Random Ramblings

So, in two days I’ve gone to the range. Twice. Have racked up 150 shots through my Christmas present. Well, 149, actually (150 ejected itself onto the range as I was trying to load the clip). My observations?

1) I have a lot less trouble shooting when I’m alone on the range.
2) I pull to the right. Gotta work on that.
3) My groupings are a lot tighter since I got my own gun.
4) Regardless of the fact that I’m still slightly scattered, if you broke into my house and I caught you, I can still put 12 shots into the kill zone without blinking once. I’d second guess myself if I were considering breaking in.
5) I seem to go through bullets faster on my own gun. I can get into the range, load up, shoot, and leave in under 30 minutes.
6) Membership at the range rocks.
7) Apparently while the M&P compact is almost infallible when it comes to shooting, the big brother .40 has its issues, since Michael’s now on his second and it still light fires, but his compact hasn’t given out a peep of trouble.
8) Slide locks at the end of the clip don’t engage if your thumb is resting on the slide release. This will scare the crap out of you if you count your shots and realize your gun shouldn’t be loaded after 12 shots.
9) I heart the Clackamas County Sheriffs department.
10) I think I may need admittance to a 12 step program, I might be addicted.

Tags: Uncategorized by Andrew Laine
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…I don’t want to mistake him for a burgular. :-p

Tags: Humor by Andrew Laine
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These were both from yesterday…

GI Joes Clerk: Would you like a gift receipt for that?
Me: No. Chances are, if I ever have to give these to anyone, they won’t be in any position to return them.
~While purchasing a box of home defense “hydra-shock” rounds for my pistol.

Jenn: I don’t believe in bad people.
Me: I do. They’re called “liberals”

NOTE: That’s targeted at the Hillary for President in 2008 crowd. Honestly, some liberals have some good ideas (and some have their heads screwed on backwards). :-)

Tags: Andrewisms, Politics by Andrew Laine
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I had an idea of what would be the best article ever.

Michael Moore nearly stabbed to death by rabid fan; Saved by gun owner

Michael Moore, director of the anti-gun documentary “Bowling for Columbine”, was attacked by an obsessed fan with a hunting knife Friday. Moore was visiting Oregon for a speaking engagement when the incident occurred. He was approached by the fan outside of Powell’s bookstore on his way to his car.

“I was a little creeped out when he approached me and started babbling about being my biggest fan,” said Moore. “He then asked for my hat, which I refused. He spent a long second staring at me with an agitated look in his eye, then he pulled out a knife and started threatening me if I didn’t give it to him.”

Fortunately for Moore, an unlikely savior appeared in the form of John Jackson, Portland native and gun owner.

“It was dark out, all I could hear was some fool blubbering about ‘please don’t hurt me’ and then I spotted the glint of the knife,” said Jackson. “I immediately drew my weapon and called out at the attacker, telling him to drop the weapon. The man with the knife saw me, dropped the knife, then ran up the street.”

Moore was unsure how to react.

“I’m not sure what to think,” Moore said. “I spent all this time campaigning against handguns, but if it weren’t for a handgun owner, I would’ve been dead. This is my favorite hat, and I honestly didn’t think anyone watched my movies THAT religiously.”

Jackson, on the other hand, was more direct in how he felt he should’ve acted.

“It was too dark to see any faces at that time of night,” Jackson said. “Heck, if I’d known who the guy was holding up, I would’ve let him stick the guy and take his hat.”

Tags: Humor, News, Politics by Andrew Laine
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Well, I’m afraid I’m making another foray into a post about handguns. Three things to cover.

1) I went shooting with Michael again
2) I tried the two guns I’d been looking at, the Walther P99 and the Smith & Wesson M&P, both chambered in .40
3) I decided on which one I’ll be getting first, and it isn’t one of those two.

I went about two weeks ago, I’d told Michael I was looking at the P99 and the M&P, and as it happened, he was able to let me try out both of them. His dad let me try out his P99 in both the 9mm compact (Shot two clips as a warm up out of that, wasn’t until halfway through the second clip he pointed out it’s sighted to the right. Thought I was losing my mind since all my shots LOOKED on target) and the .40 (Which I shot three rounds and quit because, quite frankly, that gun scared the living crap outta me to shoot).

Before I shot the Walther in the .40, though, I must admit that I did warm up with two more clips out of another 9mm, the M&P compact. My first round was dead on target (which was a good feeling after the Walther compact right-sighted). I mean, DEAD on target. I shot, lowered the gun, looked at the shot, aimed again, stopped myself, looked again, brought the target back to me to make sure I was seeing things right, and then resumed. It was dead center of the center target, all in the orange, not even touching the black border.

Well, at this point I wasn’t sure about shooting any more .40s, because of my experience with the Walther. Walther makes great guns, in my opinion, but the recoil was scary to me (having only experienced 9mm at that point). Well, Michael convinced me to try the M&P chambered in the .40, and I gave it a shot. She kicked about the same as the Walther in the 9mm. I was impressed, and had almost decided to get one because it was in the .40 round (so should I have to deal with a burglar, more stopping power), and it felt great to shoot. One flaw that I ran across (although it’s in an early model, which Michael said they’ve fixed in the newer ones, and the old ones were recalled), is it light fired. This, as it happens, is why I titled my post as such.

You see, for those who aren’t familiar, light firing is when the firing pin doesn’t drop hard enough to discharge the bullet. So instead of hearing the usual “BOOM!” you’d expect, you just hear a click. When it first happened, I was three mags into shooting the M&P .40, I had just dropped a fresh mag in, fired two shots, and then it clicked. I was puzzled, “I didn’t make it past Algebra 2, but I’m positive I should have 13 shots left in there…” I turned to Michael (keeping the gun pointed downrange, of course) and yelled for help. He came over, tapped the bottom of the mag, racked the slide, and pulled the trigger. The gun fired fine. This is where I learned the all important technique, tap it & rack it. I was quite proficient by the end, too, because I had to do it every other shot on my last magazine. However, knowing this was an early serial problem that Smith & Wesson had already addressed, I was pretty sure I was going to get the full sized .40.

I actually changed my mind in thinking about it more later, though. I’m still learning the mechanics, making sure that I know how to do what I’m doing, so I’m starting out with the M&P compact in the 9mm round. This way, I figure, I can take all of the classes at the PSTC (firearms basics, conceal carry, deadly force decisions, etc), and ammo won’t cost me nearly as much. I can work my way up to the M&P full sized and the gun will function exactly the same. I liked the hold of the M&Ps best, the compact’s only questionable when using the mags without the pinky rest (which I will stock up on when I get it, I hate the one without it).

And on a side note, I know I joked about it earlier, but I’m serious… If I hear the democratic congress starts another ridiculous “assault weapons” (In other words, “Anything more than 10 rounds is out because it’s hazardous to our population”) ban, the first thing I’m going to do is go out and get the M&P .40 with high cap 15 round mags. I’ll be darned if I’m going to let them ensure that the criminals have more shots in their guns than I do. :-p

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Well, it seems that, in spite of my not thinking anyone reads my blog, I have a few people who found me on a search about my Samsung camcorder and who want to know if I’ve figured anything out. Without further adieu, folks, here’s what I found out.

Nothing.

That’s right, Samsung’s done absolutely jack since I called them over a year ago. Why? I don’t know. But this has soured me personally and, in finding that others share the same problem, makes me even more agitated. So this, dear reader, is what I will call on all to do.

Boycott Samsung until they fix the issues.

I was pleasantly suprised when I called samsung and actually got a living, breathing, english speaking, non-outsourced american on the phone, but my impressment ended there. Unlike Hewlett Packard, who actually made an effort to make things right by replacing my model with something that they advertised it would do, Samnsung, when they hit a wall and realized they could do nothing to fix it, stopped returning my calls and responding to e-mails. As a consumer who’s used not only the samsung camera, but has owned multiple samsung phones, and whose girlfriend’s family purchased many samsung products in their home, including two large TVs and a refrigerator, this isn’t right. I’ve been a longtime customer, and if Samsung wants to keep its customers, it’s going to have to respond better to their needs. If you advertise a camera that can go up to 1 GB memory stick and record video to said memory stick, MAKE SURE IT BLOODY WORKS UP TO 1 GB! I’ve tried multiple brands, all to the same effect. Only the 16 meg stick will hold video, and that last a whopping minute. Whoopee. Martin Scorsese, eat your heart out.

So, Samsung, if you’re out there, we’re not going to stand for this any more. You’ve screwed the little guys for the last time. I will replace my samsung phone (number three, for those who’re counting) with a motorola on monday, and I’ll exchange the video camera for a Sony shortly thereafter. I shouldn’t have to deal with customer service people who can’t finish what they start. If you don’t want our money, we’ll take it elsewhere.

So leave a comment if you agree.

Tags: Personal by Andrew Laine
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