So what kind of LSP are you, and by the way we doubt that's your real name, if you don't even shoot? Good question, punters. To set the record straight I headed for the range this morning.
There it was, hot as an oven under the Texan sky, and I was on a mission. Viz. Zero in a new and specially crafted AR15. But at what range? There's plenty of pros and cons to the 25, 36, 50 and 100 yard zero, and beyond, but I went for 36 because that's where the shooting bench had been moved respective to the nearest available target.
After a quick bore sight, the weapon was on paper in the 9 ring and I dialed up twice to hit the X on the third shot. Awesome, rifle and optic worked, except that wasn't quite true. Sure, the gun was on but it wasn't cycling. Why? Because the cunning armorer who'd put the beast together hadn't installed its gas block correctly, it wasn't aligned with the barrel's gas port, turning the DAR (Deadly Assault Rifle) into a one shot wonder.
Huh. After a few shots on a steel turkey I moved over to .22 plinking with a Ruger American. A heavy metal bird took a beating along with a small spinner, and then it was time to head for home and a serious meeting with Block, Tube, Pin, Barrel & Co.
You see, the builder of this gun somehow forgot, perhaps he was distracted, that he was working with a 16" barrel. He thought he was assembling an 18" setup and labored accordingly. This meant the gas tube was too long and when fitted to its block didn't align with the barrel's gas port. No hot gas working that famous impingement system, you see, and thus no BCG cycle. What to do?
Stare in slack-jawed, NRA consternation at the offending article and the sheer, brazen, literal incompetence of it all? Take it to a shop and ask them to fix it? Or do it yourself. I chose the latter route. It's not hard. Remove the hand guard, tap out the gas tube's retaining pin with a cleverly small hammer and roll pin punch, then loosen the gas block, slide it forward to the awesome Surefire SOCOM muzzle brake, which demands a suppressor, and remove the gas tube.
Well done, you're nearly there. Next step, produce a gas tube for a 16" barrel, clean it, mine was dirty, and press the tube into the gas block. Make sure the retaining pin holes on tube and block align, then tap the retaining pin back in. Replace hand guard. Done.
At least that's the hope. It looks right, but I'll test the offending article out tomorrow on another range at a church shoot. It'd better work or there'll be trouble, and then some.
#2A,
LSP
Do you remember how a teenage Swedish autist, with an arguably satanic mother, determined the energy policy of the Western World? Sure you do, gotta go Zero Carbon Footprint or the world's gonna die! You know, like rising sea levels, pandas dying, Manhattan flooded, Chicago undersea, all science like.
Such paltry, clownshow, medicine show, snake oil, buffoon malfeasance, as our rainbow hypocrite elite green leaders fly the world in their private jets and buy beachfront mansions in the Hamptons. What a fraudulent scam from the get go, but look what's happened in their insane, satanic, lust for power and wealth.
Hilariously, the push for coal is being led by Europe, ground zero of the "green movement" which finally realized that one can't burn fake virtue or melt posing in front of camera in the winter to keep warm, and is boosting coal purchases to ensure it can keep power flowing to homes and factories after Russia cut gas supplies to the continent. Germany, which not long ago promised to eliminate coal as a power source by 2030, is among the nations now importing more. Economy Minister Robert Habeck called the increased reliance on coal bitter but necessary. Spoiler alert: Germany will not eliminate coal as a power source by 2030, if anything it will be more reliant on it than ever unless it also restarts its nuclear power plants which it, idiotically, shut down not long ago.
Never one to admit it was dead wrong, however, Europe has a response to everything: “Right now the sentiment is that more coal is better than more Russia,” said Alex Msimang, a London-based partner at law firm Vinson & Elkins LLP specializing in the energy sector.
Whatever dude.
I'll leave it at that.
Fishing in the Rivers of Life,
LSP
Keen-eyed readers of this eclectic if shallow mindblog will know the Compound has a problem. Yes, the architectural genius squad which designed the roof over the house's extension in the 1980s didn't get it right. The thing's too flat, there's not enough pitch, which means water collects on the shingles, rotting out the deck, and before you know it the house collapses. Disaster.
To prevent this catastrophe, Command reached out to Cesar and there he was, striding up to the porch in the searing late afternoon heat of the day. I looked up from Zerohedge and reports of Dutch police shooting at farmers, "Hey, good to see you!" He grinned, "Man, it's hot," then clambered up on the offending roof to inspect the damage.
This can be fixed with shingles or with metal, the latter being more expensive but a more permanent solution. I'm inclined towards that, but let's see what the estimates are. In the meanwhile, Cesar's a good guy and's been in the business of roofs for 20 years. Respect, can't be fun in the sun.
In other news, aside from Dutch farmers staging a revolt against their WEF puppet government - note: don't shoot the people who feed you, idiots - BoJo the Clown's in serious trouble. Top Tory Cabinet ministers are resigning in protest over his scandalous, inept, corrupt, groomer compliant turpitude.
More on this developing Curry Coup story as news comes in, but we have to ask, will Putin claim a scalp or is this simply the Curse of Assad? Or 45? Remember, pundits, how unfit, boozy, buffoon, deep state, Illuminati, NWO traitor shill, rainbow clown mountebank BoJo stabbed him in the back.
Your Old Pal,
LSP
You go to the country store and what do you get? A hot rod.
Most awesome. Serious attention to detail.
I left impressed but perhaps you disagree?
Ride on,
LSP
Have a great day with family and friends as we celebrate our freedom from British tyranny. You can imagine what that'd look like now, a Whitehall mandated rainbow flag on every corner and don't you dare disagree, serf, or you'll go to gaol for Hate Thought like the brazen transphobic Nazi you are.
In the meanwhile, London bureaucrats would be sending billions of your tax Dollars Pounds to fund literal Nazis in Eastern Europe. For moneylaundering freedom and the Liberal World Order.
What a terrifying vision! Thank God we fought against such perfidious despotism and won, but you know the saying, "A Republic if you can keep it." That in mind, the flag of Liberty flies high at the Compound and burgers are about to hit the grill.
Cheers,
LSP
To mark this achievement, the Specialist came home with totally unaffordable steaks. We'll grill those in a bit and celebrate, asparagus wrapped in bacon and baby potatoes alongside. So there it is. But speaking of celebration, I've got a good mind to take a train journey.
You know, for several days, with a Pullman, Diner and all the rest. Traverse this land by rail, as a kind of recce perhaps. But witch way? Maybe the Dallas-Chicago-Detroit run or go West, up to Montana and then Alberta? Then again, perhaps something more... specialized?
All advice welcome and in the meanwhile, one song to rule them all.
DFTR,
LSP
Here in America we think of armored trains, if we think of them at all, as relics of a bygone age. Perhaps we recall steel clad locomotives steaming across the African veldt, armed with Martini Henrys, gatlings, Lees and Maxims. Or World Wars I and II, in which battle trains were famously active. Today? Not so much. But hold on, readers.
Armored trains are very much alive and well, especially in Eastern Europe. Serbia, for example, deployed the famous Krajina Express. Here's a photo:
And Russia notoriously armored up some rolling stock in the Chechen conflict, Baikal, Amur, Terek, and Don. These battle wagons were armed with 23 mm ZU-23-2 guns, a T 62 on a flatbed, and 30 mm BMP cannon, to say nothing of small arms, jamming equipment, missiles and whatever else the Russkies strap onto the rolling beasts.
After the second Chechen war these ferocious trains were put in storage only to reappear in rail intensive Ukraine, where they've seen extensive service. Apparently several Chechen conflict trains have been combined into one train, the Volga.
What can we say? The message is clear, surely, armored trains are awesome and we want one, or more. Texas demands it.
Casey Jones,
LSP
