Well, what have we here….
Ah, thats right…its the decorative gunleather I had made for the equally decorative BBQ gun. Well, let’s open the box and see what an embarrassingly large amount of money gets you:
Not gonna lie, I opened the box, pulled away the packing papers, and literally exclaimed “Wow!”. It’s a nice bit of work, I gotta say.
Only needs two things now: custom grips, and an occasion where I can wear this thing.
If you look at most newer ‘evil black rifles’ you’ll see that they often have a small hole at various points on them to accommodate quick detach (QD) rifle slings. These slings are actually, in my experience, pretty hand since they tend to have features that make them quite handy for even non-tactical rifles. Some older gun designs predate the current QD methods and therefore are not usable with something like a Magpul QD sling. Thats where Samson Manufacturing comes in.
I have a Ruger Mini-14 that I fitted with a Samson copy of the original Ruger folding stock:
Because the rifle was not originally kitted out with the folder stock, it’s sling is mounted on the bottom of the forend rather than on the side as it was mounted on original GB models. As it turned out, Samson also makes a replacement gas block to accommodate a side mounted sling, making the gun a more faithful repro.
Here’s the thing, the original GB had just regular normal sling swivel mounts. You can’t use the modern QD sling attachment points. Or can you? Check these out:
It’s a very nice, well-made adapter that lets you use modern QD sling attachments on guns that have just a simple swivel stud. While your typical Uncle Mikes QD swivels are fine for most hunting rifle applications, I like being able to just swap slings and have them fit all the attachment points on all my guns.
By the way, one nice feature of the Magpul sling is that you can switch it from a 2-point to a single-point if youre in a situation where the gun just hanging by your side is a handy thing.
Kings Firearms Online was having a sale on some LE trade-in Gen 4 G17’s. Well, heck, for $300 apiece, why not? I prefer Gen3 Glocks for various reasons but these should be quite easy to flip for $350-375 to someone wanting a Christmas gift to themselves or a friend.
While I have a big ‘ol stack of Ruger P95DCs sitting around, I have an almost as large pile of Glock 9mms. I’m kinda wishing I’d picked up more than just these three. Theyre in typical copgun condition: bluing wear, grips nicked and scratched from years of being a ghetto referee, but mechanically fine. Face it, copguns just don’t get shot that much. They get banged around a heck of a lot, but mechanically theyre almost always like new.
Its been a long time since I’ve seen police trade-in Glocks in 9mm for sale but when it happens, I try to go deep.
I read somewhere that your fifties is the period in your life when you will make the most money. For me, that was a pretty low bar to clear, but, it’s proven true for me.
Having a paid for house, vehicle, and no debt frees up a good bit of cash. As a result, it’s only in about the last five years I’ve been able to buy myself the toys and gear I’ve always wanted. And, also, I’ve been able to be a generous friend to people…which I really enjoy.
So, one thing I’d always wanted was something from Zombie Tools. They are just a few minutes drive from where I work, but I’d never been there…although I had always wanted to go. Just never seemed to find the time. Until earlier this week.
I’d decided I was going to get myself a blade and, feeling generous, I’d get one for someone else. Naturally, I couldn’t be satisfied with just the off-the-rack stuff. I needed to be a wee bit bespoke. So, since I wantd to thoroughly explain what I wanted, as well as examine the goods in person, I made the trip to ZT on my lunch break. By the time I finished explaining what I wanted in terms of finish, handles, scabbard, etc. it had climbed to a pretty penny. But…buy once, cry once. I wanted to add some engraving. Turns out ZT has a laser engraving subsidiary. And they do guns. And I have guns. And I have a logo* representation of Commander Zero. So, lets drop the logo into a .jpg and pass it to the engraver guy and see what we get:
Pretty cunning, don’tcha think?
I was actually quite pleased with how it turned out. How pleased? Uhm..this pleased:
As it turns out, they can also do this sort of thing to leather, wood, and other materials. Which means my BBQ gun is definitely getting some custom grips on it. I’ll be bringing by a few rifles and knives after the new year. Pricing? Extremely reasonable. I had four pistols done and with the setup charge it came to about $120, including tip. The guy was very easy to work with and stayed late after normal business hours to accommodate my schedule (hence the tip).
So this is yet another thing to check off my list…a little personalization of some favorite guns. I’m quite pleased with how it turned out and I am equally pleased at the notion of getting a few more things personalized.
* = Logo wasnt the exact word. Sigil might have made sense but for the mystic connotation. Pictograph wasn’t quite right. Symbol was a little vague. I needed a word to describe a picture or design that is used to convey an identity or name. I’m sure there’s a precise word, I just have to find it.
The folks at NAR, the only people I trust for genuine CAT tourniquets, are having a 30% off sale with code NAR2023. That drops a $31.59 tourniquet down to $22.11. But..theyre more than just TQ’s. Sale ends tomorrow. Go check out the page.
Remember, kids…when the other side doesn’t like something that our side does that is perfectly legal..well..thats a “loophole”.
This is interesting because I’ve done a bunch of business with Gunbusters on GunBroker. Theyre an excellent source for getting spare parts for a gun ‘just in case’. The pearl-clutching in this article is priceless. If recycling gun parts is somehow a safety problem for the public, then by extension the purchase of spare parts through other channels should be just as much of a (non)problem. That is, of course, the direction this will eventually go to as more and more parts will be considered controlled or, more likely, prohibited from distribution through various means….social pressure on carriers, advertisers, etc.
The culture war never stopped, guys…sometimes it just quiets a bit as folks reposition themselves in their trenches.
Finally got a bit of real snow this evening. The heavy, wet, drags-down-the-power-lines kind of snow. So, I guess winter is officially here. It means driving more cautiously, keeping a shovel in the back of the truck, and, of course, getting out the winter survival gear.
The holiday gift-giving season approaches…Christmahanakwanzakah, Festivus, etc., are all this month. And as if you needed any further proof that it’s December – office Christmas parties have started. I went to mine last week. I am amazed at what an open bar does to people.
What’s on Zero’s wish list this Christmas? Well, I wouldn’t turn down an all-expenses paid vacation to Jennifer Lawrence. Other than that…I’m good. No, really. I mean, I look back at all my posts from previous years where I talk about things I want in the upcoming year and…by and large…I’ve gotten them. I wanted a 10mm Glock. Got it. Barrett? Got it. ICOM radio? Got it. BBQ gun? Got it. Armour? Got it. A few more Aladdin lamps? Got it. More fuel cans? Got it. Really, the only thing of any real weight left on my wish list is a chunk of land…and by hook or by crook I will have it within the next couple years. Sooner the better.
In fact, since I’ve gone and gotten myself pretty much everything I want, I’m gilding the lily a bit this week. I’m gonna have a few guns engraved. Nothing fancy, just a monogram (or logo, I suppose) on a couple of my fun guns. I’ve been back-n-forthing with the vendor and I think we’ve got it all hashed out. Pics when its done.
So..what about you? Whats on your holiday gift list? Anything preparedness related?
My relationship with canned meats is akin to the experience of dating a fat chick: if youre not deterred by the appearance and smell, you might find that, if you give it a chance, you actually like it.
To me, all canned meats, regardless of what they are (turkey, beef, pork, etc.) all smell exactly the same when you open them – like wet cat food. In fact, I have to hold my breath when opening a can of meat. But, as a survivalist, I know there are going to be times where shelf-stable meats that can go long-term are gonna be rather handy.
I discovered that the local WalMart is selling Keystone meats (chicken, beef, and ground beef) a few weeks back. Normally my canned meat needs are met by the Kirkland roast beef at CostCo, which I have been quite pleased with. Although, to be fair, the availability of the Kirkland beef has waned over the years with stretches of time where it was unavailable.
I had seen a good bit of information about the Keystone product on the internet, and reviews I’d seen on YouTube were pretty uniform in that it was a rather good product. Well, before I go and drop a buncha money on a case of this stuff, lets check it out.
This looks like what the investigator sees when he opens a 55-gallon drum that had a mob informant stuffed in it before being tossed into the lake. The white stuff is congealed fat and the liquid is the juices from the meat, since no water is added to this product. The meat is pressure cooked in the sealed can so any liquid in there came outta meat.
Dumped into a frying pan it still looks like an organ transplant that went horribly awry. But, let’s put some heat to the meat and see what happens.
As things melt, plenty of liquid ensues. So, we keep simmering until we get something a bit less soupy.
My standard practice for a fast, cheap, filling meal is to then mix in a buncha salsa and then mix with hot rice. The result:
Gotta say…it was good. And the meat was of very high quality. I recall trying some canned meat a few years back that had tremendous amounts of silverskin to the point it was like trying to chew gum. I think there was one small thumbnail size piece of silverskin in this, which I plucked out, and the rest was all good striated muscle tissue. So, whats my story…recommend or no? It’s a recommend. At least for me it is. I can see this as being an excellent candidate for anything where tender cunks of beef are called for or where shredded beef is needed. Tacos, enchiladas, and that sort of thing seem like a natural for this. If youre a beef-with-noodles kinda guy this might be handy for a goulash or stroganoff. Shelf life is a couple years so it’s definitely a candidate for the long-term pantry.
Price was about $9 a can which isnt bad since theres definitely several days of meat in there. Obviously if you shop around you might do better than that. Overall, I’d say if you were on the fence about buying this stuff go ahead and purchase with confidence.
Anyone else notice that gold is at an all time high?
Anyone else made a bit nervous by that?
