Hilda Gets an Eye

I just added a "red dot" sight to Hilda. A friend of mine loaned it to me and said if I liked it I could make him an offer. It's a pretty cool little item.

For those who are unfamiliar with what a red dot sight is, basically it's a lense against which a laser is projected (the red dot). The lense sits atop your rifle. To use it you keep both eyes open and look past or through the scope. The effect is an optical illusion of a red dot being projected downfield onto where the gun is pointed.

It was so cool that the wifey actually held Hilda! Guns make her nervous - or she just doesn't like them. I couldn't say for certain if they actually make her nervous. In any event, she held Hilda and peered through the scope.

There were ooh's a and ahh's as I toggled throught the different sight options. You can either have the laser project a red dot, a crosshair, or "T" style sight. Frankly I was quite surprised that she deigned to touch the gun. As I walked over to her I full expected her to recoil and go "Ewwwwwww... guns!"

Maybe this Sunday I'll work on sighting it in.

Wigging Out

My wife is getting a wee bit wigged out these days when I start talking about the Apocalypse. Odd, since she was the one who suggested I start this blog.

And just for clarity's sake - I don't mean Apocalypse in the Biblical sense. I mean gridcrash. I mean massive economic depression or civil disorder on a grand scale. We stare so many imminent crises in the face that they’re tough to list. Let’s try, though!

1. Economic Depression




1. Oil - with oil prices only going one way in the long haul and with global supplies shrinking and demand rising, we’ll go through the last half of the world’s oil a lot faster than we went through the first half. Oh, yeah. We’re way past Peak Oil.


2. Inflation - Such a rise in energy costs will definitely increase inflationary pressures, leading to a whole list of woes. Add to that the housing market bust and credit crunch and the dollar has had better days.


3. Debt! – The United States has become the biggest debtor nation in history. Ever. Let me clarify that a bit… Shithole-istan is less of a debtor nation than the U.S. Fucking Mexico looks at us and goes, “Holy frijoles, look at those guys, amigos. Hide your wallet!” Oh yeah – and debt relative to income in this country hasn’t been this high since – you guessed it – the Great Depression! So chin up, America! We’re #1! We’re #1!


4. Manufacturing Job Loss – America used to be a manufacturing powerhouse the likes that the world had never seen (until China). Now with all of those jobs just about gone (and I mean all of them) what are we going to do? We can’t all be in service jobs. Somebody has to make something in order for the economy to work.


2. Global Warming




1. Too little, too late – we may have gotten started too late to reverse this, especially considering the developing world has no touchy, feely reservations about cutting down rainforests or burning coal and oil. Plus idiots in this country still insist on driving alone to work in a giant, gleaming SUV.


2. Weather Pattern Changes – It looks like a symptom of global warming is a massive change in things like hurricane strength and frequency but most importantly, global rainfall patterns…


3. Water Shortages – Atlanta. Right now. Need I say more? Now imagine a massive drought strangling Southern California or Las Vegas.


3. The Dumbing Down of America




1. Not a Cliché – I am certain that literacy rates in the U.S. are much lower than supposed. I think this for a number of reasons. Chief among them is the fact that people that would be counted as literate I would count illiterate. You’ve all gotten the email(s) from a coworker where the purpose or gist of the email was completely inscrutable. These people can read, sure, but they aren’t capable of stringing together a coherent thought in written form. Don’t act like you don’t know someone (or many people) like this. Many of these idiots have college degrees!


2. Failing Education System – Most public schools in rural and inner city America are in critical condition. Many suburban schools are in serious condition. Fewer and fewer kids are graduating and going to college, especially considering the constantly rising cost of college.


4. Gridcrash




1. Energy shortages – due to the short-sightedness mentioned above, we may not have the political and social will to implement the changes in our energy infrastructure on the scale and with the speed needed to avoid critical shortages in energy including regular brownouts and blackouts.


5. Civil Unrest




1. The Final Symptom – Once enough of the above situations manifest themselves, people will get fed up on a scale that we haven’t seen in many decades in this country. If any one of the above situations gets too far out of hand we could see riots, famine, and widespread migration. Never mind if a combination of situations should go too far afield...

Looking at all of this I choose to prepare. This is what makes her a bit uneasy. I tend to be right about things on the macro level.

For instance, I was at this bar with a friend of mine in February 2003 and he asks me, “So what do you think about Iraq? What’s gonna happen there?”

To which I replied, “Well, we’re invading. That part’s fait-accomplis. You don’t mass that much men and equipment just for show. They’ll cross the border for sure. Now as far as the war goes, we’ll sweep aside Saddam’s army like it was nothing. The occupation is what’s gonna kill us.”

Another example – we have a friend who’s a real estate agent. We were at some party (maybe a kid’s birthday?) about two years ago and I said, “Hey – what do you think about the housing market? I mean, wages aren’t nearly matching the rise in housing costs. When’s this bubble gonna burst?”

“Bubble!? There’s no bubble…” (N.I.N.J.A. loan)

The point is that Stacey may be getting nervous because she’s afraid I’m going to be right again. She sees me stocking up on non-hybrid seeds, ammunition, manuals on everything from organic gardening to wilderness survival to edible and medicinal plant guides. I don’t know. The last time she and I spoke about these matters, she had a real nervous look in her eyes.

Stoney Point Hood Militia, part deux

Brother with Hilda in KungFu Action Stance

Bro and I simultaneously shooting at a target

My son shooting the Ruger.

Hilda moonlights...

Stony Point Hood Militia

Just kidding, of course. We're not a militia... but we're armed like one! The pic on top is my brother with the Bushmaster and my friend with his S&W .357 snubbed nose. The one below is my buddy with the Bushmaster.

Hilda's First Run

I took Hilda out to the range for the first time post-makeover. I have to say that it's like shooting a completely different gun. The pistol grip, adjustable stock, and lighter weight give the gun a very different feel.

With the telescoping stock I can adjust the length of the weapon to fit me perfectly. The pistol grip gives the weapon a much more natural and stable carriage when sighting in and the lighter weight further enhances stability when aiming the weapon.

After a brief series of jams (two, to be exact) the weapon put another 50 rounds downrange without a single jam. I am confident that, had I brought more bullets, there would have been no more jams. So the composite magazine seems to perform well. I'm probably going to go ahead and order two more.

So many things about this makeover excite me, but the prospect of having a source of reliable magazines for Hilda has to be near the top of the list. I have a total of four metal, thirty round magazines for Hilda, only one of which actually works.

That's been my experinece, at least. Maybe if anyone actually reads this blog (doubt it) they could share any SKS magazine issues they may have experienced. I have had the worst luck with them. No more, though. I think this Tapco Fusion kit may have been the best gun investment under $300 that I've ever made.

Another Day on the Range

More pics to come... The top two are me shooting my buddy's AK-47, and the one at the bottom is me holding my brother's Bushmaster. My friend brought the camera, and I'm waiting on pics of Hilda in action.

Hilda Makeover

Things have been busy lately, hence the lack of posts.

Anyway - I recently completed a project to take my SKS off of it's original wooden body and stock and replace it with a Tapco Fusion system. And what a difference it's made.

I now have a pistol grip, composite body, stock, and magazine, as well as a telescoping stock and rail for mounting a sight. It now no longer looks like an antique. I have a shoulder strap and the pistol grip has a stash.

It took me about three hours to complete. Before you laugh, keep in mind this was the first ever gunsmithing of any kind I have ever undertaken. In terms of understanding how to do it, the Y00Tube video I linked you to above is very helpful.

I should mention that the strap was bought seperate from the Fusion system (for about $10). All told, the bill came out to $120 with shipping. I would link you to the Tapco site, but it seems to be down at the moment. [edit] Tapco site is back up. Here's a direct link to the kit I bought.[/edit]

I ended up removing my bayonet. Hopefully one day I'll replace it with a bipod.

Tomorrow morning I'm going out to Barboursville to try it out. I'll post on how that goes. This will be the kids' second time out to the range.