Ammo Shortage

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Can someone please tell me what is causing the ammo shortage?

I really don’t understand what is going on. On one hand we have panic buying, but even that, I don’t really get. Not a single bit legislation has been proposed that I know of that would limit how much ammo is made or could be bought. Am I missing something?

My advice to everyone is to just calm down. No one is coming to take your guns and ammo.

I support the 2nd Amendment, but at the same time I don’t see what the issue is with universal background checks? I had a gun nut buddy tell me it was because he doesn’t want his name on a list in case the “government” decides to come get his guns.

I actually said “WTF” to him. He belongs to the NRA, several gun clubs, and buys tons of hunting sh*t on his visa card. Do you really think they need to have a universal list to figure out who’s got some weapons?

The 2nd amendment says “a well regulated milita” has the right to bear arms. In my mind that means that reasonable controls can be put on who can buy and sell weapons. Put me on a list, make me take a gun safety course. All goodness.

Just do one thing, make it take ten minutes. Make it easy. Let me go into a gun store and buy something in ten minutes because you have instant access to the universal crazy, felonious  nutbag list. If I’m not on it, let me buy whatever I want. I DON’T need thirty round mags.  There is no real reason for a hunter or a plinker to own that. If you really want that, get a class 3 license and have some fun.  And that requires extra time and paperwork.

Why is this so difficult?  I think we’d have more people shooting and a safer country if we  supported a universal background check and super fast database for checks.  And then get rid of every other state law that bogs down gun purchases and legal ownership.

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Aliens or Tiny Body?

A tiny body found in the Atacama Desert.

DNA testing shows a 92% match to a human.

Everyone’s first thought was that this was an unborn child, but scientists estimate the age of the specimen to be much older. They believe the “child” was eight years old when it died.

What do you think? Aliens or poor soul with a genetic anomaly?

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12 Gauge Target Loads – Remington Versus Winchester

It is getting nice out, and there is nothing like getting outside and shooting some clays.

Thus begins our tale.

My buddy and I went out to get supplies and found ourselves in a tough spot. The gun shop had a case of Winchester, and a case of Remington 12 Gauge Target loads (both in 7.5 shot) but not a whole lot of either.

So we did what anyone would do and bought the last two cases of each. The Remington case had 250 shells while the Winchester cases come in boxes of 100 shells.  So we ended up with a bit more Remington than Winchester ammo.

My buddy gets out the shotguns and I get the trap house ready and we start to shoot. We are doing straight forward clay shooting with 10 rounds of clays each before switching off while keeping friendly track of the score.

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In all we fired 200 Remington shells and 100 Winchester with surprising results.

Ammo Remington Winchester
Failure to Fire 0 0
Failure to Extract 2 0

The failure to extract issues actually caused us to clear the weapons and break the barrels and free the lodged shell with a rod. The extractor hook would grab the metal cap around the primer and pull it off completely or just off one edge, then it would fall off, leaving the hull lodged in the barrel.

The first time it happened I thought it was just a bad round. but the second time it happened I was amazed. A 2% failure rate is crazy for something with the Remington name on it. I love the 870 I was shooting, and felt more comfortable with it than the expensive Benelli Nova my friend also had (which cost 2x as much).

When you look at the bad shells you can see where the crimping tool didn’t apply enough pressure around the hull to seal the cap and the hull together.

The Remington ammo was about 35 cents cheaper per box of 25 than the Winchester, but that doesn’t mean I’ll accept a 2% failure rate.

But the thing that really scared me is that if this can happen on this shell, will it also happen to my slugs and buckshot? Because the worst possible thing I could see happening would be to get a shot off and then not be able to cycle when the second guy is coming up my stairs.

Bottom line, this was a really bad experience for me with Remington Ammo and I’ll be thinking real hard before I buy any shells from them again.  I’ll let you know how the last 50 we have left work out next time me and my buddy go shooting.

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Jack Reacher (2012)

Jack Reacher (3 Out of 5)

I love action movies. I’ve been accused of liking some really bad action movies in the past, and I have to say, guilty as charged. I enjoy a good faced paced movie that is true to itself. It can be a bit off the wall and bend the laws of physics, just as long as it is consistent and true to its own rules.

Jack Reacher starts out strong and has a well built plot “twist”. There is a multiple shooting, the question is, who was the real target? Such a great set up for a movie. What brought it down?

I feel a little bad saying this, but I felt like Tom Cruise was a bit off in this film. It was almost like he was puffing up his chest every time he said a tough guy line. It just felt forced and corny.

The good…

  • Great plot.
  • Werner Herzog as “The Zec”. His performance was chilling as the lifelong survivor. 2013_JackReacher_WernerHerzog
  • Well built story with a good twist.
  • Robert Duvall, every scene he is in is better because of it.

The bad…

  • Some of the dialogue was just bad, really bad. Cringe worthy bad.
  • The bite your finger off scene. I felt like it was over the top.
  • The bathroom scene where the two bad guys get the drop on Jack and suddenly turn into the keystone cops. Really?
  • In the final fight scene Jack Reacher goes to the gunfight with nothing but a knife?