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Topics - Tom_G

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41
General Discussion / So I'm a hunter now...
« on: December 07, 2015, 02:36:50 PM »
...well, I'm one step closer to having a Hawaii hunting license.  I passed the class this weekend, so in 4-6 weeks, I'll have my certificate.  Yippee!!

So, who wants to tell me their secret pig spot?
43
Off Topic / Looking for insulin
« on: October 18, 2015, 09:11:02 PM »
Aloha all!

So, due to an overabundance of trust in our vet, monthly cortisone shots have induced diabetes in out pet cat.  She now gets an insulin injection every morning.  The vet, owning responsibility, gave us a starter kit with a bit of insulin.  That bit is rapidly running out.  Our next recourse is to purchase a 1000 unit bottle, which costs about $300.  At a dose of 1 unit per day, that's 1000 days.  The cat is somewhere in the range of 17 years old; I don't know that we need 1000 units.

The vet tells me that human diabetics often discard insulin before its expiration date.  Apparently it causes a stinging sensation as it ages, but continues to be otherwise effective. 

The prescription is Lantus Glargine U-100.

If any of you have access to a surplus of this that you were planning on tossing out, and have a sympathy for aging pets, I'd appreciate the opportunity to put it to better use than sitting in a landfill!

Mahalo,
Tom G
44
Legal and Activism / Article on mass shootings
« on: October 02, 2015, 08:25:26 AM »
Like many things, this came to me via facebook.  The linked article attributes the story originally to the LA TImes and the study to Harvard. Note that I haven't found the study.
45
Off Topic / Mac video player suggestions
« on: October 01, 2015, 11:27:42 AM »
Aloha all!

I've been tasked with making a display kiosk that will show video projects that have been completed by current and former students.  I was initially thinking about using iTunes, the default media player for Apple computers.  That way, I could have playlists (commercials, movie trailers, etc), do shuffle, and generally have flexibility to customize the content for different audiences.

It turns out, iTunes sucks at playing video files.  It won't play QuickTime files (QuickTime!  Apple invented QuickTime!).  It doesn't like video playlists. 

So, I'm looking for a free alternative.  I use VLC and MPEG Streamclip for other functions; maybe one of those will do what I want?  What else is out there?

Mahalo!
46
Events / Need a ride home tomorrow (9/27)
« on: September 26, 2015, 02:56:32 PM »
Anybody going to the LIFE/HRA fun shoot tomorrow?  I can get a ride to the range, but my boo has dibs on the family truck for the afternoon.  Anyone heading back Kaimuki-way?
47
Firearms and Accessories / Needed: headspace guages for M1 carbine
« on: September 22, 2015, 07:56:09 AM »
Anyone have a set I can borrow?  I'm hoping for Go/Field/No Go, but I'll gladly borrow whatever you've got!
48
Well, at least they wrote back.

49
General Discussion / Forensic ballistics
« on: August 25, 2015, 09:39:41 PM »
So, if you've ever watched TV, you know that an expert with a microscope can tell if a mangled bullet from a crime scene came from a certain gun, or if the casings match.  Or can they?

Seriously, these guns are mass produced.  There were 10,000 barrels made on the same production run.  Bullets are soft, malleable, and get squished when they hit things.  Does anyone know what degree of accuracy is actually common?  I'd buy "This bullet was fired through a S&W barrel, four grooves, probably 6" long."  I'm sure there's enough distinctiveness in the combination of groove depth, land width,, pitch, and rifling shape to make that determination.  But to say "this damaged bullet matches the test shot from the defendant's gun with 100% accuracy"?  No way I buy that.

Likewise with the casings.  S&W mass-produced tens of thousands of J-frame revolvers in .38 special last year, largely using the same design they have for years, if not decades, before that.  How can there possibly be enough distinctiveness in a firing pin strike to identify one gun amongst hundreds of thousands?

Anyone have an insight into how this really works?
50
Off Topic / Selling a motor vehicle
« on: August 19, 2015, 02:36:52 PM »
I've got, as mentioned elsewhere, two motorcycles that need to be retired.  Both have lapsed registration and lapsed safety checks.  I've never sold a vehicle in Hawaii, and only sold a couple in my life.  What do I need to do to get these legally into new hands?

1.  Advertise
2.    ???
3.  Profit
51
The show is Freud's Last Session.  It opens September 4th.  Looking early so there's time to find alternatives if needed.  Masks will be treated lovingly and returned undamaged. 
52
Off Topic / Knife sharpener reviews
« on: May 16, 2015, 11:27:40 PM »
One is just not always willing to pull out the stones, particularly when there are multiple knives involved.  And they do pile up... pocket knives, kitchen knives, steak knives... all needing some love.

A friend turned my onto Smith's Jiff-S sharpener.  Easy to use, and it does a good job of taking a knife from slightly dull to us-ably sharp.  If the knife is in a bad way, genuinely dull or with nicks, this takes a while to make progress.  I was fairly happy with it.

We just got a care package from my in-laws, and amongst the random items were two Rada sharpeners.  I'd noticed these before at their house.  Weird thing, with two loose washers that are the "stones."  Seeing as we now own two, I tried one out on "that knife."  You know the one.  It only gets used when everything else is dirty.  You didn't actually buy it; the previous tenants abandoned it when they moved out and you found it in a drawer.  After a bit of work, surprise!  The knife had a serviceable edge!  It's a little bit awkward to get a good edge on a curved blade, and there's not enough holding area to do a batch of knives, but it seems like it's actually a pretty decent product.  I think that if this were screwed to a counter top or a windowsill, it would be good for bulk work.

Now, if I were performing surgery, I'd start with one of these tools to get the coarse work done, then start looking for my good stones to finish the job.  But for kitchen work, or demolishing a nice steak, seems like both of these are pretty decent tools.

Share your reviews of other sharpening products!
53
General Discussion / Wanna shoot one of these?
« on: May 15, 2015, 10:20:26 PM »
I've periodically seen people asking about X or Y gun, which I happen to own, or own something similar.  I have offered to meet folk at the range to  let them try it.

I've seen many, many folks here make similar offers.

So, I thought maybe a standing offer thread would be in order.  Not necessarily a complete inventory of your valuables, but a list of things you have, that others may not have easy access to, that you are willing to share.

For my part, if you're curious about the following, I would be happy to let you try a sample:
-anything US WWII in .30 caliber other than a BAR
-an RIA 1911, somewhat customized
-Hi-Point carbine in 9mm
-.45 ACP revolver
-rolling block handgun in .357 magnum
-rolling block rifle in .30-30
-large bore rifle ammo with a serious tendency for hang fires
-SKS modified to take AK mags
-cock-on-closing bolt action rifles
54
Off Topic / Old motorcycles
« on: May 14, 2015, 10:26:57 AM »
My boo and I have a pair of Kawasaki Vulcan 500 motorcycles, 2000 year model, that we bought new.  We paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $5k each for them.  We've kept them running, but more-or-less ignored them, for 16 years.  Now they've reached the point where a serious investment, either of time & labor or of money, is needed to return them to "safe, legal, and reliable" status.

We could replace them.  The Suzuki Boulevard S40 is in the same price range, MSRP if $5500.  That's completely manageable. 

The question we're currently asking ourselves is "what's the $$$ value that decides the difference between repair and replace?"  My current thinking is that if repairs are south of $1K per bike, we repair.  If they're north of $2K per bike, we replace.  In the middle, we flutter about, unable to decide.

Weigh in on your opinion! 
55
Health, Fitness, and First Aid / Prescription shooting glasses
« on: April 14, 2015, 08:03:08 AM »
For a couple of years now, I've had a pair of prescription glasses for reading, and they really make a difference in seeing those tiny details.  I've also come to realize that the guns I've been gravitating towards share a characteristic: broad front sights.  I have a hard time seeing the fine blades.  So, I'm beginning to think that a pair of prescription shooting glasses may be the thing.

Anyone have recommendations?  Recommended sources?  Success/horror stories?
56
General Discussion / Handgun innovations you would like to see
« on: March 27, 2015, 02:02:04 PM »
Splitting off of the other topic on innovations, to ask:
"If you could design your own, or got to set specifications for a designer, what would you want in a handgun?"

I'll start.

1.  1911 style triggers.  Ok, that's not so much an innovation, as a recognition that JB got it right in the early 1900s and for some reason, everyone is ignoring it!

2.  Barrel below the action.  The farther above your hand the barrel sits, the more of a factor muzzle rise is.  SO why the fuck not put the barrel on the bottom, and the recoil assembly above it?

3.  Forward grip.  The trigger should be maybe an inch behind the muzzle, and the grip right there.  The body of the gun should lay atop your arm like a wrist rocket. 
57
Firearms and Accessories / Fenix rep?
« on: March 19, 2015, 08:17:09 AM »
I remember meeting someone at a range event who is a Fenix representative for... Oahu?  Hawaii?  But I don't remember who it was.  I'm pretty sure they're on here, though. 
58
Firearms and Accessories / M1 Carbine... one tough gun!
« on: March 01, 2015, 05:09:16 PM »
Aloha all!

I like sharing stories about machines that perform well in adverse conditions.  You all remember my HiPoint Carbine and the broken firing pin, no doubt.  Well, I have another!

At the HDF carbine class yesterday afternoon, I was running my Saginaw M1 carbine.  Towards the very end of the day, it started misbehaving a little, costing me seconds with misfeeds more often than it ought.  I think I impressed the range officers and instructors there with my creative vocabulary as I cleared these malfunctions!  Then, about halfway through the final drill, the slide stuck halfway back and would not go forward.  So I made safe and headed to the side berm for some troubleshooting.

Once I got the furniture off, I could see a couple of pieces rattling around.  They turned out to be the gas piston and gas nut!

So, as I was shooting, the gas nut was unscrewing.  Which is odd because they are typically staked in.  You have to appreciate that the travel on the piston is, at most, half an inch.  The gas nut is about 3/4" in overall length.  So, as it unthreaded, that piston was traveling over twice its specified length, and the op rod was stopping as much as 3/4" shy of being in its fully forward position, yet the gun kept running!  Sure I had a few cycle-related malfunctions, but it kept running right up until it spit the piston and nut out! 

Or, possibly, it was running with NO gas piston or nut, but they rattled into a spot to jam the op rod after a bit.

Although, now that I replay it in my head, I think I felt some blowback on my face on my last shot.  Probably the gas nut turned loose that time, or had turned loose the shot before.

Either way, that's a well-designed system!  And one tough gun!
59
General Discussion / Lies, damned lies, statistics, and the VPC report.
« on: February 13, 2015, 11:54:57 PM »
So there's this "report" floating around from the Violence Policy Center.  Maybe you've seen it?  There are three pages of "discussion" on it over in Legal & Activism.  And my anti-gun friends have been posting it on Facebook.  So, I did what I do, and set out to look at it for myself. 

I went to the FBI, and pulled data on murders by firearms per state.  But that was just raw numbers, not rates.  So, I went to the US Census and pulled population per state.  Both for 2013. 

Then I did a little dividing.

The numbers I came up with were radically different from the VPC report.  RADICALLY different.  But they were also radically different from reports I found on pro gun sites.  And radically different from a report I found on Wikipedia.  And, allow me to reiterate, RADICALLY different. 

But it's late, and my brain is fuzzy, and I'm questioning my basic math skills.  Because I think I have two findings.
#1 - Gun laws are irrelevant.  The safest and most dangerous states to live in all have F ratings from the Brady Campaign.  The states with A ratings are in the middle of the pack.
#2 - the murder rates for firearms are hella higher than anyone is claiming.

I believe #1, but I don't believe #2.  If the rates are what my math says, Brady should be trumpeting them in the streets.  I simply HAVE to be doing something wrong.  42 murders committed by firearms per 100,000?  That's over twice what VPC is claiming! 

So, please, someone help my addled brain.  For a state where total population = P, and total number of murders committed by firearms = M, what's the formula to get deaths per 100,000?  I'm using M/P*100,000. 
60
General Discussion / Rimless handgun cartridges
« on: January 26, 2015, 07:21:17 PM »
Off the top of my head:
.45 acp
.40 S&W
9x19
.380 acp
.25 acp

What else is out there?  Contemporary, obsolete, or wildcat. Colt or not.
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