The Gunner's Blog

The awkward thing about being a fiscal conservative, these days, is I'm right whatever anyone says. The old order, in Washington, passeth away. So also the state governments, city councils and borough banditries. Either they run a much tighter ship, on all fronts of government spending, and shrink in proportion to the money that can be allotted them, or else governments are going to go broke. They are reenacting the old story of the goose that laid golden eggs. It's an awkward time because I like the part about having being right all along, but on the other hand I dread the consequences when irate grannies riot in the streets because the Social Security checks didn't show up--older folk  can be quite spry for a little while if we take plenty of aspirin along with caffeine. More immediate dangers arise when the urban poor, who have been funded for so long by social welfare schemes that it now seems their right to continue to be so, decide to stir things up a bit. England...

What the European riots are about, at bottom, seems clear. The social welfare state is unsustainable and its clients are feeling that keenly. The recipients of various benefits need more largess from the government: more, though, is not to be had. They need more because in the present economic climate of inflation and unemployment and little growth, the dole doesn't go as far as it used to. While I was not the first to guess the direction things would take, I was accurate at least. If you rob Peter to pay Paul, Peter goes broke eventually, and then Paul turns rebel. It's not only happening in Europe. We are beginning to get reports from America of the disaffected and disadvantaged acting out in similar ways. There is not a lot of press coverage: an incident at the Wisconsin State Fair, some peculiar events in Philadelphia. More incidents are, doubtless, coming soon. The Western democracies are discovering the fundamental error in their thinking about social welfare spendin...

I have written previously about the excessive growth of government and the economic hazards that poses. I now read that government workers--state, local and federal combined--outnumber those employed in all these private sector areas, combined:   Construction Manufacturing Farming Fishing Forestry Mining Utilities  As the author of this article points out, the takers outnumber the makers. Now, looking around, it seems to me that we are up to our elbows in various government functionaries and we have laws and rules and forms in triplicate for every  occasion . The cost and scope of government have grown beyond anything  envisioned  by the nation's founders or ratified by the people.  The good news is our excess of government will collapse of its own weight, if we do not manage to rein it in, for things economically unsustainable do not continue. The bad news is the same. 

Here are manuals from the U.S. Marine Corps on how to shoot the rifle and the pistol . The Marines have been thinking carefully about practical shooting since 1775, and have developed some rather definite opinions on how it should be done. The manuals linked here assume use of the M16A2 rifle and the M9 pistol, but the how-to information is adaptable to any rifle or pistol. The lessons are also adaptable to any use of the rifle or pistol afield, not necessarily in warfare. Being quick, accurate, using a steady position and so on won't hurt your chances if you're just after rabbits with a .22. The links go to sizable PDF files and may take a while to load.

Since D.C.'s handgun ban ended, well-heeled residents have become well armed This Washington Post story gives some good insights on gun ownership in D.C., but cannot avoid a bit of liberal whine tasting: Well heeled residents register more guns than the poor. (I wonder if WaPo intended the pun: Well heeled , get it?) From the other end of the country: Hawaiian Lawmaker Introduces Bill to Ban Sales of Toy Guns To Children . Maybe the idea is, when they grow up they'll be used to the idea. Guns = bad, m'kay?

PCP rifle ammo  is not available in the stores yet, but it promises the performance of brass case ammo with less weight. The makers say they have got the bugs worked out. They claim a new, patent-pending process. I hope this stuff really works, because there are several circumstances where lighter ammo would be a Good Thing.

So begins Townsend Whelen's 1918 book, The American Rifle .  You can read or download it free at Google Books; click here . It is more than 600 pages long. It covers so much that it is more nearly like an encyclopedia than a recreational read. A look at the table of contents will give some idea what I mean. This book was the current info as of the year 1918. There have been advances since then. The powders, primers and optical sights are better now. Some actions are in use today that were undreamed of back then. But it is curious how much of the information and reasoning still stands up. It is also interesting that some favorite rifles from those days are still used and enjoyed today. (Others have long gone by the wayside.) There is a chapter of more than 100 pages giving the details of rifle models in use at the time. The descriptions are accompanied by illustrations, cutaway views and instructions for taking each rifle apart. Rifles covered include the...