Ryan (not one of the one of the Ryans of TSLRF fame) sent this news item from a southern Idaho newspaper: Driggs boy shoots bear on family’s porch. Ryan’s comment: “This is great. Hope my daughter turns out like this”. Speaking of bears in Idaho, my old college roommate e-mailed me the link to this archived picture from the Colt Firearms collection.That was lucky shot. (Needless to say, .32 ACP is not a reliable stopper for predators of either the two-legged or four-legged varieties! Here at the ranch, we regularly carry .45 ACPs in the woods, and feel just barely sufficiently armed.)
o o o
I heard from a reader that as of January 1st, in California and Washington it will be illegal to balance car and truck wheels with lead weights.This might present an opportunity for anyone in California or Washington to acquire some scrap lead for various post-TEOTWAWKI projects. Just ask your local tire shop what they plan to do with their bins of old weights, and offer them a nominal sum for what they have left. You might get a real bargain.
o o o
K.L. in Alaska suggested this article from England: Organic GM alternative considered. K.L’s comment: “Apparently there’s a move afoot to re-brand genetically engineered seeds
as “organic” to make this monopolistic practice more palatable to the public.”
o o o
Lawrence in West Virginia let me know that the mail order catalog/Internet company Sportsman’s Guide got another batch of pre-1899 Chilean contract Mausers, that they are selling sans papiere for $299. That is a fair price, these days.They have them in both 7×57 Mauser, and arsenal conversions to 7.62mm NATO. The latter are safe to shoot with standard 7.62mm NATO ball, but NOT with commercially loaded .308 Winchester soft nose, since it has substantially higher chamber pressure! If you want to shoot soft nose through these, then work up a mild hand load. Or, using a .30 caliber bullet puller collet and a reloading press, carefully pull the bullets from loaded standard 7.62mm NATO ball cartridges and re-seat soft nose 150 grain spitzer bullets. (This is how some high power rifle target shooters make “Mexican Match.”) By the way, for some details on the legalities of pre-1899 guns, read my Pre-1889 Cartridge Guns FAQ.