Hey man nice shot

 awesomeness, news, weapons  3 Responses »
Feb 142016
 

SAS sniper bullet decapitates ‘ISIS executioner’ while he teaches terror recruits how to behead prisoners

A shot from 1,200 meters knocked the noggin off a scumbag while in the process of scumbaggery. What’s not to like?

The shooter seems to have used a DAN 338, an Israeli (ha!) bolt action rifle chambering .338 Lapua. Sadly, the story does not explain what happened next. One hopes that a fuller description would include phrases like “subsequent shots killed all the ISIS jackholes” and “the prisoners were rescued.”

 Posted by at 8:25 pm

Here it is… the worst/stupidest news you’ll read today

 AARRRGH, aircraft, blather, Crazy, dumbassery, Forward!, Gah., history, news, weapons, ಠ_ಠ  16 Responses »
Feb 072016
 

The US has a bad problem with institutional stupidity… ignoring history and science and whatnot. But compared to some countries, we’re the friggen’ Jedi Archives. Take, for example, Monino.

The US has – among others – the National Museum  of the US Air Force in Dayton; Russia has the Monino Central Air Force Museum, where they’ve got all their neato aircraft developed by the USSR and Russia over the decades. Well, they’ve got it at the moment, but apparently not for long. Two Russian-language articles, because there doesn’t yet seem to be anything out there in English on this (I used Chrome to auto translate):

Silence Monino

and

Aviamuzey in Monino: on the threshold of annihilation?

The auto-translate is a bit iffy, but it seems that the museum is closing and the exhibits will relocate to Kubinka, which is some distance from Monino (according to Google maps, about 135 kilometers). At first this doesn’t seem *too* bad, but apparently they want to do it in a hurry (by *July* of THIS YEAR). As a result of that, a lot of exhibits will be simply tossed, and some larger aircraft will be chopped up for easy transport, and presumably welded back together at the new place. You know, kinda like slicing up the Mona Lisa and sticking it back together with Gorilla Glue.

The aircraft at Monimo will largely never fly again, due to simply not being maintained. So the only way to transport hem would be to chopper the smaller aircraft, and take the larger ones via truck. But cargo planes, strategic bombers and jetliners tend to not fit very well on surface streets. Thus the plan to disassemble the planes. But a lot of aircraft simply weren’t designed to be unbolted to the point where they’d fit on roads; instead, a lot of major components will *need* to be cut apart.

The photo below is marked to show the aircraft that are expected to be sliced up for transport:

Oh, *hell* no.

Come on, people. This is Russia. They’re used to thinking and building big. So how about this: build yourselves some *big* balloons. Big enough to lift these aircraft. Tether the balloons to massively laden trucks, and then, on days where the weather permits, simply drive them to the new place, suspended under the balloons. This might require severing power lines, but that’d be a temporary disruption and easily planned for and easily restored. So long as the truck will fit under any overpasses, the tethers can be disconnected on one side of the overpass and reconnected on the other. Use multiple trucks and a tether with multiple connections on the ground  end, and do it a truck at a time. Might be slow… but it’d be a hell of a show.

 Posted by at 6:43 pm

Mars Automatic Pistol

 art, history, weapons, youtube  3 Responses »
Jan 272016
 

A video describing the Mars Automatic Pistol, an early, failed attempt at marketing a semi-automatic pistol. Like many early automatics, this gun was ridiculously over-complicated;  dirt, dust, water, mud, blood and sunlight all would have no doubt caused it to seize up in the field. It is noteworthy in having been just about the most powerful semi-auto handgun for many decades, firing the proprietary .45 Mars Long round.

It took quite a while for firearms designers to really figure out practical, powerful semi-auto pistols. John Browning nailed it with the M1911 which, more than a century later, is still the basis for most modern automatics. The parts count reduction alone…

 Posted by at 4:26 pm

You daily dose of Hurrr, Herp and Derp

 dumbassery, Forward!, projects, weapons, ಠ_ಠ  4 Responses »
Jan 172016
 

Gentlemen, behold! The absolutely dumbest thing you’ll read all day. And unless you also read Donald Trumps dream journal, very likely the dumbest thing you’ll read all week:

International students, here’s what you need to know about guns in America to survive your education

The sheer amount of dishonest propaganda contained in this screed simply boggles the mind. For instance:

States that allow guns on campus. Since guns are carried in a concealed fashion, it will never be clear who is packing one, so these are the most dangerous states: Colorado, Idaho, and Utah.

The author is attempting to claim that university campii in Colorado, Idaho and Utah are particularly dangerous places because they allow concealed carry on campus. Guess how many students have been shot by a concealed carry license holder on Utah or Idaho since 1990. Go on, GUESS.

Here’s a hint for anyone considering visiting the US, as a student, tourist, on business travel or whatever: if you don’t want to get shot, follow this one simple rule: don’t engage in criminal behavior. That’s the number on thing that gets people shot: their own criminality. Yes, there are some places to avoid. Seedy areas. Run down areas. Chicago. Detroit. Anyplace with a long record of Democratic party dominance. But these are unlikely to be the places you want to go anyway.

 Posted by at 4:29 pm

A different time

 history, Hmm..., photography, weapons  3 Responses »
Jan 072016
 

In digging through my files, I came across a few photos showing John Glenn being presented with a gift sometime after his Mercury flight.  Somehow I suspect that today the chances of an astronaut being presented a firearm as a recognition gift seems slim, especially as the presenters seem to be NASA itself. The placard in the box and engraved on the rifle state that it’s from the “PROJECT ENGINEERING OFFICE.”

glenngun5 glenngun4 glenngun3 glenngun2 glenngun1

 Posted by at 1:35 am

Gyrojet

 awesomeness, history, rockets, weapons, youtube  10 Responses »
Dec 312015
 

A nice video describing the Gyrojet pistol. For those who somehow don’t know, the Gyrojet was a neat idea that just didn’t work out: a rocket pistol. The pistols (and associated carbine) were lightweight structures since they were not subjected to the usual stresses associated with firearms… rather than one high pressure explosion, the Gyrojet rounds were propelled by an internal rocket motor that burned for 0.1 seconds or so.  While that was great for the firearm, it sucked for the bullet itself: muzzle velocity for the pistol version was about ten feet per second. Over the next fifty or so feet the projectile continued to accelerate to something like 1200 feet per second, creating a nicely lethal round. But the initial slow velocity meant that wind would easily blow the thing around… accuracy was a bit of a joke.

I’ve often wondered about modernizing the Gyrojet. Apart from the lame fixed internal magazine the firearm itself is fine, but the projectiles could do with an update. A two-stage motor would seem the way to go… a very fast burning first stage so that the muzzle velocity is stepped up to something meaningful, several hundred feet per second. Additional ballistics work to assure something resembling accuracy. Advanced versions with laser seekers and thrust vectoring.

Even the best modern Gyrojet will almost certainly be an inferior weapon compared to a proper automatic. But it’d make a dandy weapon for the Space Marines… the minimal recoil and low system mass would be useful for guys in space suits. Plus, it’d just be durned cool. And let’s face it, that’s reason enough.

 Posted by at 10:11 pm

Now you can become a Meteor Gunner

 art, awesomeness, news, weapons  5 Responses »
Dec 262015
 

I’m certain that Xur and the Kodan Armada will be lining up for this:

Cabot Meteorite Pistol Set

The “Big Bang Pistol Set” will be a pair of left and right handed 1911’s made from meteoritic metal. Rather than melting the meteorite, the components will be cut from the meteorite. if it all works out, the Widmanstattten patterns should result in some spectacular looking firearms. It’ll also result in firearms you couldn’t pay me to pull the trigger on; inconsistent alloying and structure would seem to make them more very complex pipe bombs than reliable firearms. However, since they estimate that the auction price of the pair will be half a million to a million dollars, I suspect that I won’t be tasked with shooting these things anytime soon.

Bear in mind that Cabot’s “entry level” 1911 runs $3,675. So they’re used to “pricey.”

Here’s a photo of one of their 1911’s with meteorite-metal grips:

 Posted by at 6:48 pm

The birth of aerospace mythology

 AARRRGH, APR, art, blather, Crazy, drawings, Gah., history, Hmm..., humor, news, projects, spacecraft, US Spacecraft Projects, weapons, ಠ_ಠ  7 Responses »
Dec 202015
 

OK, so I wrote about the “Have Sting” orbital railgun, and produced some provisional diagrams of it, publishing them in US Space Projects #3. A blog article was written for War Is Boring discussing “Have Sting,” based in no small part on my diagrams. OK, so far so good. But then other blogs start writing about Have Sting, and an error is introduced.

Whenever a blog post links to my blog, a “pingback notification” is sent to my blog dashboard. I’ve just glanced at these, haven’t given them much thought. For the most part they seem to be just parroting the verbiage from the War is Boring piece. But with one change: “Have Sting” has become “Have Sling.” A “T” became an “L.”

Examples:
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/219718-exploring-the-death-star-space-gun-america-never-built

In September, the Aerospace Project Reviews Blog published some fascinating diagrams depicting “Have Sling,” which aerospace historian Scott Lowther described as “[a] General Electric design for a gigantic orbital railgun.” Have Sling was never built, of course.

http://www.usaspeaks.com/news/exploring-the-death-star-space-gun-america-never-built/

September, the Aerospace Project Reviews Blog published some fascinating diagrams depicting “Have Sling,” which aerospace historian Scott Lowther described as “[a] General …

http://www.usaspeaks.com/news/exploring-the-death-star-space-gun-america-never-built/

http://www.viralnewstrend.com/exploring-the-death-star-space-gun-america-never-built/

And a bunch more, all seemingly the same post over and over.

And if you Google “have sling” and some other terms, some seriously wacky stuff appears, which I’m guessing is the result of some weird auto-translation:

http://www.bbtechnonews.com/index.php/2015/12/19/exploring-the-death-star-space-gun-america-never-built/

In September, the Aerospace Task Reviews Blog site released some remarkable layouts portraying “Have Sling,” which aerospace chronicler Scott Lowther

“Aerospace Task Reviews?”

And:

http://journalfocus.com/2015/12/exploring-the-death-star-space-gun-america-never-built/

Exploring the ‘Fatality Celebrity’ space gun America never built

UNITED STATE protection coordinators did at one time think about constructing a huge Fatality Star-like gun in space as component of the “Celebrity Wars” rocket protection program, as Warisboring’s Steve Weintz advised us this week in the middle of the hullaballoo of the position of The Pressure Awakens.

In September, the Aerospace Job Reviews Blog site released some interesting representations portraying “Have Sling,” which aerospace chronicler Scott Lowther…

… the styles explain a space tool the dimension of the International Space Terminal, each Lowther.

Buh?

So now when people try to research orbital railguns, there’s every chance that they will be presented with the fallacious designation “Have Sling.”

I just did a Google search on “railgun” and “Have Sling.” It spat back 741 results. “Railgun” and “Have Sting” only produced 321 results. The lie traveled around the world while the truth was still putting on its boots. And entertainingly, in doing some Googling for this post, I found this blog post. It is illustrated in part by “Do NOT try this at home:  schematics for the orbital railgun . (Image courtesy up-ship.com.)” I found this illustration amusing for two reasons… firstly, when you say “Image courtesy whoever,” generally you’ve asked whoever for permission to republish. I usually don’t mind people reposting the images I create, but I wasn’t asked here, just sayin.’ More entertainingly, the diagrams of the “orbital railgun” are in fact my diagrams for the 10-meter USAF Orion. Which ain’t a railgun.

 Posted by at 11:12 pm

The new face of terror

 Crazy, dumbassery, Gah., news, religion, weapons, ಠ_ಠ  3 Responses »
Dec 172015
 

Enrique Marquez, Syed Farook’s former neighbor, likely to be charged

Seems Ricky here bought the two AR-15’s used in the attack. That’s not illegal. But he bought them for Syed because Syed didn’t want them listed in his name (even though he would have been legally allowed to buy them). This is a “straw purchase,” which is illegal. He also planned a terror attack with Syed in 2012, but they chickened out. This may or may not have been illegal, based on how far they got in planning. Shockingly, Ricky was a convert to Syeds religion. Purely coincidental, surely.

enrique_marquez

Yup, that’s him.

Feel free to caption. Possibilities include:

“Oh Boy! I get to further the political ambitions of Diane Feinstein!”

“Oh Boy! I’m gonna be *real* popular in prison!”

 Posted by at 9:44 am
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