like Linoge has found a school that he fits in this time.  I was fortunate enough to stumble into one straight away, but I know people that have bounced around many schools before finding the right one.

  • New addition to the collection

    On Friday, I did something that makes the anti-gun nuts skin crawl.  I met a stranger in a parking lot and paid cash for a “high powered assault weapon.”  No paperwork done.  I inspected the rifle, handed him the cash, and we both went our separate ways after a hand shake.

    This particular acquisition is a Century Arms CETME.

     

     

    For those of you who don’t know, the CETME was designed by the Spanish government in the 50’s based on the German STG-45.  It’s a roller delayed semi-auto .308 with a 20 round detachable magazine.  It’s easy to see the similarity of this rifle and several H&K rifles.  H&K actually had a hand in its development, and would use it as the bases of the G3 to the point that a large number of parts are interchangeable.

    Most of the CETMEs you see on the market (including this one) were imported in pieces by Century Arms.  To get around import restrictions, Century Arms imported parts kits and built enough parts in the states to be compliant with the import laws (including, I think, the lower receiver).  Century Arms doesn’t have exactly the best reputation in doing this well.  Some of their rifles come out great, and some… well… not so good.  Even though this one was in good shape, the seller included some spare parts from where he’d replaced a few bits.

    My initial impression of the rifle is that they went with the philosophy of “go big, or go home.”  While the barrel is only a 16.5″ barrel, it’s set so far forward, that it feels like it’s much longer.  This does have the benefit of a very long sight radius, considering that they placed the rear sight as far back as they could.

    The receiver itself is not small by any means either.  Anyone used to being able to reach over with there index finger and pressing the mag release will be disappointed with this design.  I found that I have to completely rove my hand from the pistol grip to reach it, which is just as well, as the magazine does take some rocking to remove.  The original design had an AK style lever mag release, and I’m not clear if the change to a button release was a Century Arms decision or if this was a CETME originating modification.  Since you still have to rock the magazine in a little, it requires some practice before insert the magazine becomes a smooth operation.  The safety is also oddly designed in that easy to engage the safety from a firing position, but disengaging it is awkward.

    Anyone familiar with the charging handle on the G3, MP-5, etc, should feel at home with the one on this rifle.  The handle folds away nicely when not in use.  Of course, since you’re pulling against the massive recoil spring, it is a bit of a work out to pull it back.  To hold the bolt open, you simply pull the charging handle back and shift it into a hold open notch.  There is no hold open on last round option, so you have to manually charge the rifle when replacing an empty magazine.

    I did manage to hit the range on Sunday and try this beast out.  It was a beautiful day, and it wasn’t nearly as hot as it has been.  I started by trying it with the aftermarket (I think UTG) bipod that the seller threw in as part of the deal.  I must say, considering that this was designed as a battle rifle, it is very accurate.  It’s no sniper rifle, but I would say that it would be good enough to work as a deer rifle if you happen to live in a state where the authorities wouldn’t piss there pants at the sight of you hunting using a rifle with a 20 round magazine attached to it.

    The recoil is very manageable.  I was actually surprised at how little kick it has.  I was expecting it to be similar to my Ishipore Enfield, but it was much more of a firm push than a kick.  I attribute this to its weight (they claim 9.5lbs, but it feels heavier), and the semi-auto action of the rifle taking the bite out of it.  Even off hand, it was a pleasure to shoot and very easy to quickly reacquire the target after shooting.  The Cetme (along with the G3) has a reputation for mangling its brass.  I inspected a number of the cases after firing, and, for the most part, I failed to see any damage that I would think would cause the case to no be reloadable.

    One thing I do need to comment on is the speed at which the brass is ejected.  The range I went to has chicken wire partitions in between lanes, so that the ejected cases don’t wind up hitting the guy next to you.  The guy to my right was very happy that they were there.  I had several round bounce off the partition on my right, then on my left, then hit my arm!

    All things said and done, I’m pretty happy with this rifle.