Homemade Defense

Big guns - M1 240mm howizer

2012-01-28T19:52:00.009-05:00

This monster is called the M1 240mm howitzer. It was given the rather appropriate nickname "Black Dragon". It is classified as a super heavy artillery piece and boy is it. The Black Dragon weighed in at an astonishing 64, 700 pounds. It fired a 360 pound explosive shell 14 miles. I don't know about you, but I find that pretty impressive. The M1 240mm was developed in 1941 to replace obsolete WWI artillery guns. It eventually saw service in the European Theater with US and some small scale use by the British. It was again called to serve in the Korean War. The two pics below are of fairly new vintage as the US transferred some 30 of these monstrosities to the Republic of China (Taiwan)in the 1950s, where they are still in service on the frontline islands of Kinmen and Matsu where they have been mounted on a rail system that allows them to be slid back into a heavy bunker for protection.

The first operational use of the Black Dragon was during the invasion of Italy at Anzio in September 1943. The US Fifth Army used them for counter battery fire against German artillery and was able to even hit enemy heavy tanks with them. They were also used to knock out the infamous Nazi heavy gun the "Anzio Annie". Later in the campaign they were used to complete the destruction of the monastery at Monte Cassino and were used to destroy high value bridges from long range.

The above pic is from the US Army artillery museum at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Some 12 M1s were taken out of storage for use by the 213th and 159th Field Artillery in Korea.
On the first day of their use in Korea, Baker battery of the 213th, a ceremonial shot was planned at a enemy held hill called "the donut". The shot struck an ammunition dump, setting off a chain reaction that sheared off a significant portion of the hill.
The video below is a demonstration from the ROC Army, showing the size and power of this beast.

Late in WWII, a self propelled version was planned, based on the Heavy Tank T26E3 chassis, but the end of the war caused the project to be dropped.

Utili-key

2012-01-28T19:15:00.007-05:00

This is a neat little tool I picked up awhile ago and carry everywhere I go. It is called the Swiss tech Utili-key and as you can see is a key shaped mini multi tool. The tools it has are a serrated blade, standard blade , flathead screwdriver, Phillips head screwdriver, eyeglass screwdriver and bottle opener. I especially like that it has an eyeglass screwdriver, and anyone who wears glasses and has had a screw walk itself half out knows how nice it is to have the only tool that will help.

As you can see, it is quite small, just a little bit bigger than a standard key and it weighs about half an ounce. I will not lie to you my gentle readers, the knife is pretty crappy. However, I did manage to give myself a decent cut while opening a beer one afternoon. It was probably my fourth of the afternoon (barbeque) so maybe it was mostly my fault. But I do manage to use the Utili-key a lot. I use it as a prying tool quite often, opening paint cans or the damn weedeater or whatever because it is stainless steel and much stronger than a regular brass key and much better for rough tasks than my pocketknife (which of course is mainly for opening boxes and cleaning my fingernails) I can't recall what I paid for it, but I think it was about $7-10. Certainly not the best tool or knife in existence, but cheap and easy to carry. Do remember to take it off your keys before going to the airport though folks. Those TSA fools can't find a bomb, but they will likely send you to Guantanamo for this 2" blade.

The World Turned on its Head

2012-01-10T18:08:00.004-05:00

In a turn of events that most would not have anticipated, a Russian arms company is now making an AR-15 pattern rifle. Former Soviet weapons manufacturer Molot, a subsidiary of the Izhmash industrial concern that has been producing AK-74 and AK 100 series rifles has begun to produce a carbine called the HPE-140 (впо-140) or maybe Vepr-15 (Вепрь-15) which apparently means wild boar. It may be that the first run will use some parts from German manufacturer Waffen Schumacher under the trademark of Schmeisser.

Previously, Molot produced RPK light machineguns for the Soviet Union and Russia. They also made civilian (semi-auto only) VEPR AK rifles. The weapon was announced at the Moscow ARMS & Hunting '11 expo a few months ago. The rifle will be a M4 type weapon (M4gery) with a quad rail hand guard, improved/rubberized pistol grip and some type of muzzle brake or flash hider. No word about any other calibers, so for now it will likely only be offered in 5.56mm NATO/.223 caliber. Price in dollars is unknown, but they will almost certainly not be imported to the US anyway. Of course there have been American AKs for some time, some of which started out as parts kits from Eastern Bloc countries via Century Arms and some fully homegrown versions like the Krebs Customs guns, which seem nice, but are pretty expensive.

Mikhail Kalashnikov and Eugene Stoner each holding the others' weapon

Underground Nuclear Explosion

2011-12-26T00:42:00.003-05:00

Beautiful and terrifying

Hanes Excelsior Percussion Cap Grenade

2011-11-16T15:32:00.004-05:00

Here is one from the bad idea bin. The Hanes Excelsior Percussion Cap Grenade. It was patented in 1862 by an W. W. Hanes for use in the American Civil War. It is a cast iron orb filled with gunpowder like the classic "Rocky and Bulwinkle" bomb. However instead of the classic open burning fuze, it is instead liberally covered with 10 nipples for percussion caps, which are small pressure sensitive explosives used to ignite a larger charge. It only took the detonation of one cap to set off the grenade, so if it were dropped or handled roughly it would certainly blow up inadvertently. And percussion caps are not always easy to use in the best of situations. To imagine Civil War soldiers in a trench, scared, hungry and being shot at using this thing without blowing themselves up is a stretch of the imagination. There is no record of their use in battle, so we can hope that no one was killed with this thing, either or purpose or on accident. Very few exist today.

Military Technology - PETMAN

2011-11-03T17:28:00.005-04:00

Ohmylord its the Terminator. OK, no it is not. No, not IG-88 either. This is PETMAN from Boston Dynamics, the group that developed BIGDOG- the unmanned, cargo-carrying, four legged robot. It was not developed to infiltrate and destroy the remaining pockets of human resistance to the machines, but rather to test military protective clothing like the suits designed to protect the wearer from Nuclear, Chemical or Biological threats. PETMAN was designed to improve on earlier testing by making a robot that moves like a real person. It is six feet tall and weighs 180 pounds, like the average of soldiers. It also simulates heavy breathing and sweat when it is given long workouts (also like the Terminator, hmmm) Currently it still walks on a tether, but it will almost certainly be freed from that constraint soon. To help make it really creepy, it also glows from the chest and has no head, although plans are in place to add one, as seen below.
PETMAN is scheduled to be delivered to the Army some time next year.

XC-120 Packplane

2011-10-31T19:00:00.015-04:00

This is the Fairchild XC-120 Packplane, a prototype cargo plane from the post-war era. The only one ever constructed, it was developed and built from a C-119 Flying Boxcar. It differed from the Boxcar by having a detachable cargo pod rather than an internal cargo bay. Below is a composite image of the pod being attached and the Packplane in flight.

The basic idea was to vastly decrease the time that an aircraft would have to spend on the ground loading or waiting to be loaded. Cargo pods would be preloaded by ground crews and taken to the planes and attached as soon as possible. The prototype was constructed by taking the fuselage of C-119B 48-330 and cutting it off just below the level of the flight deck. Then the landing gear were extensively modified. The wing mounted gear was extended towards the tail of the aircraft and two small wheels were added to the front of both to replace the nose landing gear that were now absent. The Packplane's four landing gear could be raised or lowered to facilitate the attachment of the cargo module, which had its own wheels. This was accomplished with a scissor-like frame, rather than hydraulics, as we might today. Below you can see the XC-120 in flight with no pod attached.

The XC-120 first flew on August 11, 1950. It was thoroughly tested and made the round of the airshows, but no orders were made and the project and the aircraft were eventually scrapped. If it had been accepted, production aircraft would have been designated the C-128. Designers planned a variety of wheeled pods for different types and amounts of cargo, some can be seen below and they are a little lacking in the streamlining area. I think it was an interesting concept and could have been useful. I also love twin boomed aircraft, they just look cool to me.

I would like to see the concept re-booted (maybe with a light turbine engine) as a multi-role aircraft. It could be outfitted with different mission pods like the Navy's LCS, albeit on a smaller scale. I could see a role for it as a light cargo lifter, transport, VIP transport, anti-submarine, or border/harbor patrol aircraft just for starters. Something like that could be advantageous, especially for smaller air forces that have many roles to fill with a small number of aircraft. How about a close air support bird with a targeting and weapons module? As nice as 12 or 13 forward firing .50 caliber machineguns sounds, that day is probably past us. But I could see a weapons module with targeting pods and side facing weapons like the gunships of the US Air Force being pretty useful. Perhaps heavy and/or large vehicles could be somehow slung and fitted with an aerodynamic fairing and carried, who knows?

Drunk Chit

2011-10-31T18:37:00.008-04:00

For those of you who don't read too closely, this post is not about drunk chicks. I keep all those for myself. Instead, check out the pic below, you will likely need to click on it to read it.

Hee hee, an amusing modern take on the "blood chit" from WWII. I am not certain, but I believe the pilot seen here is in the RAF. The idea actually goes back much further, but that is were it got famous. Allied air crew, especially in the Pacific and Burma theaters would have a piece of cloth sewed into or onto their uniforms or flight jackets that had a message in the local language that they should assist pilots in distress. For those of you interested in the "real" thing, here is a blood chit from the American Volunteer Group, the famous Flying Tigers of WWII.

It reads:

來華助戰洋人
This foreign person has come to China to help in the war effort.
軍民一體救護
Soldiers and civilians, one and all, should rescue, protect, and provide him medical care.
航空委員會
Aviation Committee

another one reads:

"I am an American airman. My plane is destroyed. I cannot speak your language. I am an enemy of the Japanese. Please give me food and take me to the nearest Allied military post. You will be rewarded."

Bra Holster

2011-10-31T18:04:00.006-04:00

It is nice when you find out that there are other people out there who think like you do. Case in point, the Flashbang Bra Holster. Two of my favorite things, boobs and guns. On a more serious note, it is difficult for women to carry concealed due to the types of clothing they often wear. Skirts and women's' jeans do not always allow them use the In-the-pants holster with anything like the ease and concealment that a fella can. Also curvaceous ladies might not be wear a standard on the belt holster as comfortably since their hips are shaped so much differently than most men's. This can often lead to ladies who carry keeping their weapon in their purse which is less than ideal for several reasons. But holsters and carry methods are very personal and what works for one person does not necessarily work for someone else.

It is currently only sold on eBay. The holster costs $40 and is available for the Kel-Tec P3AT, S&W J Frame, S&W Bodyguard 38, Ruger LCP and Ruger LCR. It consists of a kydex holster and as you can see mounts to the bra with a leather loop. Apparently, there are a few options that the manufacturer has to attach it to various bras. There are several gun writers and bloggers (of the female variety) who have tried out the bra holster and most seem to like it. Use your google-fu if you are interested in more detailed information.

Here is a video of a young lady drawing and firing her weapon with the Flashbang holster.

Like many carry options, this one has pros and cons. It very well may represent a better way for some women to carry concealed. It likely can only support and conceal the lightest and smallest of weapons comfortably and safely, but you can't have everything. I would also say that revolvers used with this holster should probably be of the hammerless or shrouded hammer variety to avoid snagging on the bra or something more painful. Some have commented that it is terrible because it forces the woman to expose herself to draw her gun. Number 1- even if that is the case, it rather pales in comparison to the attempted mugging, rape, or murder that would occasion a firearm being drawn. Number 2, I imagine that most ladies could reach their weapon while only exposing some of their abdomen, which in the West is not usually cause for excitement. Some ladies that are less well endowed might not have the same concealment effect and of course, very tight or low cut shirts could also complicate matters.

In any case, I like to see innovation and it is good that the industry is trying to tend to the needs of female shooters, who are the fastest growing segment of the American gun buying public.

Oh, how about a pic of a real girl wearing it too:

Military Technology - M992 40mm IR Cartridge

2011-10-31T16:52:00.008-04:00

Here we have one of the winners from US Army's Greatest Inventions of 2011 competition. It is called the M992 40mm IR cartridge. And it is pretty cool. The M992 was approved for use in October 2010 and can be fired from the M230, M320 and the older (but still in service) M79 40mm grenade launchers. I don't know if it would be able to be fired from the Mk.19 automatic grenade launcher, but I am guessing not. It can be used for illumination or for signalling- I imagine it is visible for miles when at its apogee and being viewed from Gen.3 or 4 Nightvision goggles by a helicopter pilot.

We have been using parachute flares launched from flare guns and mortars for a very long time, at least since WWI and possibly before. They were great in that they provide a great deal of light for soldiers to be able to see, navigate and fight at night. But of course they also provided the same benefits to the enemy, free of charge. In contrast:

"IR illumination burns longer, significantly increases the area of battlefield illumination and its performance is less sensitive to temperature and firing conditions compared to the standard visible light illumination,"
---James L. Wejsa, Chief of ARDEC's Pyrotechnic Tech and Prototyping Division.

The M992 solves that by releasing light that is (mostly) in the infrared spectrum. Hmm... Science class is now in, kids.

Pay no attention to the microbicidal region, unless you want to kill some bacteria. As you see, infrared light is beyond the wavelength of what the human eye can see. But Nightvision devices are designed to see it very well and translate it into an image that we can see. If you would like to know a little more about nightvision systems you can check out an earlier post by that most well informed and erudite author, me.

http://homemadedefense.blogspot.com/2009/08/military-technology-
nightvision.html

Back on topic, IR light can be seen by nightvision scopes but not the naked eye. And nightvision systems have a limited range, enter the M992. Let me use a photo to show you its effects.

As you can see, the outcome is striking. And it could make a huge difference to troops in harm's way. Of course, if the enemy possesses nightvision equipment, than the IR flare will benefit them as well, but that is not too much of a problem at the moment.
This is not the first IR illumination round though, they also exist for all US mortars, artillery, and I believe there is a 70mm rocket version.

From the Picatinny Arsenal:

"The M992 provides a capability not previously available to the Soldier that takes advantage of U.S. Armed Forces technology to improve night-time operation success," said Gregory Bubniak, Project Officer for 40mm Ammunition, Project Manager Maneuver Ammunition Systems (PM-MAS). "It enhances night operation capabilities of troops equipped with night vision equipment, while producing minimal visual signature outside of the infrared spectrum. This will allow users to access the approximately 90,000 cartridges available in inventory. "

MISSION: Satisfy the Soldier Enhancement Program requirement set forth in support of development of a 40mm Infrared Illuminant Cartridge. To satisfy the immediate need for a round which will enhance detection and recognition of targets, as well as, extend maximum range for currently fielded night vision equipment. Visible light output will be minimum, thus reducing probabilities of location disclosure. To provide a 40mm Infrared Illuminant Cartridge to all units currently equipped with M203 Grenade Launchers and supporting night vision devices. Contractor: Thiokol TYPE: FFP License Agreement Required

One more Gadaffi Golden Gun

2011-10-26T22:01:00.002-04:00

He won't be needing it now. No tears here. Sic semper tyrannis, motherfucker.

BTW this one is a Browning Hi-Power/FN P-35 9mm

The Ampulomet

2011-10-26T20:59:00.007-04:00

Today's subject of discussion is the Ampulomet- a Soviet anti-tank weapon from WWII. The word ampulomet comes from the (Greek- I believe) words "ampula" for a hermetically sealed glass container (as in a medicine ampule) and "metainie"meaning throwing. Therefore it is an ampule thrower. Which is exactly what it does. Except its ampules contain very flammable liquids. Also in Russian military lexicon there are the words "oghnemyot" meaning flamethrower and "granatomyot" for grenade launcher.

These weapons were used to stop the Nazi advance into Soviet Russia and then to push the Germans all the way home. Obviously, it is not the most advanced of weapons and likely was developed to give the Soviet forces in the period of Operation Barbarossa some rudimentary way to attack the Nazi fleet of vehicles. Its effectiveness is probably all over the board. It was likely very effective against the troops or open topped half tracks and kubelwagons (German jeep-type vehicles). However, I can see the ampulomet possibly being completely ineffective against a buttoned up tank, depending on how it was hit. I don't particularly like thinking about being a tank driver who has burning liquid streaming down the vision slits, though. That would be really bad.

The ampulomet rounds were, as you see above, made from spherical glass.I haven't found much information on how they were ignited, but it is possible that there were different systems as the war progressed and the Soviets became better supplied through Lend/Lease and their factories in the east. The rounds were apparently usually ignited in some fashion that did not involve use of an open flame. One ignition system was said to incorporate phosphorus pellets within the liquid so that it would ignite upon breaking. Another source states that a length of slow match with an igniter attached there are also reports of some ampulomet projectiles with a standard fuze lit with a match. Given the fact that WWII Soviet quality control was generally pretty poor, I would not want to be very near one of those.

I can only speculate on range and propulsion method. I imagine that the range was under 300 meters, probably more like 100-150, which would make it pretty dangerous to use, considering the other side had all those quick-firing MG42s and so-accurate 98ks, both with a longer effective range. There does not seem to be any apparatus to launch via compressed air, and that might not be the most efficient method in any case. Since the projectile is glass, I think that a gunpowder charge might be too strong for the glass. Accordingly, Internet rumor brings us a tale from a gentleman who purportedly witnessed an ampulomet demonstration and stated that about half of the projectiles burst upon firing, creating a huge ball of fire. Which would have the dual poor result of possibly showering the crew with burning gasoline and giving everyone on the other side something very attractive to shoot at.

edit: An alert reader (from the country that invented Molotov Cocktails) brought up the fact that a potato gun-like system would probably be the best way to launch the projectiles. Since I doubt the Soviet Union had ample supplies of hair spray, one of the most common propellant for simple, modern spudguns, I suppose they might have used some type of alcohol or maybe even gasoline or aviation gas.

A pretty neat weapon, not what one would want on a wish list, but a damn sight better than nothing and I for one am pretty impressed by the "out of the box" thinking that inspired the ampulomet.

This Day in History - October 10

2011-10-10T17:14:00.004-04:00

1845 - United States Naval Academy founded in Annapolis, Maryland

The institution was founded as the Naval School by Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft. The campus was established at the site of a former US Army post called Fort Severn. The school's first class had 50 Midshipmen students and seven professors. later the USS Constitution was refurbished and used as a school ship for the fourth class midshipmen. The plebes were introduced to Navy life and and traditions while they lived on board the ship which usually at anchor.

The decision to establish an academy on land is said to be a result of the infamous Somers Affair, an alleged mutiny involving the son of the Secretary of War that resulted in his execution via hanging at sea.

Gun Safety

2011-10-05T18:24:00.002-04:00

Since I made a frivolous post about gun safety yesterday, I thought I would make a real one today. Do please be careful.

Another Gadaffi Golden Gun

2011-10-05T18:18:00.004-04:00

Well, I thought the earlier one was a little understated (you know, for an oil selling dictator) and then I find this little beauty in my files. Looks like a older single action Beretta .32 to me, but I am not sure of the model type, especially with all those gems on it. I actually enjoy most "tarted up" guns, but this one makes me a little nauseous.

Gadaffi's Golden Gun

2011-10-04T20:22:00.005-04:00

The caption that was attached to the photo said that the weapon was in the possession of a rebel fighter that took the pistol from the Gadaffi compound in Tripoli. The inscription (reportedly) reads " al-Jamahiyra- Kafhafi's People's Republic". The weapon is a Makarov PM or PMM. I guess every dictator gets to have a golden gun of some type. Of course ol' uncle Saddam seemed like he had a couple of dozen of them, and personally I think his were a little cooler.

Top 10 Gun Safety Tips

2011-10-04T19:13:00.000-04:00

Smithsonian American History Museum

2011-10-04T16:46:00.017-04:00

Just a few of the pictures that I took while visiting D.C. this summer. Most came out pretty poorly, so just the highlights.

Sam Houston's .36 caliber Harmonica lock rifle, made by Seneca Ohio gunsmith Henry Gross

Civil War-era 12 pound James Shell - with greater range and accuracy than the old solid iron cannonball, plus the James Shell contained explosives

Walker Colt .44 revolver, One of 1100 ever made. Among the most valuable pistols in the world

Model 1877 Battery Gatling gun, manufactured by Colt

Civil War "Zouave" uniform from the Fifth New York Volunteer Infantry

General Andrew Jackson's uniform and sword, worn during the Battle of New Orleans

USS Philadelphia, the only surviving gunboat built and manned by American rebels during the Revolution. Sunk by the British on 11 October 1776 in Lake Champlain.

Discovered and salvaged in 1935, in good condition due to the cold water. In addition to the guns and hull, hundreds of other items were recovered from the vessel including shot, cooking utensils, tools, buttons, buckles and human bones.

The 24 pounder shot that sunk her

George Washington's sword, used during his time as Commander of the Continental Army

And who was in the downstairs hall? Good old C-3P0

F-35B landing on USS Wasp

2011-10-04T15:28:00.002-04:00

Here we have video of what was apparently the first F-35B vertical landing on a light carrier. Although Lockheed Martin vice president Steve O’Bryan has said that most F-35B landings will be purely conventional in order to reduce stress on the vertical lift components. The plan for the F-35B is to replace the AV-8B Harrier as the Marine Corps' VTOL aircraft for fighter and attack roles. In 2011, the USMC and USN signed an agreement that the USMC will purchase 340 F-35B and 80 F-35C while the USN will purchase 260 F-35C. The five squadrons of Marine Corps F-35Cs will be assigned to the Navy carriers while the Marine Corps F-35Bs will be used on Amphibious ships and ashore. Nice to see that the program is continuing to make progress.

Roman Galley from Ben-Hur

2011-07-27T17:03:00.008-04:00

Here is something you don't just run into every day. This is one of the model Roman galleys used in the production of the 1959 epic Ben-Hur. It is located inside the Baltimore Convention Center. (The Sheraton next door has awesome Maryland She-crab soup by the way) It was donated to the Mayor and citizens of Baltimore by the family of Peter S. Atsaides and renovated by the Vocational Education Department based on photos from the MGM archives and historical sources. Sorry about the quality of the pictures. This was only one of about a dozen large ship models in the Convention Center, including a very impressive model of the USS Constellation (the frigate, not the sloop-of war that is actually in the Harbor two blocks away)

I really liked the attention to detail on the ballista, catapult and my personal favorite, the ram.

BTW, unlike in fiction, the Romans did not usually use slaves to man the oars in their galleys. So there.

USS Torsk (SS-423)

2011-07-13T16:25:00.014-04:00

Here is another of the historical ships moored in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. This is the USS Torsk, a Tench-class submarine from WWII.

The Torsk is famous as the last US Navy vessel to sink an enemy warship in World War II. Torsk is one of the 26 Tench-class submarines built for the Navy in 1944-1951. Originally, there were plans to build 146 Tench-class boats, but 115 were cancelled after Imperial Japan's defeat. Only ten ever saw combat service in the war. The Tench class was an evolutionary improvement over the older Gato and Balao classes- larger, stronger and better laid out internally.

The Torsk was built in Portsmouth, Maine in the summer of 1944 and commissioned on 16 December 1944. Her first commander was Commander Bafford E. Lewellen.
She trained in the waters off New London Connecticut for two months and then sailed to Port Everglades, Florida to take part in antisubmarine research for four days. She then transited the Panama Canal and sailed to Pearl Harbor, arriving on March 23, 1945.

Torsk then began the work she was built for. She arrived off the northeastern coast of Honshu on May 13 and began her patrol after linking up with the subs USS Cero and and Sand Lance. Little was discovered other than Naval mines until the Torsk finally found an enemy ship, the very mine layer that had seeded the area with mines. She fired six torpedoes that the ship was able to maneuver away from and then she dove to escape the area. She then returned to Pearl Harbor for refitting and new equipment and began her second patrol on July 17. On August 11, after rescuing seven Japanese merchant seamen adrift from the wreck of the Koue Maru, she made her first kill, torpedoing a coastal freighter from periscope depth.

On August 14, Torsk sighted a 745 ton Kaibokan-class patrol escort vessel and its charge, a medium-sized cargo ship. She took up position near the mouth of the harbor at Kasumi Ko and launched a new Mark 28 torpedo at the warship. They scored a hit and the vessel rose some 30 degrees at the stern and sank quickly. Less than half an hour later the freighter attempted to enter the harbor and Torsk fired but missed, possibly hitting uncharted reefs. Torsk waited and another hour or so later another frigate was sighted, coming to reinforce the harbor. Torsk fired another Mark 28, having already been detected by the frigate. The order was passed to dive and rig for silent running by Commander Lewellen. She reached a depth of 400 feet, (which was getting close to as deep as subs of the era could dive) and launched another torpedo. This one was a Mark 27, able to acoustically home in on the enemy's propeller sounds. The crew heard the explosion of its impact on the frigates' hull and about a minute later, a secondary explosion and the tell tale sounds of a ship breaking up. The Torsk and her crew had proved themselves, sinking two enemy warships in one encounter. This would turn out to be the last Japanese warship sunk in the war. She was forced to dive due to patrolling enemy planes and ships, and remained submerged more than seven tense hours before surfacing and leaving the area.

Escape trunk from the Forward Torpedo room. It could hold four men at a time and was then flooded with seawater to equalize the pressure. The process was then repeated until all the submariners had abandoned ship. Sounds like fun, right?

Forward Torpedo room with six 21 inch torpedo tubes

One thing I have found amazing about subs I have been on is how busy and crammed the inside is. Everywhere you look there is machinery, bunks, gear. I can't imagine what it was like on a combat patrol with supplies and sailors everywhere. To be honest, the whole ship smelled like oil and diesel. Can you imagine what it was like with the engines on? How about with 81 dudes breathing and farting in it?

Engine room with two Fairbanks Morse diesel engines

After Torpedo room with two 21 inch torpedo tubes

BTW a torsk is a North Atlantic fish, related to the cod

(from Wikipedia) General characteristics
Type:	Diesel-electric submarine
Displacement:	1,570 tons (1,595 t) surfaced 2,416–2,429 tons (2,455–2468 t) submerged
Length:	311 ft 8 in (95.0 m)
Beam:	27 ft 3 in (8.3 m)
Draft:	17 ft (5.2 m) maximum
Propulsion:	4 × diesel engines driving electrical generators 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries 2 × low-speed electric motors two propellers 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged
Speed:	20.25 knots (38 km/h) surfaced 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged
Range:	11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)
Endurance:	48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged 75 days on patrol
Test depth:	400 ft (120 m)
Complement:	10 officers, 71 enlisted
Armament:	10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (six forward, four aft) 28 torpedoes 1 × 5-inch (127 mm) / 25 caliber deck gun Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

USS Torsk received two battle stars for its service in WWII and a Navy Commendation Medal for service during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

She set the all-time record of career dives, at 11,884.

USS Torsk, taken from the deck of USS Constellation with the National Aquarium in the background (which is also nice)

Kel Tec KSG 12 gauge

2011-07-06T16:14:00.016-04:00

This is the new shotgun from Kel-Tec, the KSG. It is a bullpup 12 gauge shotgun with dual magazine tubes. Ever since it was announced a few months ago, I have been excited about it. The KSG manages to be as compact as legally possible with a 26.1" overall length and an 18.5" barrel. It is pretty neat design, almost revolutionary, the only other thing that is close to it is the South African Neostead.

http://homemadedefense.blogspot.com/2009/10/weird-guns-part-4-neostead-dual-tube.html

The magazine tubes carry seven 2-3/4" or six 3" shells apiece for a total of 14+1, which is nearly ridiculous (-ly awesome). The user can switch between the tubes with a three position lever located in the area behind the trigger guard. The lever can also be set to a central detente area to allow the chamber to be emptied with the pump action without feeding a new shell from the mag tube. The pump is linked to the bolt via dual operating bars. The spent shells are ejected down through the loading port. Once the selected magazine is empty, the user must manually switch to the other tube. There is a cross bolt safety located above the pistol grip and a pump release lever at the front of the trigger guard.

The KSG comes in at 6.9lbs (unloaded I am assuming) and while that is maybe a little heavy, you will likely want that extra weight to soak up the recoil. Which I imagine will be, ummm, noticeable even with the rubber butt pad. It has a Picatinny rail along the bottom of the pump to mount a grip, light or laser and another rail on the top of the weapon for sights. As of right now, it seems it will come bare, and that is a bad decision on the part of Kel-Tec. If I buy a gun, it should come with sights. So do me a favor and throw a cheap fiber optic on there. Forward and rear sling loops are built in, and a regular sling is included. There is a cheek rest structure that also functions as a type of blast shield in case of a catastrophic failure of the chamber or barrel. And that is nice, because, you know, your face goes there.

KSG field stripped

There have been some internet rumblings about perceived shortcomings of the the design though. One thing is recoil, which in large bore bullpups can be a bit much. Another is the fact that its extremely short overall length may lead to negative views by the media, law enforcement or the States. I could easily imagine California, for example, looking on the KSG with scorn. There are also some issues with the magazine selection lever and the trigger. But keep in mind that any design takes a little while to reach maturity and this is still a new design, not yet for sale at this time.

In the pic above you can really see how much more compact the KSG is compared to a standard pump shotgun. If the design proves solid, I think it might find a lot of acceptance in the Law Enforcement and civilian areas. MSRP has not been stated, but it has been mentioned to be in the $800 US range. Hopefully that would make it about $625-675, which I think would be a good price, I would probably be willing to pay that, but they are not going to find a lot of people willing to pay $800 for a pump action 12 gauge, no matter how stumpy.

USS Constellation

2011-07-06T16:13:00.022-04:00

USS Constellation in 1862 by Tomaso de Simone

I recently took a trip to Baltimore, Maryland and Washington D.C. and while there I went to see the USS Constellation, the last ship to fight in the Civil War still afloat. This is the second ship of the US Navy to bear the name Constellation. The first was a frigate built in 1797 and carried 38 guns and was only the second ship to be commissioned in the United States Navy. It was the first US Navy vessel to put to sea and the first US Navy vessel to engage, defeat, and capture an enemy vessel. The ship that I saw was a type known as a sloop of war and was built in 1854 in Gosport Naval Yard, Virginia.

USS Constellation
Length: 176 feet (between perpendiculars)
Beam: 40 feet, 6 inches (molded beam)
Draft: 21 feet
Displacement: 1,400 tons
Complement: 20 officers, 220 sailors, 45 marines

The Constellation served in the Mediterranean Squadron from 1855-1858 and was mostly used for diplomatic duties. In 1859 she was transferred to the USN African Squadron became its flagship. In two and a half years, she interdicted three slave ships, including the Cora, which was carrying a cargo if 705 slaves that were set free in Monrovia, Liberia.

Constellation spent most of the Civil War cruising the Mediterranean to deter Confederate commerce raiders, cruisers and blockade runners. In 1864 she was assigned to Admiral Farragut's West Gulf Blockading Squadron.

After the war, Constellation was tasked with bringing famine relief to Ireland. It then became the training ship for midshipmen from the US Naval Academy, serving as the ship for their summer training cruises. She has even been called the "Cradle of Admirals" because so many future high ranking officers served aboard her in their youth. She then became a stationary training ship for the Naval Training Center from 1894 to 1933. The Constellation was used as a relief flagship for the US Atlantic Fleet during WWII.

In its heyday around 1855, the Constellation was armed with sixteen 8 inch "Shell guns" and four 32 pounder, solid shot firing "Long Guns". A secondary battery of two 10 inch pivot guns mounted fore and aft on the spar deck. It carried five cutters and one launch with a 12 pounder howitzer. It would have also carried a large assortment of small arms, including Model 1840 and later 1860 cutlasses, boarding pikes, hatchets, and various muzzle loading pistols and long arms. These would be kept in the armory and issued out when close action was expected.

In 1862 the ship's armament was upgraded with one 30-pounder Parrott rifle at the bow and one 20-pounder Parrott rifle at the stern; also two additional 12-pounder boat howitzers were added.

One very nice thing about the Constellation is that you get to pretty much see the entire ship. Many old ship will let tourists walk on the deck and maybe in the gun deck, but the Constellation was almost completely open. Below the gun deck is the area that most of the crew would have spent their time. It was cramped and had very low ceilings, no more than 6 feet high. One could see that sharing the berthing area with 250 or so unwashed sailors off the coast of West Africa would have been pretty awful. On the other hand, the hammocks did look pretty comfy and were wider than the jungle hammock that I sleep in when I go camping. However they were hung a lot higher up. That might not sound bad, but it is said that the petty officers would cut the cords of anyone not getting up fast enough to suit them. Which would be a pretty crappy way to start your day of backbreaking labor and risking your life. I was able to go in most of the cabins, see period surgical instruments and read the large amount of placards and so forth of historical information. I was even able to go down into the hold and bilge areas (pics did not come out) which was even more cramped.

USS Constellation is the last Civil War era naval vessel still afloat and the last all sail warship built by the U.S. Navy. In 1963, the ship was preserved as a National Historical Monument the Inner Harbor of Baltimore. In 1999 a nine million dollar restoration project was completed and returned the ship's exterior to its Civil War era appearance.

USS Constellation at Pier 1, Baltimore Inner Harbor

KA-BAR LDK

2011-06-22T21:54:00.007-04:00

This is the KA-BAR TDI LDK, my newest acquisition. TDI is the Tactical Defense Institute and LDK stands for last ditch knife. It is intended as a backup weapon, for self defense when you can't access any other weapon. It is very small, but seems like it is pretty good quality, which one would expect when buying any knife with KA-BAR written on the side. The knife is made from a single thin piece of steel. It has a flat ground blade and an extremely acute point. It will go right through just about anything softer than the knife itself. It weighs next to nothing and has been riding in my pocket for a week and I can't even feel it in there. the blade is listed as 1.58 inches long and is pretty sharp right out of the box.

One of the scenarios that helped to inspire this type of weapon is the classic "gun retention" situation where someone is attempting to take a pistol away from you, usually when it is in a holster. One idea is that you hold onto the weapon as tight as possible, draw the knife with your weak hand and apply it generously to your assailant until they cease attempting to take your weapon, or until you can back off and draw said weapon. That scenario is mostly for law enforcement types, but as some application to anyone who might be attacked in the street.

The sheath is black glass filled nylon and feels pretty sturdy. It is about the size of a credit card and can be laced into your shoes or boots, or behind a policeman's badge for example. It came with some 550 type cord to wear around the neck, but I considered that a no-go, because you can be strangled on purpose or on accident with strong cord around the neck. I outfitted it with a ball chain, but I didn't care for wearing it around my neck that way either.

I've seen others use different grips, but the the pic below shows what feels more comfortable to me. Middle finger through the hole in the grip, index finger in the "trigger area" and thumb laying across the left face of the knife and onto the serrations along the spine. If you have big sausage fingers, this will not work for you. In fact, if you have real big hands I would recommend that you skip this neat little knife altogether. One thing I like about this type of grip is that it would be very difficult to take it away from me. There is nowhere to grab the weapon that isn't sharp and if you tried a martial arts-style wrist grab you very well could end up with a set of very nasty, deep cuts as the small blade is very easy to move around compared to a big knife.

A pretty neat little knife if you ask me, and one that will likely be in my pocket for well, ever. The LDK usually goes for about $20 US, but I got mine for a song at $11.99, from Midway USA, which is an awesome company. (Hey Larry, how about some free swag for the free advertising?)

This Day in History - June 21

2011-06-22T15:52:00.011-04:00

1919 - The Scuttling of the Imperial German High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow

SMS Bayern

World War I ended on November 11, 1918, but as things tend to do, not everything was quite tidied up yet. Under the terms of the Armistice, the German U-boat fleet was surrendered and no one was under any illusions that the Germans would be allowed to wreak havoc on international shipping with their U-boats again. The High Seas Fleet was another matter however. Under Article XXXI of the Armistice the Germans were not permitted to destroy their ships. Germany of course, wanted them back, the opinions of the British Royal Navy seemed to lean towards breaking the ships up for scrap, so that they could never again threaten them. The French and Italians contingents wanted a quarter of the ships each for themselves. They could at no cost, greatly increase their Naval power and at the same time, decrease their neighbors and punish Germany. (Which was of course, the point of the Treaty of Versailles, which may have helped to cause WWII, but that is another matter)

Admiral von Reuter, commanding the crew of the interred Navy, waited until most of the Royal Navy ships in the vicinity went out for a training exercise and gave the order to scuttle all vessels at 10:00am. By 12:00, when the began to list, the crews hoisted the Imperial German Ensign to their mainmasts (which they had been expressly forbidden from doing) and began to abandon ship. The Royal Navy picked up 1,774 Germans by the evening and transported them to Invergodon by battleships of the First Battle Squadron. Vice-Admiral Fremantle had sent out a general order declaring that the Germans were to be treated as prisoners-of-war for having broken the armistice and they were destined for the prisoner-of-war camps at Nigg Island.

Ultimately, 52 of the 74 ships sank including 15 of the 16 capital ships, 5 of the 8 cruisers, and 32 of the 50 destroyers. The rest were towed to shore by the British Guard boats that attempted to stop the scuttling. Nine German soldiers were shot and killed by the guards during those actions. In the inter war period, some were raised and scrapped or sunk as targets, but some remain today, many at considerable depth, and can be visited by divers.

SMS Hinderberg

217 BC - Battle of Lake Trasimene

The battle of Lake Trasimene has been recorded not only as one of the most important battles of the First Punic War, but also one of the most successful ambushes in the history of war.

The Punic Wars were a series of conflicts between the north African empire of Carthage and the Republic of Rome. Due to the daring, intelligence and and burning hatred of Carthage's general Hannibal, the Romans had been having a rough time. They elected Gaius Flaminius and Gnaeus Servilus Geminus to the position of Consul and gave them control of two armies and orders to destroy Hannibal's invading army which had been pillaging and burning its way through southern Europe.

Hannibal was an expert tactician and showed a clear understanding of the need to fight on ground that is favorable to your forces. After failing to goad the army under Flaminius to a fight, Hannibal started to move towards Rome. Hearing that the Roman army had finally broken camp and was following them, Hannibal chose his ground and arrayed his forces.

He chose a heavily forested hill region on the shores of the lake. Below the camp, on a small hill, he set up his heavy infantry forces, made up of Iberians, Celts and Africans. They would be position to attack downhill toward the Roman column's left flank when it appeared. His light infantry from Gaul was concealed in the wooded hills along with the the cavalry. They were to stay hidden until the attack began and then quickly block the Romans' line of retreat. His lightest armed troops were kept along the hills in hiding, ready to hit the Roman column in the flanks after the attack began. Hannibal had also ordered his men to light campfires on the Tuoro, to convince the Romans that they were further away than they thought. Having set up his men, Hannibal then merely had to wait for Flaminius to come blundering along into the trap. Flaminius could have waited to be reinforced by Servilius, and in fact was urged to do so. But he is remembered as a being impetuous and lacking self-control. He would live just long enough to regret those traits.

The next morning, Flaminius led his troops eastward along the road along the edge of the lake. A thick morning fog was present. Hannibal dispatched a small force of skirmishers to draw out the Roman vanguard. This had the effect of splitting the Roman force into two groups. As soon as the main body of the legions entered the kill zone, the trumpets were sounded, giving the signal for the attack.

The attack went exactly as planned and the Carthaginian cavalry blocked off the retreat route of the Romans. The Romans were taken by surprise and were being attacked on three sides, with water on the fourth. The Romans did not have time to form up their standard ranks and had to fight in a way they did not prefer. Romans armies usually did not march in their armor although this may not have been the case in this battle. The Romans were divided into three groups and the vanguard seeing the slaughter behind them, broke through the skirmishers and escaped through the forest. The rear of the column, furthest to the west was hit by a cavalry charge and forced into the lake, where many drowned. The center, with the most of the forces, fought for more than three hours with Hannibal's elite Gaulish heavy infantry before being wiped out. Flaminius was killed by the Gaul Ducarius. The Romans suffered about 15,000 dead and 5,000 captured, a total and complete defeat. The Carthaginians lost 2,500 killed and reports state that many later died of their wounds.

Also...

Livy states that so terrible was the massacre at Lake Trasimene, that neither army was aware of the occurrence of an earthquake, which at the very moment of the battle "overthrew large portions of many of the cities of Italy, turned rivers, and levelled mountains with an awful crash."
An ancient tradition says that because of the blood, which for over three days filled the water, that the name of a small stream feeding the lake was renamed Sanguineto, the "Blood River".
In the surroundings of Lake Trasimene, there are further areas which retain a particular meaning, including Ossaia ("Charnel House, Place of Bones"), Sepoltaglia ("Place of Burial"), Caporosso ("Cape red"), Piegaro ("Subdued Place), Preggio (from "Peggio", "Worse"), Pugnano ("Place of battles"), and Pian di Marte ("Field of Mars").

Smithsonian's History Jokes

2011-06-22T15:52:00.007-04:00

I thought these were pretty hilarious and I like how they point out that history is just FULL of craziness.

Living Insignia

2011-06-03T15:34:00.006-04:00

I found these pics a couple of days ago and thought that they were kinda neat. They all date from the early WWII period and were taken at various military training sites. The last one is the entire 1st Division. I guess they took them from a tower or perhaps an aircraft. Not something you see everyday.

More Eye Pro saves

2011-06-03T15:31:00.002-04:00

Eye Protection is awesome

2011-05-26T17:06:00.007-04:00

It is not uncommon to here stories about soldiers whose lives were saved by their helmets or body armor. But no less important is eye protection.

Here are two photos I found today from combat operations in Afghanistan. This soldier, identified as Corporal Renaud M. of the French Alpine Hunters, took a Taliban round straight into his goggles. even though they are on his helmet in the pic, I imagine they were on his face during the incident, given the wound on his cheek. He would have certainly sustained a serious wound without his eyepro and very well might have even been killed. This is just another instance of modern protective equipment doing the great job we want it to. I often hear people complain about the amount of money the military uses up, but when I see one of our boys' life saved by that money I feel good.

Good work and all my best wishes, Corporal Renaud. And good work, nameless person who made those goggles. Taliban gunner--fuck you.

BTW- these photos were taken by Thomas Goisque, all credit to him, hopefully he won't mind my use of them for educational purposes. You can see the rest of the series here:
http://www.thomasgoisque-photo.com/site.php?page=reportages&spec=def&id=90##

A New Army - for China

2011-05-26T13:15:00.009-04:00

Today China formally announced that the Chinese People's Liberation Arny has set up a cyber command called the "Blue Army". Anyone who has been paying attention knows that cyber crime and cyber espionage has been going on for some time and that it is very likely that many viruses and so forth have come out of China. US computer security firm Symantec states that they estimate 30% of all malicious emails come out of China. That is not to say that the Chinese government has been behind them all. It is very plausible that various other nefarious elements such as Russian and Chinese crime syndicates have used the available pool of tech savvy Chinese and lack of oversight to launder money, steal industrial secrets and so forth.

The spokesman for the PLA, Geng Yansheng, stated that the goal of the Blue Army was to improve the country's military security. He also stated that China has been the victim of computer based attacks and that the network security of China was relatively weak. While probably true, that will not likely quiet the storm of people in the West that will use the announcement of the Blue Army's existence to call for more resources to be dedicated to national information and network security. Nor should it. While we should try to be as friendly as possible with the Chinese, both government and people, we do need to realize that they might not feel the same way. Also it is normally assumed that China very dearly wishes to dethrone us as the world superpower.

The Blue Army is reportedly run out of the Guandong Military Command, has existed for at least 2 years and consists of 30 people. I find it hard to believe that a country of 1.5 billion people, with the world's largest military and a fervent desire to modernize would have a computer army of 30 people. I could get 30 nerds together in my buddy's computer repair shop by tomorrow morning. I think it is safe to assume that the real size of the Blue Army is a much bigger than that. That being said, it could be that the Chinese have compartmentalized their network defense and that the intelligence services also maintain a sizable "cyber-police" (for back-tracing). This is even more likely when you think about the steps that the Communist Party has taken in an attempt to prevent their citizens from unfettered Internet access. It is also a good bet that the powers that be in China are at least occasionally interested in checking on the online activities of their flock and perhaps, you know, read an email or two.

So, America's decision makers-- get crackin' on this or we will fall so far behind that we might as well give the country to the Chinese Communist Party (the parts of it they don't already own that is). While cyber security has been talked about a great deal, I like a lot of of other people do not believe that enough has been done to give our country adequate defenses against this new form of warfare and espionage. We need to ensure that we have intelligent, tech savvy, creative, and loyal people working on this for us. And not just as contractors working under multi million dollar contracts. We need an organic National Security cyber team. How about full scholarships and guaranteed jobs for some computer science students for a start? So, come up with some cool name and get to it Department of Defense.

Picture this, just in some ACUs

Now it is time for a funny

2011-05-12T13:46:00.000-04:00

I've said it before, but I am going to try and actually post on my blog with some kind of regularity again. And like I have done before I will start off by posting some easy bullshit that takes no work or thought at all from me.

So, how about some funny pics.

The Real Reason the Rebels lost on Hoth:

And while it is not as relevant as it was last week...

History's Oddities

2011-03-16T22:31:00.002-04:00

This is Comanche, reputed to be the only survivor of Custer's 7th Cavalry after their fateful battle at Little Big Horn.

The plaque states:
" Comanche, the only survivor of the Custer Massacre, 1876. History of the horse and regimental orders of the 7th Cavalry as to the care of Comanche as long as he shall live 1887."

I would think that some other horses survived and were taken by the various tribes that fought there, but it does make for an interesting picture.

Predator Tactical .500 S&W

2011-03-16T21:19:00.011-04:00

For those of you with a lot of money to burn through...
The new Predator Tactical .500 S&W. It is a pump action rifle with a 16.5" barrel and a six round tubular magazine. The basic model comes with a Cerakote® finish in black or tan with Ashely Express sights. It weighs 7 pounds, unloaded. It was developed to maximize the ballistics of the .500 S&W cartridge, developed by Cor-Bon and Smith and Wesson for the X frame revolver. The basic idea is that with a rifle you have a longer barrel, giving the projectile greater velocity. Also, you have less muzzle flash and report because more of the hot gases are used up pushing the bullet out of the longer barrel. You can also have a longer sight radius (the length between rear sight and front sight) this makes it easier to aim, giving better results in most cases. The third benefit is that you can shoulder the weapon and steady it with your weak hand, making it easier to shoot, especially at longer range.

I have fired one(1) round from a S&W .500 and I think the pressure wave gave me a mild concussion. It is something else. Although, in felt recoil, it wasn't too much worse than the .454 Casull Raging Bull I fired. Some of you may not be familiar with the world of ballistics, so I have included two pics to help you:

First, the ballistics data. Not very sexy, but it does give one an idea of the type of power we are dealing with here. For comparison, I have a very "hot" (high pressure = high velocity) 9mm cartridge, the Cor-Bon Pow'rball. It fires a 100 grain projectile at about 1400 FPS. Most of the above loadings are that fast, but 3 times heavier.
Next for those who like a more visual representation:
This is the .500 S&W next too what was once the standard for powerful handgun rounds, the .44 Remington Magnum.

Here is a neat video of the PT 500 being shot:

Who drinks Coke Zero? Be a man and drink real Coke or drink water.

Now the truth is that this is going to be an only marginally useful gun. It would be okay for some types of hunting, but the 16.5 inch barrel will limit its range, making it a good gun only for relatively short distances, perhaps 150 yards as a practical limit. For dangerous game, I would rather have a full sized rifle and a 4" barrel .44 Magnum revolver. It is mostly a gun for rich guys to take to the range and impress their friends. Why rich guys? Because it is from a custom gun shop and is listed at $1895.00 US. All that being said, I sure would like an afternoon with this little gun and a stack of paint cans. Of course I would need about $200 for all the ammo. Oh well.

I would like to see it in a "tacticool" version with rails, polymer furniture and pistol grip with a collapsible stock, but that's just me. And if you are a traditionalist, you could go the lever gun route with the Big Horn Armory Model 89 in .500 S&W.

http://www.predatortactical.com/PT-500/PT-500-p36.html

http://www.bighornarmory.com/products/carbine.php

Camouflage Project

2011-03-16T19:48:00.011-04:00

So I decided to try my hand at a camouflage finish for a weapon. Being nervous but smart, I came to the conclusion that I did not want to try it on a real gun without some practice. So I painted my paintball gun.

I originally wanted a simple scheme that would make it a little easier to conceal when playing in the woods. I started by disassembling it and taping off any areas like the barrel and trigger where I didn't want any paint to get. Then I gave it a couple of base coats of ultra flat khaki Krylon spray paint. Then having breathed too many fumes I decided that I would attempt to give it a "digitalized" paint scheme. I only had three colors to work with, all from Krylon: khaki, and a fairly dark green and brown. Some more intermediate colors like coyote brown, olive drab or foliage green would have been nice, but you have to work with what you have. After the base coat, I took out the painters tape and began to cut and place pieces of tape to start the design. It ended up like this:

One thing it is hard to keep in mind with this is that the parts you are taping off will be the base color and the parts currently visible will be the next color in the design. It is usually best to base coat with your lightest color, then use the next lightest and the darkest color last. Also, use the darkest color very sparingly.

This is the result of the masking and green paint. It is okay, but I thought that adding the brown would give it a little more depth. So, more hours of cutting and placing little pieces of tape.

This is the main receiver just prior to getting the last coat of paint. Note that there are more places taped off, as I want less brown than green or tan. Also, it is important to make sure that your third color overlaps both earlier colors. I also tried to keep the lines uneven and to leave little islands of each color surrounded by the others to help the shape breaking up effect. This will help to give the design some depth.

This is the final result. I am fairly pleased with it. It isn't as bad as I feared or as good as I might have hoped. I do think it came out a little too "busy" but I think it is not too bad for a first try. If I did another, (which I certainly would not) I would try to make the various colored areas larger and more blob-like and less line-like. That would make it more like the real digital patterns like CADPAT and MARPAT.

In case anyone is curious, the paintball gun is a Spyder EMR-1. If you choose to do something similar, heed my warning: this takes a lot of time. Too much really. You can get just as good an effect with a couple of stencils and instead of spending hours of time, get it done in minutes- minus the drying time. Let me know what you think, I will moderate the comments so that it looks like everyone loves it anyway. :)

Grendel P10 .380ACP

2011-02-01T16:00:00.009-05:00

If you had asked gun writers (including me) about the future of the .380 ACP cartridge a few years ago, the average answer would probably be that it was going extinct. The rise of the wundernines made it an underpowered, overpriced antique. Well think again. Advances in bullet design and the rise in states that allow concealed carry has given new life to the old .380. It can now perform at a level not too much below a 9mm NATO and above most .38 Specials. The .380 also makes a great cartridge for small concealable pistols. It is of a class higher in power than .32s, .25s and .22s. And unlike higher powered loads of 9mm and .40, it can be chambered in guns using the blowback method of operation instead of the more expensive, more complex, and less accurate short recoil method of operation. I say less accurate because the barrel of blowback operated pistols is almost always fixed rigidly to the frame, making them "straighter shooting".

Here we have a somewhat strange example of the .380 concealed carry gun. This is the Grendel P10. Unlike many of the .380s on the market today, the Grendel is an older design, and was only produced from 1988 to 1991. You can see its design uses several features to increase its utility as a serious carry piece. It has a large trigger guard, and has its grip raked back at about a five degree angle to increase its "pointability" and decrease felt recoil. It is very smooth, with little or no projections to snag on holsters or clothing while being drawn. Polymer frame to reduce weight, sized small enough to be able to readily conceal yet big enough to get a grip on for serious shooting.

Why is the Grendel P10 strange? Because it, unlike any modern semiautomatic pistol, does not use a detachable magazine. Instead, it has an internal magazine like a Mauser C96 Broomhandle and is fed with 10 round AR15 stripper clips. While there are disadvantages for using this system, namely losing the possibility of a quick reload. But I have found that most people who carry a pistol don't carry an extra magazine anyway. Despite its faults, it has some interesting positives as well.

One that springs to my mind immediately is that there is no way to accomplish a common negligent discharge (there are NO firearms accidents). Many times a person will eject the magazine out of a semi auto and pronounce the weapon safe and empty, without checking the chamber. Sadly, this lapse of judgement kills several people a year. Since there is no magazine to eject, there is no way to effect this type of error. This fits in line with the idea that the P10 is meant for someone who is not really a "gun person". No need to keep up with magazines, switch them out or down-load them to preserve the springs. Of course, there is a danger that the internal magazines' springs may wear out, but I would buy two extras and not worry too much about it.
The weapon functions double action only, without any external safeties, like most revolvers. This is probably the best method of operation for users that do not wish to spend many hours in training. It is relatively hard to fire without meaning to, but uncomplicated enough so you can fire it when you are scared shitless.

(However, anyone who is thinking of carrying a weapon for self defense should train for it, both in general weapons handling and care, laws and ethics of concealed carry and specific training on how to draw and fire the weapon in high stress situations.)

Here we see it with a threaded muzzle brake, grip extension and mini-mag flashlight mounted on the frame. I would recommend anyone keeping a pistol or any other firearm in their home for defense to mount a light on the weapon. A pretty neat little gun if you ask me, and in some ways it was ahead of its time.

Blackbeard's sword?

2011-01-23T03:14:00.008-05:00

In 1996, a team of archaeologists from Intersal, Inc found a ship that they believed to be the Queen Anne's Revenge, off the coast of North Carolina. It was once the flagship of one of the most notorious pirates in history, the famed Blackbeard a.k.a. Edward Teach Recently, a sword was recovered from the site and made the news rounds as Blackbeard's sword. While the fact that it was found on the ship might make it possibly a possession of Blackbeard, it was almost certainly not his sword, at least in terms of a weapon that he carried and used.

We can see that it is of a type we can call a small sword, which were dueling weapons, mostly for the upper class. They tended to be very light and somewhat short,easy to wear all day. They are the basis for modern fencing weapons, epee and foil, (they were not based on the rapier as many people think. The rapier was a very long and heavy sword, which required extensive training and strength to use.) It is possible that it once had a bone hilt and it was obviously made with some care and style. I can't tell if the hilt is brass or if it is gilded, but this was obviously the sword of a man of standing, not the cutlass or hanger that were the most common sword types of the era. So it is most likely that this was part of the pirate treasure (I'd say its booty) rather than a weapon used by the pirates. Still, how cool is that?

Blackbeard was not really active as a pirate for a very long time, perhaps only from 1716 to his death in 1718. He was said to be a tall, spare man with a long black beard, often braided, wound with ribbon or in little ponytails.Period accounts also state that he wore a "a sling over his shoulders, with three brace of pistols, hanging in holsters like bandoliers; and stuck lighted matches under his hat" (Johnson, 1724)

The burning fuse in his beard or behind his ears was rumored to be a ploy to to frighten his enemies. Although considering that his game was combat and robbery on the high seas, he might have just used the fuse as an alternate way to fire his cannon and pistols flintlock weapons are seriously flawed under the best of conditions and fighting at sea was not the best of conditions.
However, it has also been noted that Blackbeard was a effective leader, realizing that the more his victims were afraid of him, the less likely that they would give him and serious resistance.
Blackbeard was killed in battle by a small force of sailors under Lieutenant Robert Maynard on November 22, 1718.

http://www.qaronline.org/
http://www.friendsofqar.org/

Soth Korea's SEALs kick ass

2011-01-21T15:48:00.007-05:00

Earlier today, (Friday 1/21/11) The Republic of South Korea (ROK) completed a nearly flawless takeover of the ship Samho Jewelry off the coast of Oman. It had been hijacked by a group of 13 armed Somali pirates while en route from the UAE to Sri Lanka. The ship is a 11,500 ton chemical carrier, owned and operated by Samho Shipping out of South Korea. This is the second of the their ships to be hijacked in the last several months. The crew was a mix of Koreans, Indonesians, and Myanmar citizens. ( Myanmarese? Myanmarites? If you know tell me)

At first light the ROK SEALs approached the ship in a small craft while being covered by a ROKN destroyer and Lynx helicopter. The entire operation took about five hours and ended with all 21 hostages rescued. Five pirates were taken prisoner and eight of these stellar examples of humankind will trouble no one again. The captain of the ship was wounded by one of the pirates in the assault, but the wound was stated to be non-life threatening and he was flown to a nearby country for treatment by a US military helicopter. There were no other injuries.

During the assault, the Lynx helicopter broadcast a message in Korean for everyone to lay down and then began to fire at the ship with its 12.7mm machine gun to cover the SEALs climbing the side of the ship. You can see the impact marks on the pic below. This operation is significant not just for the crew and ship that were freed or the pirates killed or captured. This is one of the only anti-pirate assaults of its kind. In most other assaults of pirate-held ships the crew has been locked away in a safe room known as a citadel. That way the team has very little risk of accidentally shooting the crew whether through cross fire or misidentification.

As of today, it is estimated that there are at least 29 vessels and 703 hostages being held by pirates off the coast of Somalia. The shipping route that lies near Somalia is one of the most vital in the world and connects the Indian Ocean to the Suez Canal and then to the Mediterranean Sea. It is extremely economically important not only to nearby nations, but to the entire world.
This was great work by the South Korean Navy and all involved should be proud.

Medal of Honor Corporal Tony Stein, USMC

2011-01-17T15:32:00.003-05:00

*STEIN, TONY

Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.

Born: 30 September 1921, Dayton, Ohio.

Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with Company A, 1st Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, in the Volcano Islands, 19 February 1945. The first man of his unit to be on station after hitting the beach in the initial assault, Cpl. Stein, armed with a personally improvised aircraft-type weapon, provided rapid covering fire as the remainder of his platoon attempted to move into position. When his comrades were stalled by a concentrated machinegun and mortar barrage, he gallantly stood upright and exposed himself to the enemy's view, thereby drawing the hostile fire to his own person and enabling him to observe the location of the furiously blazing hostile guns. Determined to neutralize the strategically placed weapons, he boldly charged the enemy pillboxes 1 by 1 and succeeded in killing 20 of the enemy during the furious single-handed assault. Cool and courageous under the merciless hail of exploding shells and bullets which fell on all sides, he continued to deliver the fire of his skillfully improvised weapon at a tremendous rate of speed which rapidly exhausted his ammunition. Undaunted, he removed his helmet and shoes to expedite his movements and ran back to the beach for additional ammunition, making a total of 8 trips under intense fire and carrying or assisting a wounded man back each time. Despite the unrelenting savagery and confusion of battle, he rendered prompt assistance to his platoon whenever the unit was in position, directing the fire of a half-track against a stubborn pillbox until he had effected the ultimate destruction of the Japanese fortification. Later in the day, although his weapon was twice shot from his hands, he personally covered the withdrawal of his platoon to the company position. Stouthearted and indomitable, Cpl. Stein, by his aggressive initiative sound judgment, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of terrific odds, contributed materially to the fulfillment of his mission, and his outstanding valor throughout the bitter hours of conflict sustains and enhances the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.

Maps of War

2011-01-17T15:13:00.004-05:00

I friend of mine sent me this link and I liked it so much I though I should share it with all of you. I really like information to be presented in a visual format so this was really neat to me. It would be pretty difficult for those of us of the "intarwebnetz generation" to find the time or place to get this type of info from the sources, so I am always very pleased when someone does the work for me.

http://www.mapsofwar.com/index.html

For me the most interesting one was the map of the Battle of Iwo Jima. It also lists the names of Medal of Honor recipients on Iwo Jima, with links to their citations. ( I also watched Letters from Iwo Jima this weekend. It is one of the greatest war movies ever made. You should check it out.)
The map of Coalition casualties in Iraq is quite powerful as well.

Firearms

2011-01-17T14:53:00.003-05:00

Hand Cannon

2011-01-17T14:52:00.005-05:00

I'm sure most of you have heard this term before, usually referencing a large revolver of .44 caliber or bigger, or maybe a Desert Eagle. Those guns are for little girls or Jimmy Carter or something.

THIS is a hand cannon. I don't really have any information on this gun. Longtime readers will note that my research only lasts for a few short seconds and is lets say "shallow". I think it may be of French origin or from the French-speaking world, but that is only because the pic was titled "Canon Main" but it certainly could be it was just from a French person. It looks to be from the 1700's or earlier and it appears it was cast in one piece, although I am not sure about the metal.
Rather than a direct fire, large bore gun, it also could be a type of small mortar or grenade launcher since the bore is so wide. Another theory I came up with is that it is a flare gun or some other type of signaling device, due to the shooting star engraved on the barrel.

Whatever it is, I though it was cool and though you might think so too. If anyone out there has any more info or even guesses, let me know.

Chinese Laser weapons

2011-01-17T14:14:00.013-05:00

The PLA (People's Liberation Army) has been feverishly modernizing its forces in the last few years, trying to bring a huge military force based in many ways on the Soviet forces of WWII into the modern era. They have done well on most areas, although to be fair, this has been greatly helped by espionage activities in the West. The PLA still faces an uphill battle against any country with a "21st century" force.

Here is one weapon they have developed to help even the odds. I don't have any real information from the Chinese on it, but it is of a class of weapons we could call dazzlers. The intended effect is to limit the enemies' sight and temporarily blind and disorient them. This could be very effective against landing planes, which is why the FAA and other bodies that ensure airline safety have been very worried even about relatively low powered green laser pointers.

It is similar to a US weapon I discussed earlier, the GLARE LA-9P. The Chinese weapons industry has also been paying attention to the design philosophies of the West and has designed the weapon to look and feel like their main assault rifle, the QBZ-95. This makes the soldiers immediately feel more familiar with it and can cut down on training time. It also would make it difficult for observers to tell that the soldier has a specialist weapon instead of a standard one.

As you can see, the beam looks very powerful and I would not doubt that it could have a blinding effect, especially in low light conditions. I do wonder how it would fare against soldiers wearing NV goggles. Keep in mind these types of weapons are not intended to cause permanent loss of vision, although I think it is very possible that they may have long term effects that are well, unintended. If a laser pointer from 1992 has a risk of giving you eye tumors, I for one wouldn't want to be anywhere near this thing. In fact, I am about as close as I wish to be right now.

Here is a smaller pistol sized variant. It is probably powered from a large battery worn on the belt or back like in the above pic. These weapons also can be used by law enforcement to gain compliance and prevent people from attacking the police. If you can't eve look in their direction, it would be pretty hard to fight them. And while I have my doubts on whether or not laser weapons are "safe" I know for sure they are safer than the methods that the Chinese authorities have used against protesters in the past.

Phantom Ray UCAV

2010-12-17T16:17:00.005-05:00

Here are a couple of photos of Boeing's new Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle, the Phantom Ray.

The Phantom Ray project, called "Project Reblue" ( a play on Have Blue, the F-117 Nighthawk project designation) is being developed by Boeing Phantom Works, based on the earlier X-45C prototype. It was unveiled on May 10, 2010 and will be undergoing tests for the next several months or years. It is envisioned as the first of a new type or aircraft and may handle missions such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; suppression of enemy air defenses, electronic attack, hunter/killer, and autonomous aerial refueling.

These pics show the Phantom Ray being carried on a 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft from St. Louis on December 13, 2010 during a test flight. The 747 will carry the Phantom Ray to Dryden Flight Research Center in preparation for its first flight.

General characteristics

Crew: None (UCAV)
Length: 36 ft (11 m)
Wingspan: 50 ft (15 m)
Max takeoff weight: 36,500 lb (16,556 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × General Electric F404-GE-102D

Performance

Maximum speed: Mach 0.85
Cruise speed: 614 mph (534 kn; 988 km/h) ; Mach 0.8
Range: 1,500 mi (1,303 nmi; 2,414 km)
Service ceiling: 40,000 ft (12,192 m)

Rare Weapons- Webley Fosbery

2010-12-09T20:00:00.010-05:00

Here is one you don't see every day. Or in my case, ever. This is the Webley-Fosbery Self-Cocking Automatic Revolver. Now I know that doesn't really make sense. Gimme a minute and I will lay it out for you.

At the turn of the century, designers were trying very hard to come up with ways to increase the rate of fire for small arms, this coupled with the ongoing industrial revolution helped to ensure a wide variety of designs. Some worked and some well... not so much. The Webley-Fosbery actually worked pretty well, but it was eventually simply outclassed by magazine fed semiautomatics.

The first patent for the gun that became known as the Webley-Fosbery was issued in 1895. . The weapon's designer, Lieutenant Colonel George Vincent Fosbery, VC, brought his prototype (which was built on a Colt Single Action Army) to Birmingham and presented it to the firm of P. Webley & Son. As the weapon is pretty clever and was clearly an improvement on the most common handgun of the time, the single action revolver, Webley bought the patent and applied its ideas to their own Webley Break Top Revolver, which at the time was the main sidearm of the British Army and had been pretty successful in the Boer War. Improvements were made for several years and it was finalized for production. By this time, Webley had merged with W.C. Scott & Sons and Richard Ellis & Son in 1897 to form the Webley & Scott Revolver and Arms Co., was became the primary manufacturer of service pistols for the British Army as well as being popular in the civilian market. The refined pistol was introduced in 1900 at the Bisley matches.

The new Webley was chambered in the standard .455 British cartridge, seen above. The cartridge is rather unimpressive by modern standards, firing a heavy 265 grain round nosed soft lead bullet at a rather slow 650 FPS. The original versions were a six shot cylinder, although later versions chambered in .38ACP were eight shot.
The main design feature is recoil operation. The barrel and cylinder are in one section and the lock and hammer in another behind it. These are both mounted in a set of grooves on the frame. Loading the Webley-Fosbery is pretty much the same as other contemporary Webley revolvers or any other break-action for that matter. A lever on the upper receiver is pressed and the barrel and cylinder are released to fall open downwards ("breaks"). At the end of the motion, a star shaped extractor pushes up, simultaneously ejecting the shells from the cylinder chambers.

Once loaded the Webley-Fosbery is cocked by pressing the entire action-cylinder-barrel assembly as far back as it will go. What this does, whether it is done by hand or by the recoil action from firing, is to engage a pivoting lever that cocks the hammer back. At the same time a small stud on the upper portion of the frame rides in the characteristic zig-zag grooves on the cylinder, moving the cylinder into line with the help of an internal spring. Unlike single action or modern SA/DA revolvers, neither cocking the hammer manually or pulling the trigger rotates the gun's cylinder. It must be pulled to the rear to be made ready to fire.

Unlike the weapons that preceded it, the Webley-Fosbery was intended to be carried at full cock, ready to fire. As a result a manual safety catch was added to make the gun safe to carry in this fashion. It is on the left side of the frame at the top of the grip. It can only be set to "safe"when the pistol is cocked, and it is operated by pressing it down from the horizontal position. It functions by disconnecting the hammer from the sear.

Probably no more than 5000 Webley-Fosbery Self-Cocking Automatic Revolvers were ever made, on a fairly short production run from 1901 to 1915.

Here is the fruit of my You Tube research

There is something about the Webley Fosbery that I really like from a design and aesthetics point of view. It has a very nice steampunk look to it. The Webley-Fosbery has gained some fame though, being used in the amazingly horrible Sean Connery epic-sci-fi awful-fest Zardoz (don't even attempt to watch this movie) and a very similar looking weapon appears in the absolutely amazing Xbox 360 game, Bioshock. (It is wicked good, check it out) It is also mentioned in the seminal noir film and book, The Maltese Falcon. (although Bogie gets it wrong and calls it an eight shot .45 automatic)

Victoria Cross: Sergeant Ian John McKay, The Parachute Regiment

2010-12-02T19:00:00.009-05:00

Sergeant Ian John McKay, The Parachute Regiment

During the night of 11/12 June 1982, 3rd Battalion The Parachute regiment mounted a silent night attack on an enemy battalion position on Mount Longdon, an important objective in the battle for Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands. Sergeant McKay was platoon sergeant of 4 Platoon, B Company, which after the initial objective had been secured, was ordered to clear the northern side of the long east/west ridge feature, held by the enemy in depth, with strong mutually supporting positions.

By now the enemy were fully alert, and resisting fiercely. As 4 Platoon's advance continued it came under increasingly heavy fire from a number of well-sited enemy machine gun positions on the ridge, and received casualties. Realizing that no further advance was possible, the platoon commander ordered the platoon to move form its exposed position to seek shelter among the rocks of the ridge itself. Here it met up with part of 5 Platoon.

The enemy fire was still both heavy and accurate, and the position of the platoons was becoming increasingly hazardous. Taking Sergeant McKay, a corporal and a few others, and covered by supporting machine gun fire, the platoon commander moved forward to reconnoitre the enemy positions but was hit by a bullet in the leg, and command devolved upon Sergeant McKay.

It was clear that instant action was needed if the advance was not to falter and increasing casualties to ensue. Sergeant McKay decided to convert this reconnaissance into an attack in order to eliminate the enemy positions. He was in no doubt of the strength and deployment of the enemy as he undertook this attack. He issued orders, and taking three men with him, broke cover and charged the enemy position.

The assault was met by a hail of fire. The corporal was seriously wounded, a private killed and another wounded. Despite these losses, Sergeant McKay, with complete disregard for his own safety, continued to charge the enemy position alone. On reaching it he dispatched the enemy with grenades, thereby relieving the position of beleaguered 4 and 5 Platoons, who were now able to redeploy with relative safety. Sergeant McKay, however, was killed at the moment of victory, his body falling on the bunker.

Without doubt Sergeant McKay's action retrieved a most dangerous situation and was instrumental in ensuring the success of the attack. His was a coolly calculated act, the dangers of which must have been only too apparent to him beforehand. Undeterred he performed with outstanding selflessness, perseverance and courage. With a complete disregard for his own safety, he displayed courage and leadership of the highest order, and was an inspiration to all those around him.

an unrelated Falklands War pic

The New Uzi

2010-12-02T18:53:00.005-05:00

Disclaimer:
Let me get this out of the way for all you "correctors" out there. I realize that the changes to the Micro Uzi we are looking at are relatively minor, and do not really represent a "new" weapon. It's just a title, keep your pants on.

This is the Uzi-Pro, a sort of re-issue of the Micro-Uzi, manufactured by IWI (Israel Weapon Industries Ltd, which is a privatized company that was originally the "Magen" 0r Small Arms Division of the state-owned Israel Military Industries). Like the older Micro-Uzi, the Uzi-Pro is a blowback operated, select fire machine pistol chambered in 9x19mm. It is fed through the same magazines of the rest of the Uzi family, although primarily from 25 round magazines these days. Muzzle velocity is listed at 1148 fps, pretty normal for a 9mm, although submachine guns sometimes use high pressure ammunition that imparts higher velocity and lockup times and is often not recommended for use in pistols. It retains the grip safety, which I personally found somewhat uncomfortable to operate on the full size Uzis I have fired.

The Uzi-Pro differs from the older model in that it fires from the closed bolt position, which imparts somewhat greater accuracy (at least for the first shot) and diminishes the amount of dust and dirt that can enter the action. It fires at approximately 1050 rounds per minute, which is pretty fast, but significantly less than the 1148 rpm listed for the Micro-Uzi. It is also less than most other machine pistols, this was likely done to increase the users' ability to control the weapon during full auto fire and perhaps to limit ammunition expenditure.

The lower receiver of the weapon has been redesigned to meet the needs of modern forces and is constructed of high impact polymers to save weight. Also added to the lower receiver is a foregrip, recognizing that two handed control is always the way to go if you want to hit the target. The trigger guard has been changed to the full hand-encompassing variety that IWI used on the Tavor series of rifles. No self respecting, high-speed/ low-drag, tier 1, OMGD3LTA! gun can be without Picatinny rails these days, and the Uzi-Pro has three, one one either side of the barrel for lights and lasers and one for sights on the top, above the ejection port. To facilitate this, they moved the cocking handle to the left side of the receiver. The Uzi-Pro is 486 mm long, reduced to 282 mm with the stock folded and its barrel length is 134 mm. The Uzi-Pro is listed as weighing 2.3 kilos as opposed to the Micro-Uzi at 1.5kg. This probably makes it a little easier to control during full auto fire as well.

I certainly wouldn't call these changes merely cosmetic, as they almost certainly result in a weapon that would perform better than the original. But they are certainly an attempt to make an older gun that has fallen out of favor in the world's military and police forces get a new lease on life. Whether or not it will enjoy good sales, we will have to wait and see.

Don't Worry

2010-12-02T18:40:00.000-05:00

This Day in History- December 2

2010-12-02T17:06:00.008-05:00

I have to say that I am sorry about the low output recently, I'm back in school and am doing that
during the time of day when I used to bored enough to blog. Well, I am going to try and do a little more, starting with an easy one.

December 2, 1804

A Corsican-born General in the Revolutionary Army of France named Napoleon Bonaparte becomes Emperor Napoleon I. It is said that at his ascension ceremony in Notre Dame, he took the crown from the hands of Pope Pius VII and placed it on his own head. It is said he did this to show that he was the author of his destiny and rose to his position solely on his merit. If so, this would also seem in violation of custom in place from Charlemagne's time of the Emperors being crowned by the Pope.

Of course Napoleon is held to be one of the most gifted and driven military commanders and strategists in history. He also is mostly responsible for the creation of a new system of laws and courts known today as the Napoleonic Code. He also was a gifted military theorist and he made vast changes to the way that armies fought and were organized both in France and around the world. It took losing hundreds of thousands of troops in Russia and a crushing defeat at the Battle of Waterloo and a long term arsenic poisoning to keep him down. It is strange that his reputation in modern American culture is just that of a short, petty Frenchman. While he was certainly a "great" man, he was responsible for some social progress, had some nice buildings built and so on, he was also a voracious and cruel conqueror and is personally responsible for hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths at the very least. The very least. There are many who view Napoleon as belonging in the same class as people like Hitler and Stalin. While that may be taking it too far, as Napoleon is not generally thought of to be genocidal and bloodthirsty, just incredibly greedy, apathetic and cruel. But he most certainly deserves at least partial blame for the 17 YEARS of war that Europe experienced during his time and the estimated 6 million deaths those wars caused.

and on December 2, 1777

During the occupation of Philadelphia by forces under British General William Howe, the British command had commandeered a large room across from his headquarters to serve as a meeting room. Unknown to them, the home's owner, Lydia Darragh, an Irish immigrant, would discreetly listen to these meetings and pass the information to American revolutionary leaders. She did this by sewing notes into her coat and crossing the lines to meet American officers in secret.

America's first Bond girl villain?

On the night in question, she learned of a surprise attack on Washington's army in Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania. She devised a cover story that she needed to buy flour from a mill just beyond the British lines, she was able to get the vital plans to Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Craig. When the British marched on Whitemarsh on December 4 they found an army ready and waiting for them. Three days of skirmishing followed, and General Howe returned to Philadelphia, having failed to destroy or dislodge Washington's force. Timely knowledge of the impending attack, much less any information on troop strength, route and cannon, would have been absolutely essential to the survival of Washington and his army. That being the case, Mrs. Darragh's actions, which were quite audacious and daring in my opinion, and were extremely dangerous to her well being if she were caught, were one of the most important forgotten events of the Revolution.

I see her as kinda like Princess Leia myself.

It is said (on Wikipedia) that the CIA remember Lydia Darrah as one of the first American spies.

Mission: Impossible (or just Unlikely)

2010-11-05T14:51:00.014-04:00

Have you ever noticed how things seem to happen in pairs or even in trifecta? I find it fascinating.
Anyway, this is different than our usual fare of guns, bombs and planes, but it is awesome.

Just like in the movies, people find reasons to disguise themselves. Usually, this involves either
hiding ones' identity with a balaclava, bandana, flour sack, Halloween mask, etc. or maybe even pretending to be someone else, like with a fake policeman's uniform. The two gentlemen we will discuss today, well, they had their "A" game going.

In the above pic, you can see a man in the commission of of a bank robbery. He actually made four robberies in three hours, including three banks, so we can say that he is willing to work. Not a whole lot to see, huh? Just an African-American man, in a hoodie and sunglasses. Except, it was really this man.

What you say? Yes, Conrad Zdzierak wore a movie-quality latex mask from SPFX to commit several crimes. He was traced to a motel via his getaway car, a Volvo covered in red dye from the dye pack.(Amateur!) The police found items associated with the robberies, including the mask, in his home. Makes me wonder why he didn't just carjack someone for the day. Below is the mask by itself. Notice how he wore sunglasses to hide the most obvious flaw in the mask wear it meets the eyes. That is why you get the hell out of Dodge when you commit four armed robberies in one day, idiot. Conrad is in jail, facing up to 120 years for aggravated robbery.

Anyways, not two days after reading about this, CNN reports on ANOTHER case of someone using a high quality mask to attempt a crime.

This time is was a young Asian man masquerading as a "crusty old white man" and if anything, his costume is even better. The old man hat and cardigan are especially nice touches. Reports from the scene state that he even moved like an elderly person. I wonder if he made vaguely racist comments and smelled like cabbage too. However, people do tend to notice when you board a plane as an old white man and emerge from the bathroom a young Asian man. He was also noted to have young-looking hands. Don't get cheap, they sell gloves too. He boarded a Air Canada flight in Hong Kong and flew all the way to Vancouver.

Of course what is really scary about this incident is that he was able to board a plane and fly halfway across the world. (Nice police work, there, Lou) When he was apprehended by agents of the Border Service Office, he made a claim for refugee status and protection. No word on whether or not he will get it. He allegedly used a boarding pass and frequent flier card from a US citizen to gain access to the plane.

I have to say, I find this amazingly cool. whenever I have seen these masks in the movies, I've thought to myself, yeah right, it would never work in the real world. But, with truth being stranger than fiction, we can see that it can work. It certainly makes me wonder if we have or will soon have secret agents running about in masks, shedding identities at will like in so many spy novels. Hint Hint CIA, if you still can't recruit enough people to look "Arabic" or "Central Asian" enough to do your spy-stuff, maybe you should employ these talented guys for a little while.

Here is another mask from the folks at SPFX (http://www.spfxmasks.com/index.html). Even Tom Savini, the master of movie horror effects, thinks they are cool. If you don't know who Tom Savini is, get off my blog. No, please don't leave, I need readers. They also do monsters and zombies (!) and stuff, if you want to rob a bank as the devil or something
(For any young, impressionable or stupid readers out there, this is still a bad idea.)

OMG!

While doing my usual 40 seconds of research, I found another one!

This is from a robbery in San Diego back in April. The "Geezer Bandit" has robbed at least seven banks in the San Diego area. Once again, the young hands with old face combo gave it away to the tellers. A man has been arrested in connection to these crimes, but it remains to be seen if there is enough evidence to convict him, or if they even have the right man. (Or woman?)

This will likely trigger a bout of severe paranoia and delusions for yours truly. I am probably going to be running about, accosting passerby Austin Powers-style, attempting to pull off peoples faces for several weeks now.
Its a man, baby!

Catch and Release

2010-11-03T23:07:00.001-04:00

How to Fight a War

2010-10-15T19:46:00.004-04:00

The U.S.S. Constitution (Old Ironsides) as a combat vessel during the War of 1812 carried 48,600 gallons of fresh water for her crew of 475 officers and men. This was sufficient to last six months of sustained operations at sea. She carried no evaporators (fresh water distillers). However, let it be noted that according to her log, "On July 27, 1798, the U.S.S. Constitution sailed from Boston with a full complement of 475 officers and men, 48,600 gallons of fresh water, 7,400 cannon shot, 11,600 pounds of black powder and 79,400 gallons of rum."

Her mission: "To destroy and harass English shipping."

Making Jamaica on 6 October, she took on 826 pounds of flour and 68,300 gallons of rum.

Then she headed for the Azores, arriving there 12 November. She provisioned with 550 pounds of beef and 64,300 gallons of Portuguese wine. On 18 November, she set sail for England.

In the ensuing days she defeated five British men-of-war and captured and scuttled 12 English merchantmen, salvaging only the rum aboard each.

By 26 January, her powder and shot were exhausted. Nevertheless, and though unarmed, she made a night raid up the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. Her landing party captured a whiskey distillery and transferred 40,000 gallons of single malt Scotch aboard by dawn. Then she headed home.

The U.S.S. Constitution arrived in Boston on 20 February 1799, with no cannon shot, No powder, No food, NO rum, NO wine, NO whiskey and 38,600 gallons of stagnant water.

Now those guys knew how to fight a war.

Now, for full disclosure, I found the above text on some board and have no proof whatsoever of its veracity. In all likelihood, it is grossly exaggerated or just plain made up.
But it does sound fun.

This Day in History - October 15

2010-10-15T19:17:00.006-04:00

On this date in 1917, one of the most famous spies in history was executed.
Mata Hari was the stage name of a Dutch woman named Margaretha Geertruida Zelle. She became famous for, well to put it impolitely, kinda being a ho. She was a dancer known for performing "exotic" dances that seemed to consist of her wearing some kind of vaguely eastern costume and taking it off. She had a whole back story that she was born in an Indian temple and was taught sacred dances by the priestesses. However, it was all a pack of lies and what she knew of Indian and Javanese dances she learned while in Malaysia with her husband who was in the Dutch Colonial Army. But nobody knew or cared, because Internet porn was like, 70 years away. She was known as a famous courtesan, which is nice way of saying she was a gold digger. She was widely rumored to be banging( to use the parlance of our times) a bunch of high-ranking military officers both in the French and German armies. So, in 1917, the French authorities arrested her on suspicion of treason and espionage and sent her to the St. Lazare Prison in Paris. During her military trial, she was accused of revealing details of the new weapon, the tank, resulting in the deaths of thousands of soldiers. She was convicted and sentenced to death.

For 1917, this was wicked hot

Today, opinions are divided about the truth of the matter. Some say that she was a spy for the Germans and even worked as a double agent for the French, but that the Germans had written her off as pretty much useless. (except all the looking hot and dancing like a ho) Her trial was said to pretty much be a farce and no real evidence was brought against her. It has been suggested that the French High Command played her story up to distract the nation from the appalling losses that they French Army was suffering on the Western Front. No one will ever know the truth, I suspect. But the legacy is that Mata Hari became the archtype of the femme fatale spy, and we would probably not have any James Bond movies without her. In one of those incidents that is more like a movie than real life, she refused a blindfold and blew a kiss to her firing squad before she was shot.

Also in 1860 an eleven-year-old girl named Grace Bedell, wrote a letter to presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln, suggesting he could improve his appearance by growing a beard.

Multicam

2010-10-15T19:14:00.001-04:00

Rare Weapons- 6P62 12.7mm

2010-10-15T17:20:00.007-04:00

OK, this ugly mug is the 6P62. It is a Russian anti-materiel rifle that is fully automatic. The rifle is chambered in the 12.7x108mm cartridge, which is pretty similar, but more powerful than the US .50 BMG (12.7x99mm). I think the Russians caught whatever disease the Germans had that made them always build bigger and more ridiculous guns. This thing is a monster. It reportedly weighs close to 40 pounds when loaded with 14 rounds of 12.7mm, and I would guess that the muzzle brake weighs at least 3 pounds. The brake might also function a little like a suppressor, probably making this weapon about as quiet as the average 500 pound bomb. It has a listed range of 1000 meters or more and can reportedly pierce 20mm of steel at 100 meters. Of course a full auto function on a weapon like this is just silly, even if it is firing at the reduced rate of about 400--500 rounds per minute, which is slower than most automatic weapons I can think of.

The 6P62 was never put into full production, likely because someone sobered up. While it could be used in a fashion like the Barrett Light 50 and other big bore anti-materiel rifles, I have my doubts that it can perform as well. It has a fairly short barrel and I can't see that it is fluted to give it strength without undue weight. At the least I imagine the recoil is well, sharp. The gentleman firing it offhand above (why?) likely had some rotator cuff surgery and called it a day. Interestingly, both photos that can be found show it without a telescopic sight, which one would need to fire at anything smaller than a barn at the intended ranges. This might be because its recoil force would tear a scope meant for .30 caliber rifles to hell and back.

One possible use is for the weapon to be used at road blocks and from fortified positions to get the most use of a weapon with long range and the power to punch through light armor and cover, but heavy machine guns and grenade launchers are probably better suited to that role. While the 6P62 will likely never be seen anywhere but the Internet, it may have a descendant in the form of the KPB-12.7 rifle, for which there is even less information than the 6P62. If anybody knows more about either of these weapons, or please god, has video of some unfortunate soul firing one, please let me know. Also, I will use this as my standard long gun when I finally finish that Power Armor I am working on in the basement.
So get ready.

Marines love the Misfits

2010-10-15T17:11:00.003-04:00

Nothing much to say about this one, it of course reminds me of all the images of soldiers and Marines from Vietnam with various sayings written on their helmets or flak jackets.
If you don't know the reference, it is from a song by the Misfits, a punk band, if you don't know them get a copy of Walk Among Us. It rocks.

Exploded Views and technical drawings

2010-09-23T03:20:00.009-04:00

I have always liked to look at the exploded view drawings of weapons both to gain a better understanding of how they work, and also to appreciate the amazing artistic talent of people who could plan out and execute such detailed drawings. So here are some neato pics.

The 2nd Amendment

2010-09-22T21:51:00.002-04:00

Snap.

Backblast

2010-09-22T21:34:00.005-04:00

At first when I saw this picture, I assumed that the wall near the soldier had been hit by an RPG or that a gunship was hovering and firing overhead. Or both. Or something. I don't know. Then other, more intelligent people pointed out that all the effects we see is simply caused by the back blast of the AT4 rocket launcher. It that caused all the chaos. And the really dangerous part was several hundred feet away.
Lesson: Don't stand behind anti-tank weapons though kids, because it will completely kill you. Just, you know, FYI.
It was enough to pick up all those empty shells, all that dust, and the M4, which was probably laying on the ground. So I am guessing that is an older model and not the newer one designed to be fired in enclosed spaces without breaking everyone around into little pieces and then having them breathe in the toxic exhaust.
Crazy stuff.

Airship drones

2010-09-20T18:49:00.007-04:00

Awhile ago, I posted about the "Beast of Kandahar" in The Giant Blimp of Kandahar, which was suspected to be a long endurance, reconnaissance UAV. I found this pic a few days ago, and it seems to be the same aircraft. They both have a triple tail fin and similar overall shape. At the time, I guessed that it was a prototype or scale model of the Lockheed Martin LEMV. The caption just named it as the Persistent Surveillance System.

The earlier photo had no sense of scale, so I was pleased to get a closer look at "the Beast". As we can see, it is a pretty large maybe 40 feet or more, but that is much less than the reported 200 feet of the LEMV. Lockheed has understandably not released very much info on the LEMV, but they have hinted that it will be a UAV capable of staying aloft and using multiple technology to find and identify enemies. We can certainly assume it has powerful daylight, Nightvision and thermal cameras. It also might mount a magnetic anomaly detector for looking for IEDs or submarines or so forth, but that is just a blind guess on my part. It could also be used for things such as intercepting radio and satellite phone signals, or as a booster to send friendly communications. The one thing I am pretty sure of is that we will see more like it in the future.
Well, I don't really have any more info. I just thought it was a neat picture.

I can't tell, but I think this is not the same aircraft. Seems the nose and fins are shaped differently. But I felt bad for such a bare bones post, so I figured I would treat you, my beloved readers, to the fruit of a 3 second Bing image search. You are welcome.

Iconic Guns- Mauser 98

2010-08-25T13:55:00.022-04:00

I have been waiting to write this one for awhile because I wanted to do it right. And I'm lazy. And I just got a Xbox 360. Yes, I know they have been out for a long time. It was a gift and I'm psyched.

The Mauser 98 is simply one of the most important firearm designs ever made. In terms of the importance and longevity of the design, it is like the Colt 1911 of rifles. It has only recently stopped being the basis of a huge amount every bolt action in production, and the best rifles of the 20th Century were almost all based on the Mauser 98 action, including the US Army's M24 sniper rifles and the USMC M40 series sniper rifles. The Remington 700, from which the M24 and M40 were developed, is based on the M98 action. The 700 is still a highly sought after weapon for hunters and marksmen, especially the early models. While the Mauser 98 was first produced in 1898 at Paul Mauser's factory in Obendorf, Germany, I am mostly going to be referring to the ultimate evolution of the design, the Karabiner 98 Kurz or K98k, the most common and smallest of the classic 98 line.

Mauser Karabiner 98 Kurtz with its basic equipment

When people talk about the Mauser 98, they are often speaking about its action. The action refers to the physical mechanism that moves the cartridges and seals the breech in preparation for firing. The term is also used to describe the method in which cartridges are loaded, locked, and extracted from the mechanism. The Mauser system consists of a receiver that serves as the systems shroud and a bolt group. The body of the bolt has three locking lugs, two large main lugs at the bolt head and a third safety lug at the rear of the bolt which serves as a backup in case the primary locking lugs failed. This third lug was added to increase the safety of the rifle. Another important feature of the 98 is its feed mechanism.

M 98 controlled-feed bolt-action system: a = chamber, b = front main locking lugs recess,
c = receiver, d = internal magazine spring, e = ammunition stripper clip, f = bolt group,
g = firing pin, h = pistol grip.

The 98 possesses a large claw type extractor that holds on to the rim of the cartridge all through the process of chambering the round, firing, extraction and ejection. The bolt handle is straight and protrudes out on the Gewehr 98 and on later models it is turned down so that it is less in the way and can be manipulated more easily. The 98 cocks the firing pin when the breech is opened, unlike the SMLE for example which cocks on closing. There is a piece that sticks out both visually and to the touch to signify that the weapon is cocked, which has become standard on many guns today. The Mauser 98 also has a small metal disc set into the stock that functions as a bolt disassembly tool, which, along with an easy process for field stripping, allows the user to perform maintenance and even switch out broken parts in the field. In another design feature to increase the safety of the weapon, Mauser included a gas shield and two large relief holes to the bolt sleeve. these were there to channel the hot, high pressure gas and bits of hot, sharp, jagged metal away from the face in the event of a catastrophic failure. (Should it happen to blow up)

K98k Mausers with rifle grenade and bayonet

7.92x57mm rounds (8mm Mauser) on stripper clip

While the 8mm Mauser cartridge has fallen out of favor in recent years, it is a very capable cartridge whether for military or civilian use. It fell out of favor as the arms world coalesced into NATO and Warsaw Pact standard calibers in the 1960s. It is in no way obsolete and the Russians and many others still use the less advanced (rimmed) and older 7.62x54R cartridge to very great effect. The first M98s were chambered in a 8.07mm diameter bullet, and was switched to a larger but lighter 8.2mm bullet with a new pointed shape called the Spitzer bullet. Many different loadings of the 8mm were made from its adoption by the Imperial German Army in 1898 to the Nazi build up of forces in the mid 1930s and throughout WWII. The original load pushed a 226 grain Spitzer bullet at 2,095 feet per second. By 1935, this had been changed to a lighter 197 grain bullet with the velocity increased to 2,493 FPS, giving it a flatter trajectory and a slightly longer effective range.

The end result was a rifle that was light (relatively) very accurate and capable of a very high rate of fire. The Mauser had better accuracy, safety, and quality of workmanship than any other weapon of the era. The Mauser was in many ways the premier rifle of its day and was only really equaled by the SMLE and probably only surpassed by the Springfield 1903A3(by virtue of its updated and superior sight), which was a Mauser descended design itself. Weapons designed around variants of the Mauser 98 action continues to see vast civilian and specialist military use more than 100 years after is debut. It has been used by many countries, and you can find surplus 98s all over. There are thousands of Yugoslavian Mausers made on the German machines right after WWII that can be had pretty cheaply.

The Mauser 98 and its descendants have clearly made their mark on the history of firearms design and warfare. Millions of Mauser 98 type weapons have been made. If you count guns that have an action that is a copy or descendant of the 98, who knows how many there are. That is just how important the M98 is to the history and design of rifles. The only real deficiency to the design is that it is fairly expensive to produce and needed a lot of skilled people to make it right. But that is really just a hallmark of the meticulous and exacting nature of German design. Certainly it has been used by many others than the Germans, though. Today you can still find many examples Persian, Chilean, Argentinian, and Yugoslavian Mausers just to name a few. The Israelis used a number of K98ks in their War of Independence. They have been chambered in several different cartridges, some of which are very hard to find today.

Iranian Midget Submarine

2010-08-24T17:28:00.011-04:00

Well, from Iran's terrible taste in camouflage and their imminent status as a nuclear power, we move to Iranian Naval power. The above is the Ghadir-class midget submarine. The powers that be in Iran have sought for several years to find a way to fight the Navies of the West, especially the US, in the waters near Iran. Despite the rather huge disparity in Naval power, the Iranians have several advantages in this theoretical battle. The waters of the Persian Gulf are relatively shallow and busy, making it harder for big subs to hide and hard for them to use acoustic methods to search for enemy subs. Also, in a potential conflict, the West must not only defeat the Iranians, but also keep open the vital sea lanes and prevent an ecological disaster from destroyed oil infrastructure. Whereas the Iranians would have a major victory in the eyes of many if they are able to sink even a few Western warships.

Well, to the specifics of this craft. The Ghadir is a class of midget diesel/electric submarines manufactured in Iran. It is fairly accepted that despite the Iranian propaganda machine's claim that the sub was designed by Iranian engineers, the sub was built from North Korean plans and with their technical expertise. And before we snicker into our hands about our friends the North Koreans, keep in mind that they were able to sink a South Korean corvette, the Cheonan, with a similar sub.

The Ghadir is named after Ghadir Khumm a Shiite holy site in Saudi Arabia.

There are 11 Ghadirs in service and more on the way, with new subs delivered in 2009 and 2010. They are about 90 feet long and have a crew complement of 18. While the sonar and sensors and so forth are unknown at this time, we can probably expect them to be based on older Russian and Chinese equipment, like most of the Iranian arsenal. The Iranian state-owned media claims that the subs are "stealth" and capable of evading sonar, but I am going to chalk that up with other, similarly wild claims about the indigenous weapons from Iran. The sub has two torpedo tubes and could likely only carry two torpedoes. It has been said that the Ghadir can also fire tube launched missiles. While the Ghadir is not the state of the art, it could still be a formidable weapon, especially employed in groups. Recently, a war game showed that swarming tactics using small, fast, torpedo and anti-ship missile armed boats could be a serious threat to a US Carrier Group. However, the US Navy is pretty much the world master in anti-submarine warfare, and in any kind of large scale combat, I would expect the loss rate of this little sub to be very high. If it was located, its chance of getting away is small, and if hit with any modern ASW weapon, it would likely sink in a minute or two, if it was not immediately torn in half. Its only hope is that its size could help it hide in shallow water. The Ghadir and the North Korean Yono-class are not to be underestimated, but you wouldn't get me into one. It is apples and oranges, but no Japanese midget subs survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, and that was hardly the best day for the US Navy.

North Korean Yono-class submarine

Worst Camo Evar

2010-08-24T17:06:00.006-04:00

OK, Next person who bitches about the US Army UCP (ACU) camouflage pattern has to wear this.
This is an Iranian pattern, and it is apparently known as the "ice cream paint job pattern". It is the worst camo pattern known to man. (Excluding the fashion patterns in red and orange and pink and so forth) I mean, what were they thinking? It could possibly be an OK pattern for a snowy environment, but in the desert? Really? I also like how his uniform is slovenly and un-military like when guarding the most important site in his country AND getting his picture taken by the media.

Man, it sure is easy to make fun of some people. Of course, what is not funny is that this unfortunately dressed soldier is guarding a Nuclear plant at Bushehr which will soon make Iran a nuclear armed nation. To believe that is not the goal of their program is frankly, amazingly stupid. The rest of the world (US EU, Saudi Arabia and everyone else who really does not want a Nuclear Iran) probably should have simply paid the Israelis to destroy the Iranian nuclear program. Or joined them in a false-flag operation. Why them? Well, they would like to do it and the Iranians couldn't hate them any more than they already do now could they?

Dog Heroes

2010-07-31T18:07:00.005-04:00

Here is one of those heart warming stories for you. The dogs you see above may not be as fast as a Doberman, as strong as a Pit bull or as smart as a German Shepard, but they have earned a spot at the Ruth's Chris table if you ask me.

On February 11, 2010 a suicide bomber attempted to enter a barracks building housing US Army personnel. As he tried to enter, he was attacked by Rufus, Target and Sasha. The attack forced the bomber to detonate his bomb in the corridor, instead of the other areas with more soldiers.
The bomb wounded five soldiers and killed Sasha. However, the actions of a trio of rather unimpressive-looking dogs saved the lives of many, if not all of those soldiers.

On July 29, Pet Airways flew Rufus and Target to the USA were I hope they will be fed large amounts of whatever dogs think is awesome.

Sgt. Christopher Duke meets Rufus and Target at the gate

Greatest guns of Fiction- Plastic Gun

2010-07-31T15:53:00.007-04:00

This one is the gun used by rogue CIA agent Mitch "Booth " Leary in the 1993 film In the Line of Fire. In the film, Leary, played by John Malkovich at his least irritating, plots to assassinate the President of the United States and plays a cat and mouse game with Clint Eastwood's character, a disgraced Secret Service agent who failed to save JFK. Spoilers are ahead for those who haven't seen the movie. It is pretty good, so watch it and come back. Leary constructs an elaborate plan to defeat the layers of Secret Service protection, including posing as a rich businessman with thousands of dollars to give to the President's reelection campaign. Genius.

But we are here to talk about guns, so lets get to it. Malkovich's character is said to be a former CIA assassin who is skilled in model making. It is this model making skill that allows him to build a unique weapon to use for the job. The gun is a double barrel, single action weapon. From the size of the bore and what I remember from the movie, it seems like it would be chambered in 9mm NATO or .380 ACP. Each barrel is manually cocked by the levers at the top of the weapon. . As near as I can tell the weapon is almost completely constructed out of some type of composite material in order to let Booth sneak it past the metal detectors. You would likely still need several metal parts, namely springs for the trigger and bolts, and a firing pin. The firing pin could be an off the shelf titanium firing pin, used in many weapons today. If I recall high school chemistry correctly, titanium is paramagnetic and would therefore not set off most metal detectors.

Could you make a weapon out of non-metallic composites? Well, maybe. If you did not plan on firing it more than a few times, used low pressure ammunition and perhaps did some engineering and computer modeling work to understand the forces and materials involved, it just might work. Then again, it might mangle your fingers. let me put it this way, I wouldn't try it. One of the biggest hurdles would be the barrel. We know that you can certainly make a great deal of a gun out of plastics, but the barrel and chamber would be pretty difficult to engineer. They are both subject to very high temperatures and intense pressure. Carbon fiber or some type of non magnetic alloy could be used but that is probably beyond the home workshop, especially in the early 90s. Since the weapon was intended to be used at point blank range, you could probably get away with an non rifled barrel, but it would likely cause the bullet to fail to reach its maximum velocity, impeding its effectiveness.

The weapon also breaks down into several sections and he stores the ammunition in a hollow key chain. Pretty clever, and it might just escape the notice of security personnel. The film also has references to three of the four historical Presidential assassinations. Clint Eastwood's character was a Secret Service Agent protecting JFK the day he was assassinated. Leary refers to himself as "Booth" for much of the film, referencing John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln's killer. In the end of the movie, Leary attempts to shoot the President through a napkin, which is what Leon Czolgosz did when he killed William McKinley.

Fun fact, the makers of the film were worried enough about the legality of the PROP that they had it cut into sections after filming. I suppose to prevent it being modified to fire.
(I would let you shoot it first)

Media Manipulation

2010-07-30T20:03:00.003-04:00

Its important to to remember that the media, in its Corporate form, is a profit driven business. They create profit by creating interest. Interest is created by controversy, real or manufactured. Non-traditional media like blogs or state-owned media are there pretty much to promote a certain viewpoint. Please be intelligent and read between the lines, get your news from more than one source, maintain a sense of scepticism, demand proof, and use common sense.

Rant ended.
Carry on.

HESCO Bastions

2010-07-30T02:25:00.018-04:00

From the extremely high tech world of rockets, missiles, and space flight, we will now take a turn for the primitive. What is known as the HESCO barrier or HESCO bastion is quite possibly one of the simplest and most effective systems in use today by the military. There is a great need to make bases relatively safe, especially from small arms, grenades, and rockets, as well as the shrapnel of other weapons like mortars. Classically, soldiers hand filled sand bags for use as protective fortifications. This worked okay from a protection point of view, but was extremely labor intensive. You can only fill so many sand bags in a given period and if you are trying to fortify a large FOB or airbase, it would take a real long time. Then, someone invented this:

This is the HESCO Bastion, originally designed as a temporary or semi-permanent flood control structure. They were used to reinforce levees after Hurricane Katrina. In 2008, during the extensive flooding in the Midwest, 27,000 feet of HESCO barriers were shipped to Iowa and set up. Today they are used on almost every US and NATO base in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are made up of a collapsible wire mesh "wall" with a thick synthetic fabric liner. The name comes from the British company that invented them more than 10 years ago. The real name of the product is the "Concertainer" playing on the classic concertina wire barrier. HESCO is actually the name of the company that produces it. In general use, they are often simply called Hescos.

The HESCO first began to be used in the security context in the 1990s. They can be stacked two or three high and make a formidable barrier for weapons. They are very cheap and can be assembled by people with little or no training. The are shipped collapsed and weigh very little. The Hesco comes in several sizes, dimensions of typical configurations are 4’6” x 3’6” x 32’ to 7’ x 5’ x 100’.

Protecting the most important part of the base

One of the best features of the the HESCO is the ease in which it is set up. Get it flown in or pull it off a truck, unfold it, use a front end loader or other heavy equipment to fill it up with dirt, sand or gravel. It is not instantaneous, but the speed that it can be set up in is pretty impressive. One soldier operating a front end loader and four more unfolding the shells can set up a wall in just couple of hours. They can essentially work ten times faster than crews filling sandbags. There is a new system of set up where the barriers are loaded in the back of trailer and dropped out in a line, a few people following behind set up them up and the loader filling them. This way a wall several hundred feet long can be in place in minutes and finished in a day.

Of course the real question is how effective is the HESCO bastion as a fortification? Well one answer is below. This is a Hesco that was hit by a rocket propelled grenade. You know, the things that can destroy armored vehicles.

When filled with sand, a barrier that is 24 inches think will stop almost all small arms projectiles and shell fragments. Given the very deep penetration of shaped charge weapons, guidelines state that for protection against RPGs, the barriers should be at least 5 feet thick. So based on that, we can see that the HESCO bastions, appropriately placed, would likely be a very good protector against several of the most common weapons on the battlefield. Even though the bases are still vulnerable to high angle attacks such as mortars and RPGs being used as rocket artillery, placement of bastions inside the base can greatly diminish the blast area by containing it. By the same studies' findings, car bombs (or VBIEDs if you prefer acronyms) can usually be defeated with 4 feet think sand filled barriers. I say usually, because you could have some really large bombs (like Oklahoma City) if you have the resources and motivation. Very little could impede a blast like that.

So there you have it. Cheap, easy and very fast to set up, fairly impervious to the elements, and will stop bullets, bombs and rockets. I like solutions like this and who ever thought the HESCO bastion up, that guy needs a medal. Or at least a beer.

Norwegian base surrounded by Hescos, note the barriers in between the tents to stop mortar and rocket fragments.

Guns

2010-07-27T18:55:00.004-04:00

I lesson I learned a long time ago, thanks to Dr. Jones

Marshall Space Flight Center

2010-07-26T15:41:00.047-04:00

I recently took a trip to "Rocket City" or Huntsville, Alabama. In Huntsville is the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center. The MSFC is the original home of NASA and the site of some of the most innovative science and engineering work that ever been accomplished.

So, In case you were not aware, the Saturn V rocket is HUGE.

That building behind it is about 6 stories tall.

The Space Flight Center is located on the Redstone Arsenal, an Army base that was established in 1941 and was mainly used as a chemical weapons production and storage facility. The MSFC is the lead center for NASA's work on the International Space Station design and assembly, responsible for payloads and crew training, the Space Shuttle propulsion systems and its external tank, and NASA computers and networks. Also at the center is the Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC). The HOSC supports ISS and Space Shuttle launch, payloads and experiments. The HOSC also monitors rocket launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station whenever a Marshall Center payload is on board.

Also, Space Camp is there. I was really jealous of kids who got to go to Space Camp when I was a kid, but I am not as bitter now, mostly because I found out that they didn't really go into space like in the movie. Stupid rich kids.

There was a huge building dedicated to the Space Program and especially the Apollo program, the Saturn V rocket and the Lunar landings. Below is Command Module Casper of the Apollo 16 mission, the second to last NASA flight to the Moon.

Seeing a skyline of rockets makes one think they are in a 1950's Sci Fi comic

Another Saturn V, laid out lengthwise and broken into its various stages

Concept design for the new Orion crew capsule

How about this. Regular viewers of the History and Military channel may recognize the concept design for the Future Warrior program that they talked about so much a few years ago. It was really just an airsoft outfit in black with a motorcycle helmet and a foam gun. Somebody got paid millions of dollars to talk about what they wanted to make, then they turned in this piece of crap and got a huge amount of Federal dollars. Then they cancel the program before it produces a viable product. They could pay me to do this job for much less, I bet. It is kinda cool though.

The Space Flight center had a great display of current and former rocket based weaponry of the US Armed Forces in their "Rocket Park".

The AN/TWQ Avenger is a specialized turret mounted on a Humvee chassis for use as air defense platform. Above you can see the Stinger Missile pods and .50 caliber machine gun on the back of a Avenger. The Avenger can be linked to the Forward Area Air Defense Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence (FAAD C3I) system, which permits external radar tracks and messages to be passed to the fire unit to alert and cue the gunner. The government deployed Avengers to the White House around the first anniversary of 9/11. They have also been modified for use in Iraq as convoy protecting gun trucks.

This is the MIM-72 Chaparral, another air-defense platform, this time based on the M113 APC chassis and mounting four missiles based on the AIM-9D Sidewinder air -to-air missiles. The US forces have never used the Chaparral in combat, although it has been used by US Allies. It is now retired from use by the US Armed Forces.

Here we have the Hawk , designed as a medium range anti-air missile. It was in service for more than 40 years in the Army and apparently being phased out of Marine Corps inventories, but I would imagine that they are pretty much gone by now. The Hawk system, consisting of the launcher, missiles and a variety of different radars and control stations has been improved many times and the system was used to good effect in several conflicts. In 1973, Israeli forces launched 75 Hawk missiles and are credited with destroying between 12 and 24 aircraft. Kuwaiti Hawk batteries claimed 14 Iraqi planes shot down in Iraq's August 1990 invasion. Two of those kills have been confirmed, a MiG-23BN and a Su-22.

Going even further back, we have the Nike Hercules missile, a multi-role, two-stage solid propellant missile introduced into service in 1958. It was used in the high and medium altitude air defense role by the US and its NATO allies. It was also possible to use the Nike Hercules as a surface to surface missile. The Nike H was optimized for shooting down bombers and when it ballistic missile technology superseded the nuclear armed bomber, the Nike H became less useful. All the missile sites were deactivated in the CONUS by 1974, except for a few in Alaska and Florida. The Army continued to use truck mounted Nike Hercules systems as a front line air defense platform until the early 1980's when they began to be replaced by the Patriot Missile System. Most other NATO Nike units were disbanded with the fall of the Soviet Union.

This is the M270 MLRS, the Multiple Launch Rocket system. It is one of the most powerful and long ranged conventional weapons in the US Army's inventory. It is a rocket artillery system and is capable of sending its 12 270mm rockets to a range of 42 miles in 60 seconds. One MLRS firing all 12 rockets can completely blanket one square kilometer with submunitions. As a result the M270 is sometimes referred to as the "Grid Square Removal Service" As standard metric maps are divided up into 1km grids. It also fires the ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) which is ballistic missile capable of reaching out to 186 miles, with the warhead going as high as 164,000 feet. The MLRS has been in use since 1983 and seen use in Iraq and Afghanistan. 1,300 M270 systems have been manufactured, along with more than 700,000 rockets. The missiles can carry a variety of payloads, many of them using smaller submunitions. This kind of attack is very devastating to airfields, marshaling areas and exposed troops. During the Gulf War, the Iraqi soldiers were said to refer to the M77 submuntions as "Steel Rain." The M270 is no longer in production, with the last units produced in 2003 sold to the Egyptian Army. MLRS has been somewhat superseded in US service by the HIMARS, a lighter, C-130 transportable, wheeled version that only mounts one "six pack" of missiles

Of course, it is interesting to remember the source of space flight and the space programs that it came from. It was all started by Werner Von Braun and the German rocket scientists who used rocketry to kill thousands of civilians at the behest of Adolf Hitler. In the closing days of WWII, the Allies competed for the German prototypes, plans and especially scientists. Above you can see a V1 Buzzbomb, the first cruise missile. In total, the V-1 attacks caused 22,892 casualties (almost entirely civilians). One could try to be optimistic and think that the Teflon, Tang and satellite navigation that we have gotten from the space program has made up for the deaths, but, since we still have thousands of ICBMs, I think the jury may still be out. That said, I believe that the space program is one of the most amazing things America has ever done and it is of the utmost importance that we continue to move forward with space exploration.

German V2/A4 rocket, the first man made object to reach sub orbital space.
It was the foundation of both US and Soviet space programs

Original plans for the V2, detail photo below

Captured by the US Army's 76th Infantry Division

North Korean Military Might

2010-07-26T15:38:00.001-04:00

Kicking a goat. What a stupid asshole.

Military Technology -Decoy Vehicles

2010-07-13T18:04:00.015-04:00

One way that you can frustrate the desires of your enemy in war is to deceive and confuse him.
Decoy versions of military equipment like trucks, tanks and planes can effectively deceive the enemy, help to reduce damage to the commander's real equipment, reduce casualties, and waste enemy resources of time, men, and materials. Unlike more traditional types of camouflage, the purpose is not to hide assets from the enemy but to divert the enemy from the actual forces and equipment, which can be a proactive strategy for defense or a way to gain the initiative. This idea was used extensively in WWII. The British used it in the North African Campaign, using rubber tanks to confuse Rommel's recon planes. In the lead up to D-Day, an entire strategic plan of deception was used, called Operation Fortitude. It involved double agents, false radio traffic, phantom divisions (including their shoulder patches) and of course, rubber inflatable decoys of tanks and trucks.

This idea has continued to be useful into the modern era of the Cold War and beyond. The technology has continued to advance and modern decoys are multi-spectral and can even fool some satellite and aerial reconnaissance. They can achieve this through systems that mimic the IR signature of the real vehicle. They are designed to have the same shape, size, radar reflection and infrared signature as a real tank, truck, or plane.One way to do this that has been discussed is simply putting a microwave within the decoy to give it warmth and a radiation signature. while any of these decoys would have a certain rate of failure, the basic concept is very good. No less a strategist than the great Sun Tzu recommends using deception as much as possible to put your enemies off balance.

F-16 decoys

Another thing to keep in mind with the use of decoys and deception is that it does not have to work perfectly to be effective. Even if only half of the enemy scouts, intelligence personnel, and senior leaders believe something, it can slow down their response times, lead to conflicting orders, or any other thing that will hamper and confuse a military force.while deception may not be able to turn the tide of a battle or war by itself very often, every little but helps and the low cost and relative ease of deception operations can be very effective from a cost/benefit point of view. The US Army has decoys of the M1 tank that can be set up in minutes and can be carried in a duffel bag. Sometimes they are carried with the tank formations themselves, not to distract the enemy but to inflate the number of tanks he thinks he is facing.

Air defense vehicle decoys made from flat elements, by Rusbal,Inc.

Decoy M47 Patton tank from the Cold War

There is a word in Russian that refers to military deception, camouflage and concealment. It is maskirovka (literally: camouflage, concealment). We in the west do not generally borrow words from Russian, probably because they are hard to say, but this is a good one. The Russian and the Soviet military before them were masters of military deception. Want some proof? Look at some of the pics below. Another use of decoys is just to waste enemy resources. Recon aircraft or satellite operators need time to do their work, and even a few wasted minutes can make a difference. The Russian SAM decoys below are made to force enemies to expend valuable ordinance on them, while hiding the real ones for use later. All in all, pretty clever stuff.

Su-27 decoy from Shape International, Inc.

Russian S-300 Surface-to-Air missile launcher decoys from Rusbal

Spotting a hidden handgun

2010-07-07T16:54:00.001-04:00

Here is a fun one: tips on how to spot a person carrying a concealed pistol.

The International War

2010-07-07T16:49:00.023-04:00

I could be fairly accused of being overly focused on America and Americans on this blog, so I thought it would be good to post some photos of the many thousands of others from dozens of countries that are fighting the war in Afghanistan. This is not intended to be a comprehensive review of every country that has sent men or materials to Afghanistan to attempt to make it a real nation. So if your country is not included in the pics below, (and many are not) it is not because I am trying to snub you, I am just lazy. All these pics were in my files already.

Canadians

Norwegians

Croatians

Germans

French

Poles

Dutch PzH-2000 155mm

British

Australians

New Zealanders? or Kiwis if they prefer

Danish Leopard 2 tank

Danish Special Forces

Romanians

British Mine clearing vehicle

and lastly, of course the Afghan Nation Army

ACU

2010-07-07T16:48:00.001-04:00

Military Technology- Razzle Dazzle Camouflage

2010-07-07T14:59:00.016-04:00

In an effort to better protect ships from attack, especially from the threat of submarines, British artist and Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander Norman Wilkinson devised a camouflage scheme for warships at sea. The idea was to use a pattern of angular, geometric shapes and lines in bold, contrasting colors. The scheme became known variously as Razzle Dazzle, Dazzle camouflage or Dazzle painting. It was used a great deal on the ships of the Royal Navy and others in WWI. It was used as late as the end of WWII on some American Navy ships.

About this time, after viewing the above picture, you may be thinking that artist/camouflage designer Norman Wilkinson perhaps became confused and drank a glass of turpentine while he was working. That might explain trying to conceal a 600 foot long, 11,000 ton ship by painting it in purple star bursts. But the point was never really to hide the ships from view. Rather, the aim was to make ships trying to fire on the ship confused about the direction, speed, size, and range of their target. So the point was really to confuse the rangefinders and gunners of the enemy, not to hide from their lookouts and scouts. The hope was the Dazzle camo would make the enemy unable to identify the ship, or to tell whether they were looking at the bow or stern, or even if it was approaching or sailing away. Rangefinders of the early 20th Century operated on the co-incidence principal. The idea is that the ship is targeted with the rangefinder and the operator sees two half-images of the ship. He adjusts the knobs until the images meet up and finds the range based on tables and such. The camouflage was supposed to hinder this by making a pattern that seemed to not match up correctly at any range. Also, the dazzle patterns usually had a false bow wave to throw off accurate estimation of the ships' speed.

In a 1919 lecture, Norman Wilkinson explained:

The primary object of this scheme was not so much to cause the enemy to miss his shot when actually in firing position, but to mislead him, when the ship was first sighted, as to the correct position to take up. [Dazzle was a] method to produce an effect by paint in such a way that all accepted forms of a ship are broken up by masses of strongly contrasted colour, consequently making it a matter of difficulty for a submarine to decide on the exact course of the vessel to be attacked.... The colours mostly in use were black, white, blue and green.... When making a design for a vessel, vertical lines were largely avoided. Sloping lines, curves and stripes are by far the best and give greater distortion.

RMS Empress of Russia, painted with Dazzle camo as troopship in WWI

The British painted over two thousand ships with Dazzle camo in WWI, much of the work was supervised by artist Edward Wadsworth. The patterns and colors were different for each ship, and each pattern was tested in miniature before being used. The small wooden models were viewed through a periscope and the patterns evaluated by Naval personnel before being scaled up. Most of the models were constructed and painted by women from the London Royal Academy of Arts.

Man, that is just nauseating

Razzle dazzle was evaluated and selected by the US Navy in 1918 and the Navy continued to use it to varying degrees through the end of WWII. All of the Essex-class carriers and Tennessee-class battleships were painted with Razzle Dazzle camouflage. Rather than the unique designs of the Royal Navy, the US Navy decided to standardize the process and paint the various ships with tested and approved designs.

Was Razzle Dazzle effective? Well, your guess is as good as mine. It is very possible that the protection was negligible. Even if if worked well for a little while, it is certainly possible that the Germans could have found technology and tactics to work around it. In post war reports, the British Admiralty decided that it had no effect on the success of submarine attacks. They did however, feel that the bold and brightly colored ships inspired higher morale in both the ship's crews and the public. So I guess that was nice.

Whether or not the idea working in WWI, by the end of WWII it was close to completely obsolete. The amazing jump in effectiveness of naval based reconnaissance planes made many of its features useless, and the technology of visual rangefinders got better as well. With the advent of radar and radar range finders, Dazzle camouflage was done. There are however, some people who stated that it was still effective against submarines, which at the time usually needed to stalk their prey from underwater and their only view of the target was from tiny periscopes just inches off the surface.

HMS Belfast with the camouflaged paint scheme it had during WWII