Somber Sunday

 So, been wearing a badge for seven months now. I enjoy it. Have had good days, fun days, bad days, and even dare I say it, boring days.

Today was weird.  The inmate chaplain prayed for us at roll call. 

There was plenty of food provided by citizens. It was most appreciated. 

And we dealt with a fentantyl overdose. And I prayed devoutly and feverishly as I got gloves on, called for the shift sergeant and EMS over the radio, and broke open my Narcan pouch. 

She was alive when I put her on the ambulance. So there is that. 

The Braves and the Falcons both lost today. There is something to that I'm sure. 

I always look at the attacks of 9/11 thought the guise of a dumbass infantry guy who had to fight GWOT.

It is weird to look at from behind a badge. 

Trading Places Tuesday

 So, I went did a thing. 

I swear in with the County Sheriff's Office next Monday. I'm tired of being muzzled, talked down to, and asked when the newest Blastomatic 2000 will be in.

And more importantly, I miss making a difference. And I miss doing real world stuff to help people.

I can here the questions and comments now: "But its a terrible time to be a cop. People are going to hate you."

All of that may be true. But. And big but here.

If not me; who?

If not now; when?

WAR! WE'RE GOING TO WAR! - TALKING TANKS TUESDAY

 The Russians have invaded the Ukraine. We know that much. The Ukraine defense forces are fighting back. Rather well it seems. And the Javelin fucking rocks. Thats about all the for sure facts I'd bet money on right now. 

Now, for some other things that I'd feel confident to bet your money on:

- The Russian's still don't quite grock logistics. Their MLR is a nightmare. A buddy of mine is a Transpo guy and I think this is giving him Forest Whitaker eye. It is said that me most import things to go through the artic convoy's in WWII were Dodge trucks and 55 gallon drums of gasoline. Doesn't look like much has changed. 

- Russian Frontal Aviation is good. But kinda like a cocain high, those early successes are a fleeting thing. 

- The Ukraine guys are doing hella good at shaping the narrative to help them. Even if the fucking Army Times seems to enjoy squashing hope. I'd hate to read what the modern Army Times would have said after Kasserine Pass or Midway. 

- Let me reiterate how fucking awesome the Javelin is. It's fun to poke fun at the Militaruy Industrial Conflict but Raytheon knocked this one the fuck out. Just like the Javelin has been to a whole lot of Russian tanks. HEY OOOO

- Ukraine is trading space for time. And it looks they're doing it well. At this point; they just have to not loose.

- Conscript Armies are about worthless for anything other than shooting at other conscript Armies. Oh, and turning you're home front against you. Sorry Vlad. We learned that after Vietnam. 

- In regards to the above post; much of the vaunted simplicity of Russian hardware goes back to the fact that the only professional part of their military, outside of some of the Airborne and SOF guys, are the officers. And most of those guys aren't technically proficient. Captain Ivan isn't going to dirty his hands working on a T-90. PFC Sergei will for 12 months until it time to go home and harvest wheat. Which means that tank is redlined. 

- Let's clarify something. The A-Team is highly entertaining show that garnered really the only success for the Mini-14. Outside of bank robbers and white separatists. The B-Team is a great little bar in Statesboro that has good hot wings and cheap beer on Tuesday. If we want to call different tiers of Russian forces anything, let's rip a page out of "Red Storm Rising" and call them Category A, Cat B, and Cat C formations. 

- And the whole have a rifle at home similar to what the Army uses doesn't seem like such a paranoid delusion now, does it Karen?

- The world has come full circle. The same guys that preached about how it took five Sherman tanks to knock out one Tiger are now simping for the Russian armored force about how the Armata has yet to be deployed. It's like the Weeraboo and Slavbois have became one big ball of anti western armored doctrine hate. Funny that. And, frankly, let's WWIII broke out in 1947. The M-4A3E8 would have eaten T-34/85s for breakfast. Where the M-26 would have left a lot of brand new West Point armor guys disappointed that they really didn't get to fight a true tank war like their older brothers did with Patton. Yeah, I said it. Don't @ me. 

- And this looks like another war where the Mosin will fight against it self and loose. 

I wish the guys and girls on the Ukraine the very best. Yes, this is another war for oil. And the Ukraine has some corruption in it's government. But at the end of the day, they were invaded by their larger, meaner neighbor. And I don't cotton to that. 

And I also wish the best for PFC Igor and his conscripts buddies. They were sent to fight on foreign soil by a batshit crazy dictator who was mad the USSR dissolved before he could sit at the big desk.  

And that represents the true horror of war. The guys who wind up fighting have no say in the beginning or end of it but just die in it. 

Weapons Wednesday - Drawing on it with a Sharpie

 No, I'm not talking about how you can cover up that gouge you made on the side of a pistol when you hit the slide instead of your sight punch. 

At work, we have a couple of contracts with assorted three letter government agencies. And one such agency recently switched from all steel DA/SA guns to Glock 19s. So, just hold that thought for a minute. 

Also, at work, we've got a repeat customer, we'll call him Henry, who loves him some high end pistols. 

And even the best top shelf out of the box pistol isn't enough for old Henry. It has to go off to Taran Tactical or Wilson Combat for a good going over. I truly believe Henry spends more time shipping and receiving pistols than he does actually shooting them. And spending an insane of mount of time pursuing the newest and greatest from Sig, Glock, H&K, FN, and STI.  

Okay, so back to our super secret squirrels and their new 19s. One of said agents, was not a fan of the new gun. Like at all. But asked for a small favor. A vertical white stripe in the center of the rear sight to help pick up the front dot just a teeny bit faster. 

Well, that required just a bit of work on my end. First thing I did was removed the rear sight completely. And verified that it was actually capable of being precisely marked in the middle down to the millimeter with my calipers. Not too bad. Removed just the tiniest nubbin of material so it set perfectly centered in the dove tail. 

With that done, I did some number crunching. Having ascertained the correct mark placement, I put the whole slide assembly in my vice and used a good flat head screw driver to ensure my paint pin made a perfectly straight line. Boom. Perfect modification. 

So, one day last week, said Agent happened to be shooting when old Henry finally decides he might as well shoot his newest 2011 just back from some gunsmith somewhere who had to change out a widget for another widget. Henry shoot a little bit and watches our Agent friend shoot her new and improved Glock with more than a little awe. 

As they're both checking out Henry can't help but ask our intrepid Agent how she shoots so good. 

And she dead ass looks him in the eye and says: "Oh, I just had Mack draw a line on my rear sight with a sharpie."

The look of sheer amazement and credulousness from Henry, who mind you, no longer shoots USPSA matches with us due to a 180 infraction which pissed him, was oh so very worth it. 

Probably enjoyed it a little more than I ought. But hopefully y'all did too. Thanks for stopping buy. 

Tsundoku Tuesday - The Right Stuff

 "There was a demon that live at about Point One on the Mach meter."

Tom Wolfe wrote a terrifically good narrative style study of the early Mercury astronauts and Flight Test guys at Edwards.  Specifically BG Yaeger. 

I had to read it in ENG 1101 in college and couldn't believe how great a story it was. And the movie is pretty good too. Which is actually, sort of the point of this post. 

Read the book. Enjoy the movie and avoid that craptastic reboot bullshit on NatGeo. Heard it was going to cancelled. That's good. 

And I had a thought while watching the film last night. When BG Yaeger nearly buys the farm in the NF-104A, he's talking with Jack Ridley. 

Jack Ridley was killed trying to fly relief supplies into Japan in 1957. Yaeger nearly bought it in 1963.

Ridley and Yaeger were good friends. He missed his buddy and the old days of test flight. 

Just a thought. Thanks for stopping buy. And go read the book!

Saturday Stories - The Gun Owner Responsibility Act

 So, over the last few months the gun selling business has gotten stupid. 

I've decided that I am going to submit to Congress a new firearms act. The clauses and tenets to be listed below:

• The '34 NFA is hereby ammended to remove the classifications of SBS, SBR, Silencer, and AOW. The registration tax on new machine guns is set at $5 and a tax stamp to be issued via NICS check. 
• The Hughes Amendment is hereby stricken from the '86 FOPA.
• Any and all executive orders on imports are hereby lifted with the exception of those listed therein
• The '68 GCA is amended to replace the point system of imports with imports banned by manufacture
• All Turkish imports, of anything, are hereby banned
• Strike Industries is hereby banned
• Novelty lowers are hereby banned
• Palmetto State, Bear Creek Arsenal, Spikes Tactical, and Radical Firearms are hereby banned
• Magazine fed shotguns are hereby declared Destructive Devices and banned from import
• Domestically produced magazine fed shotguns are hereby banned 
• Any persons buying a Colt product are hereby required to submit proof of use within three months of purchase
• Big bore Glocks are banned
• Anyone requesting a "9mm Major" Glock must show membership in the USPSA 
• Any persons wishing to buy a "sniper rifle" must show proof of graduation from the USAMU Sniper School, Fort Benning, GA
• Use of the term "SMG" to refer to anything other a fully automatic pistol caliber weapon will result in a 10 year jail sentence and a $10000 fine
• Bullpup shotguns other than the High Standard and Mossberg 500 are hereby banned
• AR-15 pattern rifles will only be manufactured in .223 Rem, 5.56 NATO, .300 AAC BLK, or 6.8 SPC
• All variations of the Springfield XD pistol are hereby banned from import
• The Taurus Judge, S&W Governor, and any shot shell firing revolver are hereby declared illegal and subject to confiscation
• The NFATCA is hereby banned. Speculating on registered machine guns is now illegal
• Buying firearms as "investment" pieces is hereby listed as dealing without a license, and subject to any and all criminal penalties
• The CMP will limit the sell of Garand rifles to one per household per year. Anyone selling a CMP M1 Garand for profit will be deported to Canada

Monday Musings

Staccato XC vs Nighthawk TRS-Comp

By Pudge

I called Mack and told him I was going to do another handgun comparison and he was very happy to know it was going to be a little different than some of the budget blasters I’ve compared before. (It’s also nice to not have to use Mack’s favorite piece of tupperware as the comparison piece!) Today are some quick musings between the Staccato XC and the Nighthawk TRS-Comp.

I was fortunate enough to pick up my own Staccato XC about a month ago. I decided to get one as a gift to myself and knowing that I would be using it to protect my family and teach others how to protect theirs, was all the justification I needed. I have been running this handgun exclusively for the past month so when I was recently given the chance to try out a Nighthawk TRS-Comp, I jumped at the chance to see if I chose correctly or poorly. (I do have to preface this with the fact that I was only able to shoot and handle the Nighthawk a little, but I do still believe I had enough time to give a decent comparison.)

The Staccato (new name for the old STI handguns) XC is somewhat of a cross between the duty line of current Staccatos and the legacy STI competition guns. I have been extremely impressed with mine. It has done everything I want of it so far. The Nighthawk TRS-Comp is their first, designed from the ground, double stack 1911 or 2011 offering. Before this Nighthawk has given the option of a double stack upgrade on their handguns but this is the first model they have offered only in double stack. Both guns have an integrated compensator into the barrel, they have full length dust covers with rail for lights, and have a standard 17 round capacity (they use the same magazines).

Now let us discuss differences. The Staccato has a polymer grip whereas the Nighthawk has an aluminum grip. The Staccato uses a curved trigger, Nighthawk a flat trigger. The Staccato has forward serrations that also help reduce slide weight, Nighthawk comes standard without (however you can get slide serrations as an extra option). The front sight on the Staccato is green fiber optic, Nighthawk has a nice gold bead. The Staccato comes with the ability to mount an optic standard, Nighthawk you can add this option. The Staccato has an ambi-safety, Nighthawk only has a standard one-sided safety that most of us 1911 users are accustomed to. There are some other miniscule differences between the two that are pretty much negligible in the scope of this comparison.

Working on my cellphone photography skills!

The setup I was lucky enough to test out.

What do all those differences really mean? The fit and finish on both are amazing, which should be expected of guns in this price bracket, with the slight edge going to the Nighthawk. The optic mounting system of Nighthawk is vastly superior to that of Staccato. It allows you to use standard height sights instead of suppressor height. It also allows the optic to sit lower in the slide making the transition to a red dot easier and the Nighthawk puts the rear sight in front of the optic which has many benefits. The lack of forward serrations on an optic equipped pistol can be gotten over but I prefer them, so Staccato gets the nudge in this part of functionality. Again, most of this is all personal preference so what about the most important aspect, shootability. I think the Staccato takes a large lead here. The slide seemed to run flatter and quicker on the Staccato along with less felt recoil. The felt recoil is in large part to the polymer grip on a steel frame. It helps absorb and dissipate recoil better than the aluminum grip of the Nighthawk. The slide runs extremely flat on both guns but the Staccato shows less muzzle flip which is crucial for getting rounds on target in quick succession. Now, this is very nitpicky because either handgun will outperform even the best shooters out there but we are comparing higher end handguns so it is a game of inches to find the best. I also would never scoff at the opportunity to get or even shoot the Nighthawk again because it was a solid piece of mechanical engineering.

Some of the other important comparisons to end with. The Staccato XC can be had for $4,300 right now, or for a little less if you are Military or LE and go through their Heroes Program. However, that will make it a 3-6 month wait. With the Nighthawk you are looking at least 11 months from time of order to in your hands and $4,600 standard setup and around $5,000 setup similarly to the XC with the option to mount an optic.

You cannot go wrong with either of these choices, but for now I am very pleased and extremely content with my choice to go with the Staccato XC.

My XC at work! (This thing shoots amazing)