4 Abrams at 50 Million Dollars… I’d Say Modern Armor AND Infantry are Obsolete For Now

Greetings Me Droogs N Droogettes!
So this apparently is one it’s way to Moscow for the May Day Celebrations:

Now, one of you Dissidents requested a breakdown of what -I- thought happened to this particular Abrams. Now, I haven’t had much luck in finding out which one of the 4 that Ivan has smoked that this particular one is. My source that I check regularly said this is actually #4 that caught it during the recent fighting around Berdychi:

The Red Arrow indicating Avdiivka which is that last BIG battle where Ivan slugged it out… shortly after, reports came out stating that the 47th Brigade refused to go into a support role, which caused panic and a retreat. Which is why as of this past week or so, Ivan went in and took Berdychi. Anyways… reading the Ministries of Propaganda and Lies, you’d think that this was a ‘win’ for the Krainians, however, IRL pulling back, and losing territory? Yeeeeeah, not so much IMO… but I’m here to talk armor and the damage to that thereof.

Part of the mad damage to it on the tracks and rollers is because Ivan pretty much just ‘hooked it up’ and dragged it’s dead ass out on it’s blown out tracks and road wheels: LINK HERE

They dragged it using two T-55 variant Tank Recovery Vehicles, another thing that the Krainians are in short supply of, and it shows how heavy and damaged the tracks and rollers were to need two recovery vehicles to move that pig.

Now, more pics:

Right Rear
And then:

Left Rear
Now, I’d say that whatever this tank went through, because of the massive amount of damage to the TUSK package (that’s those large reactive armor boxes strapped to the side skirts) on the left side, I’d say this was probably a mobility kill. The left side is missing #5 road wheel (that’s the big donuts on the bottom) as well as maybe even #4.

What I find extraordinarily interesting is the Rear Sprocket cover:

Those have NOT been in use with -any- US Abrams since OMFG I can’t even name the timeframe… reason being is that they were originally intended to help ‘scrape’ the mud off the tracks when the Tank was maneuvering in the soft mud of Europe… Now, maybe they put them back on in the Krain because our shit (the US Tracks and APCs and Strykers) have been getting purely bogged down there… I know the the US took them off as yeah, they scrapped the mud off, BUT

They loved getting concertina wire/barbed wire and shit hyper tangled up in the sprocket… from my understanding, it was a hell of shitshow that damned near required a recovery team to get things unfucked… so seeing those I was like:

So, to continue…
I know Ivan hasn’t had any head-to-head kills on an Abrams. Least that I’ve heard of… no “pop-topping- like the T-72/80s seemed to like to go “BOOM” in an exceptionally violent manner…

I think ALL of them (the M1’s) have been mobility kills, followed up by a massive amount of punishment-til-KIA’d via Drones.

In this case… Oof…

That’s the top deck.
The Tank Commander’s hatch/M2 on the left, Loaders Hatch on the right, both sort of open…Now, the circle steel plate on the lower right, that’s where the A2 sight would normally be put on, so, no this’s definitely not a new model… and lets check the ammo bustle while we’re on top:

Yep.
The Right side blew out completely. Even the right side cover blew out, but the bustle ammo rack is still in there, so my guess is that the left side was empty… probably no shells or that would have gone up like a roman candle as well. Now, lets look a bit at the Loader’s hatch before we go inside:

OK, the loaders M240 looks ok, a bit scorched on the handles, but I’ve seen and worked on worse… the red discoloration though on the back of the hatch? Let’s see:

Oh yeah…
NO QUESTION that there was some serious heat coming from that hatch… if you look at the traversing ring for the 240, you can see that it’s warped and curled so hard as to be off track and you couldn’t close and secure the hatch, as it’s warped so badly as to be in the way.

This tells me that the Ammo Loading Bay Door was probably wide the fuck open. So, let’s go down to the front slope, and check the drivers hole:

Jeeeeez
TBH I hope the fucking crew bailed because man, if not? somewhere in all that wreckage and shit is the remains of a four man crew… like maybe if they weren’t atomized. So yeah, that damage was NOT caused by a drone on it’s own… that me Droogs n Droogettes is what happens when 20-40 rounds of HEAT or AT 120mm cook off all at once… Reason I know this? Well… this’s what the driver’s hole should look like:

And, as you see, there’s a gate that when the turret is forward, that the driver can not get into the turret… which means that gate? Yeah… it’s gone… and to prove that the flamed out pic is the drivers hole? Well Here’s a comparison with arrows pointing to the Fire extinguisher and Turret Hatch rack and pinion, and the other arrow points to what’s left of the head rest:


May not like the Krains, but damn!! As a fellow tread-head, I hope the Hell they weren’t on board when this fucker went and got shmoked like a Havana.

Now, to the substance… meat and ‘taters if you will.

We’ve seen how drones are the Infantry’s worst nightmare:

AND we also know that they take out Armor like a champ too.

Per the Krainians themselves:

The Lancet has to be considered to be a dangerous smart weapon. Each drone costs $30,000–$35,000, and it can easily destroy or pout out of action multi-million dollars’ worth of a tank, artillery piece or air defense system.

Kiev Post

The cost of ONE M1A1 (and mind you, these are in 1990 dollars) was $4.3 MILLION Dollars. At the very most, even if Ivan used TEN Lancets to take out ONE M1A1, they win… Like they Win to an insane degree. $17,200,000.00 USD turned into smoking heaps at a maximal cost of $1,400,000.00.

That, by the way, is why Russia, or I should say the USSR lost the Cold War. We bankrupted them. We had them literally spend through everything they had in trying to keep up with us in ALL the races, and in the end, they caved… literally AND metaphorically.

Now, they’re doing it to us and our Clownworld Retards have NO IDEA, mainly BECAUSE they’re Clownworld Retards.

I mean the average cost of training a US Infantryman?

Current Soldier System costs are based on the individual infantryman of a Rifle Squad in an Infantry Company (Light) (TOE 07-017LOOO). Total estimated annual cost for the current Soldier System is $138.3K per year

“Analysis of Current Light Infantry Soldier System Costs – DTIC”
Defense Technical Information Center, 1993

So, I know that the current average Krainian Grunt is probably maybe costing about $36k in total, as reading the above that’s what the training costs (in 1993 mind you).

The Cost of a Mavic 3 Drone that’s being used to blow the ever-loving-fuck out of the grunts on both sides?

So, call it $140,000.00 worth of care, feeding, and traing for an average Rifleman.

$2199.00 for the Drone
$200 for the RPG-7A warhead they arm on them

Yep… It’s so bad, that tanks have gone “back in time”
They (the Russians) started with “Cope Cages” which everyone made fun of, until they realized they work.. which invariably led to the next natural progression:

Thing looks like a fucking Ironclad from the Civil War.

To be perfectly honest, until we get the technology that either brings the Marauder Suits from “Starship Troopers” or Mecha from Mech Warrior, or even ‘other’ insert favorite Sci-Fi Mechanical Combat Suits, Infantry, as well as Armor are going the way of the Horse and Buggy in my professional opinion.

Until then, it’s going to be “Adapt, Improvise, and Overcome”

If we don’t, I mean we’ve been teetering on the Financial Edge forever. This sort of stupid just may be the push that takes us over the abyss. Oh well… grab the popcorn Aye?

More Later
Big Country

Needed Some Time Off and What to Have to Service Your Boom-Stick

Greetings Me Droogs N Droogettes!
Sorry for a few days absence but I needed a few ‘down days’… been a bit overwhelmed with work at Glorious People’s Tractor Factory. Had a salary review last week, and was told NO, but am allowed to do as much overtime as I want, so they’re going to come to regret that shit muy pronto let me tell you… I’m at 40 this week already and tomorrow is a ‘gravy day’ b/c we run Wednesday to Tuesday as the work week. I did a lil weekend work which allowed me to clock out at 40 by Monday.

Add on the news itself has been nothing but one big distraction… who gives a fuck if the poor pwecious college stoodints are being beaten on by the Uniformed Gestapo… let ’em have at it and TBH I want to see MOAR cracked skulls… gimme blood flowing. It’s like the remaining Boomer-Journalists are reliving their Anti-Vietnam bullshit…

Fuck ’em

So, took a few days off. Also been tired. Like ZERO energy lately. Might be I’m not getting out in the sun enough… might have to start taking my breaks during the day out in the pool?

So… I was on Reddit on the r/prepping page, and found a guy asking for “Which replacement rifle parts to add to prep?”

LOTS of info, most of which revolved around “Get a spare rifle, one in none…” or the most popular “Get a spare BCG…” which to a point, I do agree. I ended up chiming in, as well, this’s like an area I have a lot of experience in. Paraphrasing, and adding photos, this is what I feel and my rationale for what you should have in your ‘fiddly-bits-box’

This’s mine:

LOTS of spares for the spares so to speak, for both the AR-15 as well as the AR-10 variants.

Now, Having a spare BCG is ok. The head spacing on a drop in new BCG should be OK, but it’d be smart to get it professionally checked to insure it’s a Go. This’s one of my 2? maybe even 3 floating around here:

And the best time to buy them is when Palmetto goes full retard and sells them for $70+/- fiatbux.

so, IRL the most common issues I found in the various arms rooms that I serviced (All US Army Reserve and NG Units in the State) the most common missing part was Bolt Gas Rings. Usually one or two can go Missing (usually when scrubbing the carbon off the bolt itself). Missing one is OK as long as you get it replaced sooner, rather than later… two missing is a definite no-go. I keep a substantial amount on hand as buying bulk is better… leastways buying a set of 3 is about $4, while you can get a pack of 30 is about $17 plus shipping.

Needless to say, I’m not running out of these anytime soon…

Then, the Firing Pin/Bolt Retaining pin.

oplus_32

That pin? THOSE were the most commonly ‘lost’ item that Joe had trouble keeping track of. It’s easy to lose that during a bolt tear down, especially in the field. In the Infantry we had it beaten into us to put ALL our fiddly-bits into our K-Pot or softcap so as to not to lose this in particular. And I seem to be light on those… might want to look into getting a few more when the VA monies drop on Wednesday. (I do love me a mid-week VA Payday).

There were some other folks saying have ‘spare triggers’ and other lower parts to which I seriously advise:
Unless you’ve been trained, messing around in the Lower Parts = Bad Idea. The retaining pin holes are susceptible to wear over time, making to waaaay too easy for a critical part to fall out at the worst possible moment, hence why Level 10 and 20 Maintenance forbids anyone from disassembling the lower in any way shape or form. Too many times I’ve found weapons that I just -knew- that someone had been fucking around with the lower pins. DO NOT FUCK WITH THEM unless you know what you’re doing.

Another commonly worn out part were the gas tubes… either worn out-of-spec OR mushroomed due to a slight misalignment of the bolt carrier key. The gas tube? I actually should get me one or two… that is something that tonight when I went for the pictures I realized I used the last spare I had on a build for a fren… Now, the bolt carrier key:

Which is #3 on the most commonly lost/worn out part on the AR-15/M-4 series of rifles. The front of it, where the gas tube meets up, is subject to throat erosion, and there’s a gauge you can get for measuring if it’s a Go, or a No-Go.

As far as firing pins? I’ve only seen only one broken FP in the 3 years I did the job, but have a spare if it makes you happy. Mind you I was testing/repairing/gauging DotMil rifles that had actually been down range and used in combat. As in these weren’t some Flannel=Man’s recommended $2000 AR platform that he likes because on the YewToobs he gets paid a kickback… nope… all of the weapons I serviced were literally the lowest bidder produced DotMil rifles. In fact, a Palmetto State “Poors” as some ignorant assholes call them, whelp…

They cost more than the service rifles the DotMil has, and have lasted a fuckload longer than most people understand… I mean I serviced General Motors Made Hydramatic Lower-M-4s FFS that’re still shooting. Anyways, rant off…

As it were, These were the most common things I found during my time servicing real used in combat rifles. So my list? (and mind you this is what I ALWAYS had on hand for spares on missions to the Unit for repairs):

M-4 Series Gauging Tools (Head space Go/No Go, Carrier Key Go/No Go, Barrel Go/No Go Gauges)
Gas Rings
Firing Pin/Bolt Retaining Pin
Gas Tube with NEW retaining pin (you can’t reuse the old one if you replace the Tube)
Bolt Carrier Key w/bolts and Staking tool

So, other than that, I got a request to go over the roastie-toastie Abrams that the Russians are dragging back to Moscow for the May Day Exhibition:

I’m still gathering info/intel as to the Where/When of it… I don’t use Telegram as it seems to insist on using my phone, and I try to keep as few apps on the Pocket-Spy-Leash as much as possible… no TikTok, no Fecesbook… you get it… so that’ll be tomorrow’s talkabout. Hope this one tonight helps you have a bit of an idea on the ‘what you might want to have on hand.

So More Later
Big Country

Alternative Write In Candidates That Make Sense

Greetings Me Droogs N Droogettes!
A short night… too much happening.
So, a couple of possible “Alternative” (s)Election Candidates for you:

OR

And of course, My personal favorite:

Tell me where I’m wrong on this…

Jes’ Sayin’

So yeah, no idea where things are going to go from here, but considering the Vegetable-in-Chief is getting worse day-by-day, I have no idea how they’re going to keep up with the “Weekend at Bernie’s/Biden’s” as time goes on…

It’s like that cray-cray bitch in Brazil who rolled her obviously dead Uncle into the bank to get a loan… Dunno if you saw/heard about it, but telling you, it’s pure Clownworld/Honkpill material
Link HERE

Her defense attorneys are trying to play it off that she had a ‘mental break’ when her Uncle cashed in… thing is, there’s a story I read out there saying that she didn’t give two fucks about the Uncle, only his credit rating. Per usual I forgot to bookmark that link… either way, doesn’t matter… that’s some depraved shit right there.

Even IF she though Unkie was OK and still drawing O2, What the fuck was she trying to go to the bank and get a 4k loan out in his name for!?! Oh yeah… the Loan In Question? Like 3K and change. Not even a decent amount of $$$.

As I was told long ago:

“If you’re going to be a criminal, be a good criminal. The rule is IF you’re doing a ‘job’, make sure the payout is five times to ten times your normal yearly earnings. Anything less than that? The job isn’t worth the risk.”

DeadDad, Oh So Long Ago

Mind you he wasn’t encouraging myself or FedBro, but he was laying out the basics that make sense in in normie-world.

But tell me that isn’t like our current mal-administration amiright? No shytte there… a bitch literally manipulating the dead hand of a dead motherfucker to get a loan… Life often Imitates Art, and Vice-Versa Aye? Maybe Life Imitating Poly-Ticks? I mean who is running the Whytte Haus? Doctor Jill? If so, then this cray-cray Brazilian BeeeYatcha makes moar sense amiright?

So, otherwise, My understanding of Concerned American is that he’s been on the road which has been part of the Delay in getting back up. He’s meeting F2F with Doctor Samizdat later in the week, and then once he gets back to the Home Base, he’ll be able to focus on getting WRSA back up to combat speed.

Patience is a virtue Aye?

So otherwise, it’s been a long day that I -may- be able to speak on later, depending on circumstances. Just wish me luck and say a prayer as it’s a ‘salary review time of year’ for the People’s Glorious Tractor Factory. Lord knows I need a raise.

More Later
Big Country

The Battle of The Pool, British Retardation, a Cool Shotty Oh Yeah, The Boers Rock.

Greetings Me Droogs N Droogettes!
SO, couple of things or three to go over tonight. First, the personal. The “Battle of the Swamp-Pool” has been officially won!

Yay Me!|

Took a sample of the water down to Pinch-a-Penny Pool service (a chain ALLLLL over Florida) and had them run an analysis. Came back that I needed a smidgen more Chlorine, but otherwise? It’s just fine for swimming! Seems the whole ChemWarefare I dumped in expended itself on the Algae and after the report I hit it again with another round.

Should be fine long-term. I ran the reusable filter overnight, and will continue to do so, in that this A.M. that sucker was clogged with Algae-Nasty. Again, much to my happy-dance, it cleaned up, and I got it running now non-stop.

Otherwise, let’s see… News that Caught My Eye (a CME if you will…) One out of Jolly Ole England that just shows how far the former Commonwealth has fallen. Link to the Story is HERE

The TL;DR and DR if you want to keep your blood pressure at a normal level is some Piece Of Shit Nigger from Eritrea who raped a teenager, who was up for Deportation after ten years in the clink, is getting to stay in Jolly Ole because if he gets deported back to his Turd-World-Shithole he’s from “…wouldn’t be able to access care for PTSD or depression in the East African country

Are You Fucking Kidding?

There’s Insanity.
Then there’s INSANITY

Just WHY is this fuck even still alive?
Like… OMG… like… I don’t even know where to begin…
Let’s just say it’s the final nail in the Collective Coffin of the Former British Empire. THIS is proof that it’s DONE in caps, bold, and underlined. Soy doesn’t even begin to explain how fucked that whole situation is.

At least in Ireland, it’s primarily because they (theoretically) elected some fucking Wog into power as the Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, who also was an openly flaming ass pirate…

Annnnnnnnnd Huh… doing my blegg-research, I’ve looked it up, and it seems the FagWog quit as of March of this year, and the new PM is a guy named Simon Harris. Not sure as to how Harris is going to run the show, but anything outside of a fucking Wog has got to be better for Ireland overall. At least unlike the last fucker, he was born there amiright?

So, unexpected Good News from the Land of My Ancestors.
About fucking time Aye?
Unlike Scotland… where you have that other mental case Wog, Humza Haroon Yousaf pretty much made it illegal to say anything that he and his feel is ‘mean words/thoughts’

The exact idea being that the law is meant to “…make(s) it an imprisonable offense to incite hatred on the basis of race, religion, transgender identity, sexual orientation, age or disability.” I.E. anything and everything that the various “Ministries of Propaganda and Power” say it means.

Which means I’ll catch a ban on going to Scotland for saying that thier current Prime Minister is a short, insecure Punjabi Paki, who was installed to further the destruction of your basic Anglo-Saxon way of life… I mean tell me I’m wrong…

Fucking Ireland? The former PM (Varadkar) was a Half Irish/Half Hindu. Then, the Scottish PM? A full bore Paki. And the last two? England itself: Rishi Sunak, ANOTHER Punjabi Paki. Add on to that that the Mayor of London, (considered to be one of the power centers in the world) is Sadiq Khan. In this case, rather than Punjabi, he’s a Sunni Paki…

Soooooooooo… tell me I’m wrong.
In every. single. case. of these specific countries that -I- personally experienced and not as a visitor, but by living there for long periods of time, did ANY case of ‘the other’ being embraced. I mean honestly, it. just. didn’t. happen. Meaning in MY experience, both in Ireland and England would you find at the corner pub(s) someone extolling the virtue of a Paki… ever.

And the very fact that Sunak did not get into the position of PM without a LOT of shenanigans and pieces/places moving? He sure as fuck by normal means would never had stood a chance of being legitimately (s)elected… Not for nothing the whol e(s)election process is faaar different from ours, but you should get the idea.

I mean literally, it’d be like Pulaski Tennessee electing a Black Man to be Mayor in 1866. The joke here being that the KKK was founded there on Christmas Eve of 1865… so you get the idea.

Ain’t no way in fuck-all that not one, not two, but 3 PMs who all happened to be Punjabi Pakistanis get (s)elected to the Big Chair in the various countries we are speaking of. Add on the Sunni Paki who’s running Londonistan into the ground, and we have here, what most people would call “a fucking pattern so blatant that Stevie Wonder could see that shit.”

Not that we can do shit about it
Except call it out whenever we see it

I mean I’m sure I just pulled a lifetime ban to any of the aforementioned Areas of Operation, unless it’s for duty. In fact one concerning issue is my old boss, The Gunny? He’s (and I know it’s alliterative) Bailing for Wales here int he next few, if he hasn’t already. He’s had a Welsh Girlfriend forever and a day, but for him to be bolting the way he has? Yeah… as he is/was my former boss, when he starts moving, I pay attention.

Told me the Welsh Country farm that they’ll be on is fine, out of the way, and self-sustaining. Prick. Jealous AF here, except the whole ‘no guns there’ thing…. Not much I can do but give him shit, and keep an eye on his farm HERE as that’s what the plan is from my understanding. Another potential redoubt as it were… have to finalize some stuff but hey… it’s Clownworld now right?

Speaking of which
Stopped by GunGirl’s place.
She had THIS on the wall:

I, of course, went apeshit…
I mean OMFG how awesome is that!?!
As you might be able to see, it’s a Tokarev 12 Gauge Mag Fed Bullpup Semi-Auto. And as you can see, It’s done in A Clown Based Print/Cerakote.

Call it “Clownoflage”?

Here’s a close up of the trigger group:

If I had the $400, I’d buy it.
It’s priced at $369

“Urban Camo”

LMFAO!!!

I had to explain to GunGirl what “ClownWorld is, as well as what the Blue, Red, Black and Honk Pill is. She’s hard right, but she’s not up on the whole terminology.

What’s even MOAR Hilarious is that she’s sold TWO of them already, and this one is ‘spoken for’ by a regular long term customer… which means that;’ she’s sold three of these fuckers, and has more on order, as it’s been by all accounts a big seller.

Interesting IMO, and I think exceptionally well done.

Then, lastly. Tactical Hermit has a fantastic article that he’s referenced at his place, Link HERE It’s an accounting of the utterly depraved and heinous behavior of the British Empire towards the Boers during the Boer War, and the Concentration Camps that were used. The full article (go to it after reading TH’s stuff) goes in depth on the ‘how’ it was exposed, and what happened to the heroine who was responsible for saving VAST amounts of innocent lives…

TBH, after reading this, makes me wonder if Jolly Ole is getting what it fucking deserves… just a day late or two if you will…

SO, That’s me for Tonight. Your Thoughts?
More Later
Big Country


Sunday Night Memes MREs and Muzzleloading

Greetings Me Droogs n Droogettes!
Kind of expended myself updating Tactical Hermit on things ’round here at the Casa. I will say the pool is coming along nicely. Still cloudy, but filter is working, so long as I clean it out every 45 minutes to an hour….

Or now it’s more like every two hours as I got the majority of ‘nasty floaty crap’ out of it. I also had a offer from Tactless Wookie from Gab to get me some moar filters, which was exceptionally kind of him, so I figured I’d give him some props for that publically…

OH!
Speaking of gifties… this one from someone who wished to stay anonymous… I got a B-2 Can from a real C-Rat:

Probably one of the last ‘sundries’ cans to ever be made, as the date is 5-80 on the top picture… shit is mint baby. I also got a BUNCH of other MREs from waaay back in the day from one of y’all… including my favorite Omelet w/Ham… It’s older than fuck, but still MUCH appreciated as they’re on the display in the ‘museum’ so to speak…

Yeah, the room is a cluttered mess…
I’m working on it is all I can say.

But yeah, as you can see, the DotMil coins, the M17 Binos (also given to me by a reader) and my oversized Kukri, plus the alibaba ‘fake lego Nazis’ which, TBH are pretty fucking cool:

And b/c I got them on Alibaba, I think I spent like what $10???

They have ALL the armies on there too… US, Brit, Russian… pretty neat IMO. I did the ‘Kragle’ on them to keep them from being messed with, which is hard for Gran #1 who’s ALL about some Legos now… those of you who’ve seen the “Lego Movie” knows what the “Kragle” is (i.e. Krazy Glue).

The only other thing I finally finished was a kit I bought six months ago. It’s this specifically:

A Traditions Percussion Kentucky Rifle.
Currently, it’s gone up in price.

I paid $349 w/free shipping.
I wanted a flintlock… however, and prove me wrong, but I cannot find a reasonably priced Flintlock –anywhere-. I started saving for it when I got that Multicam Tricorn hat… figured it’d be awesome to do the whole “Minuteman” thang to the fullest extent, and in the past I have dabbled in Black Powder weapons. My first being a Pedersoli Walker .44 Hand Cannon

DAMN if that hasn’t gone insane on the price!!!
I got it for Christmas many years ago from MomUnit and DeadDad… I think they spent $100 on it? Anyways, THAT was my FIRST gunsmithing experience from scratch.

The budget here was a total of $400 that I had stashed over time. Gretchen has pretty much vetoed me buying anything in the future, and TBH, in the past year? maybe even two? I ain’t bought shit as I got all that I’ve wanted, outside of “fuck you money” guns like a M-249 or Barrett or shit like that…

So, it took me forever, especially when Gretchen’s Cancer Diagnosis went ‘live’ so to speak… I packed everything up, and left it. There was ALSO a minor issue that one of the ‘bag o’parts’ containing some screws were missing, and that only added to the frustration and delay, as it took a loooong minute to get Traditions to send me the missing ‘stuff’. The majority of work needed was on the wood. It needed to be sanded like mad, and I refused to use a power sander.

Everything on this thing was done by hand
From the sanding, to the fitting, to the final assembly.

After I had gotten the stock(s) down to a nice smoothness using 1500 grit, I then hit it lightly with a blowtorch. Juuust enough to bring out the grain. A couple of soft spots? or something? got a wee bit darker than I liked, but after hitting it with the fire, I re-sanded it down to 2500 grit.

Then, three coats of 50-50 water based stain. Wait a few days between coats, then, a follow on with 2 coats of linseed oil after both stain coats were done. THAT took forever, as I had to let it dry completely before I sealed it. Took about a week between coats ‘cos I positively soaked it in the oil.

Once done? 3 Coats of a tough polyurethane glossy clear coat.


Looks good don’t it?
(TBH the lighting sucks)
I ‘browned’ the barrel as well rather than bluing it, as ‘browning’ is more authentic…

Haven’t fired it yet.
So, yeah. Kind of neat.
I want to do a picture of me, with it, in Multicams and the Tricorn… sort of a modern “Join Or Die!:” thing? Not sure… have to see what pans out. Got to say though, a nose heavy MoFo for sure…

So, Now to the Memes:

So More Later
Big Country

Not Much For Tonight as I’m VERY Tired

Greetings Me Droogs N Droogettes!
Got an above ground pool on the lanai. Think I may have mentioned it. It’s the bane of the HOA’s existence, or leastways used to be as the cunt who was our HOA rep ‘retired’ recently. No idea nor word from the Fucking New Guy… hopefully he has more than two brain cells to rub together as I already had an ‘issue’ many years back with the previous Management Company that ‘enforced’ the HOA rules…

Specifically, when I had a bounty on my head from Al Qaeda In Iraq ($25,000, not a smol amount of shekels for the average Iraqi back then) I was home on R&R or a break? Can’t remember… Long ago and too many years, too many beers, but I was still married to #1 Wife. Spawn came in and told me “Dada, there are men taking pictures of the house in a car outside!”

Me?

I hit a Full On Red Alert.

Had #1 Wife call 911. Grabbed my Vest, Helmet and M-4 in like point zero seven seconds, locked and loaded, and flanked out the back slider to the car outside from the side yard… Pulled them out of the vehicle, at gunpoint, and did a quick zip-cuff on both driver and photographer… Gagged them too as I had long lengths of duct tape already in place on my vest for just such a ‘social occasion’… Hell, BOTH looked like Hajis mind you… Cops showed up and started to unfuck the situation…

Turns out that they were from the Property Management Company… representing the HOA… taking pictures of my decrepit lawn.

How was I to know?

Thankfully, no charges filed, but that was like the last time I ever heard from the HOA until the Management Company swapped out… Since then I’ve made it a point to warn the HOAs and PM groups NOT to play the ‘Sneaky Pete’ shit with me, lest they catch a bullet or 30.

So anyways, the pool drives them nuts. It’s a 30 foot across nice Above-Ground Pool. It’s there as I:
A) Can’t Afford a real in ground pool and
B) The waterline is too shallow… if I dug down, the pool would be floating on water in like 4 feet of dirt… it’s the Bass Pond in the back yard that has me screwed.

Soooooo Gretchen LIKES a pool, as do I. So I put this in, much to horror of the rest of the HOA Karens in the A.O. For the past two years though, with the whole Adriana thing happening and all my -other bullshit-, we didn’t use it at all as we were living in Tennessee. Then it got funky. Like crazy overgrown swampy funky.

Until this weekend.
I started early on Thursday, with the weekend “plan-in-place”. I removed the HIGHLY rusted out ladder. I then shocked the ever loving fuck out of it. LOTS of chlorine… enough to make you think I was the Germans hitting the French at Ypres…

THEN I spent the next day (today) skimming said water getting the slimy gray funk out (dead algae) and melted dead geckos and bugs out. I also busted out a really cool tool which was something I bought over a year ago… it’s a reusable C Sized Pool filter…

HIGHLY Recommend.
Hadn’t had a chance to utilize it…

The filter screen ‘unrolls’ and can be washed in the sink. It’s been working GREAT. My only issue is I’ve had to go out every 30 to 45 minutes as it gets clogged so badly as the water is that funky with skoonge.

Considering the last time I had to do a ‘deep cleaning’ before I knew of this thing?

With tax, call it $20 per 4 filters… and at the rate I’d be using these? I’ve already cleaned out the reusable filter 4 times, which means that’s $20 right there… and from what I can see, it’s going to be at least another 4 to 8 ‘cleanings/filters worth’ before the water is good enough to let Gran #1 swim in it… or Gretchen for that matter…

Me?

I made it to Rudder for Swamp Phase when I dropped.
I’ve swam is some shit no one should have ever, so needless to say, I’m not worried. I -do- have to scrape the bottom of the pool in the A.M. though, which I think is going to require me to climb in… hope the neighbors sleep in, ‘cos I’m not ruining or ‘funking up’ one of my good bathing suits… I’ll just go ‘buckass nekkid’ and let the chips fall…

Besides, once I’m in, not that anyone can see anything anyways.

Speaking of the Neighbors.
Found out tonight the Marine from across the street, now living in the former Serbian War Criminal’s house? The same guy that I got the nice rolling tool box from? Seems he went into the VA to get some rotator cuff surgery. Now, I don’t know jack about this guy… TBH, he’s a New York Transplant who keeps to himself… which I’m good with… I’d rather he was a friendly guy, but I can at least understand a retired Marine Curmudgeon right? SO, because of that, I give him the benefit of the doubt and his space. So to continue…

My other new neighbor Portagee (his background, hence his nickname, short from him being Portuguese) who is also a ‘good transplant’ (in this case New Joisey), he gave me the low down. The reason Portagee is a ‘good transplant’ is he’s been getting lessons on shooting from me, bought an AR on my recommendation and his whole family is getting armed up and prepared.

So anyways, seems “Joe the Marine” went in for Rotator Cuff Surgery. While there in Pre-Op, –SOMEONE– realized he hadn’t had his 2nd? or third? COVID booster. They pretty much pressured him into getting it, as “It’d be a good idea.” And, since “Joe the Marine” is a good Marine and goes along and follows orders, he got the shot, whatever number it was…

20 Minutes later while waiting for his ‘turn’ to go into the Surgical Suite, he suffered One of Two massive Heart Attacks brought on by ‘sudden clotting’ that “…no one could explain.”

Yeah.
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

The reason I haven’t seen him nor his wife around lately was he just spent the past 13 days in a coma trying to survive.
He made it, but it was a near thing.

Portagee said Joe the Marine’s wife is absolutely bullshit at the fucked up situation.
Like absolutely pissed beyond recognition.
Problem is, like most Cops, it’s a case of “It’s the VA.” or, as it is, call it “Sovereign Immunity.”

Can’t sue the VA.
Unfortunately right?

So, totally sucks to be them. Think tomorrow in between cleaning the pool, I’ll make a batch of molasses cookies and run them over… dunno if they necessarily like them, but fuck it… dealer’s choice right? I mean it’s got to count for something as I -did- get an awesome set of rolling toolboxes from him, and I -do- feel bad that he got fucked over by the VA…

Either way, see how it goes.
I got to crash…. OMG it’s 0102 again…
I got to stop staying up so late I swear…

More Later
Big Country

Oh Man, I’m Going to Hell and Too Soon?

Greetings Me Droogs N Droogettes!
Sometimes I just can’t help myself.
Dude who self-immolated today?

Yeah…
I’m sooo bad.
It’s all I could think of when I heard about this mook.
I mean really!?!
Of ALL the ways to self-delete this’s gotta be the worst choice.

And for what?
To draw attention to (and this’s from dude’s manifesto): “We are victims of a totalitarian con, and our own government (along with many of their allies) is about to hit us with an apocalyptic fascist world coup.
Really? All I can say to that is:

No DUH!!!

Welcome to the party pal…
FFS where the hell has this guy been for the past, oh say ten years or so? Living under a fucking rock!?! If this guy ‘woke up’ to this recently, I’m telling you, how bad is it going to get when others like him wake up to reality? Gonna get ugly I think.

Telling you, we’re very definitely in the early stages of Heinlein’s “Crazy Years”. And it’s only going to get worse. Hence me being “Honk Pilled” at this point. I see something horrific, and nay tragic in that the dude who just lit himself up? His family has to be going through Hell. I can only hope he didn’t have kids… not a lot out there on him yet but I’m sure we’ll have everything soon enough. But yeah, I see something fucked up like that, and laugh at this point… it’s all you can do in this absolutely absurd world.

And me? I’ll do a sick assed vid or meme.

I mean yeah, shit’s whacked. Gold hit $2399 which is impressive as they’ve been trying so hard to keep it suppressed like a motherfucker. Silver hit $28 and is heading up as well. Not a good thing. Then BitCoin is doing something this week. I really don’t ‘get’ crypto except in my eyes, it’s Tulip Madness. I mean what good is crypto if there’s no power? Add on that in reality, there just isn’t enough IRL business that take it… yeah yeah, I know some of y’all be telling me about this place or that and the other, but like Gold, not too many people or places take it in a realistic exchange for goods.

Like 1-oz Gold Coins… sure… pretty as hell, now worth quite a bit. But can you walk into a store, slap one on the counter and ask for change? Not really right? I only knew of, and this was some years ago, a gun dealer who gave a discount if you bought from him in silver and/or gold. As he called US Dollars “fiatbux.” He had a different and higher price if you paid in USD rather than if you paid in precious metals. As I recall he even took 90% pre-64 coins at the silver value as well…

I -used- to have 4 1-oz coins that I sold waaaaay back in the day when the X and I were short on $$$. Never got over that… especially since it was when Gold was like $300 an ounce…

MAD ouch!!! there.

BUT back then, the spawn needed diapers more than I needed the coin(s) at the time. Just like when Spawn #1 was born, the Army didn’t pay shit (still doesn’t) so to get him the good car seat, I spent a couple of days bouncing around to the Plasma Centers around Fort Hood. Got me the $200 I needed and then got a great kids car seat with ALL the whistles and bells. It’s what a man does Aye…

Other things? The Izzies hit the Iranians… again… so I’m wondering if they’ll just keep doing this tit-for-tat bullshit or if they’ll just finally call it a day? Not sure. Don’t really know, don’t really care UNLESS it looks like canned sunshine is going to be set loose. THEN I’ll give a shit.

Not a lot of other news. The Just-Us system is still doing the thing against OrangeManBad, the Krain is sort of off the news as well, and it’s not going to be coming back anytime soon. Can’t be mentioning the black hole that the Pretender to the Glorious and Harmonious P&PBUH (Plus 10%) Orifice of The (p)Resident, The Dementor-in-Chief, Emperor Poopypants the First, Chief Executive of the Kidsmeller Pursuivant, Good Ole Slo Xi-Den has been throwing, nay shovelling OUR tax dollars into (and/or lining HIS and Krainfelds near-bottomless pockets) during the (s)election year.

So yeah, take the Honk Pill.
You’ll be better off for it.
More Later
Big Country

Two Times is Coincidence is What We’ve Been Told in the Past…and New Memes!

Greetings Me Droogs N Droogettes!
About that line I said yesterday “Might be that a recent diversity hire done fucked up maybe?”

Mayhaps I was a bit premature?

I mean I’ll always go with Hanlon’s Razor, as it makes it easier to deal with. I’m far more comfortable with believing that the majority of Hoo-mons are just plain dumb as a Box of Flahertys… makes it easier than to try and figure out the “Wh and Why” of an evil conspiracy and whatnot…

And then things like this happen:

Le Sigh…
Link to the Story is HERE
As I stated in depth yesterday, the Shell CAsings are made in Scranton PA, and the explosives in Holston Tennessee. They ship the explosives to Scranton, where the shells get filled.

Now, filled Arty Shells tend to need special handling and shipping.

In fact, Loaded Artillery Shells are Hazard Code One

So… a question. We’ve heard about the supposed ‘bottlenecks’ that we, the US Weapons Manufacturers have been having in supplying the Krain with MOAR 155mm shells. I’m going to make a guess that the shipping of said-materials factors into that slowdown.

Now, How much quicker (and safer) would it be to ship the empty casings to Wales from Scranton PA with no explosives in the shells? That would mean that it’d be quicker and easier (and possibly safer too) to ship them and fill it onsite and by happenstance, closer to the Krain?

And now the empty shell casing place has a fire/damages, and the place in England that the factory there that Artillery shells filler is made? The same place that –might– have been being used as a prepositioned/final loadout location in Jolly Ole England/Wales catches fire/gets damaged as well?

Again, Call in a Coincidence.
BUT if we get a Third time?
That is Enemy Action.

Not that we can do anything but laugh at this point. As they say, there’s Blue, Red and Black Pilled… but the lesser known one is being “Honk-Pilled”

“When you’ve taken the Honk Pill, you know everything is Clown World, and all you can do is laugh.”

Speaking of which:
Concern American is working on getting Western Rifle Shooters Association back up… haven’t gotten word on -what exactly- happened, but he’s working on it, and said it’ll be back ASAP:

So no worries for now…
All Updates are Up at Gab under his @WRSA moniker.

And beyond that, well, lots of ‘stuff’ happening that I can’t as of yet disclose. DC and her antics have gotten worse if you can believe it, and I’ll just leave it at that for now. All I can really say is Karma is a stone bitch and when you fuck with people and cause that much misery for your own enjoyment, well, the backlash? She’s got no one to blame but herself.

SO, because of that, how about a ‘palette cleanser’ of some of the latest Memes I discovered this past weekend?:


So More Later
Big Country


First Food Production, Then Bridges, Now a Defense Factory?

Greetings Me Droogs N Droogettes!
Russian Activity or just MOAR DIE Stupid?
I report, You decide:

Link to the story HERE

Of course a lot of the ‘chatter’ out there is comparable to when all the food processing plants and ckikinz processing plants were ‘mysteriously blowing up/burning’. MY take on it at this point though is no one back then was talking about the ¡Muh Diversity! potential for just plain old stupidity.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity”

Hanlon’s Razor

So, since we’ve now seen the knock on affects of out-of-control ¡Muh Diversity! in many many other industries (coff!coff!BOEING!) I just wonder if this was ‘nother case of some dumbass failing to utilize the most basic industrial safety precautions? I mean to be fair, casting 155mm shell casings involve liquid steel which last time I looked was a very hazardous material to be working with.

Might be that a recent diversity hire done fucked up maybe?

Hard to say.

So, one thing top keep an eye on however is if ANOTHER piece of critical National Defense Production Infrastructure has a bad case of “-suddenly!-” and burns/blows up/catastrophically explodes without warning within the next, oh say 8 weeks? as a timeframe?

Places to watch next:
• Crane Army Ammunition Activity, (CAAA) Crane, Indiana

• Holston Army Ammunition Plant, (HAAP) Kingsport, Tennessee

• Iowa Army Ammunition Plant, (IAAP) Middletown, Iowa

• Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, (LCAAP) Independence, Missouri

• McAlester Army Ammunition Plant, (McAAAP) McAlester, Oklahoma

• Pine Bluff Arsenal, (PBA) Pine Bluff, Arkansas

• Quad City Cartridge Case Facility, (QCCCF) Rock Island, Illinois

• Radford Army Ammunition Plant, (RAAP) Radford, Virginia

The Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania just got hit.  Makes you wonder if this wasn’t intentional as Ole Scroteface Joe is “from Scranton”  Might be a message in this maybe?

The following is a breakdown of “who makes what where”:

Scranton Army Ammunition Plant PA (SCAAP) manufactures large caliber metal projectiles and mortar projectiles.

The Radford Army Ammunition Plant VA (RAAP) in Radford produces rocket and gun propellants.

Holston Army Ammunition Plant TN (HAAP) manufactures Research Department Explosive (RDX) and High Melting Explosive (HMX) for ammunition production and development. ( I literally used to live across the street from this place)

Iowa Army Ammunition Plant IA (IAAAP) produces and delivers component assembly, and medium- and large-caliber ammunition items (fuses and primers and the like)

Lake City Army Ammunition Plant MO (LCAAP) produces ammunition for ALL military small arms, as well as a significant amount of ammunition for civilian use. This is the most modern and up-to-date plant and probably one of OUR favorite places IMO

McAlester Army Ammunition Plant OK (McAAAP) provides Centralized Ammunition Management for training ammunition and contingency stocks for Army units in the southwest region of the U.S

Crane Army Ammunition Activity (CAAA) IN produces and provides conventional munitions requirements

Pine Bluff Arsenal, (PBA) AR is where they do the manufacturing of incendiary grenades and bombs, and the manufacturing, loading, and storage of war gases; and production and storage of pyrotechnic, riot control and white phosphorous munitions, i.e. the really nasty shit.

Quad City Cartridge Case Facility (QCCCF) IL per the name, produces brass and steel cartridge cases.

AND THATS PRETTY MUCH ALL WE GOT!!!!

Any wonder we can’t supply shit to the Krain?

All the HE and shit made in Kingsport TN has to be shipped, by train, to Scranton PA, for all the explosives be loaded into the 155 shells (literally, empty steel shells) where then after they pack in the HE to the shells, they all get loaded onto ANOTHER train, and set to Middleton IA for final assembly, and inspection. Hell, that should make some folks nervous as to the condition of our rail systems too amiright?

So if another one of those plants goes up, well, Logistically speaking, we’re fucked. I mean we already are but call it “Double Sooper Dooper Fukked” if we lose any MOAR capacity to make ‘stuff’ that feeds the beast so to speak.

Under current conditions, besides the shell manufactory going up, I’d personally say that it’s Radford that’s utterly critical at this point to keep running. “Rocket Propellants” being something that’s going to be in great demand as –something-is needed to fire off those Iron Dome, SM-1/2 ADA, Patriot and other Anti-Missile-Missiles. No gas? No defense. Which also means (((our greatest ally evvar))) by rights and in MY ‘umble opinion should be pulling security on these plants. The $7.50 an hour rent-a-cop Paul Blart sure doesn’t give a fuck…

The Krain should be doing likewise for the places that’re making ‘stuff’ to produce the 155mm shells they so desperately need/want, but the problem there is once here stateside, they’d bail into the vastness that is ‘Murica, never to be seen again, as it’s gotten that bad in the Krain…

Otherwise, it is what it is… The Izzies are making heap big smoke per usual about the “lawless strike” and how they’re going to “hit back”… Meh. Shut the fuck up already. Talk about exhaustion… it’s only the end of Tuesday, and I’m wore the fuck out already.

So off to bed early.
More Later
Big Country



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