Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
With a 12ga bullpup shotgun.
Photos for a hat catalog.
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My friend Miles.
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Inexpensive range trip with M1911?
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
Rimfire M1911, green dot sight, green laser/light — great for teaching newbies and entertaining everybody else. Henschel hat again. $20 worth of good rimfire ammo lasts a day at the range. Next time, I’ll add a sound suppressor to make this a perfect combo.
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A new friend.
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
Photo by JP of Just People blog.
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A very special MP40
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
This submachine gun is not like the others. Can you guess why?
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The Preferred Role of Guns in the Political Process
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
Recently, I wrote of the limited utility of sharpshooters in standing battles. I also write often about the importance of marksmanship and gun ownership. How do these two statements fit together?
Where most of the population is unarmed and untrained, a relatively small junta can make considerable progress by not playing by the rules. That approach doesn’t work as well if every segment of the population is capable to self-defense. Of course, it is possible for one group to overmatch another, but the amount of logistical organization and preparation necessary for such a feat would also enable them to win elections…at which point victory by force becomes unnecessary. In effect, elections can be viewed as non-violent proxies for civil wars. The same is true of personal safety: in some countries, dissidents and merely insufficiently enthusiastic supporters of the ruling party could be rounded up at little cost to the government. In the US, every individual may be presumed armed and unpredictable, increasing the required manpower and decreasing the ability to arrest political opponents without repercussions.
So guns and other weapons in private hands keep certain political optimists from trying their luck at establishing the Second Caliphate or building Worker’s Paradise or Restoring the Republic. They end up trying to make it happen by means other than bloody mayhem. I’d rather have a PR battle and put up with annoying campaigns than have DFL and GOP (and possible other contenders) slug it out Beirut 1982 style. The Lebanese civil war, by the way, was sparked by outside influences that gave some factions the illusion of “short victorious war” being possible. The American civilian arms basically make violent political shortcuts backfire on those who try. That is why marksmanship and access to arms are important.
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Ready to Pounce
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
Springfield M1A Scout in a Rogue bullpup chassis. Weaver 2.5-10x scope, Magpul BUIS, Atlas bipod. Until recently, I didn’t even know Thermold made M1A and FAL magazines.
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Crusader Weaponry .308 rifle
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
The opener shot for the upcoming article about this impressive rifle. The sight is Elcan Specter 1/4x. Battlecomp brake, Magpul stock and mag, Diamondhead sights.
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My friend Charles with a laser-sighted Glock 17
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Cute and Personable Kid
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
Amiya takes after her parents, both very photogenic people.
Judging by the skull and crossbones, she’s a pirate wench.
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Coonan Eye Candy
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Knowledge As a Defensive Fortification
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
As you probably read in my posts, I consider weapons useful in improving personal safety. But training and carrying weapons doesn’t guarantee safety — a handgun isn’t armor. Due to the expense and the inconvenience, few of us wear body armor. Similarly, most of us do not harden our homes for improved resistance to small arms fire or arson.
What’s better than winning a gunfight against a mugger? Not getting mugged in the first place. The best chance to avoid such a calamity is to avoid bad neighborhoods (with high incidence of violent crime), to avoid high-risk jobs (such as working night shift at a convenience store) and other exposure to violent criminal actors. In short, having a good, well-paying job improves safety by reducing your overlap with criminals. A pediatrician simply doesn’t run into gangbangers on a regular basis. A taxi driver or a store clerk does.
What allows a person to get a better job, besides good personality and diligence? Skills. Knowing a second language can be enough to get a good job. Taking more than basic math and science courses also helps. Mastering enough different software to be able to learn more by analogy helps a lot. While making direct comparisons is difficult, it’s quite possible that learning two additional languages would provide extra earning potential equivalent in its safety effect to carrying a gun. Taking that calculus class and chasing it with AP physics might add up to more protection than a level IIA bullet proof vest.
The brain is the most potent weapon we have. A smart person wins against violent thugs by avoiding interaction. A smart person who is also diligent and works hard at self-improvement is better able to live on a different plane from a typical criminal, most of whom don’t play well with others and have little to offer the society in terms of useful skills.
Learning is also the best hedge against looters of the government kind. We might not be able to take real estate or furniture with us when moving or running away from an inhospitable environment, but we can take the skills and the knowledge along. In the grand scheme of things, conventional weapons are for emergencies — cases like the Soviet Union or North Korea where peaceable escape was impossible. In more moderate countries, guns are an adjunct to learning. Knowledge and the ability to apply it for the benefit of others is what makes us safe on a daily basis. The resources obtained by such knowledge and the security provided by those resources are the real reason why being well to do is valued — it has less to do with the mythical greed and more with keeping self and family safe and secure.
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Kim Breed Custom Knives — Sharp Jewelry
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
A friend brought several knives to show.
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Large Bore AR15
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
Guns4Pennies.com is about to auction off this rifle.
The point of interest is mainly the caliber, 458SOCOM. Several types from 70gr frangibles all the way up to 600gr subsonics are. SBR makes several loads, as does Load-X. 350gr ball load is shown below.
The rifle is nicely made, as seems typical for RRA.
The rifle is the same size and weight as .223 but launches a much bigger payload. Standard “30rd” magazine fits ten shots of .458SOCOM.
Approximate ballistic effect on target is approaching that of a 12ga sabot slug.
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Color-Matched Defense
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
Charter Arms Chic Lady .38 with a Galco shoulder rig. Works well for car use.
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Defensive Voting.
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
Two-party system pretty much guarantees defensive voting by informed people. Most Republicans I know hold their noses when voting got GOP. The most common positive view of McCain I heard was “He’s old, maybe he’ll die soon after the election.” Others merely thought he was less horrible than Obama, not much of an endorsement.
I suspect that plenty of well-informed voters consider a Republican president to be a greater threat. Economic reasons aside, let’s talk about privacy. While Roe-vs-Wade is an established legal precedent for personal privacy, we do have a government that violates everybody’s financial and personal privacy routinely in pursuit of the “war on drugs”. We also have a government that’s entirely willing to murder people over a couple hundred dollars of tax revenue. As John Ross pointed out, the kind of draconian enforcement necessary to effectively restrict abortions would make the USSR look benign by comparison.
So, on the one hand, we had an authoritarian socialist representing a party that is perceived as anti-gay (the vocal opponents of equitable legal treatment of gays basically tarred the rest with guilt by association) and anti-privacy (via repeal or blocking of Roe-vs-Wade). On the other hand, we have an authoritarian socialist anti-gun party with an even more harmful economic program than the first, but with less manifested intent to mistreate certain segments of the population. Those segments, along with their friends and family, might view that alternative as less immediately harmful. Most people are offended by the government efforts to stick their noses into private gun safes. How do you think people feel about equally official efforts to pry into their wombs or sniffing up their asses? And I speak in generalities here, as some members of each party would not fit the typical molds.
I view Republicans as a lesser threat: I feel that I am more likely to have necessary funds and guns with them in control of government. With lawyers, guns and money, I can resist their other bright ideas. Other people feel that Democrats are a lesser threat because of the above-mentioned factors. I can’t think of anyone from my social circle who have any enthusiasm for either, but most hold their nose and vote for the less aggressive evil as perceived at the time. That’s were this concept of a “left libertarian” comes from — someone who agrees with me on pretty much everything but gives different weight to specific concerns.
In the end, Democrats will probably continue to run around screaming for gun control and punitive taxes against anyone not on welfare, and the Republicans will shove their pet religion where it doesn’t belong, with armed enforcers of virtue jackbooting around. And the Libertarians will continue to have the organizational capabilities of autistic cats, getting the same 1% in every election.
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My Girlfriend.
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
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Rogue bullpup
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
M1A action in a Rogue stock, Nightforce 5.5-22x scope, L3 MRDS backup optic.
Shorter version without the scope.
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Where in Nashville Could I get a Laptop Fixed?
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
This morning, my Windows 7 laptop failed with blue screen. Efforts to boot it yielded “disk access error”. I have no unique data on it, just need to get it functional again. I suspect the problem may be virus-related rather than a hardware failure. Where in Nashville should I look for qualified help?
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KSG and SU16 Updates
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
(Tan Ceracoat)
(Chromed)
(9″ barrel)
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Last Ditch Innovation: German Delayed-Blowback Rifles
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
Forgotten Weapons just posted a video I helped produce, Last Ditch Innovationabout Gerat 06 and 06H. These eventually became CETME and G3 rifles. As usual, the information presented by Ian is top-notch.
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