No Man's Land

In honor of national ammo (Day, week, etc.)...

In a move of solidarity with my brothers and sisters of the second amendment persuasion, I made my move today to execute my duty to celebrate National Ammo Week with a bang, albeit one day late.  Hey, I couldn't get to the gun show until today.

Not only did I purchase 100 148-grain Czech Silver Tip (light ball) 7.62x54r rounds for my Mosin Nagant M38, I also acquired the newest member of my armory, a Rossi R97104 357 revolver.  MSRP is $362, but I got it for $219 plus tax.  It was barely used, and my buddy steeled my courage when I faltered for fear of wifely wrath by telling me that I could either buy it, or he'd live on ramen for a week to scrape the money together to buy it, and then I could live with the knowledge that I had passed up "the one," only to have it rubbed in my eye every time we went to the range.

Needless to say, when one's courage in the face of spousal retribution waivers, real friends don't let friends pass up killer deals on firearms, and Joe proved himself a friend under fire.  All has ended well, and my friend is so enthralled with the newest member of our firearm family that he is in active pursuit of his own revolver now.

What started as a simple quest to answer the call of duty (ie, Ammo Day), ended up as a test of virtue and character, culminating in the exultation of finally finding a sidearm worthy to be called mine, while simultaneously being affordable (my word, not the wife's, mind you). 

Merry Ammo Day, and may all your shots fly straight and swift.

5.56 vs. 7.62...who wins?

What They Have
Iraqi soldiers carry the AK-47 (top), a Russian-designed assault rifle used by armies and guerrilla forces for half a century.
What They Want
The more powerful American-made M4, which American troops carry in Iraq and which can accommodate a laser-aiming device and night-vision sight. (Source.)

This is what passes for "in depth investigation" at the gray lady, I suppose.  I could say a great deal on the subject, but all that needs to be said technically is quite ably said here.  Having some experience with military arms of many different flavors, I concur with Mr. DuToit's rendition.

That having been said, let me enjoy myself by heaping some deserved calumny on the head of the NY Times.  The 7.62x39 round (a la AK47 and SKS) blows the doors off the hitting power of a 5.56 round in the M-16 (and M-4) precisely because the 5.56 is just a manly designation for the .223, a mere varmint round.  Calling a .30 Caliber round less powerful than a .22, is absurd almost to the point of criminality.

While the Iraqis' AK-47's aren't as cute and cuddly as the US M-4's, they have about the same effective radius, 300-400 meters, plus they have more stopping power. (This author scoffs at the urban legends spread by Colt to convince troops who doubt that the M-16 plinking rifle they are issued will actually live up to the "one shot, one kill standard," but I digress.)

While the M-4 may have more rails for tons of goodies and gadgets, the AK-47 is far from inadequate, being chambered in a stronger round, carrying a real bayonet, and being more resilient under filthy operating conditions.  Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of weapons would know that the New York Times sidebar is about as accurate as a CBS story about National Guard memos. 

I guess that it isn't worth it to the Times reporters to leave the building for real research, when you can just make a baseless, inane claim that will be gobbled up unquestioningly by rank and file liberals whose closest encounter with real weapons was during an all-night session of Doom 2 in college.

Another liberal icon falls to the pajamahadeen...I wish.