Weapons Man

Lots of drama in the news these days about a range accident where a spindly kid couldn’t control a mini or micro Uzi, and the instructor, who should have known better, paid with his life for his failure to ensure safety. We wonder if he was a victim of not having had any sisters, and believing pop-culture hype about girls’ strength equalling boys’, as well of being a victim of his own failure to prepare and control his station on the range. We’ll never really know.

Inmate ID: Cancelled. We’ll see you in Hell, Johnny boy.

“Ah seldom miss at this range.”

This weekend, Sunday falls in the interstices between days off, rather than provides a brief Sabbath rest before we have to start paying attention to the countdown to the launch of the work week.

A few weeks ago we read a story about a police chief or sheriff in a major metro area who couldn’t or wouldn’t qualify with a firearm, but carried it anyway (“L’etat, c’est moi.”) Then there was another one, this time a female (first one was a guy). So we went looking for the links to do a story and we didn’t find ‘em. We did find a third less-than-straight-shootin’ Sheriff, this guy in the Tampa, FL area (Hillsborough County, maybe?) So we’ve got the links on the FL guy but not the other two.

Can any of you wise folks hook us up?

(We’ve been off having adventures: buying ammo, getting locked out of our range, and having the car up and croak on us, ½ mile from the Manor. While the other two vehicles are in the shop. Shiny).

From the very beginning of M16 production, according to the preponderance of records, the Army version was the M-1 A1 with the forward assist. But the MIL-STD that included the nascent M16 for the first time, MIL-STD 635B: Military Standard, Weapons, Shoulder (Rifles, Carbines, Shotguns and Submachine Guns), covered only the M16 version.

This lion may have been a surviving tomb monument, from 2,300 years ago.

…or, for Whacking a Wapiti. That’s an elk, for the rest of us.

The Next Big Thing™ in whitewashes is just in from the VA. The VA OIG has written a superficial report, after a cursory investigation, that — wonder of wonders! —  finds no wrongdoing. Nothing happened. Why, the cover letter from the VA’s latest failed Secretary hints that even the dead guys aren’t dead:

Beretta presented a novel smart-gun concept at a recent defense expo overseas, which they called iProtect. This video shows how it works, using an RF-enabled gun with multiple sensors.

There are some things you must never do when confronted with an armed assailant. We mean never, ever, not because these events never end well, but because they usually don’t, and because violating these hard and fast rules takes the agency of your survival out of your own hands. You owe it to Adam and Eve and all the rest of your bloodline to preserve your life.

This one turned out to be redundant.

Artist’s impression of the lost satellites. Image: ESA.

For some values of the word, “elite.” It’s true that they’re carefully selected and drilled hard. Not just in the industrial West; for many nations, having a drill team that can stomp and strut with the best of ‘em is a vital part of the country’s patrimony. So watch this video and grit your teeth as the soldiers of many nationalities slip and fall, a Briton can’t resist a $#!-eating grin, a US Marine drill team member launches his rifle in an unexpected direction, a gang of Afghan pallbearers make the rookie facing-movement mistake that has caused many a private to spend a day or two of basic training with a rock in his left pocket, and that’s just the dismounted guards. Put them on a horse, with polished helms and gorgets or cuirasses, and further hilarity ensues.

Two years and four months ago, Weaponsman featured a guy we called, “the rural Maine equivalent of the Japanese soldiers who stayed off the grid in the Philippines and Guam for ridiculous lengths of time.” He lived in a rude, camouflaged, and solitary camp and survived on what he could steal from others’ empty vacation homes. And then spirited his booty back to his rural G-Camp.

This remarkable antique shotgun, for sale by a British dealer, recently was on GunBroker (without a bid). But it’s still for sale in England (as an antique, it’s not difficult to import). At a glance it looks like any early percussion English fowling-piece. Nice, and beautifully worked, but is it special?

“The game is afoot, Watson!”

The human race never fails to astound us in its perpetuation, despite the existence of large numbers of people with the terminal dumbs. Life, after all, is an ongoing IQ test, and humans have come up with an incredible range of ways to fail at it. But one news story says that whole populations are getting dumber:

Remember, we had the top ISIL leader under lock and key, until the seas stopped rising and the planet began to heal:

Recently, the gang at Small Arms of the World posted a World War II vintage German language weapons manual (subscription required) that focused mostly on German service submachine guns.1 The manual was developed by a retired officer, Colonel Schmitt. Col. Schmitt was a prolific author of small arms and military manuals (of the sort that might be popular with earnest young soldiers, and youth looking forward to military service). He was also the editor of a range of war maps. His materials appeared though the publishing house of R. Eisenschmidt, located on Mittelstraße 18 in Berlin NW7.