Friday, April 04, 2008

STEPHEN CAMP - BHP

UPDATED SUNDAY - APRIL 6, 2008

Isaiah Chapter 17

א מַשָּׂא, דַּמָּשֶׂק: הִנֵּה דַמֶּשֶׂק מוּסָר מֵעִיר, וְהָיְתָה מְעִי מַפָּלָה. 1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.



Exclusive: Iran, Syria, Lebanon on military alert over US Gulf movements and Israel’s home defense drill

April 6, 2008, 5:36 PM (GMT+02:00)

USS Abraham Lincoln heads to Persian Gulf

USS Abraham Lincoln heads to Persian Gulf

According to British media, the US is set to attack Iranian military facilities. DEBKAfile’s military sources add that the USS Abraham Lincoln Strike Force is heading for the Persian Gulf.

War tensions in the Middle East have shot up - not only over the signals flashing between Syria, Lebanon, and Israel, but also on the US-Iranian front in Iraq in the wake of rising in violence around the Basra conflagration.

Tuesday, April 8, US Iraq commander, Gen. David Petraeus and ambassador to Baghdad, Ryan Crocker, will stress in their report to Congress that Iran is waging war on America in Iraq, say sources in Washington, London and Baghdad.

This emerged strongly last week, when US intelligence learned that Iran had intervened directly in the Iraqi government’s crackdown on renegade militias in Basra and southern Iraq, by directing and provisioning those militias through the Revolutionary Guards’ al Qods Brigades.

Official sources in London predict that Iran’s intervention against the American effort to stabilize Iraq may well prompt a US attack on the military installations in Iran which are orchestrating the interference.

Gen. Petraeus is on record as accusing Iran of being the source of the daily rocket bombardment of Baghdad’s Green Zone, seat of government and US diplomatic and military headquarters.

DEBKAfile’s military sources report that Moscow has dropped its two nickels into the rising war alarm. In the last two weeks, Russian military and intelligence officials have been leaking claims of intensified American military movements around Iranian shores.

Iran is certain to come up in Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin’s farewell talks in the Black Sea resort of Sochi Sunday, along with other controversial business, such as Moscow’s objections to NATO’s eastern expansion and US missile shield in East Europe.

Saturday, US defense secretary Robert Gates turned up in Oman, the site of big American air bases, for talks with Sultan Qaboos. He then flew straight back to Washington. While Gates insisted to correspondents aboard his plane that the US is committed to a diplomatic solution for Iran’s covert nuclear program, the surpise visit struck sparks in the already fraught regional atmosphere, particularly as it followed on the heels of US Vice President Dick Cheney’s talks in Oman two weeks ago.

DEBKAfile’s Middle East sources sum up how Tehran and Damascus read these events and the picture they have built up of Washington’s intentions as combined with Israel’s military steps:

1. US is preparing to attack the Iranian military installations linked to subversion in Iraq. The operation will widen out into strikes on the Islamic Republic’s suspect nuclear sites.

2. Israel will use the chance for a concurrent attack on Syria.

3. Israel will attack Hizballah’s strongholds in Lebanon.

4. A broad, coordinated US-Israeli offensive will be mounted against Iran, Syria and Hizballah.

Iran and Syria view Israel’s four-day home defense exercise against missile attack, conventional or non-conventional, beginning Sunday, as setting the stage for these attacks.

Both believe Washington and Jerusalem are in close military step. Neither is reassured by soothing statements from prime minister Ehud Olmert and defense minister Barak that Israel does not seek violent confrontation - especially when the US administration is withholding all comment. Hence the high state of preparedness ordered by the jittery governments in Tehran, Damascus and Beirut.

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Ritter says White House preparing for war in Iran

Ed Barna – Rutland County Herald April 4, 2008

Scott Ritter, former head of weapons inspection in Iraq who protested there were no weapons of mass destruction to justify an invasion, believes the same is true for Iran.

But there is an 80 percent chance of war with Iran, he told about 200 people Wednesday at Middlebury College as part of a series of talks facilitated by the Vermont Peace and Justice Center.

The pattern of preparations for such a conflict has been steadily developing and involves Congress as well as the Bush-Cheney administration, he said.

*****************************************************************************

The Clinton campaign summarized the couple's earnings as follows:

CUMULATIVE TOTAL(GROSS) INCOME: $109,175,175

Including, among other items:

Senator Clinton's Senate Salary: $1,051,606
President Clinton's Presidential Pension: $1,217,250
Senator Clinton's Book Income: $10,457,083
President Clinton's Book Income: $29,580,525
President Clinton's Speech Income: $51,855,599

That summary leaves about $18 million unaccounted for, as Politico's Ben Smith notes.

**********************************************************************


Confidential document said to warn of conflict or revolution ahead for America

April 3, 2008 -

WMR has learned from knowledgeable sources within the US financial community that an alarming confidential and limited distribution document is circulating among senior members of Congress and their senior staff members that is warning of a bleak future for the United States if it does not quickly get its financial house in order

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is among those who have reportedly read the document

The document is being called the "C & R" document because it reportedly states that if the United States defaults on loans and debt underwriting from China, Japan, and Russia, all of which are propping up the United States government financially, and the United States unilaterally cancels the debts, America can expect a war that will have disastrous results for the United States and the world

"Conflict" is the "C word" in the document

The other scenario is that the federal government will be forced to drastically raise taxes in order to pay off debts to foreign countries to the point that the American people will react with a popular revolution against the government.



"Revolution" is the document's "R word"

The origin of the document is not known, however, its alarming content matches up with previous warnings from former Comptroller General David Walker who abruptly resigned as head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in February of this year after repeatedly publicly warning of a "financial meltdown" disaster if America's $9 trillion debt was not addressed quickly. Financial experts have warned that the national debt, corrected for inflation, could reach $46 trillion in the next 20 years. A month earlier, Walker warned the Senate Banking Committee about the reaction of creditor nations in Asia and Europe if the U.S. did not address its debt problem


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Setting Up the Hi Power for Defense

By Stephen Camp

As much I as I like these handsome pistols for informal target work, small game hunting, or just knocking around in the woods, their original purpose was for "serious" matters in one area of the self-defense arena, military service. Like its Browning-born predecessor, the 1911, the single-action Hi Power's initial reason for existence was as a military sidearm and not individual civilian self-protection. It is nice that both readily lend themselves to this, however.

In most cases, the military requirements for a sidearm differ from that of the private citizen's. With the soldier, the pistol is usually a secondary weapon if he has one at all. The private citizen will be using it as the primary and possibly only weapon at his disposal in "the dark place." While both the soldier and the private citizen might be attacked without any warning, the citizen will usually be at arm's length or so from his aggressor while the soldier's enemy might be a hundred yards distant. To me, this suggests that in most cases, the citizen's response must be quicker and at least initially without taking cover if unexpectedly subject to violent attack.

The military pistol need only feed ball or FMJ rounds (unless one is being used by certain SOG's in situations against people not deemed "soldiers") while the citizen's pistol will be expected to work reliably with about any kind of ammo the guy can buy. The soldier's sidearm need not be concealed in most cases while exactly the opposite remains true for the civilian carrier. Again, we're fortunate that the Hi Power can be pretty easily concealed for the size handgun it is.

Neither needs to be capable of formal competition accuracy, but both do need to be "accurate enough for their intended mission" as has often been stated. I'm glad that in good examples, the Hi Power is usually capable of better accuracy than most shooters can wring out of it. Both must be reliable and the Hi Power is…with one caveat.

The older "classic" Hi Powers were intended to work with FMJ ammunition as used by their first "employers," the military. These pistols are the ones made prior to the FN Mk II pistols and have the "humped" feed ramps that worked great with ball, but so-so with some JHP's and no-no with others!

Hi Powers made from the Mk II forward work fine with most JHP ammunition that I've tried that weighs from 115 to 124 grains and while my testing is limited with the heavier bullets, the guns have worked just fine with the 147-gr. slugs. If your Hi Power is pre-Mk II, you may have feeding problems with some of the blunter, shorter JHP ammo used today. You can either use ammunition having a rounded bullet profile as exhibited by Federal's 115-grain JHP, both standard and +P version, or Remington's 115-grain JHP, also available in standard pressure and +P. If you want to use something else, but the reliability is just not there, you can have a competent gunsmith "throat" the feed ramp on your Hi Power. This is not difficult, but must be done right.

This is the Browning Mk II 9mm pistol. It is the first commercially available Hi Power to be sold having extended ambidextrous thumb safety levers and is quickly identified by its narrow "rib" running the full length of the slide. The front sight is not serrated from the factory and is integral to the rib. Though still somewhat small, the fixed sights on this version are more usable at speed than those on earlier Hi Powers.

These guns are the first I'm aware of that came with the non-humped feed ramps straight from the factory.

As has been the case with the Mk III Hi Power, these pistols have proven extremely reliable with a very wide array of JHP ammunition.

Taken from Browning's site, this is the Mk III pistol and there are differences between it and the classic Hi Power and the Mk II. Note that the fixed sights are larger and that both are dovetailed to the slide. The ejection port has been enlarged, but is actually beefed up a bit at the lower rear to prevent slides cracking when used heavily. Like the Mk II and the classics made in the '70's, it has the spur hammer. The Mk III pistols sold in the US have internal firing pin safeties not present on the classics or the early Mk II pistols.

For lots of shooting or defensive use, the Mk III is my first choice.

Even though my eyes are not what they used to be, I find that the sights on the Mk II or Mk III pistols work fine and I have no trouble with them when practicing quick, defensive types of shooting. I do find the older Hi Power's fixed sights to be a bit lacking although OK for slow deliberate fire. I find that I do no better or worse with the very popular Novak fixed sights when compared to the factory Mk III sights in slow or rapid fire work. While the defensive Hi Power does require "good" sights in my opinion, I find that the factory sights are plenty "good" enough. On the other hand, there is utterly nothing wrong with having a set of Novak or Heine sights installed on your Hi Power. Just be sure that they are "on" for you. Though I've not yet tried them, Novak's new adjustable rear sight looks to be a very viable option for the Hi Power shooter preferring to be able to change his sights to exactly match various loads. Of the adjustable sights I've tried, those from MMC are likely the strongest, but I've seen Bomars used on a couple of 1911s under other than range conditions and they held up fine. In general though, fixed sights are the most popular for defense guns, including the Hi Power.

What I'm getting at is that the defensive Hi Power requires sights that can be seen at speed. I do not care for the "express" sights that have some following these days. I personally found them no faster than conventional high-visibility sights and more difficult to get precise hits with. This might be of no import if on a derringer or even a small snub where most expectations are only for close, coarse accuracy, but the Hi Power is capable of so much more that I do not recommend the use of "express" sights. I have been asked about rear sights having the large "ghost ring" aperture, but have not tried it so I cannot comment. If you opt for night sights, you'll get no argument from me. I still prefer plain black on black sights, but if shooting in extremely dim light, the night sights do make getting good hits easier. If you opt to use them, understand that their life span is about 12 years or so.

This Mk III 9mm has Novak fixed sights. They are visible at speed and these are plain black sights. They are available in night sight versions, as are those from other makers. This pistol has had other modifications as well. I do no better with these sights than with the fixed sights that came on it. If you have a Mk III, you decide what is right for you. If you have an older Hi Power, a change to higher visibility fixed sights is a necessary upgrade in my opinion.

I find the extended thumb safety necessary on the Hi Power, but do not on the 1911. The small classic thumb safety lever is just too small for best work at speed in my experience and some are pretty stiff as well. I prefer the FN factory extended thumb safety to the others I've tried, but don't care for ambidextrous safeties on the Hi Power. The reason is simple. I have large hands and have on occasion accidentally engaged the safety in the middle of a rapid-fire string! Other folks report no such problems, but be aware that it can happen and determine if you're prone to it or not. I remove the right-side thumb safety lever and reshape the shaft it was mounted on. Cylinder & Slide does offer extended ambidextrous and single-side safeties for folks not liking the factory version. Any should fit any version of the Hi Power as well as the clones, but it will probably need to be fitted by a gunsmith.

Probably the most controversial issue in the defensive Hi Power modifications is removal of the magazine disconnect. Sometimes called "magazine safety," this device prevents the firing of a chambered round if the magazine is removed. In short, the pistol cannot be fired with the magazine removed. (Actually, it can if you apply pressure to the trigger sufficient to keep the lifter firmly against the sear lever before dropping the magazine, but this is too risky to recommend under the stress of a life or death situation.) The magazine disconnect is pushed into a hole in the rear of the trigger when the magazine is inserted and the pad area of the "safety" actually moves upward against the front of the magazine when the trigger's being pressed. It contributes to a poor trigger in most cases and one that's heavier than the same pistol without it.

I routinely remove the magazine disconnect from all of my Hi Power pistols not only to help get a good trigger pull, but also to allow the magazine to drop free when released and to be able to fire the weapon without a magazine in place if necessary. This makes the pistol no more "unsafe" than the slew of 1911's on the market, HK's, Glocks, SIG-Sauers, and so forth. Opponents caution that such a removal of a safety device might be used against you in the inevitable civil suit that follows any shooting, justified or not. So far, I have not seen one documented case of this where the complainant prevailed if the shooting itself was intended and the trigger purposely pressed. I do think it could cost the owner of such a pistol if the shooting was unintentional. An example would be kids getting hold of the pistol and thinking it was safe because they'd removed the magazine and then negligently shooting themselves or another. In any event, there are gunsmiths who can put good trigger pulls on the Hi Power with or without the magazine "safety."

You decide what's best for your own unique situation.

While speaking of trigger pulls, I'd suggest that you stay in the 4.5 to even 5.5-lb. range. A good gunsmith can provide this and I've found that "crisp" and clean breaking is more important than "light" for the defensive handgun and this includes the Hi Power. Like all single-action semiautos, the Hi Power does not "tolerate" improper gun handling and under stress, the errant finger on the trigger might be pressing just a little too hard. You get the idea. My "carry Hi Powers" have triggers of about 4.5-lbs. or so.

The gun should be comfortable and if you have the free choice to choose the Hi Power, you probably already feel that it is. I cannot stand the factory checkered nylon grips with thumbrests that come from the factory on the Mk III pistols. The stocks themselves are fine and provide a secure grip, but I don't find them comfortable. If you do, they're fine. Most people seem to prefer aftermarket grips for their Hi Powers. I cannot tell you which is best for you, as this must be decided by you. I can say that I prefer Craig Spegel's checkered grips to any that I've tried. I also like the much less costly black checkered rubber copies offered by Butler Creek. They are thicker. Having had my Hi Power (and other handguns) out in rain or in extreme heat, I do find that the checkered grips provide a more secure grip when the hand is wet. Pachmayr offers checkered rubber grips for the Hi Power that also provide checkered covering of both the front and rear grip straps and Hogue offers a version that has finger grooves in the front strap area. Probably the thinnest grip on the market is from Navridex, but I've not personally tried them and some people speak highly of grips made by Ahrends. Pick the one that works best for you.

The Mk III on top is wearing Spegel checkered black delrin grips while the lower has the Butler Creek rubber grips. The front strap has also been covered with skateboard tape as an inexpensive way to provide a firm grip under all conditions. Stippling from a gunsmith is a nicer way, but also more expensive.

Also in the area of comfort is the problem of hammer bite. Many of us are smacked by rear of the spur hammer or the bottom rear of the factory ring hammer when firing the Hi Power, especially if we've drawn the gun with a high grip. In the picture above, you can see two solutions that have worked equally well for me. I bobbed the hammer spur of the top pistol at the second lateral serration and fitted the Cylinder & Slide Type I ring hammer on the bottom gun. This solved the problem for me and does for others as well. Other options such as dishing out the shank of the hammer at the back or welding on a tang will probably require the services of a gunsmith. C & S does offer a "no bite" version of the Type I hammer that has the rear of the shank contoured inward to avoid pinching.

I routinely use and recommend 18.5-lb. conventional recoil springs in the Hi Power rather than the 17-lb. factory standard. For me, the heavier spring works just fine with both standard and +P 9mm loads. If you do not have a strong hold for whatever reason, your defensive 9mm Hi Power might be better with the standard 17-lb. spring. The reason is that the heavier the recoil spring, the more firm the grip must be to avoid the gun malfunctioning. There is a minimal level of force required to hold the frame in place so that the recoil spring can be compressed against it. It is possible that one's shooting hand or arm be injured before the need to return fire ceases. I continue to use the 18.5-lb. springs, but this is something you might consider.

Extended slide releases are not needed on the Hi Power in my opinion. It's been my experience that they're prone to be accidentally engaged by the shooting hand, prematurely locking the slide back with rounds left to fire. The consequences in an actual gunfight or deadly force scenario are obvious. If right-handed or inserting the magazine with the left hand the left thumb can disengage the standard slide release lever or the slide itself can be pulled back and released.

Unless your pistol just flat won't group, I do not find the fitting of a match barrel to be necessary, but don't argue against it so long as reliability is retained. Most of these will be more tightly chambered than factory barrels so be sure that the Hi Power works reliably with the match barrel before counting on it.

I have no strong opinions on finishes for the defensive Hi Power and normally use plain matte blue, at least for the frame.

I also use recoil buffers in my Hi Powers and have had absolutely no problem with them with any ammunition use. Some folks are concerned that the thing might come apart in their pistol at the most inopportune times. They will if not replaced when heavily used, but an inspection during cleaning will tell you if it is time to change them out or not. On the other hand, a simple solution is to use the buffer at the range and simply remove it when you get home and clean the Hi Power before carrying it for self-protection.

What has been postulated here is that the defensive Hi Power must be reliable, safe, easy to get into action, have sights you can quickly see, and have a decent trigger pull. All of this is for naught if you don't use quality magazines. For carry, I recommend the factory Browning magazines or those by Mec-Gar, who make the factory Browning magazines. Second choice would be good condition Inglis surplus magazines and finally, the KRD 15 and 17 round magazines. I would use the Post-Ban 10-round magazines before I'd use some of the second rate aftermarket Pre-Ban magazines that may or may not be reliable. Even if using high quality magazines, test each and every one in your pistol with the ammunition that you intend to use. If you change ammunition, retest.

The groups shown were fired from a Mk III with standard barrel, Butler Creek grips, and a trigger job. The top two targets were fired slow fire while the larger target consists of 5 sets of controlled pairs. This Hi Power has had minimal custom work done and is plenty capable of handling self-protection needs.

This Mk III has had Novak fixed sights added and the target shown consists of 5 sets of controlled pairs at 10 yards. I see no difference between this and the Mk III using standard sights. On the other hand, there's really nothing "wrong" with having such sights simply if you prefer them for looks or some other reason. Neither pistol has a match barrel. Both shoot tighter groups than most of us are capable of attaining, particularly under the stress of a deadly force scenario.

It remains my opinion that the Hi Power, though now "dated", remains a most viable and world class pistol for not only self-protection, but also just plain fun.

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March 31, 2008

Watergate-Era Judiciary Chief of Staff: Hillary Clinton Fired For Lies, Unethical Behavior

As Hillary Clinton came under increasing scrutiny for her story about facing sniper fire in Bosnia, one question that arose was whether she has engaged in a pattern of lying.

The now-retired general counsel and chief of staff of the House Judiciary Committee, who supervised Hillary when she worked on the Watergate investigation, says Hillary’s history of lies and unethical behavior goes back farther – and goes much deeper – than anyone realizes.

Jerry Zeifman, a lifelong Democrat, supervised the work of 27-year-old Hillary Rodham on the committee. Hillary got a job working on the investigation at the behest of her former law professor, Burke Marshall, who was also Sen. Ted Kennedy’s chief counsel in the Chappaquiddick affair. When the investigation was over, Zeifman fired Hillary from the committee staff and refused to give her a letter of recommendation – one of only three people who earned that dubious distinction in Zeifman’s 17-year career.

Why?

“Because she was a liar,” Zeifman said in an interview last week. “She was an unethical, dishonest lawyer. She conspired to violate the Constitution, the rules of the House, the rules of the committee and the rules of confidentiality.”

How could a 27-year-old House staff member do all that? She couldn’t do it by herself, but Zeifman said she was one of several individuals – including Marshall, special counsel John Doar and senior associate special counsel (and future Clinton White House Counsel) Bernard Nussbaum – who engaged in a seemingly implausible scheme to deny Richard Nixon the right to counsel during the investigation.

Why would they want to do that? Because, according to Zeifman, they feared putting Watergate break-in mastermind E. Howard Hunt on the stand to be cross-examined by counsel to the president. Hunt, Zeifman said, had the goods on nefarious activities in the Kennedy Administration that would have made Watergate look like a day at the beach – including Kennedy’s purported complicity in the attempted assassination of Fidel Castro.

The actions of Hillary and her cohorts went directly against the judgment of top Democrats, up to and including then-House Majority Leader Tip O’Neill, that Nixon clearly had the right to counsel. Zeifman says that Hillary, along with Marshall, Nussbaum and Doar, was determined to gain enough votes on the Judiciary Committee to change House rules and deny counsel to Nixon. And in order to pull this off, Zeifman says Hillary wrote a fraudulent legal brief, and confiscated public documents to hide her deception.

The brief involved precedent for representation by counsel during an impeachment proceeding. When Hillary endeavored to write a legal brief arguing there is no right to representation by counsel during an impeachment proceeding, Zeifman says, he told Hillary about the case of Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, who faced an impeachment attempt in 1970.

“As soon as the impeachment resolutions were introduced by (then-House Minority Leader Gerald) Ford, and they were referred to the House Judiciary Committee, the first thing Douglas did was hire himself a lawyer,” Zeifman said.

The Judiciary Committee allowed Douglas to keep counsel, thus establishing the precedent. Zeifman says he told Hillary that all the documents establishing this fact were in the Judiciary Committee’s public files. So what did Hillary do?

“Hillary then removed all the Douglas files to the offices where she was located, which at that time was secured and inaccessible to the public,” Zeifman said. Hillary then proceeded to write a legal brief arguing there was no precedent for the right to representation by counsel during an impeachment proceeding – as if the Douglas case had never occurred.

The brief was so fraudulent and ridiculous, Zeifman believes Hillary would have been disbarred if she had submitted it to a judge.

Zeifman says that if Hillary, Marshall, Nussbaum and Doar had succeeded, members of the House Judiciary Committee would have also been denied the right to cross-examine witnesses, and denied the opportunity to even participate in the drafting of articles of impeachment against Nixon.

Of course, Nixon’s resignation rendered the entire issue moot, ending Hillary’s career on the Judiciary Committee staff in a most undistinguished manner. Zeifman says he was urged by top committee members to keep a diary of everything that was happening. He did so, and still has the diary if anyone wants to check the veracity of his story. Certainly, he could not have known in 1974 that diary entries about a young lawyer named Hillary Rodham would be of interest to anyone 34 years later.

But they show that the pattern of lies, deceit, fabrications and unethical behavior was established long ago – long before the Bosnia lie, and indeed, even before cattle futures, Travelgate and Whitewater – for the woman who is still asking us to make her president of the United States.

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Palestinian sniper fire injures Israeli minister’s bureau chief outside Gaza

April 4, 2008, 12:33 PM (GMT+02:00)

Avi Dichter, internal security minister

Avi Dichter, internal security minister

The Palestinian “Army of the Umma” inked to al Qaeda claimed the attack.

Internal security minister Avi Dichter was escorting a group of Canadian Jews on a tour of communities living under Palestinian missile fire outside Gaza Friday, April 4, when a Palestinian marksman opened cross-border fire on his party near Kibbutz Yad Mordecai. His senior aide was injured and taken to hospital.

Israeli troops returned the fire and entered the Gaza Strip to chase the shooters. The party was evacuated to a nearby army base. The shooting began as Dichter took the visitors up to the Mari’i Lookout (named for Col. Nevi Mari'i who was killed in action in Gaza) for a sight of northern Gaza, source of most of the missile attacks.

The minister, who often spends Fridays visiting Sderot and other communities under fire, has been targeted before. Last month, a Katyusha rocket from Gaza hit the home of his next-door neighbor in Ashkelon. Later, one of his bodyguards was injured when he inspected the missile damage at the Sapir College outside Sderot.

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Winchester "White Box" Confusion

This has been making American shooters nuts for a number of years now… particularly in the immediate aftermath of 11 September 2001 when there was a major run on 5.56mm ammunition. Winchester's "generic" or "budget" USA, or "white box," brand of ammunition actually has two different 55-grain FMJ rounds, and one has to look closely at the "small print" to discern the difference.

For openers, in addition to the ATK-operated Lake City plant2, Winchester is also a primary supplier of M193 to the U.S. military. That particular X223R1 round is commercially available in the white USA box product encoded "Q3131." What few realize is that Israeli Military Industries (IMI), the sole supplier of ammo to the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), also supplies their M193 as a subcontractor for Winchester; that round is often made available in the USA white boxes marked "Q3131A." By most reports, qualitatively, it is the same round and performs virtually the same as the home-grown variant.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

STEPHEN CAMP - 45 ACP AMMO & MORE

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Personal Choices in .45 ACP Defense Ammunition

By Stephen Camp

We have all heard comments like, "They all fall to hardball" or "Hit a man in the little finger with a 45 and he'll go down."

Most of us know that such claims are false but that emphatically does not mean that the .45 ACP is anything less than a very fine defense round…with the right loads. Despite tests showing equivalency of 9mm ball loads to 45, I do not believe it. The reason is simple. I have not observed it on either animals or people. I am personally aware of 45 and 9mm ball not doing the intended job and have seen both fail to stop even smallish critters like jackrabbits unless hit well, but the larger caliber did seem to have a bit "more" in this regard. Were I forced to use ball in an automatic, I would unhesitatingly choose .45 ACP if we envision face-to-face mortal combat using only handguns.

With expanding ammunition, it is my belief that .45 ACP is darned hard to beat assuming barrels of no less than 4" and preferably 5". The old saw that a hollow point will not expand at less than 1000 ft/sec is simply not true; at least not anymore. The ammunition makers today do manufacture factory ammunition that does and within velocity ranges that are realistic and from actual handguns, not test barrels.

Over the last century, the .45 ACP has proven itself a versatile round capable of extreme accuracy with light target loads to a highly-rated man stopper, though I believe the latter is sometimes overstated. It remains a most popular handgun round today and whether its effectiveness is overrated or not, .45 ACP is usually the yardstick by which other calibers/loads are measured.

This article is not intended to cover each and every .45 ACP load available. It will simply provide my choices based on personal observations and experiences coupled with reliable reports from others.

Service-size Handguns: To me this means barrels of 4 to 5". These would include the Commander-size 1911 pattern pistols, SIG-Sauer P-220 and the 5" 1911's for example. In my experience, these work well with any quality ammunition weighing 185-grains up. I personally prefer standard pressure ammunition in the traditional 230-gr. weight in such pistols. With better loads, expansion is usually reliable, recoil remains manageable for accurate quick fire, and most have proven accurate from quality handguns. My picks have normally possessed that most important aspect of the "serious handgun" and ammo combination: reliability.

Winchester 230-gr. Ranger (RA45T): Loaded in nickel cases, this JHP is the original "Black Talon" without the dark colored bullet. The bullet has also been tweaked to expand a bit more than the original and its jacket contains about 5% more copper than usual gilding metal. Though blunt, the bullet ogive is rounded nicely at the edges and the cartridge usually feeds with boring regularity in 1911 pattern pistols. I've shot it in Commanders and the P-220 as well with no problems. Though sold only to law enforcement by Winchester, it can be had for private citizens willing to look and there is no federal law prohibiting its use by non-law enforcement folks. (State laws can vary and it is up to each individual to know the laws in his or her state.)

It is a stellar load with regard to performance and meets or exceeds the FBI testing protocols. This load expands after passing through various intermediate gelatin testing, including the dreaded four layers of denim.

I find it very consistent in velocity, regardless of lot number. Shot into both water and super-saturated newsprint, the bullet has never failed to open for me, when using barrels of no less than 4". Expansion characteristics have been remarkably similar and I have not found this load to be "inaccurate" in any quality handgun. I have not seen any of these bullets pulled out of people. I have seen a couple taken out of deer and they expanded about like the ones fired into various test media including 10% ballistic gelatin. (Now and again, an expanded bullet actually removed from a living creature will be chewed up a bit as bone is sometimes struck.)

Let's take a look at some actual velocities from different length barrels. The average velocities listed are based on 10 shots fired 10' from the chronograph screens.

Winchester 230-gr. Ranger Average Velocity Results

Handgun

Barrel Length (inches)

Average Velocity (ft/sec)

Kimber Custom

5

886

STI Trojan

5

880

Norinco

5

841

Springfield Armory LW Gov't

5

886

Colt Commander

4 1/4

838

SIG-Sauer P-220

4 1/4

857

Colt Defender

3

797

I believe that the roughly 40-ft/sec deficit shown with the Norinco is due to mine having a "slow barrel" rather than anything with the ammunition. This gun typically shows average velocities that are slightly lower than when fired from other guns having the same length barrels.

At a ballistics seminar, a law enforcement friend of mine advised that the Winchester representative suggested going to the +P version of the 230-gr. Ranger if using one of the short barrel .45 compacts. If memory serves, the standard pressure was still "OK" at 3 1/2", but that was the cutoff; barrels of less than that needed the +P to achieve the velocity necessary for reliable expansion. I included the data on the Defender only for comparison purposes. For those interested, here is a link to an article done on Corbon's "Compact Gun" load. That round is standard pressure and specifically designed for 45's having shorter barrels:

http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/Corbon%20160%20gr%20DPX.htm

Here is the Winchester Ranger 230-gr. JHP. If you look carefully, the "deadly" talons can be seen. I am not convinced that this aids significantly in the bullet's wounding ability. To me, this round's endearing attributes are reliability in feeding and consistent expansion coupled with usually fine accuracy. I have not noticed this bullet to be particularly prone to setback when cycled through the handgun repeatedly. That does not mean that this shouldn't be checked with ammunition being carried for self-protection.

Remington 230-gr. Golden Saber: Much more readily available to the general public, this is a load that I've become especially fond of…although my first encounters with it were not all that positive. The first batches of Golden Saber that I fired just didn't group well for me, but that was right after it was introduced. Since then I believe that the ammunition's been altered because it now groups most satisfactorily from a number of pistols I've tried it in. It was also the ammunition used in conjunction with the FBI HRT team's 50-yard accuracy requirements for their Springfield 1911 pistols. (It is my understanding that HRT has since gone to Winchester's RA45T, but simply because Winchester sells this ammo at lower prices than Remington does with their Golden Sabers.)

The Golden Saber's jacket is a brass alloy and not the traditional gilding metal used in most jacketed hollow points. Where Winchester altered their bullet's jacket to make it "softer" and more malleable, Remington opted for another approach: Make the bullet jacket extremely stiff, but engineer the bullet to expand and let the jacket do most of the "wounding." The petals on an expanded Golden Saber are not particularly sharp compared to the talons on Winchester's, but they are stiff and contribute greatly to the bullet's final expanded diameter. With the Golden Saber, the lead bullet does not provide the bulk of the expanded diameter. For those concerned with possible bullet/jacket separation, the Golden Saber is now offered in a bonded version but I have not yet tested it.

This factory Golden Saber was fired into super-saturated newsprint from a 5" 1911. Notice that the petals, though folded rearward, extended to considerably less distance than just the brass jacket. The bullet is deeply notched to help insure expansion.

Because the brass jacket on the Golden Saber is harder than traditional gilding metal, the bullet itself has slightly less diameter than conventional bullets. A "driving band" of normal diameter does contact the barrel and according to Remington, pressures generated as well as barrel wear are the same as for conventionally jacketed ammunition.

Remington 230-gr. Golden Saber Average Velocity Results

Handgun

Barrel Length (inches)

Average Velocity (ft/sec)

Kimber Custom

5

857

STI Trojan

5

853

Norinco

5

805

Springfield LW Gov't Model

5

858

Colt Commander

4 1/4

829

SIG-Sauer P-220

4 14

822

Some have expressed concerns about separation between the bullet and the jacket with the Golden Saber. I have seen this more in expansion testing when water is used than in other media, but it did occur on a deer I shot using a Golden Saber handload. The bullet and jacket separated to be sure but this occurred during the last couple of inches of penetration.

For those interested, here is a more detailed report:

http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/45%20ACP%20Golden%20Saber%20Field%20Report.htm

At this point, someone will be wondering about Speer's 230-gr. Gold Dot. I like Gold Dots, particularly in 9mm and .38 Super, but have simply found them not to feed reliably in a fairly significant number of 1911 type handguns. In some they run as slick as butter but not so well in enough that I cannot list it as a favorite load.

If your pistol reliably feeds it and you prefer this round, I think you have picked a good one. Like the Winchester Ranger, the Gold Dot uses a more malleable jacket than conventional jacketed hollow points. I have found it to be accurate and a reliable expander. It normally averages between about 830 and 850 ft/sec for me from a 5" barrel.

Speer's Gold Dot is a bonded bullet in that the jacket is chemically bonded with the lead core. It takes velocities way beyond those for which the bullet is designed to even see it begin to try and fragment. In .45 ACP, this bullet is almost guaranteed not to do so.

I am aware of one shooting with this load in my area. A law enforcement officer was required to shoot an armed felon with it at close range. The felon was struck in the head and was dead before he hit the ground. The Gold Dot did expand. I am not sure if it fully penetrated the head or not. The officer's pistol jammed after the first shot.

Federal 230-gr. "Classic" JHP: Having the same profile as the company's HydraShok, this conventional JHP can be had for less money per shot than the flagship ammunition previously mentioned. It also comes in 50-round boxes. It is an older technology bullet to be sure, but one that has performed nicely for me in years past. I prefer it to the HydraShok and the reason is simple: I see no difference in performance.

Like the HydraShok, this load is usually more accurate than expected. Though it probably will not perform as well as some more modern loads after passing through intermediate targets, this does not automatically indicate that it is no longer effective as some folks seem to imply.

On the left is the Federal 230-gr Classic JHP. On the right is the HydraShok. Profiles are identical. I have noticed no difference in actual expansion between the two. Neither have I observed any lack of reliability due to the brass case being used instead of the nickel-plated one.

Fired into super-saturated newsprint, this is about normal for the 230-gr. Classic JHP. There is frequently jacket fragmentation…at least to some degree but I do not believe that this bullet is "ineffective." For folks preferring to buy their "serious" ammunition in bulk, this one would be a real contender in my opinion. This load averages about 860 ft/sec from the 5" guns I've fired it from.

I have not tried the Winchester USA 230-gr. JHP's so I cannot comment on them. I am guessing that they will probably perform about like the Federal 230-gr. Classic JHP, as both are "old technology" in design. These seem to be quite popular with many shooters but I think this is due to price more than possible performance.

Other loads that seem to work nicely despite some laboratory testing to the contrary come from Hornady. I have not shot their factory-loaded ammunition extensively, but have handloaded more than a few 200 and 230-gr. XTP bullets for my .45's. As with their 9mm bullets, the 45-caliber XTP is normally capable of extremely fine accuracy.

The bullet is not in favor with many people because it is not an aggressive expander. It is not designed to be. Usually the XTP will go to about one-and-a-half calibers in the test media I've tried and likewise in animals. This bullet will usually penetrate an inch or two deeper than its competitors' at similar velocities.

Of the bullets I've shot into various media and those recovered from actual animals, the XTP has been the most consistent I've seen from any maker. (Corbon's DPX may very well give it a run for top place in this regard, but I've not yet seen any pulled out of critters.)

The XTP bullet has fed reliably over the long-term for me in all of my 1911 pattern pistols and never missed a stroke from the P-220.

Both the 230-gr. Golden Saber (left) and the 230-gr. XTP (right) expanded nicely when fired into water from a 5" barrel. Both of these were handloads in the 850-ft/sec range. Note that the beginning of bullet/jacket separation is visible. I see this with bullets fired into water more than with other media or animal tissue, but it does happen. How bad or good this is I cannot say.

Despite the 230-gr. weight, some folks remain concerned with insufficient penetration and still with FMJ. This is their decision, but I respectfully suggest trying the Hornady XTP whether loaded under the "Custom" or "TAP" moniker.

I have shot two 130-lb whitetail deer with the 200-gr. XTP loaded to about 970 ft/sec, which is in line with the factory's +P version in the same weight. The deer went down, but no bullets were recovered as they completely penetrated the animal on broadside shots. Ditto for the one I hit with the 230-gr. XTP loaded to 850 ft/sec.

Please do not think that I'm suggesting that these are the only "good" loads for the .45 ACP. They are my choices based on informal testing and field results on animals coupled with reports from some folks who have used them in mortal combat situations. Above all, don't use any load that is not reliable in your pistol.

************************************************************************************************

US air strikes resume in S. Iraq as Moqtada Sadr calls for mass march against US “occupation”

April 3, 2008, 3:15 PM (GMT+02:00)

Shiite Moqtada Sadr rides high again

Shiite Moqtada Sadr rides high again

Thursday, April 3, US helicopter strikes killed 5 people in Hilla and destroyed a house in Basra. Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr called for a million-strong march in the shrine city of Najef against US “occupation” on April 9, the fifth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad.

Iraq’s death toll of 1,082 was 50 percent higher in March than February – boosted by hundreds killed in Basra.

While most victims were civilians, a higher proportion of Iraqi combatants -102 policemen and 54 soldiers - were killed. Some died in the six days of intense fighting in the southern oil town of Basra between government troops and militiamen; but many civilians were caught in the crossfire.

The fighting in the South appears to have abated since Moqtada Sadr ordered his Shiite Mehdi Army militiamen off the streets in return for an government amnesty. The pause cut short Shiite-versus-Shiite strife which spread to other cities in the south and to Baghdad marking Iraq’s Shiite prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's failure to dislodge the militias from their strongholds.

DEBKAfile reports: The prime minister may be held accountable for a venture which placed the cohesion of the ruling Shiite bloc at risk and strengthened Iranian influence. Moqtada Sadr is already capitalizing on his militia's success in warding off the government offensive.

************************************************************************************

Texe Marrs


"And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal."

Ezekiel 38:1-3
"And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the Lord."

Ezekiel 39:6

An historic event occurred in Jerusalem this January, an event chronicled widely in Israel's newspapers but omitted entirely by America's Zionist controlled and owned press. President George W. Bush, visiting the nation of Israel, was presented with a rabbinical decree, the Scroll of Bush. The Scroll declared that he, Bush, is none other than the prophesied Gog, of the land of Magog; that is, Chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal.

Even as America's economic crisis grew deeper, with hundreds of thousands losing their homes due to mortgage foreclosures, the U.S. stock market sliding south, the U.S. dollar sinking like a rock against foreign currencies, and labor statistics showing unemployment rising as more and more American workers are laid off and manufacturing sent overseas, our President George W. Bush embarked on Air Force One on an eight day trip to Israel.

Yes, like bloody Roman Emperor Nero, who reportedly fiddled while Rome burned, a callous and indifferent George Bush left a desperate country and people gasping for breath to go to the Middle East and consult with his superiors—Zionist rabbinical overlords.

Arriving on 666, a Prophetically Appropriate Date

He arrived in Jerusalem 1/09/08, numerically translated in occult numerology as 666. On 1/11 (the 11th of January), he and Israeli Prime Minister Olmert, along with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, were taken down into the earth, inside Zedekiah's Cave, for a clandestine ritual and black mass conducted by the Grand Master of Israel's Freemasons. The same day, Bush visited Yad Vashem, Israel's version of the Holocaust Museum, where he stayed exactly 90 minutes, a number again translating into 666.

While in Jerusalem, President Bush and Prime Minister Olmert met with the press and referred to several key dates approaching. March 20th would signal the Jewish holy day of Purim, commemorating the mass murder and genocide by the Jews of more than 75,000 Gentile "enemies" of Persia (Iran) in the days of the Jews' Queen Esther. On May 8, Israel celebrates its 60th anniversary. Finally, President Bush predicted that by the end of his term in 2009 (2x9=18, translating again, into that number 666), there will be a peace treaty between the Palestinians and the Israelis. The treaty will insure that the Palestinians will forever be squeezed into their pitiful, apartheid, poverty-stricken ghettos, while the victorious Jews enjoy the fruits of their crimes, luxuriously living in an enlarged, Greater Israel.

But those things were not the most significant that happened during Bush's historic visit. No, that occurred on the third day when, at a banquet, President Bush was presented with the Scroll of Bush, a document made out on ancient parchment and signed by the three most spiritually prominent Jews on planet earth:

  • Rabbi Adan Steinzaltz, High Priest of the Sanhedrin
  • Rabbi Chaim Reichman, Chief Rabbi of the Holy Temple
  • Dr. Gadi Schel, Chief Representative of The New Jewish Congress

The Scroll of Bush, the first page of which is pictured here, pompously claims to be promulgated, "In the Name of the Lord, Eternal God." Of course, this is not Jesus Christ, since the Jews

The Scroll of Bush identifying the U. S. President as the "esteemed Mr. George W. Bush, the Chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal (Ezekial 38:1) Leader of the West!" (Click to enlarge)
hate and despise Jesus Christ and brand him an illegitimate bastard and blasphemer in their Judaic Holy Law, the Talmud. Jesus himself said their "Lord" is, in fact, the Devil!

Bush Identified as Chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal

The Scroll goes on to address Bush as, "The Honorable Mr. George W. Bush, President of the United States of America." Then, however, in a most shocking and prophetic manner, the Scroll of Bush, a document representing the entire Jewish nation both in Israel and dispersed throughout the world, a document composed by and authenticated by the highest religious rabbis on the planet, addressed Bush by yet another title:
"Esteemed Mr. George W. Bush, the Chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal (Ezekiel 38:1), Leader of the West!"

Oh my, oh my. This is an occult mystery of tremendous prophetic significance, one so incredibly deep and so stunningly revealing that I am offering to my friends this month an exhaustive 60-minute audiotape/CD investigative report, carefully and fully explaining what all this means (Gog, Magog, and the Scroll of Bush—Jewish Sanhedrin Honors President George W. Bush as "Chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal" Tape or CD).

There can be no doubt that President Bush knows exactly why he holds the satanic title of "Gog, of the land of Magog," also known as Chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal. The "Leader of the West," as the Rabbis also put it, "shall be incarnated and possessed by Satan himself in the last days. The Scriptures say he, as Chief Prince, "shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea" (Revelation 20:7-8).

President George W. Bush toasts Israeli Prime Minister Olmert during a visit to Jerusalem where Bush was presented the Scroll of Bush honoring him as Chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal; That makes Bush "Gog, of the land of Magog."

"Magog" of Skull and Bones

The Tomb, the mausoleum-like dwelling of the 15 bonesmen chosen each year to become favored alumni of the Order of Skull and Bones. Both President George Bush, Sr. and his son, President George W. Bush, were initiated into this secret society. Each was given a secret name and Senior Bush’s name was Magog.
Decades ago, as George Bush, Sr., lay naked in a coffin, inside the bowels of the Tomb, the macabre, mausoleum residence of the Order of Skull and Bones, located next to the old town cemetery in New Haven, Connecticut, his fellows performed a hellish death ritual and raised George from his sarcophagus. They gave him, as they do all initiates, a new name. Hence more, George Herbert Walker Bush would secretly be known by the Brotherhood as "Magog."

Now, on a mission for his infernal Lord Lucifer, comes President George W. Bush, son of the bonesman named "Magog," to Jerusalem, Israel. There, the chief religious officials—including the High Priest of the reconvened Sanhedrin, the same devilish body that so long ago commanded that Jesus our Lord be tortured and crucified on a primitive wooden cross—recognized and honored Mr. Bush as Gog, of the land of Magog, Chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal (Ezekiel 38:1).

The Unwise Haven't a Clue

Imagine: Three hundred million people residing in the U.S.A. and only a few—the wise who believe and honor the word of God and the Lord's prophetic scriptures—are able to understand the profound nature of such a cardinal event. Of course, the rabbis and the Masons of Israel, disciples of Satan—they know. But America's Senators and Congressmen, America's TV news celebrities, America's radio talk show personalities, and the dumbed-down, Christ-rejecting masses—they haven't a clue.

The wise and informed, however, understand and shall be rewarded. But the careless and wicked shall perish in their ignorance and stupidity. Such is truth. Such is prophecy.

"And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand."

Daniel 12:9-10

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

www.mouseguns.com

Mousegunner's Review of the
Kel-Tec PF-9 Pistol

This review reflects my own experience with my new Kel-Tec PF-9 (Kel-Tec's Website is Here), but I have also drawn on articles and reviews found on the internet in various places. The photos are my own, but you are welcome to borrow them, if you like. For more resources and some specific acknowledgements see the last paragraph of this article.

Kel-Tec has a lot of vocal fans, and they begged for a single-stack 9mm pistol for years. Finally, Kel-Tec heard their cries, and came through with the PF-9. I bought mine a few days ago (August 8, 2007), and here's what it looks like fresh from the cardboard box (no nice cushioned plastic boxes from Kel-Tec!)

Kel-Tec announced impending production on their website, and on the KTOG forums on November 11, 2005--and made an official public announcement at the SHOT show in February of 2006. The Kel-Tec announcement read:

"The PF-9 is a semi-automatic, locked breech pistol, chambered for the 9 mm Luger cartridge. It has been developed from our highly successful P-11 and P-3AT pistols with maximum concealability in mind. The PF-9 has a single stack magazine holding 7 rounds. It is the lightest and flattest 9 mm ever made. Firing mechanism is Double-Action Only with an automatic hammer block safety. The PF-9 will be available in blued, parkerized, and hard chrome finishes. Grips will be in black, grey, and olive drab. The PF-9 accessory rail will accept the latest compact weapon lights and lasers.

"The PF-9 retains the best features from our P-11 and P-3AT pistols combined into the flattest and lightest single stack 9mm configuration ever made. The barrel, locking system, slide stop, assembly pin, front sight, recoil springs and guide rod are adapted from the P-11. The PF-9 is nearly identical to the P-11 in length and height and shares the same exterior controls. The shorter trigger system with integral hammer block and the extraction system are adapted from the P-3AT. Just like the P-11, the PF-9 will accept +P ammunition, however, not with continuous use.

"The rear sight is a new design and is adjustable for windage with the supplied allen wrench as well as for elevation with the use of shims (not included). The included 7 round rectangular magazine is supplied with a finger extension base plate and numbered holes. The under barrel accessory rail shares the dimensions of the MIL-STD-1913 picatinny rail although there is only one locking notch in the forward position."

SUGGESTED RETAIL PRICES AS OF AUGUST 2007

  • PF-9 Pistol, Blued $333.00
  • PF-9 Pistol, Parkerized $377.00
  • PF-9 Pistol, Hard Chrome $390.00

Actual prices, of course, will be whatever the marketplace decides. I bought my blued slide PF-9 in Chattanooga, TN on August 8, 2007, for $269.00 plus sales tax. Prices in other areas of the country will vary. A good way to check current retail prices is to visit www.gunbroker.com.

The PF-9 pistol is a good-looking gun, and comes with one 7 round magazine, a pinky finger extension base plate, and a gun lock (padlock). Extra magazines may be ordered directly from Kel-Tec for $21.85 each.

According to a knowledgeable PF-9 owner, two weak points in the PF-9 design are the plastic magazine release and the magazine follower. The mag release may wear out quickly unless care is taken to hold in the mag release button while inserting the mag. Mag followers may wear on the front left corner if you allow the slide to lock back on an empty mag very often. The negative effect of that is that your pistol will not lock back the slide consistently after the last round in the mag is fired.

I have read that a good way to shoot your PF-9 at the range is to always leave one cartridge remaining in the magazine, which will preclude the slide locking back, and which will then preserve the plastic follower. "Two Pistol Packer" on the KTOG Forum has created metal replacement parts that may wear better. Here is a link to his excellent instructions for disassembly, reassembly and replacement of various parts.

The original shipment date was supposed to be May of 2006, but it kept being postponed. Production did not start until September of 2006, and things got off to a rocky start with the new pistol.

The first 100 PF9s were mostly bought by the factory employees and distributors. George Kellgren (gun designer, chief engineer and owner of Kel-Tec) himself took the first 19 off the assembly line. PF-9s began to be released to the public in late September 2006.

The first run of PF-9s had many problems. (This is a summary of information presented by Two Pistol Packer on the KTOG Forums.)

1. Some early barrels had SHORT THROATS that would not chamber the longer 147 grain ammo.
Here's a photo I found in a KTOG forum post by Kel-Tec fan "Wilson," showing the old and new PF-9 barrels...



2. Kel-Tec used the same screw for the sight as for the extractor. But when the screw was tightened during production this caused it to intrude into the hammer arc which caused hammer peening from hitting the screw, which caused hammer slide scoring, which caused additional wear to the hammer, which then caused more hammer slide scoring etc. etc.
3. There was a lot of fine brass dust created from the cartridges being shaved by the rough hammer slide.
4. The firing pin channel in the slide was too large, and allowed the firing pin to wobble around and strike the primer crookedly, resulting in failures to fire. The large hole also quickly attracted brass shavings.
5. The slide lock tab was too large, and rubbed against the bullet noses and piled up shavings.
6. Sometimes cartridges would feed oddly and lock open the breech, with the cartridge nose trapped under the slide stop tab.
7. First run PF-9s also had problems with the first 3 rounds in the magazine tending to nose dive into the feed ramp.
8. The magazine follower was a soft material and quickly developed a gouge caused by the last round flipping end for end and smacking its rim into the top of the follower.
9. The slide was not properly hardened, and this this caused slide bending which gradually caused barrel and breech peening, and light strikes from the slide not properly closing into battery.
10. Sometimes slides also cracked at the slide stop notch.
11. Some of the grip accessory rails drooped.
12. Magazine problems: The PF9 magazine followers were a soft plastic that dented easily, and the sharper slide lock tabs tended to dig holes in them. These mags also apparently have sharper edges in the mag catch area and tend to wear the plastic mag catches quickly if the catch button is not depressed during mag insertion.

All who returned these first run models received back brand new parkerized guns with their old serial numbers stamped thereon. Almost all of the first model problems were corrected in short order, and production quality was quickly improved.

Newer PF-9s have a completely new barrel, with a longer feed ramp, to facilitate the use of hollow point bullets. Some PF-9s may still experience a problem with the trigger spring popping out of its groove. Beginning in July of 2007, Kel-Tec began installing a new trigger bar for the PF-9 with a deeper groove in it. On 01/17/07 Kel-Tec announced full production (between 700 and 1000 guns per week).

In case you are interested in the serial number of your PF-9, "Two Pistol Packer" has got a handle on that bit of info!

This is a photo of the newer barrel by itself, with the longer feed ramp:

Kel-Tec says that a limited amount of Plus P rated ammunition can be used in the PF-9, so it is recommended that shooters do most of their practice with standard pressure ammo, and save the hot stuff for more serious use, firing enough of it through their pistols to assure compatibility with that particular gun. The slide of the PF-9 uses a bushingless design, the same as with Kel-Tec's other pistols.

The magazine is made of steel with a plastic floorplate, and Kel-Tec includes a pinky extension in the box, if you care to install it. The trigger is double-action-only, and the pull is smooth and measures about 5 or 6 pounds. The trigger does not automatically reset while dry-firing, so if you want to test your trigger, you will need to reload a snap cap for each trigger pull. (With the P-11 you can just keep on pulling the trigger for dry firing.) As with all Kel-Tec pistols, DON'T DRY FIRE WITHOUT SNAP CAPS!

The magazine release is to the rear of the trigger guard in the usual place. The slide locks open after the last shot, and the slide release is handy for the thumb of a right-handed shooter. But the slide lock is tight, and I found it necessary to pull back a bit on the slide at the same time as pushing down on the slide release. As with all Kel-Tec pistols, there is no manual safety. The PF-9 is a hammer-fired design, and the hammer does not stick out the back of the slide.

The sights on the PF-9 are the common three-dot design, not dove-tailed. The rear sight is ajustable laterally for windage correction, and by shimming for elevation correction. Disassembly of the Kel-Tec PF-9 is quick and easy. Using a cartridge case rim as the only tool needed to pull out the take-down pin. Personally I like to cover up the pistol with a business card, and then use a small screw driver to pry out the take-down pin.

Important Note on re-assembly. There is a slight change of technique from the P-11 or P-3AT. After putting the slide/barrel back on the frame, you MUST push the barrel hood down into the slide before pushing the slide to the rear of the gun. That's the only way you will be able to have the barrel come forward adequately to insert the take-down pin properly.

The slide, barrel, and other critical components are made of steel, and Kel-Tec offers matte blued, Parkerized, and hard chrome finishes.

Workmanship appears to be quite rough. My "new in the box" PF-9 had numerous little scratches on the exterior of the slide, and the interior of the slide and breech face had what appeared to be hazy patches of the beginnings of rust. (After shooting and cleaning several times, this all went away. I believe the "rusty patches" were actually remnants of something similar to cosmoline.)

The PF-9 has a fixed standing blade ejector; and the slide runs on aluminum rails installed in the frame....

...and the extractor has an external spring, held in by what is affectionately known as a "Frankenbolt" by Kel-Tec fans.

The PF-9 is only .88 inches thin. The PF-9's height, including the sights and magazine floorplate (sans pinky extension), measures 4.4 inches, and the length measures just 5.8 inches. The barrel length is 3.1 inches. The weight of the PF-9 is 14.6 ounces empty, including the magazine. The PF-9 uses a double recoil spring system, and has a plastic full-length guide rod.

The PF-9 is an excellent gun for carrying as a concealed weapon, if you have a handgun carry permit from your particular state. The Kel-Tec P3AT is excellent for ccw, too, but fires the weaker .380 caliber bullet (7 rounds). The P-11 is about the same size as the PF-9, however it is much thicker, and a bit heavier. The new PF-9 has a capacity of 8 rounds of the more powerful 9mm, and can handle even +P loads. In practice, the PF-9 feels like a slightly larger P-3AT, rather than a variation of the P-11. The trigger is also more like the P-3AT trigger. Here are some photos of the three Kel-Tec pistols together for size comparison.

Here is a page of photos comparing the relative sizes of the P-11 and the PF-9.

A good holster of some sort is helpful for pocket carry. Here is an inexpensive suede leather holster (made by Galco, I think) that works well for me. If you don't use a holster in your pocket, the sharp leading edge of the rail will rub a hole in your pocket while you walk.

Bullet velocity from the PF-9 appears to be quite adequate. Here is a chart that presents some velocity testing of several brands of ammo by Gunblast.Com:

Kel-Tec warranty service is as good as it gets. If you have a problem with your PF-9 or other Kel-Tec firearm, the toll-free service number is: 1-800-515-9983.

Here's an illustration of typical Kel-Tec excellent service.

RANGE REPORT: I went to the range expecting good results, because the feed angle of the cartridge to the feed ramp looks pretty good:

I tried seven different varieties of 9mm ammo in my PF-9. Plain old Winchester ValuPak from WalMart, and six different hollow points. Here's a picture of my ammo lined up on my desk.

Listing the ammo from left to right....

Winchester ValuPak, 115 grain, FMJ
Remington Golden Saber, 124 grains
Speer Gold Dot +P, 124 grains
Hornady XTP, 124 grains
Federal, 115 grains
Corbon +P, 125 grains
Federal HydraShok, 124 grains

And here are the cartridges enlarged, in two rows. The first row of four are the ValuPak, Golden Saber, Gold Dot and Hornady:

The second row of cartridges are the Federal 115 grains, the Corbon +P, and the HydraShok 124 grains.

Prior to shooting my PF-9 I field stripped it, and cleaned it up good (check out the famous Kel-Tec "Fluff and Buff" treatment). The feed ramp was dull, so I polished it with some 600 sand paper, and emery cloth. Same treatment for the barrel. I oiled the frame grooves and barrel well with 3-in-1 household oil. (Some people are very picky about what oil they use, but I have not found that to be crucial at all. Just DON'T use WD40, which can gum things up, and which can creep into your cartridges.

I did not shoot for accuracy this time at the range, but simply to see which variety of 9mm cartridge would or would not prove to feed and fire reliably. I shot a magazine-full of each brand, one after the other, and noted which had problems. My plan is to quickly eliminate those which jam up right away. Later on I will get a larger quantity of a brand that appears to feed reliably, and try a hundred rounds of that single brand.

Results for todays range report:

My first magazine was of the Federal "Red Box" 124 grain Hydrashok ammo, and I had one failure to feed. My second magazine was of the Corbon +P 125 grain ammo, and it failed twice in one magazine!

I'm happy to report that ALL the other brands of hollow point, and of course the FMJ, fed fine, with no jams at all.

Looking carefully at the length and shape of the cartridges/bullets, I can see why the Corbon wanted to jam. It is a stubby looking thing! The Golden Saber fed with no problems, it appears to be close in shape to the FMJ, and it is priced at or below what the other cartridges sell for, so my plan is to get a hundred rounds of Golden Saber ammo, and see if it will go 100 rounds without any failures.

Here's a picture of my target. I shot rapid fire at five yards, and I am satisfied with the accuracy of the PF-9. The trigger is not tough, but it IS long. Really not bad at all! As you can see, I tend to shoot high and left, unless concentrating. My opinion is that the PF-9 will shoot quite accurately, if I do my part.

I also plan to wear my shooting glove next time I go shooting with the PF-9, for as you can see, it got a good start on chewing up my hand.

Concluding Observations: The PF-9 is much more of a pocket pistol than the P-11. The flatness and bit of extra lightness makes it feel more like a P-3AT that has grown up a little big. I have been carrying it in the front pocket of my khaki pants since I purchased it, and it truly works great as a pocketable 9mm pistol. The Kahr PM9 may work just as well, and have slightly smaller length and height (the PF-9 is flatter), but the PM9 is more than double the price of the Kel-Tec PF-9. I'm very glad I bought this weapon, and it has permanently replaced my P-3AT as my everyday pocket gun.

IMPORTANT RESOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION: In writing this review I used my own experiences and photographs, and also got a lot of information from the official Kel-Tec web page; from the Gunblast.com review of the PF-9; and from articles on the KTOG Forums, especially the detailed research and statistics compiled by "Two Pistol Packer."

MORE LINKS: A Good Review by drfaulken
Another Good Review by "Riverside"

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Is Barack Obama a Muslim wolf in Christian wool?

By Reuven Koret March 27, 2008


The glib handling of criticism of his relationship with the anti-American ("God Damn America!") and anti-Israel ("a dirty word for Negroes") Reverend James Wright may have bought him a little time. But the legacy of dissimulation about his long-concealed identity is about to come crashing down around the ears of Barack Hussein Obama, courtesy of the assembled testimony of his family, friends, classmates and teachers.

The accumulated research indicates that Obama was in his childhood a devout Muslim, the son of a devout Muslim, the step-son of a devout Muslim and the grandson and namesake ("Hussein") of a devout Muslim. He was registered in school as a Muslim and demonstrated his ability to chant praise to Allah in impressive Arab-accented tones even as an adult. Just as he has not disavowed his "uncle" Jeremiah, neither has he disavowed his Muslim faith that he was born into, raised with, celebrated and never abandoned. He just covered it over with a thin veneer of his own self-styled "Christianity."

Although as an adult he would register as a Christian, and occasionally attend a Christian Church (but apparently not often enough to listen to the preaching of his pastor, or so he would claim) this was a necessary step for a man who from earliest boyhood has nurtured the precocious ambition to be President of the United States.

He was entered into the Roman Catholic, Franciscus Assisi Primary School, in Jakarta, Indonesia, on January 1, 1968, registered under the name Barry Soetoro, an Indonesian citizen whose religion was listed as Islam. Catholic schools accept non-Catholics worldwide. Non-Catholic students are typically excused from religious instruction and ceremony.

In kindergarten, Senator Obama wrote an essay titled 'I Want to Become President.'"Iis Darmawan, 63, Senator Obama's kindergarten teacher, remembers him as an exceptionally tall and curly haired child who quickly picked up the local language and had sharp math skills. He wrote an essay titled, 'I Want To Become President,' the teacher said." [AP, 1/25/07]

Three years later, in 1971, Obama enrolled in the Besuki Primary School, a government school, as Barry Soetoro, Muslim. In third grade, Senator Obama wrote an essay titled 'I Want To Be a President.' His third grade teacher: Fermina Katarina Sinaga "asked her class to write an essay titled 'My dream: What I want to be in the future.' Senator Obama wrote 'I want to be a President,' she said." [The Los Angeles Times, 3/15/07]

All Indonesian students are required to study religion at school and a young Barry Soetoro, being a Muslim, would have been required to study Islam daily in school.

He would have been taught to read and write Arabic, to recite his prayers properly, to read and recite from the Quran and to study the laws of Islam.

In his autobiography, "Dreams From My Father," Obama mentions studying the Koran and describes the public school as "a Muslim school."

"In the Muslim school, the teacher wrote to tell mother I made faces during Koranic studies."

According to Tine Hahiyary, one of Obama's teachers and the principal from 1971 through 1989, Barry actively took part in the Islamic religious lessons during his time at the school. "I remembered that he had studied "mengaji" (recitation of the Quran)" Tine said.

The author of the Laotze blog writes from Jakarta: "The actual usage of the word 'mengaji' in Indonesian and Malaysian societies means the study of learning to recite the Quran in the Arabic language rather than the native tongue. "Mengagi" is a word and a term that is accorded the highest value and status in the mindset of fundamentalist societies here in Southeast Asia. To put it quite simply, 'mengaji classes' are not something that a non practicing or so-called moderate Muslim family would ever send their child to. To put this in a Christian context, this is something above and beyond simply enrolling your child in Sunday school classes."

"The fact that Obama had attended mengaji classes is well known in Indonesia and has left many there wondering just when Obama is going to come out of the closet."

"As I've stated before, the evidence seems to quite clearly show that both Ann Dunham and her husband Lolo Soetoro Mangunharjo were in fact devout Muslims themselves and they raised their son as such."

The Obama Campaign told the LA Times he wasn't a "practicing Muslim." (3/14/2007). But his official website says: "Obama Has Never Been A Muslim, And Is a Committed Christian" (11/12/2007)

That's not what his friends and classmates have said. Classmate Rony Amiris describes young Barry as enjoying playing football and marbles and of being a very devout Muslim. Amir said, "Barry was previously quite religious in Islam. We previously often asked him to the prayer room close to the house. If he was wearing a sarong, he looked funny," said Rony.

Amiris, now the manager of Bank Mandiri, Jakarta, recently said, "Barry was previously quite religious in Islam. His birth father, Barack Hussein Obama was a Muslim economist from Kenya. Before marrying Ann Dunham, Hussein Obama was married to a woman from Kenya who had seven children. All the relatives of Barry's father were very devout Muslims"

Emirsyah Satar, CEO of Garuda Indonesia, was quoted as saying, "He (Obama) was often in the prayer room wearing a 'sarong', at that time."

"He was quite religious in Islam but only after marrying Michelle, he changed his religion."
So Obama, according to his classmates and friends was a Muslim until the confluence of love and ambitious, caused him to adopt the cloak of Christianity: to marry Michelle and to run for President of the United States.

In "Dreams," Obama sheds light on his formative years and the political views of his mother, an anthropologist and Islamophile who hated America and subsequently "went native." (It was her mother -- Barry's "other" grandmother who cared for him in his druggie teenage years -- that he would describe as a "typical white person" who was, he said scoldingly, fearful of black men and prone to making stereotypical racial remarks.)

Obama Senior also had three sons by another woman who are all Muslim. Although Obama claims Senior was an atheist, Senior was buried as a Muslim.

Barack Obama's brother Roy opted for Islam over Christianity, as the Senator recounted in his book when describing his 1992 wedding. "The person who made me proudest of all," Obama wrote, "was Roy. Actually, now we call him Abongo, his Luo name, for two years ago he decided to reassert his African heritage. He converted to Islam, and has sworn off pork and tobacco and alcohol."Abongo "argues that the black man must "liberate himself from the poisoning influences of European culture." He urged his younger brother to embrace his African heritage.

In Kenya while he was a Senator, Obama stumped for his cousin, opposition leader Raila Odinga, the son of Senior's sister, a direct first cousin and nephew of Obama's father.
On August 29, 2007, Raila Odinga and Shiekh Abdullah Abdi, chairman of the National Muslim Leaders Forum of Kenya signed a Memorandum of Understanding in which it pledges the support of Kenyan Moslems for Raila's election. In return, as President of Kenya, Raila agrees ... within 6 months re-write the Constitution of Kenya to recognize Shariah as the only true law sanctioned by the Holy Quran for Muslim declared regions [and] within one year to facilitate the establishment of a Shariah court in every Kenyan divisional headquarters -- everywhere in Kenya, not just in "Muslim declared regions" -- and to popularize Islam, the only true religion ... by ordering every primary school in Kenya in the regions to conduct daily Madrassa classes.

In an interview with the New York Times, published on April 30th, Maya Soetoro-Ng, Obama's younger half sister, told the Times, "My whole family was Muslim, and most of the people I knew were Muslim."

Obama describes his new found "Christian" faith as: (1) Suspicious of dogma (2) Without any monopoly on the truth (3) Nontransferable to others (4) Infused with a big healthy dose of doubt, and (5) Indulgent of and compatible with all other religions.

On February 27th, speaking to Kristof of The New York Times, Barack Hussein Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset."

In an interview with Nicholas Kristof, published in The New York Times, Obama recited the Muslim call to prayer, the Adhan, "with a first-class [Arabic] accent."
The opening lines of the Adhan (Azaan) is the Shahada:

"Allah is Supreme! Allah is Supreme!
Allah is Supreme! Allah is Supreme!
I witness that there is no god but Allah
I witness that there is no god but Allah
I witness that Muhammad is his prophet? "

According to Islamic scholars, reciting the Shahada, the Muslim declaration of faith, makes one a Muslim. This simple yet profound statement expresses a Muslim's complete acceptance of, and total commitment to, the message of Islam. Obama chanted it with pride and finesse.

An American Expat in Southeast Asia blog, written by an American who has lived in Indonesia for 20 years and has met with both the Taliban and al-Qaeda, contains the following:

"Barack Hussein Obama might have convinced some Americans that he is no longer a Muslim, but so far he has not convinced many in the world's most populous Muslim country who still see him as a Muslim and a crusader for Islam and world peace."

"Barack Hussein Obama's race, his staunch opposition to the war in Iraq, his sympathy to Islam and Muslims worldwide and his Muslim heritage receive the Indonesian media coverage. There is no mention of his apostasy."

"A good example of how some of the Indonesian media is reporting on Obama's religion can be found in the following."

"What I found interesting in the article was the use of the word 'mengaku' when refering to Obama's conversion from Islam to Christianity. The word 'mengaku' in Indonesian means "claimed" and as such leaves the insinuation to the native Indonesian reader being that Obama might actually still be a Muslim.

But this is how Indonesians see Obama, they don't see him as an apostate at all, they see him as a crusader for the cause of Islam."

Obama wants it both ways, has always wanted it both ways. Black and white, Indonesian and American, Muslim and Christian. He loves playing one off the other, using one to hide the other even as the traces of the truth may be assembled to reveal the whole cloth of deception and self-promotion he has been weaving so skillfully since his childhood. No wonder he is a man of change. He IS a changeling, a veritable chameleon, adapting and amending his life story to fit the circumstances.

The charm may have worked once. It still works on some. It won't work forever in the age of the Internet. The fog of ambiguity and dissimulation is dissipated by the harsh, unforgiving and scrutiny of the blogosphere and its unlimited access to historical facts and time-stamped testimony.

Many have been puzzled why Obama could claim not to be familiar with Wright's rants. It turns out the Trinity Church, like many African-American churches, happily accepts believing Muslims within its congregation. And evidently many Muslims have no problems surrounding themselves with an anti-American, anti-Israel preacher who week in and week out wins the amens of his adoring congregation.

On Feb 15/08, Usama K. Dakdok, President of The Straight Way of Grace Ministry called Obama's Church and reported the following conversation: " I then asked the person who answered what I needed to do to join. She told me that I needed to attend two Sunday School classes in a row and then I would walk the aisle. I replied, "That sounds easy. One last question please. If I am Muslim and I believe in the Prophet Mohammed, peace be unto him and I also believe in Jesus, peace be unto him, do I have to give up my Islamic faith to be a member in your church? She answered: "No, we have many Muslim members in our church."

Indeed.