The Carnival of Cordite Premiere!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, small defenseless woodland creatures, gather 'round!  The time has come for the Premiere Episode of The Carnival of Cordite!

Let me begin by saying how happy I am to see such quality and quantity participation.  Not only have so many of you sent in great entries, but my Site Meter stats and referral numbers are the best they have ever been.  Thank you all!  And now...

We begin on a light note, with Dory of Wittenberg Gate relaying the story of her Christmas shopping experience: getting her husband the perfect gift.  Here is an excerpt:

My husband's Christmas wish list included an item that was foreign to me. He wanted a contraption whose purpose was to propel things he calls clay birds through the air so he can shoot them. I do not know why they are called clay birds. They are made of clay, but they are disk-shaped things that look nothing like birds to me. They do fly, I understand, under the right conditions, and it is those conditions which my dear husband was desirous of creating. He has to pay good money for these so-called clay birds, and then he and my son shoot them, which, if they are successful, destroys them. He makes the money in this family, so I am in no position to question the wisdom of this.

Go to Dory's blog to read the rest.

And on a more serious note, SondraK and CraigC informed us that Monica Hill from FOXNews is seeking women who have used a firearm in self-defense to appear on an upcoming program.  If you are interested in helping, please e-mail Monica (you will have to remove the NOSPAM from the address) or telephone her FOXNews office at (212) 301-5376.

On the topic of self-defense, Publicola writes an article, more like a short textbook, on the subject, called The Security of Denial: The "Empowerment" of Ignorance.  It's quite a read, and well worth the time.

It's no secret that for every "gun nut," there is someone out there who is "gun phobic."  Kevin of The Smallest Minority has written a brilliant in-depth piece that discusses the fear of an armed populace that exists within the anti-gun culture.  This article also includes comprehensive links to a number of books and essays that prove his point.

Speaking of gun nuts, just what does it cost to qualify as one?  Denise chimes in on just this topic over at The Ten Ring.  But she isn't just talking about how much we need to spend; she discusses the costs of lawsuits and taxes, too.  Makes you want more tort reform and less taxation... not that you didn't want those already...

On to firearms themselves...

One topic that comes up often among competitive shooters, military buffs, and tactical types is the reliability of the M-16/AR-15.  Chris from The Anarchangel keeps the tradition going, with a strongly-worded essay in support of the much-maligned weapon:

If an AR is properly maintained, and properly made in the first place, it is completely reliable. I have owned several AR's and I'm on my second M14. My AR's have been, without exception, more reliable than my M14's, more reliable than my G3, and in general more reliable than any other semi auto rifle I've owned.

Those are pretty big words.  But he makes his case clearly.  Read the whole thing for the good, the bad, and the ugly of AR reliability. 

My $0.02 on the topic: the AR design, like any other, can be made well or poorly, and once bought, can be maintained well or poorly.  If you buy an AR from a quality manufacturer like Bushmaster and maintain it properly, it will function well.  Likewise, if you buy a Norinco clone of the M-14, shoot corrosive ammo, and fail to clean and lube the way you are supposed to, expect irrepairable failure after a relatively short period of time.

From the primary long-gun of the most-modern military, we go to a lesser-known pistol from a lesser-known fighting-force: the Star BM.  Firehand of Irons in the Fire has the scoop on this 9mm, complete with a performance review.

Speaking of autoloaders in general, Cutter of Wadcutter: Big Fat Metplats of Wisdom, offers the latest in a series of essays.  This one is on the topic of odd ball designs.  There is a ton of great information here.  Be sure to follow Cutter's links to the previous essays in the series.

But of course, if Dianne Feinstein had her way, there would be no autoloaders (if there were guns at all) in the hands of everyday folks like us.  But what would life be like in Dianne-Land?  Bruce from mASS BACKWARDS shares his thoughts.

Fortunately for us in Oregon, we don't have to live the disarmed life... yet.  But down under in Australia, the gun owners have been hauled over the coals.  Gunner of No Quarters keeps us updated on the latest gun seizures, and what we need to learn about "registration."

I hope that the work I do, with the help of all you great contributors, helps -- even just a little bit -- to keep Americans' guns safe.

But simply having the right to defend yourself and the equipment to do it won't help you if you can't hit the target.  One problem that plagues a small group of shooters occurs when one's handedness doesn't match one's dominant eye.  In other words, you are right handed, but your left eye does most of the seeing.  It's more common than you might think, and it plays havoc with one's ability to shoot quickly and accurately.  Fortunately, Len from One in a Row has provided a lot of information to help.  Even if you don't suffer from this, read it anyway; you never know when you might wind up trying to teach someone like this to shoot.  I've already gone through this with a student once; I think I might have to again sometime soon.  This article will certainly help.

And finally...

Cowboy Blob performs a valuable service by compiling a list of blogs which feature pro-gun content.  Thanks, Cowboy!  I'll be sure to check out all the new blogs you have shown me.  I hope you readers will, also.  And for readers interested in general military articles, be sure to check out the rest of Cowboy Blob's site.

Thank you all for reading, and thanks again to all our participants.  And if you didn't get your entry submitted on time, don't panic!  Keep your entries coming for the next Carnival of Cordite, one week from today.

Send all entries and other information to the official Carnival of Cordite e-mail address:

c a r n i v a l o f c o r d i t e A T h o t m a i l D O T c o m

And if you are interested in volunteering to host a future Carnival, drop me a line and we'll work out the details.  Any and all assistance will be appreciated.

I hope you have had as much fun reading this as I have had putting it together.  And if you are new to Resistance is futile! please take a moment to read my other posts and follow the links on my sidebar.  Thanks again.

And in the meantime, keep your powder dry!

Comments

[Karl]

Thanks for a great post Dave. I hope I get the time to read all of the articles and check out all of the links!

[Cutter]

Thanks for setting this up; I look forward to more such carnivals. I would volunteer to host a future one, but given my site's lack of traffic it probably wouldn't be such a good idea.

BTW, when I try to post a comment here using Netscape, I can't see what I'm typing. Is there a setting I need to tweek in my browser that you know of? (it's fine in IE)

[Claire]

*applause*

Good round up! Thanks!

[Mark]

Got some nice links there, thanks!

I've got some Speer Gold Dots to try in the Star; once I'm over the plague or whatever it is, I'll try them out.