RECCE ROOM

Personal Shooting: I went shooting Saturday morning, 5-28-2011. It was the first time I've had to shoot my AR15 with the 20" barrel from "field" positions. I shot at 100 yards. Due to the number of shooters on the range, I was unable to shoot an AQT at 25 yards. Didn't matter. Using the AR15, and my Ruger 10/22, the morning was fun. With the heavy AR15, I was keeping all standing shots within an 8" circle at 100 yards. All sitting shots were within 5 inches, and all prone shots were within 2 inches. Using the 10/22, all prone shots were within about 4-5 inches. (This was based on best estimates using a scope, not actual measurements - I shot this last, and left the target there.) When I get firm pressure on the sling on the heavy-barreled AR15, shot displacement is 3" down, and 2" to the left at 100 yards. Yet more proof to the Appleseed folks that too tight a sling can hinder marksmanship. Using an AQT target at 100 yards, I was able, fro...

My sister and her husband came home today to find their house had been burglarized. The thieves stole their TV's, some jewelry, and some sundry monies that were there. Some lessons learned today: 1. When seconds count, police are only minutes away.  From the call (911) to the arrival, police took over 30 minutes to arrive. My father arrived (from across town) more quickly than did the police. 2. Really valuable stuff needs to be hidden in different spots.  My paternal grandmother's wedding ring was among the jewelry taken. It was also, by far, the most expensive item - worth more than all the other things combined. Heirlooms and other special items of value should be put in a secret spot that is not immediately recognizable as a hiding spot. 3. Criminals fully understand the system. These guys passed up three loaded guns. They know that selling a gun is more traceable, and that punishment for crimes involving guns are more harsh. 4. If seconds count, call my Pop...

In Louisiana, an atheist student complained and had the prayer taken out of his high school's graduation ceremony. A student with some real guts, when given the responsibility to lead the crowd in a "moment of silence" spoke her mind, and counteracted the one student's wishes. Just so happens that the vast majority of the crowd agreed with her. Link to article video .

My daily reading provided two interesting links for the reading pleasure of my audience. Link 1 Link 2 Both articles talk about the decline in marksmanship in the Army. I like the way that the articles don't talk about gear as much as they do training. Right now, if you want to shoot well in the military, you'd better bring that knowledge with you, or sign up to be a Squad Designated Marksman (SDM). The basic troop doesn't get much. That said, the USMC still teaches shooting to 500 yards, but by teaching the shooting with a sling, they are doing the Marines a disservice, as the sling is almost never used in combat. They should switch to teaching more like the Army teaches the SDM. For those that want, anybody can buy from the CMP an instructional DVD on the training methods of a Squad Designated Marksman. When I bought my copy, it was about $7 plus shipping - the least expensive instructional video I've ever bought! While you're there at the CMP web sto...

We played the same team from two weeks ago. First game was close - 9-7. 2nd game, not so much: 12-1. We lost both. I played the first game and sat the second as we had 14 players show. Coulda used one or two of them a week ago when we were forced to play a man short.

This post just appeared, as though I had published it yesterday. Fact is, I published it over a month ago. I've checked my blog several times today, and it just popped up in the last hour or so.

After I posted this , I was reminded of another funny event that happened at the same time as this post . One evening, the poor little girl from the second link above - the one that was wearing a curtain as a karate gi (uniform) - was still there after class was over and after I had changed back into regular clothes. No big deal as this night was one where I stayed late to clean up, and her mom had informed me of the situation in advance and had worked with me to make arrangements. Also there was a young boy of about 9. He had just started in the class, too. His mother had been late picking him up every night. Tonight, she was VERY late. Classes ended at 7:00. I usually stayed to clean up once a month (and this was the night for that) until 8:00. She came strolling in at 8:55 (remember, class ended at 7:00 and she had not informed me she would be late). By this time, the girl's mom had long since come and picked her up. She was wondering, too, about the little boy. I advis...

At my range trip this past weekend, I got my new ACOG sighted in. I found out that some of the ammo I have is really accurate. I also found out that in my rifle, the M193 clone ammo, M855 clone ammo, and the match grade 75-grain ammo all shoot to within an inch of each other at 100 yards. Not enough for me to want to make a sight adjustment. Also observed at the range: a fellow shooter had a Marlin 60 and had mounted a scope on it. He was keeping all of his shots to within 8 inches at 25 yards from a rested position. He asked at one point if it looked to me if he was "dialed in" with the scope. Eight-inch groups at 25-yards from a rest is horrible shooting. Especially since I'm familiar with his gun and ammo setup. So I offered to sight it in for him. He said he wasn't sure - didn't know if I could shoot well or not. I told him I could shoot a similar group at 100 yards, standing, with my AR15. On a rest, with my gun, and at 25-yards, there would simply ...

Previously, I had mentioned a test I planned to conduct regarding a heavy weight (match grade) ammo in my AR15 with a 1:9 twist barrel. "Conventional" wisdom states that a heavy bullet (over 70 grains in weight) will not be sufficiently stabilized in a 1:9 twist barrel. Most shooters go to a 1:8 or 1:7 twist barrel to stabilize the 70 grain+ bullets.An under-stabilized heavy bullet will keyhole (strike the target sideways) - often by 100 yards. A while back, I did some research on the topic, and found that in every instance of confirmed keyhole activity, the gun was an M4 type barrel (14.5 inches long with a 1.5 inch flash hider to make it "legal") in conjunction with 70+ grain ammo. Also, I discovered that people with bolt-action .223's often shot 70+ grain ammo - and their rifles often only had a 1:10 twist. Also, their barrels were frequently 22-24 inches in length. They also got superb accuracy from the setups with the heavy bullets. So would the 20...

So, a coworker wrote this in an email today about a client: " We suspect this client is going south and not for the winter."

A Federal judge has said there is no constitutional right to carry concealed weapons. Link to story. Seems in all those years of law school, and whatever else he calls "training," he managed to not learn how to read. Let me demonstrate ( from Wikipedia ): "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."  Anyone else find it ironic that this clown's name is "England?"

An enraged man entered a restaurant and shot and killed his girlfriend - a waitress at the restaurant. Link to story . Another link . The man was shot by a restaurant patron, who was legally concealed-carrying a pistol. The criminal then went outside and fatally shot himself in the head, ending the fight. The local Sheriff will not be pressing charges against the patron, who acted in self defense. That patron was shot in the abdomen, but has been treated and is expected to make a full recovery. Lessons learned: I guess guns in restaurants that serve alcohol does work! Landry's restaurant ( map ) is a chain that serves alcohol. Here's their menu - offering mai tai's . Obviously, the good guy wasn't drinking and carrying. Bad guys don't care about restraining orders. Bad guys who are not allowed to carry guns (like when they have restraining orders against them) still carry guns. Criminals in general do not obey laws (hence the reason they are crimina...

My AR15 is almost completely modified to my tastes. It wears a 20" heavy barrel. It has a Trijicon ACOG - model TA31F scope (John 8:12) It wears a collapsible stock. All that remains is a free-floated quad rail. That's next on the list. As it stands, it is an exceptionally accurate shooter. I plan to sight in the newly acquired ACOG. While at the range, I want to try some match ammo out of it. Here's where it gets interesting. The rifle has a 1:9 twist rate - considered by many to be too "slow" for heavy bullets (like the match grade ammo I have). But the problem with that line of thinking is based on 14.5 inch barrels - not 20" barrels. I can find evidence from people online that the longer barrel will shoot the heavy stuff just fine, despite the 1:9 twist. So I will put that to the test when I hit the range. I will shoot all 20 rounds of the Privi-Partizan match ammo. It is 75 grain ammo. Some say that they would expect the rounds to fly off cou...

Recently, we joined Netflix. Local video stores are a thing of the past - there are none at all in our city, or on this side of Nashville. Netflix has a lot of movies available for download, and many more can be delivered to your door. I watched the download of the Karate Kid (2010). Being a big fan of the original movie from 1984, I was skeptical. That said, to be completely fair, this movie was quite entertaining. It was neat watching the differences, yet seeing the similarities. One thing I liked is that this movie had a lot less foul language than the original. Being a martial artist for over 25 years, I must point out that this movie would have been better titled: The Kung Fu Kid. Karate was virtually non-existent in the movie (save a brief appearance). It was interesting to see how they made the love interest, especially seeing as these kids were 12 years old. Perhaps a bit overdone, but not inappropriate. Also interesting was to see how Mr. Han (who took the place of M...

Last night we played one of the other perennial powers in the league. As expected, we did not win either game. Unexpectedly, we kept it comparatively close and were not "run-ruled"  in either game. We played with only nine men (typical is ten in the field). This created an unusual situation. The opposing team was hitting the ball hard to the outfield. With only three outfielders, we were giving up more bases than usual. So, in the second game, the coach had us use four outfielders and only three infielders. The game plan was to have one man be the shortstop, or second-baseman, depending on whether the batter was right-handed or left-handed. It worked, because the score was much closer and we only "got burned" once by an opposite field ground ball. I tagged two men out at home, and threw another out at first base. There were also three unsuccessful attempts to throw men out at home. I was responsible for one, not fielding a ball cleanly. Two other throws were w...

People keep asking me who is best for the Republican nomination for President. Trump has said he is out. Good thing, too. He's a liberal with *meh* ideas on how to financially run the country. Pass Newt Gingrich is in. But he likes Obamacare . Seriously, he's an establishment (read: liberal) Republican, with no true conservative values at his core. Pass. Mitt Romney signed into law a Massachusetts version of Obamacare in 2006. No true conservative values. Pass. Huckabee is out. He said so this weekend. Good thing, too, because at his core, he's a tax-and-spend democrat. Pass. Ron Paul is in. The pros are that he really gets it. He's likely the smartest man in Washington (only exception might be his son, Rand). He would do a good job. Cons: I don't see folks "in the middle" voting for him. Pass (with potential to change that) Mitch Daniels might run. And he might be a good candidate. What frightens me is that in his first term, he raise...

People in sales know all about goal-setting, and its importance. Recently, I stumbles across this thread , in which I posted a response to the question: "What's on your 2010 wish list?" The thread was from January, 2010. My response: "In order of my personal preference... But I guarantee I won't get them in this order: 1. M1 Garand Rifle 2. 20" barrel / upper for my AR15. 3. Attain that Rifleman patch officially. 4. Get my 10/22 to where it will actually shoot. 5. Republicans gain control or pull even in either the House or the Senate. If it has to be only one... I am stuck between #1 and #2... leaning toward #2." Let's see how I dd on those goals: 1. M1 Garand Rifle - got this in September of 2010. 2. 20" barrel for the AR - got this in December of 2010. Had it put on in January of 2011. 3. Attain that Rifleman patch officially - did this in May , on the first AQT of the day. 4. Get my 0/22 to where it will actually shoot - ...

Did you ever when there is a group of people together in a learning environment, there is always one big-mouth who hogs the attention of the instructor. This is done at the cost of moving forward with the material presented. They think they are God's gift to everyone and that he has a perfect right to motor mouth on and quote "facts" and act as if he knows more than the instructor, professor, seminar leader, etc. But notice: you won't hear them in gatherings like that in boot camp or other military groups because they have to keep their mouths shut. But you will most certainly hear them waxing on and on in the barracks afterward. This person is clearly saying: "Please look at me!" They want you to pay attention to them more than anything in life. People like this are extremely insecure and have neuroses or feelings they cannot handle in a normal fashion. They do not feel that they speak too much - instead they feel they speak too little: they ...

Link to Right Minded . Excellent Quote.

Last night we played one of the perennial powerhouses in our league. As expected, we did not win either game. No unusual things happened. However, there is some fun and some notes worthy of mention in my son's little league games of late. Saturday, he was playing center field. A ball was hit out there. My son played it perfectly off the fence, and rifled the ball back to second base - getting an assist as the base runner tried to stretch the single into a double. To be fair - most 6-year-old plays do not go as this one did, so it was a smart move on the part of the opposing coach to send the runner. Last night, my son had two assists on put-outs at first base, and he tagged another boy out. In the last two games, he has gone 4-6 at the plate, and so he was awarded the game ball again (3rd time this year) last night. To top it off, the coach's wife asked my wife to sign my son up for the summer (All-Star) league. What an honor!

Last night, we played the make-up games from Monday's rain-out. Really, the only remarkable thing about the games is the fact that we played our church's other team. We won both, despite my worst offensive production of the year (3-6 at the plate).

Recently, I got an email from a reader: "Hey, Usagi, You've mentioned you have done well on the Wonderlic Test. I'm impressed. Just curious: have you taken any other standardized tests? And how did you do? - RecoveringRedHat" Thanks for the question. To date, I have taken many, many standardized tests. Most were when I was in school. A few have been since then. Here is a summary of the most common ones: Tennessee P&C License (2009) - 99% Only 1 question missed (70% required for passing score) Wonderlic (2006) - 46 I have scored a perfect 50, but the 46 was my first score. MCAT (1998) - 41 composite (45-point scale) GRE (1998) - 760 (Verbal) / 780 (Quantitative) / 790 (Analytical) (Each was on an 800-point scale) This GRE was administered by my school - UTC, and was not a part of a national GRE exam. Still, the results were comparable to "actual" exams. ACT (1991) - 26 composite (36-point scale) I was 15 when I took this A...

Just saw this one: "If the 1st amendment were as gutted as the 2nd, we'd only be allowed vowels by now." Sad, but true. 

Some people's responses to how OBL was brought to justice have reminded me to remind you all of wolves, sheep, and sheepdogs. Here's a link to the summary. Sheep: "Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident. ... There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial." Wolves: "Then there are the wolves who feed on the sheep without mercy. Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it." Sheepdogs: "Then there are sheepdogs ... I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf. ... But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the unsheltered path." Socie...

I've noticed some folks on Facebook who were horrified by the news that OBL is dead. Others still were rejoicing. Some showed the bittersweet feeling of relief. My Christian side prevents me from rejoicing at the death of an unbeliever. Also, some of the partying that was done (much like other countries do) was un-American in my view. I think their intentions were good, but that their actions were less than honorable. Another matter of fact is that the world is better off without OBL's scum and tyranny - and I appreciate that fact very much. The way the folks in New York gathered together in a completely civil manner to reflect on their own dead and the sacrifices made by so many others, was a classy way to do it. Some might ask how I justify one in the light of the other? Simple - First we must recognize the efforts of those who brought OBL to justice. Second we must not give more time and attention to OBL - hence the reason I will not spell out his name. His time i...

Former President - George W. Bush's statement on the death of Osama Bin Laden: "Earlier this evening, President Obama called to inform me that American forces killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al Qaeda network that attacked America on September 11, 2001.  I congratulated him and the men and women of our military and intelligence communities who devoted their lives to this mission.  They have our everlasting gratitude.  This momentous achievement marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001.  The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message:  No matter how long it takes, justice will be done."

Just moments ago, there was an announcement that the President would be making an announcement at 9:30. I have several sources telling me that the announcement is that Osama Bin Laden is now dead - killed by an air strike. We are supposed to be in possession of his body and have DNA proof. This is good news! The only way it could have been better is if he met his end via M16's carried by a Marine squad.  Then we could give another Medal of Honor to a living serviceman. Post-edit: Now the reports are saying that OBL was killed in a ground raid, and it was a week ago or more.