Tag Archives: firearm

Daily Scribble

General Gosgrove’s interview

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I read this funny joke on the bulletin board at the shooting range today.  Major General Peter Cosgrove is the chief of the  Australian Defence Forace from 2002 to 2005.

General Cosgrove was interviewed on the radio recently. You’ll love his reply to the lady who interviewed him concerning guns and children.  Regardless of how you feel about gun laws you gotta love this! This is one of the best comeback lines of all time.  It is a portion of an ABC interview between a female broadcaster and General Cosgrove who was about to sponsor a Boy Scout Troop visiting his military headquarters.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER:
So, General Cosgrove, what things are you going to teach these young boys when they visit your base?

GENERAL COSGROVE:
We’re going to teach them climbing, canoeing, archery and shooting.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER:
Shooting! That’s a bit irresponsible, isn’t it?

GENERAL COSGROVE:
I don’t see why, they’ll be properly supervised on the rifle range.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER:
Don’t you admit that this is a terribly dangerous activity to be teaching children?

GENERAL COSGROVE:
I don’t see how. We will be teaching them proper rifle discipline before they even touch a firearm.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER:
But you’re equipping them to become violent killers.

GENERAL COSGROVE:
Well, Ma’am, you’re equipped to be a prostitute, but you’re not one, are you?

The radio went silent and the interview ended.

Product Reviews

Liger belt

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Liger belt

I have been wearing the same belt for 13 years.  I bought the belt in the university bookstore in my first year.  It has made of leather and has a small university logo at the end.  Over all these years, the belt witness my growth in waist size.  I am slowly moving from one the belt hole to another closer to the end.  The belt is surprisingly durable and still survive as one piece under my daily abuse.   Although it is pretty much out of shape, the lining in many places are coming out and the leather surface lost of its texture.  The belt is way past its life cycle but I don’t want to throw it away because a belt is very personal item like your wallet.  I use the same belt everyday and I don’t know what belt should I get as replacement, so I keep just using it.  Finally I made up my mind and buy myself a new belt.

My new belt is a Liger belt made by Maxpedition.  It is literally the king of all belts.  It is the strongest belt you can ever found.  The belt can take over 2000 lbs of tensile strength and 300 lbs of hole pull strength.  The belt is made of composite fiber material that looks like leather.  The bucket belt including the hook is cast in one piece using aircraft aluminum.  The belt is so strong that it will never get out of shape and yet it is still flexible enough to wear comfortably.  Cleaning the belt is very easy since the material is abrasion resistant, you can just rinse it in soap and water and let it dry.  It is a perfect match for my 511 tactical pants.  The belt is so low profile that I think it may even goes well with a suit.

If I change my belt every 13 years, the next time I will buy a new belt will be in 2021.  I have confidence in my Liger belt can last until then or even longer.  The belt is pretty much indestructible.  Maybe it is the last belt I ever have to buy.

Daily Scribble

DVC Indoor Range

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DVC

What is the photo? Toilet? No! It’s DVC Indoor Range, probably the best shooting facility in greater Vancouver. It opened almost half year ago. Out of many reasons, I couldn’t try the range until today. One of the reason is price. When it first open, it was very expensive. $65 for a lane including a rental gun and a box of ammo. Later they introduce the $30 day pass if you bring your own gun. However the price is still over my comfort zone. The range I usually practice at only cost $5 per night. Recently they start special promotion, two for one Wednesday. What a good deal! So me and my shooting buddy decided to try it out tonight.

The shooting range is very close to work, only 15 minutes drives away. The range is housed in a modified warehouse with reinforce steel walls to keep the bullets safe. The building is air conditioned, so the temperature is kept in a comfortable 20 degree. It has 13 lanes. When we were there, the range is empty. We have pretty much a private shooting session in the first hour. The best of all the perks is the auto target return system. You don’t have to wait for everyone finish their shooting and the range office puts on the green light before you can check your target. You can bring the target sheet back to you at the ease of pressing a button. Not more interruptions to halt your fire while waiting for the green light. It is so convenient.

I think I will split my shooting practice between this range and my usual range. The facility in this range is far superior than the other range. However, I will miss the friendly atmosphere in the other range. It is inconvenient to halt your fire every 15 minutes, yet it gives you the time to socialize with your fellow shooters. The new range not only looks like a toilet, the atmosphere actually feels like a toilet. Everyone occupy one stall and busy doing their own business. People are isolated in their personal space with no communication with each other.  The old fashion shooting range maybe less efficient, but it is nice to feel the presence of a community.

DVC Indoor Range

Daily Scribble

It’s heavy

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Target sheet

I stayed in India for two months, I didn’t practice my shooting for two months. Today when I go the range again, I found my skill is really rusty. My rifle seems a lot heavier than its weight in my memory. My arm is sored and tried after only one box of ammos. I am struggling to hold the rifle stable to line up the sight with the target. I can see the cross hair wobbling left and right, up and down in my scope. When I am lucky to line up the sight, my trigger finger is way too jerky and pull the rifle off the target. Needless to say, my accuracy is much worse than when I was performing at my peak.

I guess shooting is like playing any other sports, you have to keep practicing to stay fit. I know I still have the muscle memory. I can tell when I do everythings right. It is just my physically weakness prevent me from doing the right thing. I guess more practice is the only way to regain my marksmanship.

Here is an explanation about the photo. If I am in condition, 9 out of the 10 rounds should stay within the 8 ring. Tonight, the holes are all over the place. Sigh!

Daily Scribble

Laetitia Daguenel

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I am never a fan of any sport super stars. I don’t understand why anyone crazy about some strangers playing sport somewhere far away. What is the fun of watching other people play sports on TV? Isn’t it much more fun to play the game yourself? Why would people waste time, energy and money to follow sport stars? Finally I may have a glimpse into the mind of sport fans because I think I have became a fan of Laetitia Daguenel. Laetitia Daguenel is born in France, 18 years old and she is the IPSC world champion. Here is a video of her on youtube.

Daily Scribble

How to buy a gun

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This is a speech prepared for the Toastmaster humorous speech contest.

A woman walked into a gun shop and said to the shop keeper, “I would like to buy a gun for my husband.” The woman said she don’t know much about guns and ask for some advice. The shop keeper then asked her, “What type of guns your husband likes?” The woman said, “Are you kidding? He doesn’t even know I am going to shoot him!”

Mr. Chair, fellow Toastmasters, when you walk into a gun shop, you don’t to be as clueless as the woman in the story. Today I am going to give you some tips on how to buy a gun.

First you decide what type of guns you want to buy by asking yourself what targets are you going to shoot? Paper target, sports clay, wild games or your mother in law. You need to buy the right gun for the right target. Rifles for far away target, handguns for close combat, and shotguns for anything that flies.

Buying guns is like buying shoes, you have to try it out to find the one that fits you. You may have to try out many guns before finding one that is comfortable to use. Pick up the gun, pretend you are Bruce Willis in Die Hard, imagine you are fighting a group of terrorist. You want to make sure your gun feels like an natural extension of your hand at all time.

The next tips is specially for the ladies or any fashionable gentlemen. Guns come in different colors, such as black polyester, dark blue steel finish, shiny silver nickel finish, fine-wood walnut finish, marine camouflage in different shades of green. You may want to pick a gun that matches your dressing style. When you are holding a gun, how cool you look is as important as how good you shoot.

Last time when I went to the gun shop, I overheard a conversation between two hunters. The first hunter asked the second one, “Why do you hunt without bullets?” The second hunter replied, “It is much cheaper and the result are the same.” I am sure my fellow Toastmasters are much better shooters than the second hunter, so you may want to buy some bullets. Buying bullets require some delicate knowledge, you have to know how to read numbers. All you have to do is read the caliber marking on the gun and find the bullets that match the number.

A single bullet is not expensive, but if you plan to do lots of shooting, the ammunition bill may add up quite high.  Do you know that you can get bullets in every day low price at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart carries a huge selection of bullets. If you buy in bulk, you may even get volume discount.

Let me ask you a question. What will you do if you catch you teenager son buying dirty magazines? I will tell him buying dirty magazines is wrong, because it may jam your gun. In a gun shop, a magazine is not something for you to read, it is something that holds extra bullets. It is always wise to have a few spare magazine with you. You don’t want to find yourself run out of ammo in the middle of a shooting.

Now you have buy your gun, some bullets and a few magazine. You are ready to shoot. But wait a second, let me tell you a real story of how not to use a gun. In 1990, a Seattle man named David Zaback got a gun from the black market. He decided to turn make some quick bucks. He walked in to shop, pointed his gun at the shop keeper and ask for money. However, he made a big mistake, he picked to the wrong shop. He was trying to rob a gun store! He was shot dead right on the spot by the shop keeper and other customers. Remember, don’t do stupid things with your gun. Happy Shooting.

Product Reviews

Guns and Ammo Magazine

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Finally, I am able to find some firearm magazine in Save On Food, thanks to the tips from Jackson.  I am too cheap to buy an issue, so I just stand there and read all four firearm magazine they have.  What interest me is not only the articles, but also the advertisement.  Too bad that those magazine are published in the States, many firearms in the magazines are prohibited in Canada.  Out of the four magazines, one magazine focus on hunting and rifle guns.  I want to try hunting at least once, but I am not a very outdoor person, and I don’t know how to dispose the moose even if shot one.  Another magazine is targeted  law enforcement readers.  It has police stories and review on various police equipment.  Another one is focus on ammunitions, talk about how to reload cartages yourself, the ballistic of different bands of bullets, etc.  There is only one firearm magazine for general reader, the Guns and Ammo Magazine.  It has product review, columns, history of classic firearms, shooting and cleaning tips and lots of advertisements, a perfect firearm guide for beginner.  Even better is that the magazine publishes all its articles on their website.  It like hitting a treasure chest of firearm knowledge.  I have learned operating theory of firearms from the safety course, now I need to get familiar with different bands of gun manufacturers and gun models.  Just like people need to get some fashion sense to buy decent clothes, a self respectable gun owner should acquire some firearm sense.