Silver Bullets, Anyone?

My wife and I started watching "The Wolfman", the 2010 remake of the Lon Chaney classic. Made in 2010, it stars Anthony Hopkins, Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt, and Hugo Weaving. She could only watch about 15~20 minutes or so of it, up to when Lawrence goes to the Gypsy camp, and then it got too gory for her, so we turned it off.
But it started me thinking of a project I had considered many years ago when I was learning the basics about reloading from my best buddy Joe.
We joked about making real silver bullets, so me being the 'egghead' of our hot rod, shooting, and general carousing crowd, I started looking into it. When I found out that silver melts at 1760*F, compared to 620*F for lead, we kinda gave it up. I also found out from some jewelery-making girlfriends that silver also shrinks quite a bit when it cools, which would make for a loose-fitting bullet.
Back to the present......
Since we didn't have the Internet back then, I punched "silver bullet" into my favorite search engine, and out popped quite a few hits, along with a recommendation to search for "silver ammunition".
Paydirt! Seems I'm not alone in my curiosity.
The best one I found, by far, are the "Silver Bullet" pages on Patricia Briggs' website. One of the more interesting observations made, is that since it's not exactly easy to cast a a properly sized silver bullet, why not just put silver bits and pieces into a shotshell, and use that? And lo-and-behold, the jewelry people already sell "BB size" silver spheres!
So, whether you want to make up some werewolf killin' shotshells, or go to the trouble of actually casting your own silver bullets, it looks doable.
Now I just have to convince my wife that I need to buy some BB-sized silver pellets.
Maybe I can tell her I decided to start doing some "jewelry making" as a new hobby......

I Am A Radioman

After having a few visitors ask me about the "UMSC" patch on the side of the blog, I explained that although I know how to shoot fairly well, my primary "job" would be as a Radioman. I could have said Signalman, or, actually "Signaller" these days, but I'm rusty on my flags, and ALDIS lights aren't very stealthy without the proper filters.
So, I'll elect to call myself a "Radioman", even though I'm pretty good with most other aspects of communications using a variety of methods, both wired and wireless.
I started looking for The Signalman's Creed, or The Radioman's Creed, but couldn't find anything even remotely suitable.
So I "wrote" my own, which I'll present here to all my Radioman brothers out there to use.
With all due apologies, and the greatest respect to Major General William H. Rupertus, I present "The Radioman's Creed".

I Am A Radioman

This is my radio. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My radio is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My radio, without me, is useless. Without my radio, I am useless. I must tune my antenna true. I must broadcast stealthier than my enemy who is trying to intercept my signals. I must DF him before he DF's me. I will...

My radio and myself know that what counts in this war is not the signal we send, the noise of our keyer, nor the smoke we do not make. We know that it is the traffic that counts. We will send traffic...

My radio is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its tuning and its antenna. I will ever guard it against the ravages of weather and damage as I will ever guard my legs, my arms, my eyes and my heart against damage. I will keep my radio clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will...

Before God, I swear this creed. My radio and myself are the defenders of my country. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life. So be it, until victory is America's and there is no enemy, but peace!

DF= "Direction Finding"

Long Beach Sending Lay Off Notices to ONE THOUSAND School Employees......

Good grief, how many do they have?
The local newspaper says it will be "777.5" (HALF a teacher??), but my inside source says it will be more like one thousand, including teachers and "other" positions.
Considering it can take a WEEK to get some light bulbs or fluorescent lamps changed, I wonder how many union "jobs" will be cut?

Happy Valentine's Day!

To any and all female readers of this little blog.

It's also my first wedding anniversary to the wonderful gal I married after being divorced and on my own for 16 years.

Took a long time to find her, but she's a keeper!

Guys.....do something NICE for your wife or girlfriend today, please?
It's not being a wimp, a wussy, or showing you're pwocked.
It's called being a gentleman, an appellation that really used to mean something in the old days.
I know so because I read it in a Jeff Cooper book, OK?
Flowers, candy, a card, whatever. Just do something for her that you wouldn't ordinarily do, even if it's the dishes, a load of laundry, or vacuuming the house.
Trust me, she'll appreciate it!

Belt Sander Racing!!

Yeah, I know it's not a "real" sport, but then I've always told people "If it doesn't have wheels or wings, and at least ONE motor, I 'aint interested".
Lots more info here.

Arrrrgh....Brain Lock.......

Duh....
Ever have one of those times when you know what you want to say, and can't figure out how to say it?
Yep, that's me tonight. I volunteered to give a presentation on "Software Defined Radio" for my Amateur Radio club on the 18th, and although I have all my "Charts and Graphs" made up, I'm kinda stuck coming up with the verbage to go along with them. I know the subject very well, and I even gave my YF an off-the-cuff presentation on it the other night, but just can't seem to get those same words to flow out through the keyboard. I thought back about what I told her and generated an outline, but now I'm kicking myself I didn't have my little digital recorder running.
Oh, well....I still have 9 days to finish writing it, so maybe tomorrow I'll run my spiel past the dogs with the recorder running and transcribe it later....

Cabela's IK-227687 Gun Vise

Well, I finally had the time today to a) clean both of my Marlin rifles, and b) use the Cabela's Gun Vise I bought a few months ago.
I don't mind just plunking my pistols down on a bench top when I clean them, but cleaning a long gun can get unwieldy when it comes to pushing the patch and bush through the barrel, so it's better to support them some way.
Enter my Cabela's IK-227687 Gun Vise. The vise is made from some kind of plastic, has a padded clamp on one end, a movable support in the center, and V-type holder on the far end. It has lots of molded-in nooks and crannies to store small parts, and so far appears to be solvent-resistant. It normally goes for $49.99, but the night I bought it it was on sale, so I paid $39.95 for it.
Seeing as today was gorgeous outside (sorry, people back East!)I took all my stuff outside, and clamped my Marlin 336 in it to check the fit. It fits great, so then I took the rifle back out, and removed the lever, bolt, and ejector spring so I could get my cleaning rod down the bore. Yes, I pulled the scope off so it wouldn't get sprayed with Hoppe's N0. 9!
Since I didn't have a "30 cal" cleaning rod, I started to use my shotgun rod. OOOPS! It doesn't fit down the bore! The I remembered I bought a "30 cal" Hoppe's BoreSnake a couple of weeks ago, so I got that out. So much for using the gun vise on my 336! Now maybe I'm old fashioned, but I like to run a soaked patch down the bore, let it sit a while, then push a bronze brush down the bore, followed by another soaked patch. I repeat this until the patch comes out clean. Using the BoreSnake sure is fast, though, and until I get a proper sized rod, I guess it'll have to do. I soaked the first 6" inches or so with No.9, and pulled the snake through 5 or 6 times, then put the 336 together, wiped it down with a "Barricade" cloth, and put it back in the gun case. It will be interesting to see if the patch/brush combination reveals any crud left in the bore from using the snake.
Cleaning my Marlin 1894CB in 357 went fine using the "shotgun sized" rod while the rifle was clamped in the gun vise.
All in all, I think this thing is a worthwhile investment, especially considering I bought it on sale. It has numerous warnings to NOT use it for a shooting rest, but it comes in handy for resting the rifle in while cleaning it.

Gun Cleaning Day

Well, I managed to get all three of the pistols swabbed, scrubbed, cleaned, lubed, and did my general after-shooting check out.
Glad I did, because I found some little flecks of.....RUST.....on the case-hardened parts of the wife's revolver.
They cleaned right off with just a coarse shop towel and some oil, but it's the first time I've ever seen any signs of rust on any of my guns.
Disgusting stuff, rust, and I had it hammered into me years ago that signs of rust were signs of neglect.
Maybe they were "tears of neglect" from the poor gun because my wife hasn't gone to the range with me lately, and the S&W TRR8 is basically her gun.
The good news is that one of her friends dropped by last night, and she's very interested in going to the range with us.
Time to get out my "NRA Certified Basic Pistol Instructor" hat, and teach her all the things one needs to know before going to the range for the first time.
Sunday will be "Rifle Cleaning Day", and I'll take some pix when I'm using my new Cabela's gun vise, and do a mini-review of it.

Ahhhhh.....An Afternoon at the Range

Had a very relaxing three hours at the range today with my son. I haven't been there in about six months, and I was NOT up to my usual form! I wasn't all-over-the-place-off-the-paper bad, but not shooting at anywhere near what I'm capable of. We took my Sig P226 in 40S&W, and my Kimber Custom TLE-II 1911.
And we took a Cabela's "Dry Box" box full of ammo, a stack of "Official 25 Yd Slow Fire Pistol" targets, and a several packs of Shoot-N-C stick-on targets.
The thing that I found most interesting, was that for not having shot in so long, I was better with my Sig than my Kimber.
A LOT better!
I've always liked the way the Sig fits my hand, the way it's balanced, the grips, etc, and since I hadn't fired it in over a year, it's what I started off with. Target at 10 yards, full magazine, all in the black.
Then while my son was loading mags for his turn with the Sig, I transitioned to my Kimber.
Wow, out of 8 shots, only 4 were in the black, with the rest pretty close, but a real eye-opener for me!
OK, grab another mag, concentrate a bit more, relax, surprise trigger break, and I started to get them all in the black again. By the third or fourth magazine, I realized my grip wasn't correct, I was flinching a bit, and wasn't "feeling" how the trigger reset, all contributing to my poor (for me) performance.
My son was doing very well with the Sig, considering it was the first time he'd ever fired one. He picked up the Kimber and ran a mag through it, and was all over the place! He stayed on the target, but the recoil surprised him, and his second shot was typical 45 ACP, "Up And To The Left". After I coached him a bit about the proper grip and stance, he got into the rhythm, and was nailing the target 8-ring or better.
We had a great time just goofing off, honing our skills, talking with the staff at the range, and learning a few things.
He learned he really does prefer the Sig over a 1911, and is planning on buying one with his income tax refund.
I learned I have to get to the range at least once a month!
All in all, a great day.
Friday will be cleaning day here, and since I'm scheduling a whole day, I'll clean both pistols, my wife's 357 revolver, and both my Marlin rifles. I'll take some pictures using my "Cabela's Gun Vise, IK-227687" and write a short review about it.

Going to the Range Thursday

My son wants to buy his first pistol, and has his eye on a Sig P226. Since Dear Old Dad owns one, we're headed out to the range so he can see if he likes it.
I'd prefer he learn to use a 1911, and I have a brand-new Kimber Eclipse Custom II that I bought a couple of years ago with him in mind, but he's got his heart set on the Sig, I think.
Me? I'll be dragging along my trusty old Kimber Custom TLE II. Over 5,000 rounds through it, and I'll I've ever done is clean it, and put some Esmeralda grips on it when it was new. I recently replaced the recoil spring, and did a full "detail strip and clean", but otherwise that pistol is like the Energizer Bunny.

Knock-Out Video from Alvie Over at "The Cliffs Of Insanity"

You GOTTA go see this.
Alvie should get an award for this video.