“I Am An Adverb!”

So, there I was. 1980. Defense Language Institute, Presidio of Monterey, California. Basic Korean Course. (For “listeners”, AKA "geeks"; they had a separate course at the time for interrogators, AKA “rubber hosers.”)

Now, the recruiters had taken one look at my test scores and decided I should take the Defense Language Aptitude Battery, or DLAB. I had not done so well in Spanish classes in school, but they insisted, so I went ahead.

When I walked out of the room I felt like my brains were running out of my ears.

There were multiple portions to the test. One checked for general knowledge of foreign languages; I recall one where the sentence said “le poisson est sur la table”, and you had to select the correct drawing, which variously featured a fish and a bottle of poison on, under, and beside a table.

Another section used English vocabulary, but made-up grammar. As I recall, it actually was similar to what I would be learning in Korean: “The boy went to the store” might be rendered “’Boy-ga’ ‘store-ay’ ‘go-ed’”; The “ga” suffix attached to “boy” indicates the subject of the sentence, and the “ay” suffix on “store” indicates his destination. The verb comes at the end of the sentence, and instead of using “went” you use “go” with a past tense indicator. Both the test and the Korean language were/are a lot more complicated than that. As I recall, by the end of that section of the test we were reading paragraphs and answering (trying to answer) questions about who did what to whom.

June 14th...

...is the US Army's Birthday.

Also Flag Day.

Photo ©2010 & 2018 Mrs. Drang & The Cluemeter.

I hear it's also President Trump's birthday, although TBH I don't generally celebrate the birthday of folks I don't know personally. (Note it, sure, but celebrate, no.)

Here are a few pics I just dug out of the archive:

Team Spirit, 1986:

Photo ©1986 & 2018 DW Drang & The Cluemeter.

My Motley Crew for Team Spirit 1986. 3 KATUSAs and two round eyes, on a mountain for two weeks. Part of why I laugh when I hear people speak nostalgically about MREs, or act like ramyun* is a gourmet delight...

Photo ©1986 & 2018 DW Drang & The Cluemeter.

I wish I could remember this guy's name, he was a Ground Surveillance Radar operator augmenting my team. Good guy, despite the (mostly) good-natured rivalry between the "Electronic Grunts" and us SIGINT Geeks.

Photo ©1987 & 2018 DW Drang & The Cluemeter.

Here I am, a year or so later at Ft. Ord, the 7th Infantry Division (Light) "Fight Light, Freeze at Night!"(I can pinpoint this as to date because I am wearing OD green "jungle fatigue" trousers, still authorized for field wear at the time. They got destroyed at the National Training Center soon after this.)

Photo ©1987 & 2018 DW Drang & The Cluemeter.

My buddy, Steve W. If you recognize him, have him drop me a line.

Photo ©1987 & 2018 DW Drang & The Cluemeter.

IIRC, Steve M. (on the left) and Dave J. (on the right.) No, that's not a duffel bag full of poagie bait, it's the 50+ pound direction finding antenna.

If The Steves and Dave look like drowned rats in these, it's because it was raining non-stop. We were supposed to be dropped in an airmobile insertion, move cross-country, and then get picked up. Somewhere in there, the skies opened up and the pick up got cancelled, and we spend a miserable night under poncho hooches. (Actually, IIRC, it was one big hooch and we pulled the Heinlein Starship Troopers thing where we huddled together...)

Photo ©1987 & 2018 DW Drang & The Cluemeter.

This is my ruck. There are many like it, but this one was mine. PRC77 radio with KY57 crypto device, a week's worth of batteries, MREs and water, poncho and poncho liner, and one change of socks.

≈125 pounds.

Tactical Hipsters can speak of their "woobie" like it's some sort of security blanket, but I spent too many nights freezing under one to get all misty-eyed.

Photo ©1987 & 2018 DW Drang & The Cluemeter.

Airmobile insertion, waiting for the bird to pull pitch...
 

Photo ©1987 & 2018 DW Drang & The Cluemeter.

All the pics (except the one at the top, taken by Mrs. Drang), were taken on film, before consumer-priced digital cameras were even science fiction. The ones from Ft Ord were taken with a Vivitar pocket 35mm, that just fits in a 20 round M16 magazine pouch. I'm pretty sure the ones from Korea were taken with a Nikon SLR, otherwise I couldn't have gotten that time-delay group pic. No idea what lens either camera had/has.





*Ramyen -- or "namyun" -- is Korean, Ramen is Japanese...

Holy Crap!

This blog is now a decade old!

1. The Clue Meter: Test Shot -- Posted 02/21/2008, at 10:25 AM PST.
2. The Clue Meter: Let's see... -- Also posted 02/21/208 at 10:25 AM, when I somehow duplicated the Test Shot post and had to edit it...
3. The Clue Meter: Moving right along..., Posted at 08:20 on 02/26/2008,  spoke of the Clue Meter itself, which was the original header of the blog layout. Based on the "Chicklet Lights" used on the instrument panel of a UH60 Blackhawk (pic here), they seem to have confused everyone that never crewed a Blackhawk,and eventually went away.... 
4. The Clue Meter: "The Forgotten American" was my first post that contained actual content that was not all about me. 02/28/2008.

Going over old blog posts, I see a lot of bad links, including a lot of graphics that aren't there anymore. Plus, I started getting offers to "Turn your blog into a book!"

I have a hard enough time getting people to read this claptrap online, let alone in a dead tree edition...

TriggrCon, Media/Industry day.

When we last we saw our intrepid blogger, he was stuck in traffic, heading home from Triggrcon Range Day.

In case you hadn't heard, the Seattle-Tacoma area has nasty traffic these days. Besides, all that free ammo can really take it out of a guy, you feel an obligation to not let it go to waste.

So, first things first: Today and tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday July 29th and 30th, TriggrCon is open to the public for "Enthusiast Days." Go to the website to register, for free.

Up front, I did confirm that the last pistol caliber carbine and sub machine gun I fired at Range Day was by Battle Arms Development, and made that correction in my previous post.

The show itself is being held at the Greater Tacoma Conference Center.

Which bans guns and knives on site, and has security pawing through your bags and checking you with a hand wand.

It was hardly a TSA-level search, and I suspect I could have gotten a pocket pistol in, in my bag, but it's still annoying that they couldn't find a venue that either had more reasonable policies, or was willing to make an exception.

Especially since you walk in and turn left, and Freedom Munitions was selling ammo by the case, and knives, and if you turn right the Triggrcon Proshop is selling guns.

While wandering over to the Proshop I stopped at the Sig Sauer station -- they have a trailer set up as a traveling display, I've sen it elsewhere -- and confirmed that Sig does have plans for a .22LR P320, it's just that no one knows when...

But first... Before you got to the security station, there were several tables set up out front, mostly of local operations.

Mostly... The first stop I made was at the booth/table/display for PHLster Holsters. I've been admiring their Flat Pack Tourniquet "device"
(Another pic-heavy post, after the break...)

Triggrcon, Range Day

TriggrCon is the Northwest Shooting Sports Expo, which has been described as a "Mini-SHOT Show."

Well, I have a had time making it to Vegas for SHOT Show, but I can sure make it to Tacoma for this...

Signing up for tickets for Mrs. Drang and I for the "Enthusiast Days", I went ahead and applied for a Media Pass, because, hey, New Media and all that. I wasn't sure I'd get it, but what the heck...?

Sometimes I feel like the guy that does the police blotter for the Resume Speed Shopping News and gets invited to a press conference with the Times and stuff.

Anyway. Thursday was Range Day. The invite said it was at an "undisclosed location" which changed "at the last minute." I dunno about that. From the route the bus driver was taking I was pretty sure I knew where we were going, especially when someone said "I heard we were going to a sheriff's range."

Yep.

So here's the layout:

It's a pretty good set up. We were last there probably10 years ago (!) or more, for a muzzleloader shoot, when the range complex was pretty new, and still mostly bare dirt and rock. The best part is that it is far enough out in unincorporated King County that development stops before it gets this far, and the commute is too much for anyone.

Also, it shares the grounds with the before-mentioned King County Sheriff's Office range, as well as the Seattle Skeet & Trap/Boeing Employee's Shotgun Club range. (A friend of mine who worked on building the new range complex told me that, one night during the construction work, they came out of the club house after  meeting and witnessed a cougar taking down an elk. It's waaaaay out there...)

Anyway. A close up of who was at the range:

Click to enlarge.

Mostly pictures after the break:

Odds and ends

So, over the last few weeks I've alluded to a friend who was going through a rough patch, most recently in Earworm, 06/14/2017.

Basically, her son went from a 5% chance of surviving, to full consciousness, coherent speech, and walking unassisted.

Apparently, it is possible for certain organs which have shut down to regenerate.

Somewhere in there, I wondered if this was going to turn into a Lifetime movie, or even in to a Hallmark Special.*

Then she told me that certain other aspects of her life were turning around, and now I suspect even Hallmark would turn the script down as too unrealistic...

***

...In the meantime, my wife has been listening to me obsess about the problems of a woman shes never met, and all she says is "What's the news? Is she  doing OK? She probably needs a break, why don't you see if we can take her to lunch or dinner?"

So, yeah, I think even Hallmark would say it was too hokey. 

Also, I love my incredible wife.

***

Also in the meantime, the NRA has relented on it's ban on 1911s and revolvers in the Carry Guard self-defensive shooting classes.  (Dear NRA: WTF is wrong with you?!)

I heard a lot of rationales why this rule made sense, but frankly, IMnsHO none of them stood scrutiny. If someone is paying $850 for a three day class, you should be a little more lenient about what gat they bring.

If Mas can design the shooting courses of MAG40 to accommodate single-stack pistols and 6 shooters, than by Friar Schwartz' ghost so can the NRA.

***

*Okay, so I have this theory that women's lives can be divided into one of three categories:

1. Hallmark Channel movies
2. Lifetime Channel movies
3. Oxygen Channel movies

depending on how horrible the tragedy is, how sordid the scandal is, and/or how many people die and/or go to prison.

There may be other categories, the woman I first developed this theory around turned out to need one of those pay-per-view channels, if you know what I mean, and I think you do...

(Edited to add that I was only "involved" wih this woman as a co-worker.)

I haven't yet heard a proposed equivalent for men's lives, although I suspect my life story will star Bruce Campbell...

Well, that's not supposed to happen...

Members of the US military are covered under Servicemembers Group Life Insurance, or SGLI. It's a pretty good deal, considering that you are subject to going to unpleasant places and living an unpleasant lifestyle, which you may not survive.

Upon separation from the service --  discharge, retirement -- one has the option of converting it to Veteran's Group Life Insurance, or VGLI.

For years decades there has been a rumor that would periodically pop up that a "dividend" was being paid based on performance, or over-payments, or something. I don't think anyone knows how it started, I first heard it back in the early 80s. I always suspected it was part of some kind of scam that I was too naive to unravel.

Until now.

I got a refund check for overpayment. Not huge, it'll pay for a nice, but not epic, night out.

So I suspect that someone got a refund, and the rumor mill took over, and the next thing you knew...

"Rocket Salad", you say?

U.S. serves up Korean rocket salad in war drill response to North's nuclear threats | Reuters

There's more to do in South Korea's heavily forested Rocket Valley, just a few miles from the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, than fire rockets. In quieter times, people tend vegetable patches along ice-cold streams.

But on Wednesday, a U.S. artillery brigade based in the South heated things up, launching a barrage of rockets close to the border town of Cheorwon.

Well, yes, many more things to do.  You can drive your HMMWV through a ford, and have a rock fly up into the engine compartment and knock off all the blades of the fan, which are theoretically a flexible plastic.

Or, north of there, during the same exercise, you can be driving down the  road that runs along the ridgeline paralleling the DMZ and have a small piece of metal come up and pierce the hydraulic line for the brakes of same HMMWV, leaving you stranded for the night until they can get a tow vehicle up to you.

Fun times, fun times.

It's Just Like That

Only in this case it's "I HAVE MADE IT FIRE!!!!"

A month or so ago I scored a SureFire DSF-500/590 Forend Weapon Light for my Mossberg 500 in an Amazon Lightning Deal.

Then I had to look up YouTube videos on how to replace the forend.

Most of them have the demonstrator's hand is in the way.

So I ordered a book on how to do it. Then I ordered another one, to fill in some blanks.

So I got started, then I realized I had to order a new action tube, since the old forend turned out to be (contra what I thought) one of the ones where the forend and slide tube are integral. Then I had to order a new slide tube nut, because the old forend was a 7.5" one, and the new one is the shorter 6.75 incher, which takes a different nut.

Finally got it assembled yesterday, and it seemed to dry-fire OK, but I didn't want to try it too much, lacking snap caps. (Which are on order, and due to arrive on a week or three...)  Dinking around with it we established that the light on it's lowest setting is pretty darned bright. On the highest setting, I felt like I could send Morse Code messages to the International Space Station, if I remembered how to send Morse code messages.

By the time I had time to put it all together, well, lets just say that, when I went to the friendly neighborhood gun range and store to test fire it today I was fully expecting to step off the range and into the store and leave it with the gunsmith to put together for me properly.

I managed not to do a happy dance or to carry on like an idiot when I was able to put several magazine of slugs down range without a problem.

Well, except for recoil; not unanticipated, slugs not being known for being gentle on the shoulder, and the range being restricted to slugs for scatterguns. Still, ow. (Also, in all modesty, kudos to me for not adding any of the extensions to the Magpul SGA stock; I am convinced that having it set up for a shorter pull helped.)

After testing the shotgun I got the Sig 320 out of the rental cabinet to try a box through it. Can't say I'm in love with it, but its not bad and I am in love with the idea that Mrs. Drang and I can have the same pistol, sized well for each of us. The modular grip frame seems like it may work better than any combination of any manufacturer's interchangeable back straps and front straps and grip panels.

Tried it from 3 to 10 yards, two handed, strong hand only, and weak other strong hand only. Got some weird twisting shooting it left-handed, not sure what that was all about. All shots were inside the 9 and 10 rings, until I was trying it one handed at the 10 yard line. Also, I didn't have any issues with my thumbs hitting the slide lock, like I've seen on some other Sigs. So it looks like a winner.

I'm a genius!

So, earlier this week Mrs. Drang called me at the Salt Mines and asked if I'd noticed anything odd when doing my laundry last week. The dryer wasn't drying; it was tumbling, but at ambient temperature.

Long story short, the vent hose got crimped and the dryer overheated, tripping a protective switch.

Good news, the switch is resettable, not a fuse requiring replacement.

Bad news, it's inside the machine, and we had no literature indicating that, so appliance repair man to the rescue again.  (This makes the second or third time this year, must be warranty expiration time...) Anyway, he was kind enough to show me how to remove the back and top (!) panels so I could access the switch if this happens again, and we also traced the problem with the hose.

Anyway, the non-Executive Summary version is that when we had the house remodeled before moving in, the sub-contractor who installed the washer dryer combo stack* probably recognized that the hole in the wall for the vent was not aligned with the new dryer, and rather than re-cut the hole, used an angle joint and flex hose, and did not trim the hose to length. The hose was pinched, eventually lint built up, and eventually dryer overheated. Having that hole-for-the-vent thing fixed is now on the list, but not the budget for now.

What led to the conclusion in the post title is that I was trying to figure out a way to check the alignment of the hose and hole combination (for reasons too tedious to list, we can't go with an entirely hard duct) and was pondering the arrangement of inspection mirrors that would be necessary...

...When it occurred to me that one could use a cell phone on a selfie-stick instead of an inspection mirror.

***

*"Washer/dryer stack": Due to limited square footage, we got stackable full-size front loading washer and dryer.  The top of the dryer is even with my head, but Mrs. Drang can reach the controls. But the repair man had to boost me up to the top of the dryer to be able to see behind the stack to check the hose condition.

They hear me trollin', they applaudin'... -- Guns & Gun Shops

So, this post and this one, and this gun:

Photo from Gun Nuts Media, which you should totally go visit, or I wouldn't have linked the article already. Don't read the comments.

I visited two local gun shops today, one to sign up for an upcoming class and the other to buy some ammo for said class.

At both shops I asked if they had the Taurus Curve in yet.  They could probably tell from the way I said it and the expression on my face that I was needling them, but they didn't know why...

...until they looked it up, and saw the splendiferous derpitude for themselves.

Hooray, me!

***

Speaking of signing up for a class, they had this flyer up in the range area:

In case you or someone you care about is from around here and wants/needs some training. Highly recommended.

***

From the "Seriously?" department:
I ordered some spare mags for Mrs. Drang's Elsie Pee early in September.  They just arrived. Annoyed...

How dost thou annoy me? Let me count the ways:

• The people refuse to get enough training to understand that dropping the mag does NOT mean the gun is unloaded.
• That the herp-a-derps who need the reminder will try and load the mag with the sticker attached.
• That the Herp-a-derps who do that will ask for my gun advice and ignore it.

Mind you, I really believe that, before the end of 2015, Ruger will bring out their own version of the Curve, and it will almost certainly be a decent option for self-defense. 

***

At work the other night one minion overheard a conversation about guns, about the Taurus Curve, in fact. "I need to get a gun."

Asked what she was getting, she said "I really want a snubnose. So-and-so says I should get a .357..."  So-and-so being other minion. She also said she plans on practicing weekly.

The fact that Minion So-and-so is mostly a rifle and shotgun shooter, that he was giving her "Gun Culture Gen 1" advice, and that she normally responds to any advice or feedback at work by saying "I know this job as well as any man!" caused me to react, well, not very respectfully.  (Mostly to her citing a non-pistol guy with whom she does not get along very well¹, but that was obvious to no one.)

Guys.  Really, Stop that.

No, really. STOP THAT!!!!

A double action revolver has simple, easy-to-master controls for the non-enthusiast, and a full sized (4+") barrel six+-shooter can make an excellent general purpose sidearm, but a snubnose revolver is a specialists tool; as a concealed carry gun for the neophyte it sucks out loud.

• The sights are as vestigial as those the Army had John Moses Browning (pbuh) put on the 1911. 
• Or worse.
• In those rare cases where the sights are OK, the sight radius is so short as to be laughable.
• With that short a barrel, you need to select ammo carefully.
• And the recoil is going to be a beast.  NOT good for newby non-enthusiasts.
• That's in .38 Special; a snubnosed .357 magnum has reduced grown men to tears. 

A hammerless model can be useful as a pocket gun; as Tamara has related that she sometimes carries one in an outer pocket of her winter coat in addition to her regular defensive piece, as she can get to it faster when dressed for Fimbulwinter. (Fortunately, it rarely gets as cold in Western Washington as it does in Indiana²...)

***

1. Yes, I wonder if he was trolling her.
2. Because if it did, Mrs. Drang would make me relocate to Arizona or someplace.

Happy Birthday

Mrs. Drang.

On a day when we all get a little somber, I'd like to thank you for sharing your life with me, and bringing meaning to mine.

I love you.

Earworm 02/19/2014

I know I've posted it before, I know I've also posted that I want this played at my funeral. The older I get the more I think this should be my theme song.

Random thoughts

It is not a good sign when the server at dinner doesn't know the special of the day.

• Not just "What's the special?" "I don't know", but "We'll have the Hummingbirds Tongues in Aspic", and you have to explain that it's the special.  "Did you see it on a board some place?"
• Proof: she doesn't bring you the wine until you're halfway done with the entree.  
• EDIT:  Mrs. Drang reminds me that when she did bring the wine, it was the wrong one.
• And then brings you the Special Of The Day white chocolate bread pudding with butterscotch sauce at room temperature, served with a scoop of ice cream.
• We could have done without all the proof...

The weather alert I posted a day or two ago has been rescinded and then re-alerted several times.

• Don't be surprised if you hear soon that Spokane is the newest west coast port...

One thing I've learned, or had confirmed, hanging out on Internet firearms fora is that every handgun manufacturer has it's fanbois, as well as it's hateh's.

• One guy can post an innocuous question about, say, getting his gat refinished, and someone will be along shortly to warn him that, because it's the make and model it is, it will blow up in his hand and he should get something else¹.  Usually a specific "something else."  Which a third party will be along to villify in a post or three, the cycle repeating itself until pretty much every manufacturer and model out there (including some waaaaay out there) has been claimed to be simultaneously the greatest thing since Friar Schwartz²  had his little lab accident AND the greatest danger to the operator imaginable.³
• Pistol-forum.com is far better than most, if not all, others, although talk about 1911s will inevitably draw Glock or HK fanbois who will solemnly avow that one must first pay $1000+ for a 1911, and then spend another $1k on it to ensure it doesn't simply fall apart at the first shot.
• Admittedly 1911 sights as John Moses Browning (pbuh) designed them for the Army are practically vestigial. And the 1911s running from $4-500 new are imports from countries which do not necessarily have great metallurgical quality.  But that doesn't mean you just bought a grenade...

Another thing I've learned specifically from Pistol-forum.com is that, not only is the answer to the question "How many magazines should I buy?" "Even more", but the magazine is probably the most sensitive part of the semi-automatic pistol.

• If the magazine does not present the bullet to the chamber at the proper  angle and in the proper orientation, it doesn't matter if the feed ramp has been all smoothed and polished.
• On the one hand, my habit of buying 1911 magazines over the last year or two seems like a good one.
• On the other hand, buying the cheap ones marked and packaged as GI 1911 mags may not have been so smart.
• I went to Joanne's Fabrics yesterday and bought a paint pen, and now all the magazines are marked with my name and an identifying number. Magazine goes bad? Smash it and toss it.
• Tamara uses cute stickers on some of hers, but I have my image to keep up...
• Also, I've ordered some Pachmeyr magazine bumper pads, and stickers won't stick to the rubber.

Have I mentioned that taking a "Basic, Fundamentals" handgun class was totally worth it? Maybe if I'd done that 25 years ago I wouldn't have this unreasonable prejudice against Beretta handguns.

• Please note that I do refrain from telling everyone that just because I couldn't shoot well with one that obviously means no one will, or that they're just one round away from blowing themselves up...
• Mostly this speaks to the Army not really caring about handguns or handgun training.
• Think about that when someone says "This guy at work  was in the Army and he says..."  "This guy at work" is probably That Guy, so at least find out more about "this guy's" actual qualifications.

Intermediate class tomorrow.  We'll see how I do...

• Including whether I need to buy a dozen new/replacement 1911 magazine springs and followers.

***

1. Although sometimes the warning is followed up by "Send it to me for disposal", which is a sign it's a desirable piece of gear.
2.  Or Roger Bacon.  Or Francis Bacon, I can't remember who. Whom. Yes, I know black powder was first formulated in China.  They don't seem to have had the necessary mindset to look at a mortar launching it's pestle, and visualizing the AK47...
3.  At the first Gun Blogger rendezvous I attended, the local gunsmith who was handling FFL duties made the claim that the M1911 as issued in WWII was an unreliable piece of crap, that all 1911s since were even worse, and that the best handgun for self-defense was the Hi Point 9mm.

Interesting

UPDATE:  A couple of errors corrected.

Went out yesterday to test-shoot the Colt Rail Gun. (She talked me into it!)

First I attached the Official Crimson Trace Rail Master Green Laser Sight (CMR-203) I got at Gun Blogger Rendezvous last year.

I have to say I am not thoroughly thrilled with the way it attached, I feel it's a bit too far forward, but that may just be an aesthetic mater.  It works just fine, as we shall see...

Black plastic laser on a matte stainless 1911, just doesn't seem right, somehow...

I tried to mount it further back, but short of trimming away material, it just wouldn't fit.

The first mags were at 15 feet and were down to my usual barely adequate performance levels. Actually, the first targets were mostly trying to get a feel for the gun, and where the sights were regulated to.

Top target was a 6 O'clock hold, bottom one was 12.  (I got used to a 6 O'Clock hold with the Commander, using anything else is taking some getting used to.)

No champion shooters are metaphorically looking over their shoulders for me... Although...

I am not entirely unhappy with for a first time shooting the gun at 25 feet.  (Was adjusting to 1 O'clock, since I seem to be pulling to the left.)

And then I turned on the laser.  After trying to use the laser AND the iron sights, I shot one last magazine with just the laser, looking over the irons, ignoring them.

Alrighty then!

Odd angle seems to make the Commander larger than the GM...

Range Day

Well, Range Hour-And-A-Half...

So, I'm not really the only member of Pistol Forums.com to NOT have a Shooting/Training Journal on there, but if I have any New Years Resolution it's to shoot more, and, in fact, to attempt to shoot some of the drills on there, so that I can cease embarrassing myself when shooting in front of people I know...

So, having spent the last several weeks stuck at home pending a plumber or appliance technician, or dying of the creeping crud, I told Mrs. Drang I was hitting the range no matter what.   She, alas, is still dying of the creeping crud I gave her for New Years (Sorry, Sweetheart!), and declined to join me, which is a shame, since one of my plans was to test fire her Star BKM. ("Bearcat gets her gun")

A word about the range: Federal Way Discount Guns actually has two ranges as part of Federal Way Indoor Range, one with standard rental bays, and another, used for training,  which can be configured in several layouts, and which is also used for competitions and leagues.  As a shot trap it uses the newer (to me, at least) rubber bullet traps.  Lighting is excellent, and environmental controls are also very good.  I highly recommend the facility to anyone in South King County or northwestern Pierce County.

Back to the guns: Since the Star is a 40-odd year old gun of uncertain history, and (frankly) rattles when you shake it like GI lore says a 1911 will, I loaded one round into each of the four magazines we have, and tried them.

Offhand, seven yards, Federal Eagle 115 grain Full Metal Jacket.  I am particularly gratified that shot number one broke the ten ring, especially since I was mostly wanting to ensure the darned thing would fire.  Slide locked back on each empty mag.  You might recall that of the four magazines Mrs. Drang got with the pistol, two had metal followers, and two had plastic ones.  The plastic followers seemed to work as well as the metal ones.

Subsequent targets, same ammo, looked like this:

Still getting used to the sights, and the grip and feel is slightly different than what I am used to.  All these were at 7 yards; I did put one mag down at 15 yards, which didn't go so well...

We'll see if this is going to be a range gun, or if we need to get a holster for it.  Even if Mrs. Drang goes for "off-body" carry  (i.e., concealed in a purse) I think we'll want some leather to keep it in.  (Interestingly, even the PX is carrying Concealed Carry purses these days!)

I also needed to put some rounds through the Ruger Mark III 22/45 she gave me for Christmas. ("I have the bestest wife in the world").  No pics, but I did manage to keep every shot inside the "7" ring, which, considering that I was shooting off some of my stockpile of "Not sure what is is other than .22 Long Rifle" ammo, is OK.  (Actually, I'm trying to figure out where that one round of .22 Short came from...)

(The McFadden Machine Ultimate Clip Loader works pretty well, BTW.  I think it was Barron who recommended it at GBR a couple of years ago.)

That done, I discovered that the "rental" privileges that go with my range membership have been upgraded, and I now get unlimited rentals, with the caveat (which applies to all rentals) that I must use their ammo.  I've been thinking about expanding my horizons beyond the 1911 (Forgive me, JMB!), so I borrowed a Glock 19, Gen 4, and a Sig P229R, and put a box of Winchester White Box 124 grain FMJ through each.

I just can't get used to a Glock.  Maybe if I owned it and could do some Dremel work on the grip, but the combination of holding a 2 x 4 with the silly finger bumps in the front just doesn't work for me.

The Sig, OTOH, is excellent.

Shot at seven yards.
 Didn't take a pic of the target I shot at 15 yards,
it obviously wasn't as tight as the 7 yard one, but it wasn't too bad.
 "Combat accuracy" and all that.
 /gun magazine writer

Note that I said that "the Sig is excellent", not that "I am excellent".  I still suck.  This is why I need to be hitting the range at least twice a month.

Maybe I'll even start keeping a training journal.

I have the bestest wife in the world

The stud at about 2 o'clock is the lock.  There are small quartz chips in it, and the thumb stud.

Not sure how the reddish hue snuck in there.  Trick of the light.
Also, first time using the portable photo studio she bought a few months ago, maybe I did it wrong.

Yeah, I know, Gunny would prefer I had a Glock in there... Oh, well.

Assorted Geekery

I don't usually purchase beer, wine, or hard liquor based solely on the label.  But sometimes a clever name or image on the label will induce me to look closer, and I'll then purchase it.

What geek could resist this beer?

A closer look at the label art:

Beer for warriors:

The "Khukuri" is a product of the UK, by the way...

Also, gun show tomorrow, so I decided I'd see what the ammo supply is like at local stores, so I'd know if any gun show "deals" really are.

Now, I'm not superstitious, but I will confess that I am as ready to jump on someone for "jinxing us" as the next guy.  Part of this stems from my Army days when, sure as shooting, some jackass would comment on how nice the weather was, and it would instantly turn to shit.  Or, they would complain about the weather, and it would turn shittier.  (We got rained on at Ft. Irwin and 29 Palms.  You think rain in the desert is a Good Thing? Try it when you're sleeping on the ground and living out of your rucksack...)

Conversely, if one everyone was truly prepared for crappy weather, it seemed like it would not appear. (Coincidence that"m posting this on Friday the Thirteenth...)

Anyway.  Last week I noticed that my nice rag wool, thinsulate, and gore-tex watchcap that I've had longer than I've known Mrs. Drang was falling apart.

And today I discovered that Sportsman's Warehouse now stocks Stormy Kromer caps.  At the risk of jinxing us, I will say that, now that I have a wool cap designed by a railroad engineer, and made in Ironwood, MI, it will probably never get below freezing here again...

More my style

Of souvenir, that is.

One of the most popular souvenirs of Alaska is an Ulu knife.

An ulu (Inuktitut syllabics: ᐅᓗ, plural: uluit, English: "woman's knife"^[1]) is an all-purpose knife traditionally used by Eskimo women, both Yupik and Inuit. It is utilized in applications as diverse as skinning and cleaning animals, cutting a child's hair, cutting food and, if necessary, trimming blocks of snow and ice used to build an igloo.

(Wikipedia, at link above)

Here's a typical souvenir, not sure where Mrs. Drang got it; she had it when we met. It's actually made of okay steel, but may well have come from A Las Ka, PRC. This is in the Savoonga style.

(An Ulu maker's leaflet that lists styles of Uluit is here.)

This one is Mrs. Drang's souvenir Ulu, a Nunavak style, I believe:

This one is actually Made in Alaska, USA. The handle hole is too small for me, which was the case with every Ulu of this style I tried. She found it in The Knife Shop in Juneau, AK.

In the same building was a small souvenir store that took a lot of our money, including for the bar of soap I posted about last week, and a nifty necktie with Northwest Native-style wolves on it. 

Bristol Bay pattern Ulu, blade of old carbon steel saw blade. 

That cutting board/bowl it's on actually came with Mrs. Drang's Ulu, and the bone stand hers is on in the photograph came with this one. This picture shows part of the reason I liked this one -- it fits!

I don't have a walrus or polar bear to butcher, but Mrs. Drang did ask me to shred some cabbage for slaw...

More info: Outdoors magazine: The Ulu Knife (.Pdf.)

Overheard in the office

The other day, a colleague was heard to say

You know you're in trouble when you have to ask Drang if something you just said is politically incorrect.

I guess I'll take that as a compliment.

I think...