Carnival of Cordite #26

We are back once again with the Carnival of Cordite!  This week marks episode number 26.  For the superstitious, perhaps that makes it twice as unlucky as 13.  Or perhaps, it alternates and now it's the lucky one.  This much is certain: I am lucky to have so many great contributors, making each and every Carnival of Cordite fan-tastic!

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First and foremost, a worthy cause:

Our right to keep and bear arms, like all of our rights, is protected not just by our own actions, but also by the sacrifice of so many of our brave young men and women in uniform.  Sometimes, others die so that we remain free.  And sometimes, others leave the battlefields and the training grounds injured, broken beyond repair, so that we may remain safe and healthy.

Project Valour IT, which stands for Voice Activated Laptops for Our Injured Troops, is working hard to help those who have done so much to help us all.

Please take a moment to learn more about Project Valour IT.

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Guns are art:

This is the work of one of the world's oldest and most distinguished gun manufacturers, Westley Richards.  TFS Magnum tells us a little more about Westley Richards here.

If you have a particularly beautiful firearm in your own private collection, be sure to write up a blog post and send us the link!  It doesn't have to be a Westley Richards... any gun you think is a work of art is a work of art to all of us at the Carnival of Cordite!

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Time now for a little shameless blegging on my part!

Next week, I start my final year of law school.  They raised the tuition AGAIN, and with classes not even started yet, almost all of my student loan money is already gone.  Help defend your right to bear arms by helping me survive law school!  If you think America needs some lawyers who actually DEFEND the Second Amendment for a change, please hit that Amazon box over on the left side of the blog.

Every dollar donated helps ensure that a new generation of law students gets to hear me speak up about conservative and libertarian principles in class!  And, it helps ensure that I can continue posting things like this.

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Two readers write in this week about CZ pistols:

First, Wadcutter brings us his beloved little CZ50.

According to this site the CZ50 was made from 1950 to 1952, and then again from 1957 to 1970, when it was finally replaced by the similar CZ70. It primarily served as a police pistol. The serial number on my gun is very low, which almost certainly places its manufacture in the inaugural year of production. The model 50 is about the same size as the Walther PP, but is slightly lighter at 24oz. Clearly, the influence of the Walther is present in the 50’s outline, but mechanically the 50 is an original design. The most obvious difference between the two is that while the Walther’s safety/decock is slide-mounted, the CZ has it on the frame.

Read lots more over at Wadcutter's.

Second, Libercontrarian brings something similar to the table.

That's a CZ52.  More details, including the story of the shopping expedition, here.

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Some more gratuitous gun pictures:

New contributor PawPaw's House is sharing his Winchester 94.

Not only does PawPaw share his truck gun, he also shares a tech-tip for those who get frustrated when the ammo-holding cuff on their butt-stock slides forward:

Be sure read about this innovative solution.

From newbies to our veterans, let's see what Cowboy Blob has for us this week:

Looks like a Bushmaster!  Cowboy Blob says this is one of his primary 3 competition guns (along with his SOCOM-16... any guesses what the third might be?).  Good looking gun... but what's that thing on top of it?  Answer:

The sight is a zero-power Trijicon Reflex II with an amber triangle reticle. Mounted where it is, you can use the iron sights through it. In fact, you don't even need to range sight the scope as long as your iron sights are accurate; just adjust the reticle to superimpose over the front sight when viewed through the rear sight. I'll stay with this configuration for as long as my eyes remain young.

May that be many, many years!

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We turn now over to matters of a legal and political nature...

The first blog I turn to for legal information on guns is Of Arms and the Law.  This week, David T. Hardy tells about what may be the first case of ballistics testing being used as evidence in a trial.  Fascinating stuff, especially considering this was 160 years before the TV debut of C.S.I.!

TriggerFinger has three posts on the latest regarding Parker here, here, and here.

Would you like to beat the ACLU with their own sickle and hammer?

Say Uncle has the latest on anti-gun, anti-hunter bias in our media.

And on the purely self-defense front, No Speed Bumps wants his gun in Chicago:

Having a concealed gun is a great equalizer. It gives you a fighting chance if someone (or a group) suddenly confronts you with a knife or gun or violence. Also, if more criminals who approached people to rob or mug them had to think twice that they might be packing guns – well what would the impact be on crime? Thus, people carrying guns likely contribute to a kind of collective self-defense by deterring criminals.

I guessed, but had never investigated, that Chicago was run by liberal gun-controllers like New York (there is something about big cities that fosters the liberal-elitist mentality), and they would see gun control as the answer to reducing violent crime. On getting back from vacation, I found for example this piece on the status of gun rights in Chicago that confirmed it. I guess I would have gone to the slammer if I had been caught carrying a gun that night. What a load of crap.

Full essay here.

Cafe Oregano informs us of a defensive shooting in Ohio.

And in Tennessee.

More from Tennessee: Gunner of No Quarters gives us follow-up to the ConocoPhillips boycott by telling the story of a multiple homicide that could have been prevented.

Speaking still of Tennessee, The Countertop Chronicles has some speculation.  Also comments on the infamous Britney Spears BB gun incident.

And in all seriousness, Hell in a Handbasket reminds us why we need to be able to protect ourselves.

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After that brief glimpse into the blackness of a criminal's soul, who could use some cheering up?

Thank you, Countertop, for introducing us all to this nice young lady from Israel.

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Shooting matches and range reports:

Kim du Toit loves his son's Marlin .22 LR, and recommends it enthusiastically to anyone looking for a quality, affordable, .22 rifle.  Here's how it shoots:

The target on the right is only one inch in diameter... perhaps Kim should consider using this rifle for the next e-postal match!  Here is the target (click to enlarge):

And here are the rules, courtesy of Random Nuclear Strikes.  Perhaps some of these targets will be peppered at the next Blogger Blastorama, coming to Portland, OR on August 20!  I really wish I could attend, but, alas, a series of events is keeping me home next weekend.  But I'm trying to keep September open...

And let's not forget the previous e-postal match!  Results are up, courtesy of Mr. Completely.  Congratulations go to winner Chris the AnarchAngel (check out the awesome hardware Chris used).  Good job!

Also from Mr. Completely, some fly-swatting of a different sort: full auto!

Countertop fills us in on the ever-growing nation of riflemen.

Practice is essential, whether your arm of choice is a rifle, pistol, or bow.

And now, a bit of shooting competition follow-up:  Last week, we told you that Blog Idaho was off to a shooting tournament.  This week, read about how it went!  Just start at the top and work your way down.  Be sure to keep an eye out for a topless SondraK... and keep your eyes on Blog Idaho to find out how the Idaho State Championships go!

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In the ever-popular category of "Guns on the Screen," Hell in a Handbasket first brings us what may be the last word on Battlestar Galactica, and then a post on an upcoming film with Nicholas Cage.  This second post is particularly interesting, as it contains a lot of fascinating information on the economics of gun-running (debunking what appears to be a central plot point of the movie).

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On the tech front, Shakey Pete concludes his series on hand-loading with an essay on the powder charge.  Then, see some results as he shoots his Colt .45 black powder at some ferocious paper plates!

For the extreme techno geek, Kevin the Techno Gypsy explains self-assembly polymers.

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We come now to our BLOG OF THE WEEK!

This week, for sheer volume's sake, we award The Countertop Chronicles, who leaves us with this wisdom: sometimes, it pays to clean out your car!

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We conclude now with a discussion question:

What sort of information have you been hoping to find in the Carnival of Cordite that, so far, hasn't been there?

Please tell us, so we can better serve you.

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That's our Carnival this week.  Glad you could make it!  Be sure to submit your entries for next week by e-mailing them to:

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

Or, you can use the Carnival Submit Form.  See y'all back here next week.  Until then, keep your powder dry!

Comments

[Rivrdog]

Don't change a thing! You have the perfect format. It's simple, it's discriptive and synoptic.

I'll be thinking of you, stranded in the Soviet of Eugene, whilst I bang-bang at the Blasto.

[Cowboy Blob]

Excellent carnival!

Actually, the Bushie is only one of two rifles I regularly compete with. The 3-Gun refers to matches that feature a 3-Gun (rifle/pistol/shotgun) format. You oughtta try it!

[Mr. Completely]

Congrats to Countertop, a well deserved honor!!!

[Ken Summers]

Westley Richards....[drool]

[Peter]

I only wish that the powder charge concludes the handloading treatise. We haven't touched on putting the bullet in. Without a bullet it's not much of a round.
Went gun shopping today, found a sporterised 1903 Springfield in the wonderful .30-06 cartridge. Barrel length, 23 inches, Buehler safety, Timney one-stage trigger and an inexpensive scope on good mounts and rings, in all it hit my Visa card right at four hundred bucks. Range report coming up.

[Nightgaunt]

If any of the Carnivaleers (is that a word?) has a Shooting Chrony, I would like to see some velocity reports on ammo fired from regular guns, as opposed to the factory numbers the manufacturers give us on their ammo (usually fired from "test barrels"). Just curious about it.

[MarkD]

Content suggestion. How to attract people to the shooting sports. How do newcomers even find out what is going on in their area?

[blueeyes]

Personally? I'd think having groups like the NRA break down and put some money into getting some advertising time on TV or in newspapers, gun ranges themselves too if they can afford it. Hell, even a newsletter campaign suggesting how to buy a gun, use a shooting range, and listing some nearby locations.

A major preventative to prospective gun owners is that they have no idea where to go. Unless they know a gunnie, the only way to find a gun store or shooting range is to grab the yellow pages. Not a recipe for a good time; even the best store is unlikely to give perfect advice. To recruit sucessfully, we actually have to find a way for newbies to enjoy their first run. The Brady Bunch knows this; that's why they've focused so much on waiting periods and endless piles of paperwork. We've got to counter that, or at least make it more reasonable.

Also, I think anarchangel's last gun guide might have fit in this Carnival:

http://anarchangel.blogspot.com/2005/08/basic-ammo-questions-part-1.html