Question: Where has all the ammunition gone?
Short Answer: Federal Government action has curtailed production of ammunition and components.
Proper Reaction: Oh shit.
A recent tour of area gunstores yielded this disturbing information:
1) Winchester ammunition factory recently purchased some new machinery to service government contracts and was told to idle all other lines while servicing the federal contracts or a way would be found to shut them down completely. This was brought to light during a recent tour given to industry journalists to show off the new machinery.
2) CCI, the largest manufacturer of "primers" and a major ammunition supplier, has been shut down by OHSA . That would qualify as "a way would be found" given they were issued an instruction similar to Winchester. Folks who felt secure in their ammunition component supply and their ability to meet their own needs by constructing their own cartridges are scrambling to find primers. Primers would be the most difficult (nigh impossible) individual component of a cartridge to fabricate on one's own.
3) Police departments began purchasing AR-15's and even some M-16 heavily over the last year and failed to anticipate the large quantity of ammunition required per officer to get them qualified and keep them qualified. I have one confirmed instance of a department contracting with an individual reloader to supply ammunition for that purpose and are getting so desperate as to consider contracting him for duty ammunition.
4) Walmart, which is a huge seller of ammunition if not the largest, has issued a policy prohibiting their stores from selling ammunition and will be pulling ammunition off the shelves in June.
To paraphrase the above items; They're not making it, you can't make it, and what there is will be prioritized to law enforcement.
None of this is confirmed except the desperation of police departments and the scarcity of components. I do not belive the uptick in ammunition sales is anywhere near large enough to result in the scarcity we are experiencing, nor is military procurement at a level to cause it especially given the time frame manufacturers have had to increase production rates and capacity.
That's what I got for now and that's quite disturbing. I suspect there is more and even worse to be discovered.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Drive-by Gold
From Samuel!
Celebrity Jay Leno gives a walk around tour of many interesting features of one of his Brough Superior SS100's along with an overview of it's history, design concepts, and manufacture. The video end with a narrated ride along with Jay and some interesting tidbits about the unique riders controls.
It has been said that "riding a motorcycle well at speed requires similar concentration to piloting a fighter plane", the Brough Superior SS100 merits the addendum "and has damned near as many controls".
Celebrity Jay Leno gives a walk around tour of many interesting features of one of his Brough Superior SS100's along with an overview of it's history, design concepts, and manufacture. The video end with a narrated ride along with Jay and some interesting tidbits about the unique riders controls.
It has been said that "riding a motorcycle well at speed requires similar concentration to piloting a fighter plane", the Brough Superior SS100 merits the addendum "and has damned near as many controls".
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Deutsch-Engineering Uber Alles or Like You Need Another Reason to Buy a BMW GS
A storm front swept through the Bluegrass this afternoon just as many another has done already this spring setting off weather alerts for Tornado Watches and heavy rain. Given the recent tragedy in Murfreesboro, Tennessee and the prolific tornado generation in the region I pulled up the Wunderground.com radar to see what was what. Nothing new, nothing out of the ordinary. Spring in the Bluegrass.
The sky slowly darkened to the west and I checked the barn doors, mower cover, and the bike cover on the GS which I keep on my porch since the parlor coffee table was not able to support its weight, but that's another story and better left untold lest MrsJAC should nose around the blog. I will say though she is still mighty pissed at our chocolate lab "Pudge" - sorry old girl, but you didn't expect me to take the rap did you!? Anyway, one more radar check, all looked good, the Tornado Watch alert popped off with it's ubiquitous warning as if it were just another disclaimer mandated by government lawyers, and I sat down to eat; secure in the knowledge we would not need to cower in the basement this evening.
As the squall line approached, the wind picked up rather more suddenly than is typical. I was not concerned as this old house has borne 110 MPH winds with nary a shudder or groan. And then I heard a "thump".....
MrsJAC witnessed this heinous act of nature and said my GS was lifted and thrown off the porch. I ran into the storm to assess the damage, not really wanting to know. I determined there was minimal, if any, damage and none to vital mechanical systems or control mechanisms. That left the fuel tank. The Fuel Tank. I shudder to consciously consider the cost of a new BMW Pacific Blue/White Special Edition GS fuel tank. Even now as I type I am suppressing the memory.
Here is what I found:
My beautiful Bike inverted and hanging onto the porch by the right side cylinder head and foot peg, the fuel tank pressed against the planking.
I had back surgery a couple weeks ago (I found a practitioner that does the slickest procedure on a herniated disk with zero recovery time that I will blog on in the near future) and am still restricted to lifting over 20lbs for another 12 days so, having lost me mind, MrsJAC had to stop me from lifting the GS back onto the porch. This wasn't all that easy a thing for her to do and I had occasion to note my girls have become quite skillful at turning their father's black rages (which, I think you will agree, a situation like this surely merits) toward things more constructive than cutting the porch up with a chainsaw to lower the GS down gently. I did manage, however, to "remove" one porch post.....
When a clearer head prevailed I went to Jamie's (my car fixin', horseshoein', barn door building compadre') to get the engine hoist to commence righting the bike to begin assessing the damage and the hit my wallet was going to take to put it back right, for it was going to be put right.
Upon returning home, Jamie had the same idea I did, which was to just pick it up and shove it back onto the porch. I discouraged him, "Dude, it's heavier than it looks. You should see what it did to the coffee table!" So, Jamie called his brother and after Brent made properly sympathetic noises the two of them graciously man handled my GS back onto the porch and back upright. I put the kickstand down and we started assessing damage.
Damage Revealed: ZERO!
German Engineering Uber Alles, by gawd. Thank God. And thanks fellas, y'all are badass.
The sky slowly darkened to the west and I checked the barn doors, mower cover, and the bike cover on the GS which I keep on my porch since the parlor coffee table was not able to support its weight, but that's another story and better left untold lest MrsJAC should nose around the blog. I will say though she is still mighty pissed at our chocolate lab "Pudge" - sorry old girl, but you didn't expect me to take the rap did you!? Anyway, one more radar check, all looked good, the Tornado Watch alert popped off with it's ubiquitous warning as if it were just another disclaimer mandated by government lawyers, and I sat down to eat; secure in the knowledge we would not need to cower in the basement this evening.
As the squall line approached, the wind picked up rather more suddenly than is typical. I was not concerned as this old house has borne 110 MPH winds with nary a shudder or groan. And then I heard a "thump".....
MrsJAC witnessed this heinous act of nature and said my GS was lifted and thrown off the porch. I ran into the storm to assess the damage, not really wanting to know. I determined there was minimal, if any, damage and none to vital mechanical systems or control mechanisms. That left the fuel tank. The Fuel Tank. I shudder to consciously consider the cost of a new BMW Pacific Blue/White Special Edition GS fuel tank. Even now as I type I am suppressing the memory.
Here is what I found:
My beautiful Bike inverted and hanging onto the porch by the right side cylinder head and foot peg, the fuel tank pressed against the planking.I had back surgery a couple weeks ago (I found a practitioner that does the slickest procedure on a herniated disk with zero recovery time that I will blog on in the near future) and am still restricted to lifting over 20lbs for another 12 days so, having lost me mind, MrsJAC had to stop me from lifting the GS back onto the porch. This wasn't all that easy a thing for her to do and I had occasion to note my girls have become quite skillful at turning their father's black rages (which, I think you will agree, a situation like this surely merits) toward things more constructive than cutting the porch up with a chainsaw to lower the GS down gently. I did manage, however, to "remove" one porch post.....
When a clearer head prevailed I went to Jamie's (my car fixin', horseshoein', barn door building compadre') to get the engine hoist to commence righting the bike to begin assessing the damage and the hit my wallet was going to take to put it back right, for it was going to be put right.
Upon returning home, Jamie had the same idea I did, which was to just pick it up and shove it back onto the porch. I discouraged him, "Dude, it's heavier than it looks. You should see what it did to the coffee table!" So, Jamie called his brother and after Brent made properly sympathetic noises the two of them graciously man handled my GS back onto the porch and back upright. I put the kickstand down and we started assessing damage.
Damage Revealed: ZERO!
German Engineering Uber Alles, by gawd. Thank God. And thanks fellas, y'all are badass.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Been Giving the Harley Fags a Rest Lately, So.....
A young woman goes to her doctor's office, afraid of the
strange development on the inside of her thighs . . .
a green spot on the inside of each.
"They won't wash off, they won't scrape off
and they seem to be getting worse."
The doctor assures her he'll get to the bottom of the
problem, and tells her not to worry until the tests come back.
A few days later, the woman's phone rings. Much to her
relief, it's the doctor.
She immediately begs to know what's causing the spots.
The doctor says, "You're perfectly healthy - - there's no problem. But I'm wondering, is your boyfriend a Harley guy?"
The woman stammers, "Why, yes, but how did you
know?"
"Tell him his earrings aren't real gold."
strange development on the inside of her thighs . . .
a green spot on the inside of each.
"They won't wash off, they won't scrape off
and they seem to be getting worse."
The doctor assures her he'll get to the bottom of the
problem, and tells her not to worry until the tests come back.
A few days later, the woman's phone rings. Much to her
relief, it's the doctor.
She immediately begs to know what's causing the spots.
The doctor says, "You're perfectly healthy - - there's no problem. But I'm wondering, is your boyfriend a Harley guy?"
The woman stammers, "Why, yes, but how did you
know?"
"Tell him his earrings aren't real gold."
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