Monthly Archives: January 2013

Holster Retention levels 101

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When shopping for a holster, you will often find yourself confronted with the terms Level I, Level II etc. in relation to the retention properties of your selection. Here is a quick explanation of these levels to help you make your selection.

For most, the Level II is about as effective a holster that is needed. It provides more positive control on the handgun that gravity alone while not having all of the doo-dads, expense, and training required of the Level III.

But of course, to each their own, just make sure whatever you choose that you practice with it and by all means, carry it as much as possible.

Read the rest in my column at Firearms Talk.com

BianchiHolster

Warship Wednesday, January 30

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Here at LSOZI, we are going to take out every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1859-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week.

– Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday,  January 30

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Here you see is the Tambor class diesel sub USS Trout (SS-202) at Hunters Point, 11 December 1943. In a little less than 3 months after this photo was taken, the boat and her entire crew would be reported overdue and never heard from again.

She was commissioned in 1940 as part of the 6-ship class of fleet submarines (which all had ‘T’ names). She was brand new when the war broke out.

On patrol off of the outpost of Midway island on December 7, 1941, the sub was ordered back to Pearl Harbor as soon as possible to try to catch Yamato’s fleet. Missing the Japanese strike force, she was soon given a new mission . Trout sailed to the Philippines with a cargo of 3500 rounds of 75mm anti-aircraft ammunition and malaria drugs. She arrived at Corregidor, the island citadel at the entrance to Manila Bay in the Philippines in February 1942 after an epic 57-day war patrol through waters infested with Japanese navy ships.

There, Trout drew ten torpedoes and took on over twenty tons of gold and silver. It had been taken from Manila banks and moved to Corregidor for safekeeping from the approaching Japanese invasion force. Five hundred eighty-three gold bars and heavy canvas bags containing eighteen tons of silver coins were carefully loaded in Trout‘s bilges to be delivered to Pearl Harbor.  Each of the bars weighed 40-pounds and at  the time were worth $23K each. In today’s prices the gold alone was worth over $300-million dollars. Over $30 million in paper currency left behind on Corregidor was burned to prevent capture. General Wainwright disposed of some  350 tons of silver that could not be moved by dumping it in Manila Bay.

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After landing her cargo at Pearl, she rejoined the fleet. She captured survivors of the sunken cruiser Mikuma during the Battle of Midway. Over the course of 11 war patrols she sank 23 Japanese ships amounting to some 87,000-tons in 32 torpedo and six gun actions. For this she was depth charged by the Japanese Navy no less than 8 times. Her combat including sending the  Kaidai class submarine I-182 to Davy Jones locker.

The Trout is on eternal patrol and has never been found. Her 81 men likely entombed with her on some forgotten stretch of sandy bottom deep in the South Pacific.

patch of the trout
Specs:

Displacement, Surfaced: 1,475 t., Submerged: 2,370 t.;
Length 307′ 2″ ; Beam 27′ 3″; Draft 13′ 3″;
Speed, Surfaced 20 kts, Submerged 8 kts; Max.
Depth Limit 250′;
Complement 5 Officers 54 Enlisted (as designed, enlarged during the war to help man larger gun crews;)
Armament, ten 21″ torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 3″/50 deck gun, two .50 caliber machine guns, two .30 caliber Lewis machine guns;
Propulsion, diesel-electric, four General Motors diesel engines, 5,400 hp, Fuel Capacity 93.993 gal., four General Electric motors, 2,740 hp,
Battery Cells, 252, two propellers.

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO)

They are possibly one of the best sources of naval lore http://www.warship.org/naval.htm

The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the encouragement of the study of naval vessels and their histories, principally in the era of iron and steel warships (about 1860 to date). Its purpose is to provide information and a means of contact for those interested in warships.

Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.

I’m a member, so should you be!

Not making this up…

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Saw this driving around today

Huge marine plywood boat made in someone’s driveway. Tiny 5hp Merc outboard. Homemade 2×4 trailer. All pulled by a Honda Fit.

Party!

IMG-20121223-00527

Feinstein Gun Ban List of 157 Firearms You Cant Have

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Direct from the good Senator’s website is the official list of 157 specifically named firearms that she intends to legally ban the sale, transfer, manufacturing and importation of.

Firearms Talk brings you this list as a public service to the gun community as a whole for your personal reference.

List of firearms prohibited by name

Rifles: All AK types, including the following: AK, AK47, AK47S, AK74, AKM, AKS, ARM, MAK90, MISR, NHM90, NHM91, Rock River Arms LAR47, SA85, SA93, Vector Arms AK47, VEPR, WASR10, and WUM, IZHMASH Saiga AK, MAADI AK47 and ARM, Norinco 56S, 56S2, 84S, and 86S, Poly Technologies AK47 and AKS; All AR types, including the following: AR10, AR15, Armalite M15 22LR Carbine, Armalite M15T, Barrett REC7, Beretta AR70, Bushmaster ACR, Bushmaster Carbon 15, Bushmaster MOE series, Bushmaster XM15, Colt Match Target Rifles, DoubleStar AR rifles, DPMS Tactical Rifles, Heckler & Koch MR556, Olympic Arms, Remington R15 rifles, Rock River Arms LAR15, Sig Sauer SIG516 rifles, Smith & Wesson M&P15 Rifles, Stag Arms AR rifles, Sturm, Ruger & Co. SR556 rifles; Barrett M107A1; Barrett M82A1; Beretta CX4 Storm; Calico Liberty Series; CETME Sporter; Daewoo K1, K2, Max 1, Max 2, AR 100, and AR 110C; Fabrique Nationale/FN Herstal FAL, LAR, 22 FNC, 308 Match, L1A1 Sporter, PS90, SCAR, and FS2000; Feather Industries AT9; Galil Model AR and Model ARM; Hi-Point Carbine; HK91, HK93, HK94, HKPSG1 and HK USC; Kel-Tec Sub2000, SU16, and RFB; SIG AMT, SIG PE57, Sig Sauer SG 550, and Sig Sauer SG 551; Springfield Armory SAR48; Steyr AUG; Sturm, Ruger Mini-14 Tactical Rife M14/20CF; All Thompson rifles, including the following: Thompson M1SB, Thompson T1100D, Thompson T150D, Thompson T1B, Thompson T1B100D, Thompson T1B50D, Thompson T1BSB, Thompson T1C, Thompson T1D, Thompson T1SB, Thompson T5, Thompson T5100D, Thompson TM1, Thompson TM1C; UMAREX UZI Rifle; UZI Mini Carbine, UZI Model A Carbine, and UZI Model B Carbine; Valmet M62S, M71S, and M78; Vector Arms UZI Type; Weaver Arms Nighthawk; Wilkinson Arms Linda Carbine.

Cause Thompsons have been used in so much recent violence right? Is this 1926?

Cause Thompsons have been used in so much recent violence right? Is this 1926?

Pistols: All AK47 types, including the following: Centurion 39 AK pistol, Draco AK47 pistol, HCR AK47 pistol, IO Inc. Hellpup AK47 pistol, Krinkov pistol, Mini Draco AK47 pistol, Yugo Krebs Krink pistol; All AR15 types, including the following: American Spirit AR15 pistol, Bushmaster Carbon 15 pistol, DoubleStar Corporation AR pistol, DPMS AR15 pistol, Olympic Arms AR15 pistol, Rock River Arms LAR 15 pistol; Calico Liberty pistols; DSA SA58 PKP FAL pistol; Encom MP9 and MP45; Heckler & Koch model SP-89 pistol; Intratec AB10, TEC22 Scorpion, TEC9, and TECDC9; Kel-Tec PLR 16 pistol; The following MAC types: MAC10, MAC11; Masterpiece Arms MPA A930 Mini Pistol, MPA460 Pistol, MPA Tactical Pistol, and MPA Mini Tactical Pistol; Military Armament Corp Ingram M11, Velocity Arms VMAC; Sig Sauer P556 pistol; Sites Spectre; All Thompson types, including the following: Thompson TA510D, Thompson TA5; All UZI types, including: Micro-UZI.

Shotguns: Franchi LAW12 and SPAS 12; All IZHMASH Saiga 12 types, including the following: IZHMASH Saiga 12, IZHMASH Saiga 12S, IZHMASH Saiga 12S EXP01, IZHMASH Saiga 12K, IZHMASH Saiga 12K030, IZHMASH Saiga 12K040 Taktika; Streetsweeper; Striker 12.

Belt-fed semiautomatic firearms: All belt-fed semiautomatic firearms including TNW M2HB.

(Any gun that takes a banana clip is evil)

(Any gun that takes a banana clip is evil)

Observations:

Looking at the above list we have come across the following conclusions thus far about what the lobby seems to be up to:

  • Going hard after 50-cals: The ban list specifically mentions the Barrett M107A1; Barrett M82A1. These long-range target rifles are among the best known and bestselling 12.7x99mm chambered guns on the market. Their use in crimes is completely unheard of and their magazine capacity is under the gun control lobby’s publicly stated 10-round limit. In addition, the only belt-fed gun listed by name, the TNW M2HB, is a fifty. It seems that as a class, 50s have a senseless target on their back.
  • Feinstein hates pistol caliber carbines: Almost every pistol caliber carbine in modern production is on this list. These guns, light compact rifles that fire 9mm/40/45ACP ammunition common to handguns, are extremely popular with target shooters who like them for their ease of balance, mild recoil, and affordability to shoot. They also make ideal home defense firearms for those who have problems with handguns and are unable to absorb the recoil of shotguns. For this reason, they make good personal defense guns for persons with disabilities. Their use in crime is extremely rare. Examples of this type are the people’s champion Hi-Point carbine, the Beretta CX4, Feather Industries AT9, the Thompson rifles (all 13 makes!), the UZI variants, the Calico Liberty Series, and the KelTec Sub 2000.
(The humble Hi-Point 995 keeps the anti-gun lobby awake at night)

(The humble Hi-Point 995 keeps the anti-gun lobby awake at night)

  • If its 556 or 7.62×39, it’s an assault rifle: It seems as if the gun lobby flipped through the pages of the Shotgun News or Recoil magazine and circled anything that looked scary to them, especially if its chambered in 5.56mm or 7.62x39mm. Of the 157 guns on the list, with the exception of the 20 or so pistol caliber carbines, the TNW M2HB and Barrett guns, and the dozen or so shotguns, nearly 100 of them are in these two calibers.
  • Shotguns are ok, except for guns that have been in a lot of action movies such as the Franchi, Streetsweeper, and SPAS series, oh and anything that says Saiga on the side of it.
  • Many in Congress and the right say that this bill is dead in the water.

If you have an opinion on it, share it with your own representatives, and by all means, forward this article around.

If nothing else, it makes a good shopping list.

The Improvised Smith Gun

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In the first part of World War 2, stuff did not go too good for Great Britain. The island country found it for a large period alone and isolated, with the armies of Hitler just a channel away from their shores. To further complicate the matter, the Germans had tanks and the Brits had few tank-killing guns. This case of military heartburn led to the invention of the Smith Gun.

Looking like a cross between a hot dog cart and a baby carrage, the improvised direct fire mortar was good against German tanks at 50-yards.

As long as the shell didnt blow up inside the barrel.

The Smith Gun has to be one of the very few guns ever made that was designed to fire on its side.

Read the rest in my column at Firearms Talk.com
englishsmithgun1

How Gun Lube Brought Down the British Empire

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In 1857 colonial India, the British East India Company was an enormous publicly traded private corporation that literally controlled the country. They equipped and had under their control a large army, minted their own money, and oversaw all imports and exports to the subcontinent. The local millions of inhabitants of the area we know now as India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Burma, however, were not really in love with the concept but the spark that ignited a bloody war and spelled the doom of the company came from the type of gun lube used at the time.

Read the rest in my column at GUNS.com

Madras-Army uniforms

SIGS in the US Military

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The standard sidearm for the US armed forces as everyone knows is the Beretta M9 (92F). Before 1984, it was the legendary Colt 1911 .45 (versions of which are still in use with special operations units.) However, what you may not know is that several variants of the SIG P-series pistol also serve.

Read the rest in my column at GUNS.com

Digital StillCamera

Reply from My Congressman

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After an impassioned series of letters and calls to my local Congressman concerning Gun Control,  a freshman Tea Party Candidate, I received the below response.

palazoo letter

Ok, guys, do your part.

Where are your letters?

Armored Pre-Owned Land Rovers Go for $15K-ish

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$(KGrHqR,!rIFCiT6iDQzBQ9HQIDlY!~~60_12
For sale in Pine River, Wisconsin through eBay Motors this week was a 1975 Land Rover Shoreland Series III Armored Patrol Car. With 19,000 miles on its inline 6-cylinder engine and garage stored for the past decade, it was pretty sweet for the collector of military vehicles or those who just want one heck of a camp truck/bug-out vehicle.

It went for $15,999 which was just over what I wanted to pay for it, but still, look at what you could have gotten.

From the descrioption

This is a Land Rover Series III Armoured Petrol Car.  Land Rover through Shorts Brothers produced over 900 of these patrol cars.  Mostly used for homeland security, airport security, border crossings, etc.  This was not produced for military service, but as a security vehicle/armoured car, such as armored car that delivers money to the bank.   There are perhaps 10 or so in America.  They produced a number of variants, the last of which did not have the upper turret as it was deemed “a bit scary for the public”.   Some of these were  exported to other nations for airport security etc. and in fact are still in use around the world.

$T2eC16h,!)sE9swmcMt7BQ9MP47,BQ~~60_12

This Land Rover has a clear title and is registered as a collector vehicle and can travel public road anywhere. Insurance is cheap as in less than a couple hundred dollars per year from various insurance agencies that specialize in collector vehicles.  Parts are 80% Land Rover and most electrical parts are Lucas and available ( such as similar vintage Jaguars, MG, MGB, Triumph, etc).  The guns are dummy guns and can not be made to shoot.  More info can be had at Shorelandsite.com as there is an active owners group world-wide.  Also there is a great Yahoo group for the Land Rover Shoreland.

Features of the Land Rover Shoreland:

< Armored plate,  8.25mm up to 10mm depending on front or sides.  Kevlar floor,  armored window shield that can be lowered with bullet proof glass.  Armoured side window plates, seat four people – two in the front, turret seat, radio operator.  This vehicle as all radios,  fume extractor build into the escape hatch behind gunner.   Search light that follows the gun site either up or down.  You put your forehead against the gun site prism and can see to aim dummy weapons.,  Turret operates quickly and efficiently with your foot movements.  Top hatch has about 3 positions, you can open the back part and have a seat to sit on top with legs in, you can stand with hatch all the way open, or you can stand with hatch half-open and have an armored plate in front of you.  Fuel tanks are in armoured back deck.  Back deck can be stood on or in theory transport additional people while in transit (may not be legal in all states for people to ride on deck).  Tires are run flat tires, in perfect shape with no weather checking.  Tires are standard for many security vehicles and could, if needed be easily replaced.

” As this is a non military , security vehicle the armour-plate on this vehicle is made to withstand small arms fire.   The engine is fully armoured, sides, top and the grill in front.  In fact that grill in impervious to any radiator damage.  This armour-plate will withstand a.308 NATO round at 50 meters”

Eh, maybe next time, left my $16K in my other pants….

PS BUY MORE COPIES OF Last Stand on Zombie Island ! (Lol)

No really, I need armored car money.

(Amazon $3.99)

 (Smashwords, all formats including Apple etc , $3.99)

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