When Sherry had a question — select podcast #1229 and skip ahead to 27:50.
]]>This picture was taken from the latest issue of American Rifleman (June 2013, page 18). Elsewhere in the same issue, there was another article on a similar strain (“U. S. Lawmakers Trying to Ban Before They Understand”, page 88) and in that article when it refers to this comment, a spokesperson clarifies the statement at left, “…she simply misspoke in referring to ‘magazines’ when she should have referred to ‘clips’, which cannot be reused because they don’t have a feeding mechanism”. Well, I guess we now know why her statement, if it was a prepared statement and spoken from a script, was never caught by her staff.
It’s one thing to strongly support your constituents, but come on!!, at least know what you are talking about.
People – think before you vote!!
]]>I Won!!!
]]>Highway 287, you can pick it up outside of Denver and it will take you all the way to Austin, I think. It definitely goes to Wichita Falls and Sheppard AFB. The towns on that road are about 50 miles apart, at best.
Cruising south, on the way there, a lot north of a big town named Dumas (TX), and a little north of a little bitty town named Stratford, the Lincoln decided it was time to spit a coolant sensor out the top of the intake manifold. It was not the water temp sensor, as the car was still giving me a reading on how hot it was. Problem is, where the coolant sensor left, all the water in the motor seemed to follow….
I pulled over, right near where some BNSF RR workers were waiting on a train and they gave us a case of water, that got me ten miles or so down the road to a Car Quest parts store that had a garage and mechanic. The sensor is pressed in to the manifold (and the manifold is plastic!!!). He fabricated a clamp to hold the sensor down, put in the two gallons of antifreeze that the car needed, dumped in some stop leak, and charged me less than 75 bucks for this repair and about 90 minutes of time. Damn nice guy the owner of that store was……
But wait, the adventure is not over!!!
Once we got to Sheppard, and put Chris in the car with us to go to a place to eat, it seemed that every bump we hit, no matter how small, caused the old girl to bottom out. Damn!! Air suspension finally sprung a leak in one of the suspension bags/bladders that holds the car up. A quick call to the nearest Oreilly’s (formerly Checker Auto Parts) located me a new set of air bladders. But, no where to put them in (the auto hobby shop on Sheppard closed the doors back in September due to budget cuts). The lady at Oreilly’s made a quick phone call to a friend down the road that runs a midnight auto repair joint (actually, a place named M & R Motors) and he got the car in later that day. But first, Kelly (the guy at M & R Motors) told me I was crazy to repair the air suspension and I should just put in some springs (I did that earlier this year with the other Lincoln with a kit made by a place called StrutMasters – their kit cost about $175). Oreilly’s did not have that kit, but Kelly said no kit is needed – just get a set of coil springs made for a Crown Vic. Sure enough, Oreilly’s came through and a few hours later, Kelly had the Lincoln no longer looking like a low-rider in the Barrio (Spanish word for ghetto). To repair the air suspension (which would have had subsequent problems like a pump, or sensors and relays) would have been $250 just for the bladders alone. With the springs ($102 after tax) and labor for Kelly (guess how much he charged —- FIFTY BUCKS!!!), we were on our way for a drop in the bucket.
All I have to say — I have a renewed respect for the people of The Great State of Texas!!!
So, made it home on Friday night and have spent the time trying to find a vehicle (he wants a truck) for Chris. Probably should of bought one in Texas – probably would have had a better deal that what he may find around here. Oh, I was going to give him the old (even though it is 4 years newer, just the one we’ve owned longer) Lincoln to trade in. Guess what happened to it last night when we went to drive it to the dealership to look at a truck? The intake started leaking water where the two halves of the plastic is put together – Kelly in Texas told us to watch for that on the Lincoln intake manifolds. Sure enough…… it’s leaking. Going to bring him to the junk yard tomorrow and take whatever they want to give me. Lots of good parts on it…. …. and 132K for miles.
]]>Here I am. Contact info on the left. Stay in touch…..
So, let’s break this down a little —
“But I also share your belief that weapons that were designed for soldiers in war theaters don’t belong on our streets….” That’s a lot of different types of guns. Every thing from a Beretta M9 and Colt 1911 to an M-16 (AR-15).
“And so what I’m trying to do is to get a broader conversation about how do we reduce the violence generally….” I think this is pretty open ended… Let me go off the deep end and mention Nazi Germany. Far-fetched, yes. Unbelievable, maybe not.
Now, the most damning statement made…
“Part of it is seeing if we can get an assault weapons ban reintroduced…” Well, there you go. Make your own determination of what that means. I know what it means.
But, read between the lines on the last part of the entire quote…
“Because frankly, in my home town of Chicago, there’s an awful lot of violence and they’re not using AK-47s. They’re using cheap hand guns…” I see this as a statement of more than a ban on assault style weapons. I see this as an attempt to introduce a far reaching and broad ban on many weapons. Pistols of all sorts; pocket pistols, derringers, cheap (inexpensive?) handguns. A .22 is one of the most common weapons used. Is .22 ammo going to disappear?
Be sure to vote on 6 November…..
]]>So, with a clean stage out of the way, on to improving the times for the matches. I’m pretty sure I’ll never have anyone give me a belt buckle for winning a match, no matter how big or small. With that in mind, it would be best to just try to improve each week, no matter how small the gain might be.
Well, that’s a crappy plan. I was shooting faster, but missing more. When the penalties for the misses were tallied up and added to the score, my times were actually starting to get worse. Slow and steady wins the race….
Over the summer I purchased a few new guns – some Cimarron Pistolero’s – 4 3/4 inch barrels. Quicker out of the holster, quicker back in to the holster. Do that twice on each stage and some time is made up. Short barrels though, it’s all a mind game, but harder to hit the bad guys with those things.
I knew I’d get back to another clean match and last Saturday, it finally happened again. Out of 60+ shooters on the day, about 6 of us were clean, so that makes it all the more special. It was good shooting and not close and big targets. Oh, and the time? Very nice as well, it was 228. That’s for 6 stages too!!
]]>1st stage, clean shoot!
2nd stage, clean shoot!
3rd stage, clean shoot! I’m noting that I am shooting well this morning. The check of the sights on the Henry a few weeks ago (when the firing ping broke) is paying off.
4th stage – if I’m going to mess up, do it now so Murphy doesn’t do it for me on the last stage, but nope, clean!
5th stage – last stage. I have to go first on this stage and the targets are set up like I have never seen before, a new “sweep”, if you will. Guess what?
CLEAN!
That is something I had set for a goal, to shoot clean. Make sure I am hitting what I am aiming for. Today, I did that. You know what else I did? I took a good 100 seconds off of my time. Up to now, my times have been absolutely terrible. I mean, TERRIBLE!! My time today, though it would not have won any competition, it was a respectable 272.25 seconds
Clean —- very pleased….
]]>So, that brings me to the point of this rant. Not only am I talking about a 100% U.S. made end product, all the parts in that end product are produced right here as well. That alone could be enough to make Henry Repeating Arms a good, if not great, American company, but they back it up with customer service that is unparalleled by anyone.
Let me elaborate…
Last September (Sep 2011), I decided it was time for me to get a lever gun. I also had to have it in .45 Colt (no… it’s not long Colt – it is .45 Colt, but that could be an entire rant in, and amongst, itself, yes?). I did what I think is some good research and looked at a bunch of rifles. No matter what I held in my hands or looked at with my eyes, nothing could compare to the Henry Big Boy, and naturally, .in .45 Colt. If you want to add price to the mix, then there is definitely no comparison — the Henry wins, hands down!!
Of course, I had an ulterior motive for buying this rifle — I had discovered the sport of Cowboy Action Shooting and this was going to be my rifle. (I don't want to take the attention of this article away from my comments about the Henry, so I won't mention the Uberti 1875 Army Outlaws or the USSG MP220F SxS external hammer Coach Gun... ....crap, too late, I just did.) So, the later part of September, October, and November, I put a lot of lead through that 20” octagon barrel. The 1st Saturday of the new year, the local range had a match (you can find that and comments about a few other matches in another post on this page). One thing I noticed at all of the matches I went to, and it has only been three so far, the rifles that the other Cowboys used all seemed to have an issue or two. Either they failed to feet, failed to eject, or something similar (one guy had a mag tube spring break, as after a few shots, it would no longer feed bullets for him). My Henry performed flawlessly on every stage, in every match.
Now, spring forward from September and all those rounds I put through the barrel and let’s land in February (actually, the very end of January). The last match I participated in, I was shooting low. Most likely, I whacked the rear sight, by which I mean, the elevator adjustment simply slipped. I figured I should get to the range and “re” sight in my rifle, just to make sure. I brought a box of 50 rounds with me, had the Henry sighted after about 20 rounds (I was shooting 10 round groups, just because), and figured what the hell, let’s burn off the rest of this ammo. Round number 49 would not fire!!! I knew it was #49 because I had two rounds of a 50 round box left. After some examination of the bolt, and subsequently, the firing pin, the nose of the firing pin broke off.
Stuff happens —- I don’t expect the gun to always perform perfectly, whether it be the 1st round (needs some break in) or the 1000th, 5000th, and definitely, not after more than that. Things wear, things stress, things just don’t go right after a while. If a gun always worked, there would be no Gunsmiths. Stuff happens, that’s what I’m saying. I’d be foolish to think that after, probably, the 2500th round down range, something wouldn’t need repair.
I called Henry the first chance I could, I think it was the 30th or 31st of January. Spoke with a gentleman named Kevin. After I explained my problem, I asked him if he would be so kind as to send me 2 firing pins, to keep one step ahead of Murphy.
Something happened though — the firing pins never came in the mail! After about 12 days (and really, is 12 days that long?), and a few phone calls, I decided I should maybe go to the top… …I sent an e-mail to Mr Anthony Imperato, the President of Henry Repeating Arms. Below is a screen shot of my inbox. You’ll note the time it was sent (which is also the same time that I read the e-mail (the bottom line in the image below), the time that Mr Imperato read the message (middle message), and the time that he replied to my message (the top message).
Here is the e-mail I sent Mr Imperato;
Mr. Imperato,
First off, and in all sincerity, I would like you to know how much I enjoy my Henry Big Boy (.45 Colt). Not only is it a beautiful gun that shoots straight and true (as long as I aim it straight and true), it is also very reliable — it has functioned flawlessly at every CAS competition I have been in.
If you have a moment, I would like to be able to call and talk with you about a little bit of an uneasy feeling that I am getting…
The nose of the firing pin broke off about 2 weeks ago when I was at the range checking my sight alignment (I was hitting a little low at the last competition, I needed to verify my sights were correctly adjusted). I called and a firing pin is being mailed to me, but it is taking so long that I am starting to get concerned. Now, it has only been 11 days, counting today, but your fine company has been so quick and efficient in the past, and with your outstanding reputation for customer service, I am beginning to wonder if the package may have been lost in the mail.
I did call earlier this week (on Tuesday), then again, yesterday (Thursday). Both times, I was told the the new firing pin was mailed and I should receive it “today or tomorrow”. It was not in the mail on Tuesday or Wednesday, that is why I called yesterday. It was not in the mail yesterday and the mail has already been delivered today, still with no firing pin.
Thank you for your time spent reading this e-mail, I really appreciate it.
Your faithful and loyal customer,
And, his reply;
Thank you very much for owning a Henry, we certainly appreciate it. I am over-nighting you a front firing pin, a firing pin assembly and a comp Henry Campfire Mug, We had mailed you two front firing pins but they must be lost in the mail, or they will show up in next days. At any rate you will see them by Monday. The tracking number will be UPS 1Z8V9F992210023244. It won’t be in UPS system until they scan it tonight.
Sincerely,
Anthony Imperato
President
Henry Repeating Arms
59 E 1st Street
Bayonne, NJ 07002
Seriously now, this is a company that I want to deal with. A great gun, well made, looks good, and is backed by a great guy with some great standards. The replacement firing pin that Mr Imperato sent arrived the very next (business) day via UPS. I had the firing pin in later that evening, no problems at all and I’m drinking coffee out of the really cool Henry mug that he sent as well!
To date, the original firing pins still have not arrived in the mail. As soon as they do, I will update that here on this post.
I had this blog post all typed up last week, as soon as I got my Henry back to working order, but I wanted to wait few days to see if the original firing pin was ever going to arrive in the mail.
EDIT – read the comment I posted about the firing pin, it came in the mail finally, no fault of Henry.
]]>2nd go ‘round on it tomorrow. I shot a match a few weeks back and it was a real hoot. The last two weeks or so have brought on a lot of anxious feelings – could not wait until the next match! There was supposed to be a match last weekend at the range for the Sybille Creek Shooters (Sybille Creek), but it was canceled because of high winds. Tomorrow, the shoot is at the Pawnee Sportsmen’s Center, home of the Briggsdale County Shootists.
But, I think I am getting a little ahead of myself….
The 1st go ‘round was with The Cheyenne Regulators, here in town. I’ve been ready to go for The Regulators for a few weeks now but the past few matches held at the Cheyenne Regulators range were canceled for one reason or another. On the 1st Saturday of the year though, there was a match.
I got my final revolver in mid December, so I had a few weekends to make sure I was comfortable with both 1875 Army Outlaws, along with the Henry Big Boy and the USSG coach gun. Even though I have put a good couple of hundred rounds (maybe thousands) through each gun and felt comfortable with them, I was nervous as could be for the competition.
The entire match was 5 stages. Lucky for me, I was able to shoot clean on the 1st two stages (no misses!). However, don’t get too excited – the times were nothing at all to be proud of. My feeling on this, it is much better to make sure I am following procedure and doing things right.
The 3rd stage was almost a disaster for me. The shooting order was way different than the previous stages and I messed it up. Even though I hit every target, I hit them in the wrong order. The final tally for that stage, because I shot out of order meant that two target were a miss. Also, because of not following the order, there was a procedural error, resulting in an additional 10 second penalty. Oh well….
After that, things went kind of okay. Took a lot of time on the 4th stage – it had a lot of shotgun targets and the external hammers on my coach gun really tend to slow one down. I don’t care – the coach gun is cool and I’m not getting rid of it!
Overall, on the 1st match I went to, I ended up finishing second in my category (Cowboy)! Again though, don’t get too excited with my success. Because it was January and still a little nippy, not too many people were there (there were 4 people in the Cowboy category, I believe).
If I can do as well tomorrow, I’ll be happy. I’d like to shave a few seconds off of each stage. I’d like to hit all the targets (a clean match!).
UPDATE — 23 Jan 2012
Scores were posted for the match. Again, second in the category, but there is nothing to be proud of there. There were only two people in the category!! I did lower my time by 29 seconds over the 1st shoot that I went to. Now, to keep working on that and get the time down to something respectable. A lot of tricks to getting a good time – I’ll be working on one of them at the next shoot. I am going to try a different shotgun slide and practice with it this week.
]]>NetFlix, at first, seemed pretty cool. Loaded up our queue with some movies and watched away…. the first week or 10 days we had the Sony. Lately, while trying to watch “Teas of the Sun”, our experience has been terrible. Last Saturday was the first attempt at watching this title and we gave up after the first 20 minutes of the movie. In that 20 minute time frame, we probably experienced at least 5 buffering episodes, probably 10!
Tonight, we are about 75 minutes into the movie, in movie time. In actual time, we are now up to a good 150 minutes. At times, the movie has buffered every two or three minutes. At best, we managed to get about 15 minutes of viewing time before the stream buffered again.
Calling support was useless. The rep insisted that everything under the sun was at fault, as long as it did not include anything related to NetFlix. The rep was doing his best to absolve NetFlix from any responsibility. Right now, I am on a free trial of NetFlix. I am pretty sure that I will not become a paying customer again. They got about two weeks to astound the hell out of me to make up for the crappy experience I had with “Tears of the Sun”.
And…. I did not even mention the lack of a decent selection of movies as a streaming customer.
Nor did I mention the one little glitch I had with Hulu – on Saturday, I got all settled in to watch some “No Ordinary Family” on Hulu and I got an error message about the service being unavailable. Being a new customer, I did not know what this meant or if it was common. I e-mailed tech support (something NetFlix could really take a hint with), and before I sent the e-mail, the service was up and running again. It may have been down for a while, but I only noted the problem for less than a minute. Before my show started however, I had already received a reply from Hulu’s tech support – they credited my account with a weeks free service because of the inconvenience I had.
Sure, Hulu is mainly TV and NetFlix is mainly movies, but I know who I’ll give my money and loyalty to….
]]>Then I got to looking at what Textpattern is, what it can do, and how it can do it. Boy, have I opened up a can of worms for myself (I say that and mean, I have some learning to do — CMS, CSS, XHTML, XML, oh my!).
Without the book “Textpattern Solutions” by Potts, Sable, and Smith (with Fredborg and Lindley), I would have never been able to get started, let alone, keep going. The text takes you through every step of the process, all the way from downloading the needed software, setting up the programs and permissions, thru explaining each and every bit of the interface, right up to some advanced features.
I bought my copy from Amazon, I’m sure it is available at many other locations.
RAM I could in the 8 year old Dell Dimension, just like Scotty used to tell Captain Kirk all the time — “I’m giving her all she’s got Captain, she can’t take no more!” Even with all I could put in the ol’ girl, she could only take 2 GB of RAM. Enough to keep her going, but far from what she needed.
I put all theAs far as hard drive space, well, every USB port and every IDE channel was taken up. No room left at all to do anything, space-wise. There were symlinks upon symlinks keeping the file system all in one piece.
Ever since I really discovered Ubuntu a few months ago, I’ve been mulling this change over in my mind. Ubuntu has got it’s act together and I think this new machine will do just fine for me. 8 GB or RAM and a dual core processor, so the new machine is running the 64 bit version of the latest release 10.10. I initially wanted to go with the Server version of 10.10, but it was a real pain in the ass – I ended up loading the desktop version and I stripped a few things out of it. I’ll strip some more as the days go by.
Most of the links on this site are up and running again, but there is still some work to be done.
]]>