Weapons Man
Three Guns You Don’t See Daily
The first is, if not a Bubba job, or at least a really screwed-up M1 carbine. What you’re looking at is the receiver ring (into which the barrel is secured) on the right with the operating rod in the foreground, and the receiver behind, looking like squirrels have been gnawing on it.
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Four Stories about that Russian Jet
(Editor’s Note: This story was queued two days ago, but we kept bumping it for more urgent stuff, like yesterday’s VA scandal breaker. So what we thought of as a great insight, that the mishap looked much like a bomb, has been OBE and now seems to be conventional wisdom, per Reuters [quoting PM David Cameron’s office among others] and CNN [quoting unnamed and therefore possibly nonexistent US and UK officials] among many others. Ah well, there goes our chance to look prescient. We still think people should be patient and see what investigators reveal, but in our experience in the US, when criminal investigators get hold of an air crash investigation, they screw it up seven ways from Sunday. Yeah, we’re lookin’ at you, FBI. -Ed).
...Let’s Peruse Pending Pistol Purchases
Shall we? Music, Maestro, please! Welcome to the occasional WeaponsMan recap of pistol purchases pending in the Fed, and what people are saying about ’em. Taken as a whole, these three projects illustrate nothing so much as the United States Government’s ability to mess up a junkyard. It would be hand to make this mess any bigger if you were trying. (Lord, please don’t let these agencies take this as a challenge, because they probably could). In retrospect, the early 20th Century pistol trials make you wonder where those 20 points on the procurement wallahs’ IQs have gone in a century. Nobody expects the next 1911 to come out of this.
...Wednesday Weapons Website of the Week: Extreme SEAL Training
This site is fascinating for the paradox it is: it’s promoting a sort of dude ranch for SEAL wannabes, yet the business (and the site) are run by the most over-the-top hunter of SEAL wannabes, Senior Chief (Retired) SEAL Don Shipley. With his turban of hair and sea-dog beard Shipley is an unmistakeable character, and his course delivers what he promises: an unforgettable, potentially life-changing experience.
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Retro Rozzers: LAPD Rampart Division, 1976
Here’s another retro cop video, this one of the LAPD Rampart Division long before the Rampart scandal. Indeed, the guy who edited the original video down to this 30 minute version notes that it was made the year after the 1970s cop-show staple Adam-12 was canceled.
...When Guns are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Have Cliffs (again)
Young trustafarian Johnny Strange (23) loved BASE jumping, but he also was keenly aware of the doubts his friend Dean Potter had. Potter had posted this:
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Fort Bragg MPs — Zero to Full Retard in About Two Seconds
CNN Reports on a case of extreme HP at Fort Bragg. It resulted in this post being made — and jeered extensively — on the Fort Bragg facebook page.
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The rarest STEN variant?
It looks like an ordinary STEN at a glance, with the mag housing rotated like you can do on a Mk.II, the most common-and-garden of World War II’s most common-and-garden submachine gun. Can you pick up what’s different, yet?
...Retro Rozzers: Detroit PD, Circa 1952
From time to time, we’re going to look back at police work as it used to be. It seems like life was just like today, except Detroit was a big city then. This 25 minute video was made by the Jam Handy organization, the famous midcentury industrial filmmakers.
...When Guns Are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Have Bikes
Laurence Jarvik doesn’t think bicycles are safe in traffic:
...The Last Word (for now) on Rangerettes
Chris Hernandez, who should need no introduction in these pages, has a brief interview with Sergeant Major Colin Boley, the Operations Sergeant of the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade, and one of the few Regiment veterans involved with the school.
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Sunday Stupids
No, not us. Just the machinery around us.
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