Articles by Herschel Smith

From an engineer’s perspective (I am one), why would any manufacturer make and distribute plastic optic mounting plates?  That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.

Who all does that? They should be ashamed of themselves. And their engineers should be ridiculed.

News.

Texas police are asking for the public’s help after they say a group of robbers pretending to be Houston police officers broke into a sleeping man’s apartment, armed with rifles and handguns.

At around 12:30 a.m. on March 18, several people broke down a Houston resident’s door, home security camera footage shared by police showed.

The intruders, armed with rifles and guns, yelled “HPD” as they entered the home, the video showed.

The resident of the apartment was sleeping at the time and told police he heard someone attempting to kick down his door.

He grabbed his handgun and told police he “did not think that they were the police” and fired his gun several times, according to a news release from the Houston Police Department’s Robbery Division. The resident believed the suspects, who he said were men, were there to rob him.

Clad in black masks and dark clothing, the attempted robbers fired their guns, causing shots to go through the walls and into other apartments, police said in the release.

Police said the men then fled the area.

The video doesn’t show very convincing posing to me.  However, consider the fact that you’re asleep, and the noise at the door indicates that LEOs want in.  Judgment before 30 minutes after waking up is impaired.  Studies have shown that you need 30 minutes before you can make good critical judgments.

I’ve documented this three other times in three other locations: California, Norfolk, Virginia, and in Houston, TX.

It’s also happened in Oahu, Hawaii and New York.

I’ve also pointed out before that police should understand that while they are recklessly invading homes, they aren’t just putting our lives at risk.  They’re putting their own lives at risk too.

They must understand that criminals have caught on to the game.  Announce that you’re police, yell obscenities, scream for people to get on the floor, and instinctively some people will do that.

But understand that we can’t do that.  We … cannot … do … that.  We don’t know who you are and we have our own lives to protect.

So by employing this tactic, police all across America have made the situation much more dangerous for the ordinary homeowner.  That moment of hesitation waiting to be sure of who is at the door could spell the end of some homeowner’s life.  That moment of quick reaction if it is cops could spell the end of some cop’s life, thus ensuring an awful trial for the homeowner in which s/he knows that the judge and jury will almost certainly side with the cop (because that’s what they do).

You can blame police for this conundrum.  And it’s far past time to end no-knock home invasions by cops as if they are playing soldier-boy.  If that restricts evidence gathering to more time consuming means for police (like good old fashioned detective work), then so be it.

I don’t care about convenience for cops.  I don’t even care about their war on drugs.  It’s not my war.

They didn’t really get to the main question.  Lever actions, why you need one.  Well, they’re cool.  We all learned on them.  They can take cartridges that you can’t really put into an AR without an awful lot of weight.  The recoil of a .30-30 is highly manageable and tame, and the recoil of a .45-70 isn’t much worse than a 12-gauge shotgun, which isn’t that bad.  It’s something I operate rather than a machine.

This is for starters.  Besides, lever actions are cool.  Additionally, lever actions are cool. Finally, to my last point, lever actions are cool.

I thought the line in the middle of the video was amusing.  Park ranger to dude – if you’re in the middle of the bush and a grizzly turns on you and you have a .357 magnum, use the gun on yourself.

Hey listen dude.  Some dogs are smaller than other dogs.  Don’t just tell that little dog to stand up for himself.  Take care of him yourself.  He’s yours.

Hey daddy, look what I made!

Uh oh, don’t tell daddy please.  I don’t want to get in trouble.

You hurt my feelings.  See, dogs have feelings too.

Where’s Fred when you need him?  This big cat needs some love.

Elephant to Crocodile.  Don’t screw with me.

That’s one beautiful cat!

Or at least the pretensions of one.

Alabama lawmakers on Thursday advanced legislation aimed at resisting a half-dozen executive actions by President Joe Biden to combat gun violence.

The Alabama Senate voted 24-5 for legislation that would prohibit state and local officials from participating in the “administration or enforcement of any presidential gun control order.” However, the bill includes an exemption if doing so would jeopardize federal funding.

Nope.  Kill the bill.  It’s not good enough, you cowards.

Remove the exemption.

Go back to the drawing board and don’t leave the room before you get it right.

These results are very interesting.  The 14.5″ and 16″ barrels had greater penetration, but obviously the 20″ barrel tore up the medium better.  It’s almost as if genius Eugene Stoner designed it that way.

Now.  Do 77 grain.

Via reader Ned.

Absolutely absurd.  And listen carefully to the cop’s testimony.

What is it?  Does the haircut make them stupid?  Do they hire the dumbest guys around for the job?  Does it have to do with being beaten up on the schoolyard playground?  Is it just a “controller” complex at work?

Don’t answer.  I think I know the answers.

Ammoland.

The special session begins on April 29th.  It could have been sooner and I pressed the governor to push on the legislature more, but this just may be a good tactic.  They are now in “special session” to address certain things.  It may avoid the ridiculous committee blocking of bills that tends to derail pro-gun laws in Florida.

Better late than never.

I’ve seen some very fast manipulation of bolt action rifles before, but it requires a lot of practice and that’s the exception rather than the rule.

Nice collection.  Some of the expense is related to the Title 2 weapons.  Be aware that part of the reason that the NFA and GCA hasn’t been repealed is the money collectors have invested into those weapons.

On the other hand, even without the Title 2 weapons, this is still a very large collection.