Tuesday, January 09, 2007

From Dust.......

Double Super Secret Eyes Only UPDATE: It's not the preheat tubes. Also, near as I can tell the idle shut-off valve is also functioning properly, so I reckon I'll be tearin' the carb down tomorrow to look at the idle circuit and jet. Bummer.

The good news is it's not burnin' any oil right now. Weird.

Update:
Brought the bug home last night and fired it up this morning in the barn to start troubleshooting it.
Problem #1 - no oil pressure showing on the gauge! Swapped out the electric sending unit for a mechanical (tube) gauge to verify pressure. 40lbs at idle. Good to go.

Problem #2 - There is a fuel issue. The engine requires pumping the accelerator or choking as it warms up to keep it running. I am convinced it is the preheat tubes being clogged as the carb becomes ICE cold shortly after starting and the tubes are warm only about 1/3 of the way up toward the carb.

Problem #3 - Got one cylinder burnin' oil. Doesn't start until the engine has been running about 3 - 4 minutes. A little weird, but not a big deal on a bug no matter what it is.

Problem #4 - oil cooler and roof scoop are not in the car. Gotta call the PO and have it shipped.....




Forgive my being cryptic here, but something is afoot. I will not discuss any plans in greater detail, but a pending acquisition lies below.

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Jeff Cooper on Failure To Stop

The shooter was named Mike Rouseau(sp) and was using a 9x19, commonly referred to as a 9mm parabellum, or simply as a "nine" in the hood.

In Jeff Cooper's words:
As time passes we discover that there are a good many readers who have not been to school and who are puzzled by our reference to "The Mozambique Drill."

I added The Mozambique Drill to the modern doctrine after hearing of an experience of a student of mine up in Mozambique when that country was abandoned. My friend was involved in the fighting that took place around the airport of Laurenco Marquez. At one point, Mike turned a corner was confronted by a terrorist carrying an AK47. The man was advancing toward him at a walk at a range of perhaps 10 paces. Mike, who was a good shot, came up with his P35 and planted two satisfactory hits, one on each side of the wishbone. He expected his adversary to drop, but nothing happened, and the man continued to close the range. At this point, our boy quite sensibly opted to go for the head and tried to do so, but he was a little bit upset by this time and mashed slightly on the trigger, catching the terrorist precisely between the collar bones and severing his spinal cord. This stopped the fight.

Upon analysis, it seemed to me that the pistolero should be accustomed to the idea of placing two shots amidships as fast as he can and then being prepared to change his point of aim if this achieves no results. Two shots amidships can be placed very quickly and very reliably and they will nearly always stop the fight providing a major-caliber pistol is used and the subject is not wearing body armor.

However, simply chanting "two in the body, one in the head" oversimplifies matters, since it takes considerably longer to be absolutely sure of a head shot than it does to be quite sure of two shots in the thorax. The problem for the shooter is to change his pace, going just as fast as he can with his first pair, then, pausing to observe results or lack thereof, he must slow down and shoot precisely. This is not easy to do. The beginner tends to fire all three shots at the same speed, which is either too slow for the body shots or too fast for the head shot. This change of pace calls for concentration and coordination which can only be developed through practice.


This technique is also commonly referred to as "Body Armor Defeat" and I can imagine a 9x19 makes like a BB gun against the stuff while a .45, though not penetrating at all, will often introduce sternum to spinal column yielding at least temporarily satisfactory results.

I have to add here that the ongoing century spanning experiment with handguns chambered for one .38 caliber cartridge or another of one is surely by now conclusive in the negative. With the possible exception of the .357 and .38 super.