When all else fails, post pics of the kid

I actually had something to do last weekend: I was in Louisville with my best friend's step-son, who I signed out of Fort Knoxxx upon his graduation from Basic. Upon delivering him back to said Fort on Sunday, he begins his six weeks of AIT, and then he's off to Fart Bliss. It is said there is no base in the country that has been more misnamed.

So, since I haven't written about that yet, and I'm not going to now, here's a recent pic of Schwaggie, complete with new tail cap on the Scout light. That's the V61, which doesn't have the "fence" that the stock cap (V59, I think?) has. Much easier to manipulate, but more prone to light ND's.

The "why" of ammo shortages

Got this in a newsletter e-mail from the NSSF:

FAST FACTS . . .
ANSWERS TO AMMUNITION AVAILABILITY QUESTIONS

NSSF has received numerous calls regarding shortages of ammunition. Many of these callers have expressed concern that the supply of ammunition is not able to keep up with the current demand.

In order to provide the best information possible on the issue of ammunition availability, NSSF interviewed ammunition manufacturers across the United States. Here's what we have learned:

Is there truly a shortage of ammunition?

The shortage of ammunition is real and is caused by several factors including:

*

A significant spike in consumer demand
*

Law Enforcement demand for training and readiness
*

Department of Defense demand for training and readiness
*

Higher prices from commodities

What calibers are in the highest demand?

The high demand for ammunition extends across caliber lines. The increase can be seen in most handgun, rifle and rimfire ammunition and on certain shot shell products such as buckshot.

What are manufacturers doing to keep up with demand?

In order to help keep up with demand for ammunition, manufacturers are working at full capacity (24/7). It is believed that any ammunition shortage is likely a temporary issue; however, it will take time for supply to catch up with demand.

How long will it take for supply to catch up with demand?

While it is believed that supply will be increasing, the great unknown is what demand will be later in the year. Since there is no way for manufacturers to predict how long consumer demand will be sustained at its current, unprecedented level, it is impossible for manufacturers to forecast the timeline for when the current backlog will begin to improve.

If that's true, at least it puts the situation in perspective.

The Toughest Man that Ever Was

I've been a Christian most of my life. I didn't realize that I was supposed to keep track of the date, or I would have. I think I was about six, maybe seven when I got saved. I come from a Christian family, my Dad being a Chaplain and pastor since before I was born. I grew up in the church, and have read the Easter story many, many times.

The description in the Bible of the beating that Jesus took is fairly graphic, but the written word sometimes doesn't convey the reality of what it was. I just watched The Passion of the Christ (I know, I'm slow on getting to things sometimes). I think Mel Gibson did a very accurate portrayal, in terms of the description in the Scriptures, of what Jesus had to endure for his task to be completed.

Historians have good records of how things were done in those days. The cat-o-nine-tails is well documented (and far more brutal than popular culture depicts it), as well as there being a pretty good idea of how crucifixion worked and was done. Caning is still done in some parts of the world, but with limited numbers of strokes because it's so painful and damaging. And there was more.

The point I think I'm trying to get at is this: I'm a 6'6", 300 pound gorilla who can take a shot. I've had bad injuries that hurt big time. I used to be an athlete, and I used to actually train at raising my pain threshold. Yeah, I was a weird young man in some respects. But there's no way I could have taken all that Jesus did and made it all the way to the cross. He fell and got up when I don't think a single man ever on the planet still could have. He was near death when the Romans were done beating, whipping, and tearing him, and yet he still managed to carry His cross most of the way to Golgotha. He lived through being nailed to the cross, and was still able to talk coherently to the criminal who asked for forgiveness. Bottom line: no one has ever been tougher than Jesus.

Kyle Lamb's thoughts on sights

Shooting while focusing on the target instead of the sights seems to be "coming back around" again. I've been shooting since I was 16. This idea has never really left, but has come and gone in popularity several times in the intervening 26 years of my life. It seems to be coming back into vogue again.

My opinion means squat next to Lamb's, but here's my take on it: if you can't get the gun up to eye level and need to shoot somebody or somebodies, it can be done at waist level, just out of the holster (the Speed Rock). On the occasions that I've done this drill-and I've only ever done it in classes and on the range-I've made same hole hits several times. Perhaps I should shoot from there more often...except that the distances are about as far from the target as one wall is from another, minus the depth of a couple bodies, in a hallway. Otherwise, making hits, especially as distances widen, happens most accurately with sights.


In case you're saying "who's Kyle Lamb?" Here's a thumbnail: retired as a Sergeant Major from the US Army, most of that with Special Forces Operational Detatchment-Delta, AKA The Big Boys, and known in popular parlance as Delta Force. As I understand it, one of the last jobs he did there was as the Force Mod guy. That's the guy that determines what new equipment meets the standards and needs of America's best combat shooters. He was there in some of the worst places American fighting men have ever gone, including Somalia (yeah, he was in the Battle of Mogadishu) and Iraq, among other places that can't be talked about. All that to say, he knows what it's like to be shot at and return fire, and made a career of it at the highest level possible. When Lamb talks, only a fool fails to listen.

And, because its cool and because this the standard of excellence, check out the 2X2X2 drill. Watch Lamb's last run at the end, and realize that these are "A" zone hits; his controlled pairs are right on top of each other at a speed I'm not even near. 1.26 seconds...Wow.

Only one post? Well, here's Jura then.

I was scrolling up and down my blog, and noticed in the column at right that there was but one post regarding whisky. Hard to believe, but the numbers don't lie. So, in order to do something about that, I gotta mention Jura 10 Year Old.


The bottle I have was a gift from one of the world's greatest people, Brother Murray. Brother Murray is the MCLMM/Baconforce representative in the beautiful northern land of Scotland. He sent me the bottle of 10 y.o. that came with a cool Jura flask for my birthday. I have been blessed with the best of friends.

Jura is an Islay single malt, but it is much different from the other Islay whiskys, primarily in that it doesn't have the strong peaty smokiness of SMS like Laprohaig. Its a 40% strength, deep amber gold whisky. It has a really great color. For some reason, it reminded me of sunsets in the west. I had a lot of good times related to sunsets in the west; that mental image brings a grin to my face.

The thing I found most interesting about this distilling is the finish. Some single malts have a distinct...ummm....pinch to them when you first put them in yer maw. There's kind of a bite to them, at the edges of the tongue. Jura 10 y.o., though, doesn't do that. It does have an agreeable warmth to it, but not until you swallow. Its unique in that respect; I can't recall another SMS that I've had that has the same characteristic in the same way.

Describing food or drink is difficult for me; I don't understand notes, hints of brine or leather, or basically "get" any of the other pretentious attempts to put into words what is tasted or smelled. Suffice it to say, I like this a lot, and I'm quite humbled that I have friends that are willing to send such gifts to me. I don't deserve them.

At least I classified.

I went out to Rattlesnake Ridge yesterday with Paul J. and Matt E. to shoot an IDPA Classifier. Matt had already classified with both his Glock and Wilson CQB, whereas Paul and I hadn't. I didn't have any extra .45, so I used my MnP 9mm. We had about ten shooters, and oddly enough, most hadn't heard of the MnP. When chatting with other shooters after I shot and basically waiting around and hanging out, when they asked "What do you shoot?" I answered "MnP 9", and got a quizzical look in return. I typically had to expound "Smith n Wesson MnP 9mm", which got an affirmative response. Maybe I wasn't doing it right.

Paul, as usual, shot like he was using a laser instead of a pistol. He dropped six points on the third stage, where the typical shooter will drop somewhere between 20 and 30. He was shooting deliberately to be accurate, so the only thing that's standing between him and classifying "Expert" is speed. He's pretty phenomenal. Matt improved his time and ended up in sharpshooter again, even though he wasn't happy with his shooting overall. Last match, he placed 3rd, even ahead of some of the best shooters we know.

In discussing it, we decided that we will be working on some of the harder aspects of the Classifier, and tuning up those skills. The Classifier isn't the hardest course of fire ever, but the strings are long-20 or 30 rounds per section of each stage, something like that-and the skills that it tests can't be hidden. You can either do a fast failure drill, or not. You can shoot well one handed, or you can't. It really does an excellent job of showing you where you need to improve. My accuracy was adequate, but there are places I can improve my speed, and I botched my tactical (administrative or reload with retention) reload by not having my plan set ahead of time. I thought I had a plan, but I guess I tried to change it in the middle, and added time. The other areas were probably drawing from concealment and getting that first good shot off faster.

I brought my camera, but totally forgot I had it with me and didn't get any photos. Rats. I also picked up a good sunburn on my face and neck. Since we've been so bundled up all winter long, I kinda forgot how that whole sun thing works again. Oops. At least I looked cool in my Oakley M Frames and Peltor Comtacs. lol!

Now, you've read all this, and now you're wondering: hey Haj, where did you classify? Well, I did indeed classify. I'm smack dab in the middle of the Marksman class. I don't have my score handy, it hasn't been posted yet. On the plus side, at least I didn't just barely make it, but I've got a ways to go to get into the next class, too. Got some practicing to do!

T.A.L.L.

I've been pondering of late, which is typically a good way to come to some unusual conclusions and topics. Sometimes it's crucially important stuff, like what to do with all the Obama threads on the forum, what is CAG using, or the frequent topic: entertainment.

Pondering entertainment brings one to consider those that entertain. Most are celebrities, because that comes with the territory. Being high profile means that a lot of people know your name-they think they know you, but do they? I don't think so-and know what you look like. While parts of that suck, parts are easy to let go to your head. We see it all the time. Lookit Lindsay Lohan.

LiLo has pretty much trashed her career with her excessive lifestyle. Apparently, movie makers just don't want to put up with it, regardless of how willing she is to get naked. Its such a shame, too. The girl has talent. She might be able to make a comeback if she can get it together. I hope she does, because she does have talent.

Somebody asked Bill Murray once what it was like to be rich and famous. He thought for a moment, and said "why don't you try just being rich, and see if that doesn't do it for ya". I'm thinking he really knows the what's up. LiLo was getting rich, I guess, but being famous seems to have been the downfall.

There are plenty of hot young actresses in Whollyweird these days. Lots of them come and go, but there are a few that seem to be able to handle the rise and avoid the fall. They're the ones I hope have long, long careers and make tons and tons of money. To that end, I think I'm gonna start a series. The first two on the list are two of my faves:
Anne Hathaway


and Jordana Brewster


They are the first of the Anti-Lindsay Lohans. Yeah, I have a thing for brown eyed brunettes. lol!

Yay! New carbine stuff! Surefire Scout Light

I got this little bad boy given to me today. How I got it is a little convoluted, so I'm not gonna go into it, but I will say this: its handy to have connections. lol!

The Scout is based on the Executive Elite series of lights. They have a sub-one inch body diameter, which the 6P and it's cousins have. There's an internal mount that's machined as part of the body, and the head is one of Surefire's new LED lamps and TIR lens that focuses the beam. Expensive, but soooo worth it. Shwaggie looks very sexy with her new light. Chances are more than good that the tail cap is going to be replaced with a non-shrouded one, and the light will probably be moved back. As it is now, I have to change my grip to actuate the light reliably.


Make sure to note the Knight's Armament flash hider, a gift from a high speed friend of mine. Like I said, it's good to have some connections.