Searching for Quality

I have always liked gizmos and gadgets, it seems a lot of males do for some reason. The world of electronics has come a long way over the decades with all sorts of bells and whistles – and a growing price tag. One could live with that if the quality remained the same as, say, thirty years ago. But overall it has not.

My mother had a toaster that lasted for twenty years and a coffee maker (early Mr. Coffee) that lasted almost ten years.

Old-Fashioned Quality

Today I threw out my coffeemaker that lasted a little over two years before the electronics went haywire. I am replacing it with an old fashioned peculator. Since then the toaster, hardly two years old, was shorting out. I have learned what products brands to trust and in the long-run spending a little more is wise. What good is the UL Approved symbol when manufacturers don't make quality products? It may have been one that slipped by the inspector, but I think it just was not made to last. It probably would help if we could find products not made in China, despite having a well-known American product name. Quality control in China is practically non-existent.

Automobiles are another item where prices have skyrocketed over the decades, paying for all those bells and whistles and government required stuff and $2,000 extra fee if you purchase what government calls a gas guzzler. Problem is the sheet metal (where metal exists and not plastic-rubber configuration) is so thin you can put a dent in them by leaning on it.

Old American West: Mountain Men and Their Weapons

The Mountain Men of the Old West have lived on in legends written in books and depicted on film, and honored by reenactments in modern-day Rendezvous. Behind the legends and myths there is real history. One of the best books written about the American West and the Mountain Men is – Virgin Land: The American West As Symbol and Myth by Henry Nash Smith; Harvard College, 1950. E-Text of the books is available at the University of Virginia website, part of the American Studies created by Emily Zimmerman. 

Weapons of Choice: Savage Model A17

  Savage has worked on a rifle that will properly fire the .17 HMR cartridge in a semi-automatic rifle for a little over two years. While the .17 HMR has been around in bolt-action rifles for some time, the modernized so-called 'varmint' ammunition has been an improved cartridge versus the .22 caliber magnum for small game hunting and 100-yard target practice. It is still economical, especially for those who have been using the .223 caliber (5.56mm) for small game hunting rather than using .22 magnum for small game hunting up to the size of boars.

 

Veteran's Day - November 11th, 2015

Ronald Reagan:

We must realize that no arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have. It is a weapon that we as Americans do have. Let that be understood by those who practice terrorism and prey upon their neighbors.

Thank a veteran today. It is a day for those still alive, not those veterans who have passed on - that is for Memorial Day!

Weapons of Choice: SIG Sauer MCX

SIG Sauer has prided itself in innovative firearms design and the new Model MCX is no exception. It is built with standards for the military, reliable, gas-operated, short-stroke piston system that is the first AR platform rifle that has an auto-regulating gas system which allows shooters to switch between supersonic and subsonic loads, or unsuppressed or suppressed operation, without manually adjusting the gas system. That means quick changes will not compromise its operation.

Importance of Muzzle Crowns

The crown of a barrel, be it rifle or pistol, is an important aspect of accuracy and marksmanship that firearm owners may overlook or take for granted. In military standards, like at the President's 100 marksmanship gunsmith shop at Fort Benning, Georgia, for target standard crown is the 11-degree crown. A properly cut crown will ensure that the circumference of the base of a bullet exits the muzzle at exactly the same time.Diagram at left shows barrel and crown relationship.

The crown came into play when bullets changed from lead ball to conical-shaped projectiles. If the crown is not true or nonexistent, propellant gas will escape on one side of the bullet while the other remains engaged within the bore.

Weapons of Choice: Ruger Redhawk .45 Colt/.45 ACP Revolver

For 30 years, the Ruger Redhawk revolver has been in production since its introduction in 1979.

In 2007, after success of the 4.2-inch 44 Magnum Redhawk, Ruger produced a wheel gun chambered for 45 Colt. In 2014, Ruger introduced a Redhawk with a 2.75-inch barrel with a round-butt grip (TALO).

Three grip styles for Ruger Redhawk

Weapons of Choice: Remington Model 1858 and 1875

The Remington Model 1858 was a secondary firearm issued by the United States Army of the Union until the Colt Manufacturing Company factory fire of 1864. While it is called Model 1858 for the year it was patented, it was not produced in full scale production until 1861. [Remington: America's Oldest Gunmaker, Roy Marcot Bequette, Primedia 1998]

History of Dueling

  Historians state that dueling goes back as far as the Roman period in history; if the Gladiatorial matches could be loosely considered to be a form of dueling. Indeed, the word duel comes from a Latin duellium that was translated into Middle English later in history. Literally it means war between two.