Monthly Archives: January 2012

The Brady Campaign announced an effort to hold a candle light vigil in honor of the victims of “gun violence” today.  Weer’d came up with the idea of holding a vigil for all victims of violence.  Weer’d suggested we do this by having us post pictures of a candle with our defensive arms.

First up is a friends S&W 5906.  He didn’t have a good camera and lives down the street so he came over tonight and we just did all the arms at once.

A candle does nothing to stop violence.  It does nothing to protect this mans family from harm.  This pistol however provides him, as well as his wife, an effective means to fight off a stronger attacker.  This provides them an effective means to ensure the safety of their children.

I followed that up with my standard open carry arm.  A 5 inch Kimber Custom Classic.

Away from the house, that arm is the equivalent of a portable fire extinguisher.  It is used for when evil decides to appear.  Evil doesn’t call in advance to let me know trouble is coming.  It is a tool that I can carry with me to help protect myself and my wife.

This shotgun is one of the two defensive long arms for the house.  I normally carry my 1911, but when something goes bump in the night this is one of my go to weapons.  Enough power I know that those who wish to do me violence will stop in their tracks after meeting the lead.

The AR-15 makes a fantastic home defense weapon. With the weapon mounted light, it’s higher accuracy and higher capacity provides me the largest advantage against those who would wish to do me or mine violence.  It will protect my wife and my self equally well despite who has shouldered it.  Hence the Husky and Cougar both in the image. 

Lastly there is this image.

The most significant of the bunch.  That revolver, my wedding present to my wife, provides her the ability to stand up to any attacker who would do her violence.  That revolver allows her, despite her disability, to say NO with such force that they will lack the capacity to do violence to another.  She has the ability to stop the violence against her and in ending that violence she has the ability to ensure the safety of others by preventing violence against them as well.  She carries it with her, today on her birthday, to ensure that she can stop violence when it comes her way.

That’s the thing with firearms.  While they can be used in violence, they can be used to stop violence.  They can do so without a shot ever being fired.  The gun grabbers though would beg to differ.  They seem to think a criminal will stop if you light a candle and hold it.  Both of my parents had defensive gun uses without a single shot fired.  Violence stopped in it’s tracks at the presentation of overwhelming force.  Overwhelming force from the potential victim of the attacker.

Remember, there are victims of gun control.  When a mass shooting happens in a gun free zone everyone’s a victim of gun control.  Those candles forever burn in my mind as a reminder of them, and why I vehemently support the second amendment.

Again please email me any pictures you would like posted: vigil.picture at the-minuteman.org

So I went out to help Joe with some testing today.  Last weekend there were some problems with boomers and testing needed be done to figure out the exact cause of the failures.

Joe and I stopped by the Taj and picked up some equipment however Joe forgot the keys to the magazine and we had to leave the targets that were stored to test how they react over time.

Once over at Mecca we began to mix explosives.  I noticed but didn’t think anything of it that the dust from the bin of KClO₃ was less than usual.  Our first experiment was 4 control targets using our standard production methods and baggies with 8 other targets using different packaging methods.  We laid out the first 6 targets.  Two of each.  Loaded up with 62 grain JHP and started on the right. 

Bang, dead center, nothing.  Move to the next one. 

Bang slightly off, bang it’s low, bang it’s high, bang dead center, nothing. 

Bang dead center, nothing. 

Bang dead center, nothing.  Now at this point we’re moving on to the normal production control targets.

Bang dead center…. Nothing. I’m thinking, “what the hell is going on!”

Bang dead center, again nothing.

At this point Joe and I inspect the targets, they didn’t even begin to detonate.  We talk and think well maybe the ethylene glycol absorbed moisture, the bottle is almost empty.  We also realize it’s pretty cold and maybe that’s a problem.

We head back inside to mix up a new batch with fresh ethylene glycol and warm up the targets in front of the heater.  We continue discussing the problems while mixing up the new batch.  I realize that cold can’t be the problem.  A year ago we were detonating with it about 15F out.  At this point we both agree it must be the glycol.

We finish up the targets and take them out to test.

Bang, nothing.

Bang, nothing.

Bang, nothing.

Bang, nothing.  Bag is sitting there because it wasn’t a full square hit.  Throw the bag into the air by shooting the crap out of it.

Glycol is out.  Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!  What has changed!?  We mixed them at Mecca, but how could that cause the recipe to fail?  We go inside again and continue discussing the problem and I start staring at the potassium chlorate.  Finally I ask Joe, “where’s all the dust?”  Normally there’s dust everywhere, this time there’s no dust! 

We start feeling the potassium chlorate focusing our attention on it.  Did it absorb moisture, it’s certainly possible and the texture certainly isn’t right either.  How can we heat it up to dehydrate it?  Finally we decide to head over to his parents place to make use of the stove.  An hour later, the KClO₃ is certainly dryer, but the texture isn’t right and there certainly isn’t enough dust still.

We decide to split the amount and make two batches.  Both with the straight freshly dehydrated KClO₃, one that has been further ground in mortar and pestle.  A second that has been unmodified and left at it’s current size.  We finish mixing up the batches and have two of each target with a 5th super boomer from the excess left over from each.

We take the boomerite out back and lay them out for testing saving the mix box for later.

Bang, box shredded nothing.

Bang, nothing.

Bang, nothing.

Bang, nothing.

At this point I’m becoming a bit annoyed and disappointed.  I have no clue what’s left.  Joe mentions we could try a V-max bullet.  I’m up for that but my concern is, the past three years I’ve used these 62 grain bullets without a problem.  Joe goes and grabs his V-max mag and I set up the targets left over from the first batch and set up my super boomer.

I tap the mag and charge.  Swing on the first boomer and bang.

Nothing. (expletives run through my mind.)

Bang.   Nothing!

Bang.  Nothing!

Bang. Nothing!

What in the hell is going on.  The last boomer fell over.  I flip on the safety, walk the 25 yards and put it back up right.  Walking back at about 10 yards I say F-it, I’m far enough, it’s not going to blow anyway.  I’ll go entertainingly close.

Bang…….. BOOM!

Immediately I feel my face stinging.  I have a wall of smoke rolling towards me.  I walk back and smile at Joe and say, “Well it worked that time!”  At this point I start rubbing the corner of my lip.  I took a bunch of prills to the face and arm.  Joe even 25 years away said he was feeling the prills.  I clear my weapon and notice something.  This folks is why you wear eye protection!

You can somewhat see it on the other side of the lens too.  Some of the mud bounced off of me and landed on the other side of the lens.  I had mud on my glasses too.  At this point Joe and I both agree that it’s probably the KClO₃, but we don’t know how to quantify it.

We clean up and decide to head back to Joe’s place to do some analysis.  We examine the KClO₃ under a microscope.  I think we found our problem.

I’ll give you a hint, the three items above are KClO₃, normal sugar, and flour.  Guess which is the KClO₃.

If you guessed in the middle you’re right.  Normally the KClO₃ is like powdered sugar or flour.  Doing some research we discovered the Mil-Standard and it appears they have different sizes.

Now we need to try and establish, empirically, which size we need for Boomerite.  Joe’s ordering a flour mill to try and grind the KClO₃ smaller, we’re all ears if anyone has any other ideas on grinding it smaller.  Joe has video of the testing and hopefully he posts it here soon.  I want to see that explosion from his point of view.

This seems like something out of a joke, but it’s absolutely real.

Louisville Metro Police are filing charges against a dead man.  Last month, police say two officers were hurt when Norman Smith opened fire on them near the intersection of 10th Street and Jefferson Street.

Now this choir boy had just gotten out of prison and did a bunch of stupid stuff and most definitely should be charged, if he was still alive.  Can someone please explain why it’s necessary to spend money and time filing charges against a dead man?  What the hell are they going to do, hang the corpse?

Things like this do not inspire me to allow the legal system to regain my confidence.  It actually does quite the opposite since they feel it necessary to waste time and money on a dead man.  All the while criminalizing everything under the sun.  If anyone has a logical reason for this please let me know.