Saturday, June 21, 2008

STEPHEN CAMP 1911 PISTOLS & MORE

UPDATED SUNDAY - JUNE 22, 2008

I WANT YOU TO READ MY BLOG AT

www.actionsbyt.wordpress.com

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WHERE TO BUY AMERICAN GASOLINE. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO
KNOW. READ ON.

Gas rationing in the 70's worked even though we grumbled about it.
It might even have been good for us!

Are you aware that the Saudis are boycotting American products? In
addition, they are gouging us on oil prices.

Shouldn't we return the favor? Can't we take control of our own
Destiny and let these giant oil importers know who REALLY generates
their
profits, their livings? How about leaving American Dollars in America
and
reduce the import/export deficit?

An appealing remedy might be to boycott 'their' GAS. Every time you
fill up your car you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of
Saudi
Arabia .
Just purchase gas from companies that don't import their oil from
The Saudis. Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every
time I
fill
up my tank, I'm sending my money to people who I get the impression want
me, my family and my friends dead.


*The following gas companies IMPORT Middle Eastern oil:*
Shell.................................... 205,742,000 barrels
Chevron/Texaco.................. 144,332,000 barrels
Exxon /Mobil...................... 130,082,000 barrels
Marathon/Speedway.......... 117,740,000 barrels
Amoco.................................. 62,231,000 barrels
And CITGO oil is imported from Venezuela by Dictator Hugo Chavez
who hates America and openly avows our economic destruction! (We pay
Chavez's
regime nearly $10 Billion per year in oil revenues!)

The U.S. currently imports 5,517,000 barrels of crude oil per day
From OPEC. If you do the math at $100 per barrel, that's over $550
million PER DAY ($200 BILLION per year!) handed over to OPEC, many of
whose
members are our confirmed enemies!!!!! It won't stop here - oil prices
could
go
to $200 a barrel or higher if we keep buying their product.

Here are some large companies THAT DO NOT import Middle Eastern
oil:
Sunoco....................... 0 barrels
Conoco........................ 0 barrels
Sinclair....................... 0 barrels
BP / Phillips............... 0 barrels
Hess. .......................... 0 barrels
ARC0.......................... 0 barrels
Maverick.................... 0 barrels
Flying J. .................... 0 barrels
Valero......................... 0 barrels
Murphy Oil USA........ 0 Sold at Wal-Mart , (gas is from South
Arkansas and fully USA owned/produced.)
Not only that, but they give scholarships to all children in their
town who finish high school, and are legal US citizens..

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Lightweight 1911 Pattern Pistols

By Stephen Camp

I am not going to get too bogged down in what does or does not constitute a 1911 pattern automatic in this article. For this work, it will mean a single-action semi-automatic pistol whose lineage from the full-size all steel 1911 is apparent. The lightweight can be a full 5" gun, a Commander-size, or one of the more compact versions sporting a 3 or 3 1/2" barrel.

This piece will explore why these pistols have a following, shooting observations, as well as special "problems" that may crop up with the aluminum-frame pistols. (Polymer-frame guns are not discussed.) I will also give my own subjective views on both their strong and weak points.

It is a fair statement that Mr. Browning's 1911 remains a popular gun after many handguns designed after its birthday have faded from the shooting scene. I strongly suspect that more 1911 pattern pistols are produced domestically than any other American-made handgun. This might not be true worldwide, but I'll bet a sizeable percentage of non-US handgun owners have them…or would if they could.

Not surprisingly there are several variations on the 1911 theme and lightweight versions with aluminum frames are but one.

This Springfield Armory 5" Lightweight has an aluminum alloy frame. This one was fitted with a Ed Brown grip safety several years ago. Since that time dimensional changes call for a 0.220" radius rather than the 0.25" required for most. It has a Brown sear and hammer and an STI trigger. Anti-skid tape covers the front strap. Being an older version it also has the more squared off front grip strap. Of my lightweight 1911's, this one sees the most use. The 1911 pattern pistol in lightweight form can be a pretty useful item. Are they essential? Probably not, but they are nice for some purposes or circumstances.

Why a Lightweight? This is a good question and I'll give my observations and best guesses. It seems that the more popular handgun models eventually do come out in a lighter version. If a handgun is popular, it seems that many manufacturers will offer it in several variations to get as much of that market share as possible. Advertising always stresses a particular gun's strong points but never the weak. (We'll look into some of the problem areas a bit later.) Advertising can be geared to helping a potential buyer "believe" that they really do "need" this version of the gun in question. Many of the newer handgun models stress lightweight. Look at the ultra-light S&W revolvers, the scads of lightweight polymer-frame pistols, as well as the continuation of aluminum frame standards like the Colt Commander, SIG-Sauer service handguns, as well as Glocks. All of these use frame materials lighter than traditional steel.

So am I saying that gun makers are creating a false need to increase sales? Not necessarily, although the main focus of any company rests at the bottom line. They want to stay in business and need sales to do this. If essentially the same gun as an all-steel one can be made by simply substituting aluminum alloy for steel, they can offer at least one other variation on a successful theme with relatively little R&D or start up costs.

The more compact lightweights include the Colt Defender (left) and the mainstay Commander on the right. Many do not consider 1911 pattern pistols smaller than the Commander to be true 1911's and reliability issues are frequently cited. While it's no secret that I personally own no 1911 pistols smaller than the Commander, more than a few folks tote such diminutive forty-fives as the Defender. For this article the important factors concerning its special "needs" compared to all-steel guns are the same.

I will offer my opinions as a shooter and former police officer on the role of the lightweight handgun in general and the 1911 pattern pistol in particular.

We frequently hear that the only thing the lightweight 1911 does is to carry easier. While it is true that they are lighter, for myself they seem to be quicker from the holster to the first shot! It seems that they just get "on target" quicker for me…for the first shot which very well might be the most important in self-defense scenarios.

There's not much way around there being more felt recoil in a lighter pistol of the same type. (The LW 5" SA weighs about a half-pound less than its steel frame counterparts.) The interesting thing is that it makes no difference in speed if firing one shot on one target and moving to another. The gun doesn't have to be down in from recoil before moving to another target. I verified this with a timer using myself and a friend as guinea pigs. There is a slight increase in the time between individual shots on a single target. This proved true for both myself and my friend, who is extremely quick. So, if in a shoot-out situation and you engaging multiple targets, we probably won't see a difference in time between a single hit on each. If one requires a second or third shot, the split goes up (slightly) and translates to a tiny bit slower response time for secondary targets. I do not remember the exact times but it seems that there were but a few hundredths of a second difference. How much of a factor this might or might not be in real life I leave for each of us to decide based on our own experiences and perceptions.

Problems with Lightweight 1911's: The aluminum frame 1911's are nice to carry despite a bit more actual felt recoil when firing, but to have this we also inherit a few problems. Some are easily overcome and one might be impossible to totally eliminate. Let's talk about it first.

Longevity: This is usually the reason cited for not owning a LW rather than all steel 1911…and there is some truth to it. The aluminum frame guns probably do not hold up to as many rounds as the steel frame ones. The question is how many is "many"? If you shoot perhaps 100 full-power rounds per month through your LW, that would be about 1200 per year. I've heard estimates suggesting that the LW is good for 15 to twenty thousand rounds before the frame will crack. I have no idea if this is true or not, but assuming that both are "good numbers" and pick one in the middle at 17,500 rounds. Doing the math indicates that our pistol should be good to go for over 14 years at 100 full-power shots per month. This assumes that the recoil spring is changed when needed. I honestly believe that using a bit stronger recoil spring and a shock buffer can significantly extend the useful life of the LW aluminum frame. This would cushion the impact transferred from the steel slide to the aluminum frame via the flange on the recoil spring guide. The factory standard recoil spring for the full size 45-caliber 1911 is 16 pounds. I use an 18.5-lb spring with no problems and I also use a shock buff. If you are concerned with either or both causing malfunctions, why not just use them at the range and then revert to the factory standard recoil spring and no buffer when carrying for serious purposes? Mine stays set up with the slightly heavier spring as well as the buffer as this combination has caused me absolutely zero problems in my guns. The same might or might not be true in others.

I believe that using the polymer buffer along with the slightly stronger 18.5-lb recoil spring extends the life of the aluminum alloy frame. Others disagree. I suggest that if you have reliability concerns, use the slightly heavier spring…or at least the buffer for practice and remove when you clean the pistol before carrying.

I do not subscribe to the theory that the 18.5-lb spring damages the gun when it "slams" the slide forward. The 5" Delta Elite fires the 10mm and uses even heavier springs. If you do, just use the 16-lb. spring and a buffer when practicing.

The relatively few lightweight frames I've seen cracked have been on Colt Commanders and most eminate from the hole through which the slide stop passes…or are in that immediate area. Frequently drilling a small hole at the end of the crack can stop its continued growth. Of course this looks like hell.

I don't think the LW 1911 pattern pistol is best served with +P ammunition in .45 ACP. Assuming equal bullet weight, the +P round should translate into that bullet being pushed faster than the standard velocity one. That translates into the slide being driven rearward harder when the gun is fired. It also means more felt recoil. For the lightweight pistols I suggest standard velocity ammunition. If a person is bound and determined to use +P, I suggest using it only for ocassional practice (with a buffer) and then as a carry load if that is intended. My own lightweight 1911's use standard pressure ammunition for carry and the handloaded equivalents for practice.

The LW 1911 might not have the longevity of its all-steel brethren, but neither is it waiting to just crumble, either. A little prevention and common sense should allow a shooter to do quite a bit of shooting with one with no problems.

Feed Ramps: On many of the lightweight 1911 pattern pistols the feed ramp will be the traditional setup in which the frame provides the lower portion of the system. Aluminum is softer than steel. It will dent and gouge easier and is usually covered with a hard finish called anodizing. This protects the aluminum alloy and should not be removed. Bare aluminum can be damaged fairly easily if bullets with sharp edges are used and particularly so if the magazines used don't angle the bullet upward. If the cartridge "dips" or hits the ramp straight on as it is stripped from the magazine, even an anodized ramp area can eventually get pretty dinged up.

In my experience, ammunition having rounded edges around the bullet's meplat or hollow point is not harmful to the aluminum lightweight 1911 frame portion of the feed ramp. (L-R: Handloaded 200-gr. CSWC, handloaded 230-gr. FMJ FP, Winchester 230-gr. Ranger JHP, Winchester 230-gr. FMJ.)

Magazine followers can wreak havoc on an aluminum frame gun's feed system. If the follower is free to move forward past the front of the magazine tube as the last round is stripped and chambered, it can cause dings in the ramp. Fortunately these are usually below where the bullet initially contacts it but the problem can be avoided altogether. I suggest using only magazines in which the follower design does not allow it to possibly move out of the magazine body and contact the ramp. Examples would include some of the old Randall magazines as well as Wilson and Tripp magazines.

Here is the wear apparent on my moderately used SA Lightweight 5". Note the dings toward the bottom of the ramp. Traditional magazines caused these. Their followers could contact this portion of the feed ramp. The wear at the top is just from use. Using a magazine with a "captive" follower as shown by the Tripp follower in the Randall magazine at the right eliminates damage to the ramp from the follower. It should be noted that not all traditional magazines having the "non-captive" followers cause problems, but I've seen enough that I don't use them in the lightweight aluminum frame 1911's.

The magazine followers on the left and middle should work fine with the LW 1911. The one having the traditional follower (right) could damage the feed ramp. It is my understanding that current versions of the SA 5" lightweight have a one-piece steel ramp to completely eliminate potential damage.

Plunger Tube: Aluminum is simply softer than steel and a vital part of the 1911 is staked to the frame. Of course this is the plunger tube. It simply holds the spring-loaded plungers that tension both the slide stop and the thumb safety. If too much up/down pressure is applied to the plunger tube it can become loose. Its legs are steel and extend through the aluminum frame where they're flared on the inside. Too much force can let these legs wallow out the holes they're in and the tube no longer is stationary. Depending upon how loose it becomes, it can allow differing amounts of pressure to be applied to the slide stop and/or the thumb safety. The main cause I've seen for this malady is apply too much force to the slide stop plunger when reinserting the slide stop when reassembling the pistol.

The spring-loaded plungers tensioning both the slide stop and the thumb safety can be seen protruding from the plunger tube, which is staked to the aluminum frame. If the front plunger extends outward too much to somewhat easily allow the slide stop to seat that you retract it a bit. Don't just force the slide stop into place. That is guaranteed to eventually loosen the plunger tube and has the potential for severely degrading reliability.

Conclusion & Observations: I like lightweight 1911 type handguns. I lean toward the 5" gun but have no arguments against the 4 to 4 1/4" Commander size versions. They allow for very comfortable concealed carry of a relatively potent full size defensive arm. They can stand considerable shooting but will not handle the extreme amounts that the steel frame guns can in all likelihood.

Were I only going to own one 1911, it would not be a lightweight. I am a shooter and folks reading this probably are too. Were I going to own a couple of 1911 forty-five's, one very well might be a lightweight.

I see these as filling a specific niche for the handgunner as either an exceptionally easy gun to carry concealed or even as a backup that is the same as his primary except for its weight.

This SA Lightweight 5" is a favorite .45 ACP 1911, but it would not be my choice were I going to own but one 1911.

They do bring special concerns for maintenance but it is not difficult to meet these specific needs. I believe that they are great guns for specific purposes.

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FROM www.survivalblog.com

Ten Tips to Save Money on Ammunition, by Mr. Yankee

As prices increase, many shooters are looking for ways to take the bite out of their shooting budget. Here are ten tips to help:
Take the bite out of your shooting budget:

If you are like most, you did not buy nearly enough ammo over the past few years. Most of us told ourselves that our budgets just couldn’t be stretched any farther. So our ammunition reserves either dwindled or stayed static despite knowing that prices were rising. Boy are we sorry now! Anyone who was not paying attention had a severe dose of sticker shock when hunting season arrived, and it is just getting worse. This is not an “I told you so” piece despite my advice to stock up on ammo in articles from late 2006 and early 2007. This is a warning about what is coming next and what you can do about it. It is too late to buy cheap ammo. You will never see brass cased, Boxer-primed 308 of good quality for under $200 per thousand again. You will never again see even steel cased 7.62x39 to feed your $99 SKS for $99 per thousand. You will never again see 9mm Luger (Parabellum) for $12 per 100. Not only has the price of factory loaded ammunition soared, the price of reloading components have begun to climb as well. What can you do? Here are 10 steps you can take to offset some of the financial bite in your shooting budget.

#1) Shop wisely - use the Internet and toll free phone numbers to research current prices and comparison shop. Information is power; use it to your advantage. Some sites raise prices more slowly than others. Some include shipping in their prices. Be sure that you are matching apples to apples when comparing prices and factor every penny including shipping and sales taxes when you are making mail order purchases.

#2) Watch for retail bargains at local stores. If your local gun shop or back country general store has an odd box of cartridges or shotgun shells with a five year old price sticker on it. Buy it. The price of ammo has literally doubled in the last five years. Even those last few dusty corners will be cleaned out soon. If you can take advantage of a ‘first in last out’ inventory system, do it before someone else does. Every once in awhile the larger stores like Dick’s and Wal-Mart will run ammunition sales with discounts on case quantities that still seem reasonable. If you see a good sale, stock up! [JWR Adds: Also look for ammo that might still be available pre-inflated prices at on table of private sellers at gun shows. When you do find a bargain, be sure to ask "Do you have any more of this elsewhere?" Look for ammo at garage sales, and estate sales. It might even be worthwhile to place a "want to buy" ad if there are free or low-cost classified ads in your area.]

#3) Roll your own. Reloading has long been a means of saving a few dollars as well as improving the quality of loads tweaked for your rifle. Despite the recent increase in the cost of reloading components, you will still pay less for ammo you load yourself than for off the shelf factory loaded ammunition. The price of reloading components and equipment have begun to climb as the cost for materials and interest in reloading have increased. The prices will climb higher. So now is the time to buy. If you shoot on a regular basis, your savings from reloaded ammo quickly offset the investment in reloading equipment. This is especially true if you pick up a used press. Classified ads and estate sales are the places for buying reloading equipment. A good quality press like the RCBS Rockchucker can frequently be found for less than 50% of the retail price for a new press and will have several decades of hard use left in it. I recommend that you start watching for used reloading gear.

#4) Buy used. Not only can firearms and reloading tools be found at bargain prices, many an old hunter was an avid reloader who left behind a bench full of components when he met the Lord. I’ll happily pay for partial boxes of projectiles, primers, or powder (in the original containers) and make use of those components building my own loads. If you happen to run across full or even partial boxes of factory loaded ammunition at gun shows, garage sales, or auctions you may be able to get it at a fraction of the retail cost as well. But use caution. Never, ever shoot reloaded ammunition of unknown quality. You are literally gambling your life if you shoot someone else’s reloads. There are very few people who I trust my life to. I am just not willing to pull a trigger on a cartridge that might be unsafely loaded.

#5) Stock up! It is too late to get the bargains that were available a few years ago. But it is not too late to stock up before further price increases, taxes, tariffs, and out right import bans. Despite the current market price: buy primers, projectiles, and powder while it is still legal and anonymous to do so. A day is coming when you will need a permit to buy powder. I think it will be within our lifetime. Buy 22 rim-fire cartridges. You can’t reload them, so stock up on them for you and for the next generation. It is prudent to stock up on anything that you use regularly, even without waiting for a sale discount. With inflation at over 10%, “investing” in assets like food and ammo has a better return than the stock market. Plan ahead. Don’t buy just for this weekend or this season. That is the thinking that got you wishing that you had more ammo on hand. Prices are going to continue to climb. Buying in bulk now will generate savings over the long term.

#6) Make your shots count. "Spray and pray" is neither tactically nor economically sound. Make your plinking sessions count. Aim every shot carefully. When testing new reloading recipes, test small batches for signs of pressure and accuracy. Try three or five round test batches instead of ten or twenty round batches. The same is true for sighting in a new scope or a new rifle. Check the target every second shot instead of after each full magazine.

#7) Retool. If your chief reason to plink is for backyard entertainment, consider swapping out of centerfire ammunition to 22 rimfire or even a low cost pellet rifle. Another option is the kits that convert your rifle or pistol to fire 22 cartridges. Shooting a more economical cartridge may pay for the cost of a [.22 LR] conversion kit or a new 22 rifle in as little as a single weekend’s shooting. By way of example, if you shoot 500 cartridges of 22 long rifle (at three cents each) over the course of a weekend instead of 500 cartridges of 308 (at 53 cents each). You save a whopping $250! Just let that sink in for a moment. Plinking with a 22 instead of a 308 saves two hundred fifty dollars every 500 trigger pulls. Wow! That adds up fast and the savings won’t stop with the first $250. It will continue for every similar shooting session you have in the future.

#8) Make use of your skills. Let your investment in shooting sports generate savings in other budgets. Put meat on the table. Moose, elk, mule deer, white tail, pronghorn, turkey, geese, hares, rabbits, pheasant, duck, partridge, squirrel – all are tasty and every bite on your plate saves money out of your grocery budget – especially if you learn to dress and butcher the game yourself. Besides the financial savings, you’ll have a sense of pride like little else when you know that the freezer is full and you have all the jerky you can eat because your hunts have been successful.

#9) Waste not. With scrap metal selling at or near the all time high, don’t waste the byproducts of your range time. Even if you do not reload your cartridge cases or shell hulls, someone else might be willing to pay for the chance to reload them or as salvage. Keep this in mind when you shoot Berdan primed brass. I have been unable to locate a current US retailer of Berdan primers, but that may change in the future. Even steel and aluminum cartridge cases have value as scrap and of course the lead itself can be reclaimed to smelt and mold into new musket balls, bullets, and shot, as well as being sold as scrap metal. It may seem like more work than it is worth, but remember that the prices are climbing and the sand bank behind your favorite target may already hold several hundred pounds of lead.

#10) Fight back. Be vigilant. Be proactive. Vote against new tariffs, taxes, and bans. Vote against candidates who restrict your freedoms, raise license fees, and create access permits or talk about doing so in the future. Encourage and educate not only your friends, co-workers, and neighbors, but also the next generation so that they will do the same. We may not be able to stop the global forces aligned against our shooting sports but if we work together, we might just slow them down long enough to preserve the sport and keep it affordable for one more generation. - Mr. Yankee

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http://www.z-medica.com/quikclot/index.asp

www.thetrumpet.com

www.staceydean.org



Aerial photo of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem showing the Proposed Northern,
Central and Southern Sites for the First and Second Temples.

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HK P7

HK P7 pistols can be drawn, cocked, and fired accurately faster than any other pistol. The unique HK cocking lever allows the P7 to be carried safely with a round in the chamber, yet it is ready to fire by the natural tightening of the fingers around the grip. Releasing the cocking lever decocks the P7 immediately and renders it completely safe.

P7 pistols have a constant, uniform trigger pull for all rounds fired. There is no heavy first-shot trigger pull like that found on a conventional double-action pistol. There is no change in trigger pull between critical first and second shots. A simple three-dot sighting system makes aiming almost instinctive. And all P7 pistols are completely ambidextrous.

To ensure accuracy, P7 pistols use a fixed, polygonal barrel made by cold hammer forging. Polygonal rifling seals propellant gases behind the bullet and increases barrel life. With its fluted chamber, the P7 will extract and eject an empty shell even if the extractor is missing. The extractor, which doubles as a loaded chamber indicator, only aids in making extraction smooth and uniform.

The P7 gas system retards the movement of the recoiling slide during firing and eliminates the need for a conventional locking mechanism or heavy slide. A low profile slide contributes to the balanced center of gravity and overall compact size of the P7. Made of high grade steel, the low profile slide keeps the recoiling mass as small as possible. Combined with the optimal grip angle of 110°, the result is an accurate, low recoil pistol suited to the operational requirements of demanding users.

Using the potent .40 Smith & Wesson cartridge, the P7M10 was developed especially for law enforcement and civilian shooters searching for an effective combat handgun that fires a more powerful type of ammunition. The .40 S&W round matches the ballistics of the 10mm cartridge designed for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identical to P7 9mm pistols in operation, the strengthened P7M10 delivers ballistics approaching that of a .45 ACP pistol. Available in nickel or blued finishes, the M10 safely carries eleven rounds, 10 rounds in the magazine plus one round in the chamber.


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NEW BENCHMADE ASSISTED OPENING - RECOMMENDED

We took the Stryker and gave it a boost. With the Nitrous assist opening mechanism, one of your most cherished knives just got better. The Nitrous mechnism is built directly into the liners, which propels the blade open with ease. We also upgraded to more tactile G10 handle scales, thumb studs an an overall cool new look. The 912 and 913 deliver on what it means to be a Black Class knife.

Superior Quality D2 Tool Steel

Double Titanium Locking-Liners

G10 Textured Handle Scales

This Series has made to order configurations (Min 20pcs), which are 913BKD2, 913SD2. Please contact your local dealer/distributor to inquire about placing the minimum order.

Two Blade Style Options (See the Modified Tanto version, Model 912)

Nitrous Assist Opening Mechanism

Country of origin: USA

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Monday, June 16, 2008

STEPHEN CAMP - BHP & MORE

UPDATED TUESDAY JUNE 17, 2008

Israeli Ministers Mull Plans for Military Strike against Iran

Posted: 2008/06/17
From: Source



'Mission Doable' - There is now a consensus within the Israeli government that an air strike against Iranian nuclear facilities - without the Americans, if necessary - has become unavoidable.

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Corbon 9mm 100-grain "PowRball" +P and Browning Mk III Hi Power

By Stephen Camp

Visually similar to the Glaser Safety Slug, Corbon's PowRball is an entirely different round. It weighs 20-grains more, but retains the round nose profile for reliable feeding. It is a +P round and has an advertised velocity of 1475 ft/sec.

This round should feed reliably in any 9mm that will feed ball and externally is very similar to the Glaser Safety Slug. It's said to react very consistently in 10% ballistic gelatin regardless of barriers before striking the gelatin.

Using a Browning 9mm Mk III with factory barrel, I tested this round for accuracy at two distances as well as for expansion. Chronograph data is based on a 10-shot average fired 10' from the chronograph screens.

100-grain 9mm PowRball

Average Velocity: 1473 ft/sec

Extreme Spread: 49

Standard Deviation: 17

High Velocity: 1494

Low Velocity: 1445

At 15 yards, I fired a group, slow-fire, to see how it would group from the Hi Power. I also fired a 5 shot group with Corbon's 125-grain +P JHP for comparison. Point of aim was the inner sphere. I also fired 5 sets of controlled pairs at 10 yards with the PowRball. Both targets are displayed. The controlled pairs were fired as quickly as I could obtain a "flash sight picture" while using a two-hand hold and Weaver stance.

It should not necessarily be inferred that the PowRball is a better grouping load than the 125-grain Corbon JHP, although that's what happened in this instance. The spread in the latter is probably due to me, not the ammunition nor the Hi Power; it was the first group I fired. The "important" thing is to note that the PowRball at its higher velocity and lower bullet weight does hit a little bit lower. As most defensive scenarios will be closer than 15 yards, this divergence of POI to POA is probably moot. As the 5 sets of controlled pairs show, the ammunition is easy to handle from the Hi Power.

When fired into water, the PowRball shed its jacket every time. Water will make this happen more than gelatin as the fluid more easily gets between the lead bullet and the jacket. I recovered the expanded PowRball bullet and jacket fragments shown on the left side of the picture and those on the right from another shot. The bullet was not recovered as it completely penetrated the last jug of water! The expanded PowRball in the middle was recovered after "scientific mud expansion" testing. The recovered bullet and fragments on the left weighed 94.5-grains. The expanded bullet measured 0.59 X 0.64." Believe it or not, the PowRball recovered from the "scientific mud" weighed about 75-grains even with the dirt particles on it.

Though not "bad," the felt recoil on the 100-grain PowRball was "sharper" than that of the 125-grain Corbon +P JHP. To me, the felt recoil of the PowRball and the 115-grain JHP are about the same. This is not surprising as the velocities are very similar.

From the same Mk III

Corbon 115-grain JHP +P: 1411 ft/sec

Corbon 100-grain PowRball +P: 1473

Corbon 125-grain JHP +P: 1258

Folks who do the serious gelatin testing report that the PowRball averages about 12" penetration in 10% ballistic gelatin and does so consistently, regardless of barriers.

Though the Mk III in the background reliably feeds about any JHP I've tried, the PowRball has both a rounded ogive and LOA that mimics FMJ. Shown with a Corbon 125-grain JHP, most would agree that the PowR ball would be more likely to feed well in a wider number of 9mm pistols.

With its "ball" profile, this PowRball should have no trouble in negotiating this Hi Power's feed ramp. For self-defense, a handgun's reliability is paramount. You get it with the PowRball and a cartridge capable of being put exactly where you want it should the rare need for a very precise "rescue shot" be necessary.

I was favorably impressed with the PowRball for a personal protection round for the private citizen. I would do some testing before using it myself, but I believe that it would make a potent 9mm load. In "scientific" terms, it has quite a bit of "whammy" and with decent placement, should "stop" a felon about as quickly as any commonly used defensive round and perhaps, quicker.

The 9mm 100-grain PowRball grouped well and was more consistent shot to shot than their .45 ACP, 165-grain PowRball that I tested several months ago. Both rounds feed reliably.

From a 5" 1911, it had an average velocity of 1220 ft/sec, but an extreme spread of 119, which resulted in a standard deviation of 40.

This 165-grain Corbon PowRball expanded well in water testing and was both reliable and accurate, but did not prove as consistent in standard deviation as did the 9mm version. The .45 ACP PowRball was the first caliber Corbon released this design in. More calibers are to follow.

For those concerned about feed reliability with a defensive load as well as over-penetration, the PowRball is a very viable choice. Both the 9mm and .45 ACP versions penetrate approximately 12" of ballistic gelatin and should remain inside the average human torso assuming a solid hit. Both "passed" the dreaded "4 Layers of Denim" testing routinely done by those seriously studying terminal ballistics and bullet performance.

I think it will be a winner and might make a viable choice for those wanting the same performance under a wide number of conditions, but who are unable to obtain or use several of the law enforcement only loads.

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Govt. To Use Sonic Weapons Against Protestors At DNC

Cristina Corbin
Fox News
Thursday, June 12, 2008

Activists Preparing Against Use of "Brown Note" At Dem Convention

Political activists planning protest rallies at the upcoming Democratic Convention in Denver have their stomachs in knots over a rumor about a crowd control weapon - known as the “crap cannon” - that might be unleashed against them.

Also called “Brown Note,” it is believed to be an infrasound frequency that debilitates a person by making them defecate involuntarily.

Mark Cohen, co-founder of Re-create 68, an alliance of local activists working for the protection of first amendment rights, said he believes this could be deployed at the convention in August to subdue crowds.

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Israeli military intelligence: Hizballah stocks tens of thousands of rockets in restored bunker network

June 17, 2008, 2:19 PM (GMT+02:00)

Model of new Hizballah fortified bunker

Model of new Hizballah fortified bunker

Head of AMAN’s research division Brig. Yossi Baidatz brought bad news on two fronts to the Knesset foreign affairs and security committee Tuesday, June 17. He reported that Hamas needed a ceasefire in Gaza after 350 of its terrorists had been killed. In his view, this ceasefire if finally negotiated would be fragile and short-lived.

As for Israel’s northern front, Baidatz confirmed DEBKAfile’s previous reports that Hizballah has stockpiled tens of thousands of rockets in fortified tunnels, in numbers far outstripping its pre-Lebanon War 2006 strength.

DEBKAfile’s military sources add: Iranian Revolutionary Guards engineers recently finished building three clusters of bunkers, fortified against aerial attack, to store the rockets Syria and Iran have lavished on Hizballah in the last two years.

One cluster is located in the Beqaa Valley, close to northeast Lebanon’s border with Syria. Built to house long-range rockets, these tunnels have wide openings so that they can be used as launching pads for rockets out of reach of Israeli bombers. A second, in central Lebanon, north of the strategic Beirut-Damascus highway, accommodates medium-range rockets. Syrian air and anti-tank forces will provide both clusters with an umbrella.

The third cluster is located in the south. It is armed with short-range rockets and other systems, including anti-tank artillery and missiles, designed to block an Israeli offensive.

Defense minister Ehud Barak was referring obliquely to this mighty Hizballah build-up when he said recently that Hizballah’s bunker system had been restored in South Lebanon, thereby refuting Prime minister Ehud Olmert’s contention that the war had weakened Hizballah.

According to our sources, most of the bunkers in the three new subterranean clusters are interconnected by one of three means:

1. Sub-tunnels broad enough to accommodate trucks and enable them to move about free of aerial attack and reconnaissance.

2. Cement-lined channels (picture) which keep traffic safe from air attack and serve as anti-tank trenches.

3. A fast highway network, which was laid for exclusive Hizballah military movements ahead of the tunnels and now connects all three clusters.

They are also linked by an autonomous telecommunications system. The Siniora government’s decision to dismantle this system in May generated the near-civil war which led to Hizballah’s violent takeover of most of Beirut.

While Israeli military intelligence warned the heads of government in good time about the tunnels and the vast rocket arsenal amassed by Hizballah, no orders came down to the army to liquidate it.

Political sources explain that the prime minister was deterred by fear that an Israeli military action against the Lebanese Shiite terrorist group, which is supported by Damascus and Tehran, would jeopardize the indirect Israeli-Syrian peace talks taking place through Turkey’s good offices.

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FROM THE HOLY SCRIPTURES:

"Again the word of the L-rd of hosts came to me, saying, Thus says the L-rd of hosts; I was zealous for Zion with great zeal, and I was zealous for her with great fury. Thus says the L-rd: I have returned to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth; and the mountain of the L-rd of hosts the Holy Mountain. ... Thus says the L-rd of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country; And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be my people, and I will be their G-d, in truth and in righteousness. Thus says the L-rd of hosts: Let your hands be strong, you who hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, who spoke on the day that the foundation of the house of the L-rd of hosts was laid, saying that the temple might be built. ... Thus says the L-rd of hosts: It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities; And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to entreat the favour of the L-rd, and to seek the L-rd of hosts. I will go also. And many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the L-rd of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the L-rd. Thus says the L-rd of hosts: In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men from the nations of every language, shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, We will go with you; for we have heard that G-d is with you." (Zechariah 8;1-3,7-9,20-23)

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"Number 1"

By Stephen Camp

Just before the '70's got here, I saw my very first Browning HP, a fixed sight "T-series" pistol in plain blue with the checkered walnut stocks. Not only was I surprised at its petite size compared to the old GI 1911 a friend had, but also it was not double-action! Though it would be a couple of years before I got my hands on my very own Hi Power, the pistol struck a chord with me and the Hi Power pistol remains my favorite general purpose automatic handgun to this day.

My first HP was a 1971 commercial model with adjustable sights and was bright blue with walnut stocks. Immediately I learned that it would bite the hand that shot it, but didn't have enough sense to have the hammer spur shortened. Range sessions almost always ended up with the web of my right hand bleeding at least a little!

Eventually, I grew weary of constantly having to reset the high adjustable sights. At that time the rear sight was screw adjustable (no clicks) for elevation and windage was set by loosening one screw and tightening an opposing one. I'd used Loctite, but just was not happy with the very high adjustable sights. As I'd read everything Jeff Cooper had written on single-action automatics and their carrying, I was not pleased with the tiny thumb safety, either.

I took the pistol to Lou Williamson, a gunsmith at Knight's Gun Shop in Ft. Worth, Texas to be customized. Lou bobbed the hammer spur, made an extension for the small thumb safety and machined the slide to accept S&W K-frame adjustable revolver sights which was just the thing back then. I really liked having them on there, as they were much lower and looked like something Armand Swenson would do. Even though I couldn't outshoot the gun with the existing barrel, I had Lou fit a then-new Bar-sto stainless steel match barrel to that pistol and hard chrome the whole thing, guts and all. Only the stainless steel barrel was not refinished. I still don't know why, but Bar-sto barrels for the Hi powers at that time were a full 5" long so to this day, that Hi Power has sort of a "Beretta look." I've been meaning to get it cut to proper length and recrowned for about 30 years now. These early Hi Power Bar-sto match barrels were also made from one piece of steel rather than two. (I've noted no improvement in it over the more conventional two-piece barrels.) Lou also made and silver soldered a serrated ramp front sight to the slide, complete with a red, plastic insert like some of the Smith & Wesson revolvers.

Shown with the stocks that came on it, this is my first Hi Power and one that's still used today. This one has been with me for over half the time I've been alive. It's affectionately known as "Number 1."

From the left side, you can see the extended thumb safety made by gunsmith, Lou Williamson. The eagle-eyed will also note that the pin in the trigger that would hold a magazine "safety" is gone. The pin was not replaced simply because it was loose and could work its way out of the trigger and prevent the gun from being fired. The hard chrome was done by a Ft. Worth company called "Armalloy."

The gun came with a very nice trigger so no trigger work was done and the removal of the magazine disconnect only made it better, but all was not paradise.

At that time, all Hi Power barrels had the humped feed ramp and these could be problematic with the very few JHP rounds on the market. Failures to feed were common, particularly with the old 90-grain Super Vel JHP. If handloading, the situation was a little better in that LOA could be changed to help a specific pistol's reliability, but choices were few. Speer made a 125-grain JSP that didn't expand while Hornady and Sierra offered JHPs that wouldn't feed, particularly off of full magazines! My only consolation during this time was that the 1911 guys were having the same problems with "expanding" ammunition!

About the time that I was fighting the feed reliability problem, a dangerous thing happened; I bought a Dremel tool! Fortunately, I used it only to polish the feed ramp to a high shine and that helped a bit more, particularly since I was handloading Sierra's 115-grain "Jacketed Hollow Cavity" to a longer than recommend LOA. This combination gave me a fairly reliable Hi Power with expanding ammo. Download the magazine by one or two rounds and it was nearly 100% reliable!

Eventually, I learned how to remove the hump without eliminating case support and problems went away, at least with certain magazines (Inglis) and JHPs having a fairly normal LOA. It's my observation that magazines made back then gave no particular emphasis on holding the rounds at a slightly upward angle as they'd feed the common ball rounds even if they held the top cartridge with no upward angle! (The transition of police in this country in the '80's has resulted in better magazines in this regard.)

For the better part of two decades, Number 1 was fired almost exclusively handloaded ammo. 9mm ammunition was not found at the bargain prices it is today and I just wouldn't shoot ball. I foolishly used a stiff handload with Sierra's 115-grain JHC for everything from paper punching and small game hunting to personal defense!

Some of the best shots I've ever lucked into were made with Number 1. One was a running jackrabbit, shot at night at about 75 yards while holding a spotlight! Why, I don't know, but I knew I'd hit the thing before the shot was fired. My uncle and best friend were there and amazed. I was darned sure proud of the shot, but somehow knew it would be "right" before I fired it! A few other times, this same "knowledge" has been there before the shot was touched off, though not always with this same handgun. I cannot explain it.

Though it took several years to do, as I'd not take anything but "perfect" shots, this gun cleanly took three Texas whitetail deer with one shot each. All of the animals presented themselves in ideal conditions and no farther than 30 yards and were not aware that I was there. It's been used on bullfrogs, snakes, armadillo, jackrabbits, coyotes, fox, raccoons and other animals as well. PETA would put a bounty on this Hi Power if they knew the number of animals I've shot with it!

In the late '70's, I was able to buy a small house and wound up sleeping there before the air-conditioning was in as there was a delay, yet all my possessions were there. As luck would have it, that night was a very hot one and you could drop a feather and it'd go straight down; no breeze. I was on a pallet in a front bedroom as close to an open window as I could get when I heard a bumping noise at the back porch area of the house. Sure enough, a dude was pulling and yanking at the sliding glass door. There were no curtains in the house and I think he believed he'd just relieve the unoccupied dwelling of its contents. Anyway, I headed for the sliding door and promptly tripped over a coffee table and cursed. The trespasser and would-be burglar took off on foot through the open fields behind the house. It was a moonlit night that you could read a newspaper with so … I fired one shot at the ground right behind his right foot, spattering his calves with dirt! He just thought he could run!

The pistol was Number 1.

Some years later, I had access to a trailer house on 400 acres of wooded area and would go there on my days off to varmint call or just get away. Usually, my best friend would go, too, but on this occasion, no one could go but me. The trailer was 7 miles down a dirt road and about 3/4 mile from the road when you got to the property. I'd called some canyons and shot a few fox with my Ithaca Model 37 shotgun, but Number 1 was on my right hip as well. Eventually, in the wee hours of the morning, things slowed down and it was starting to mist. I began the trek back to my truck to head in for some sleep. I'd estimate that I'd been asleep a couple of hours when I hear a loud crash at the trailer's front door. Without thinking, I found myself sitting up in the bed with Number 1 in a two-hand hold aimed at the open bedroom door. I heard the crash again and quietly rolled off the bed so that it was between the door and me and went prone, aiming upward from the foot of the bed, but at the bedroom door. Nothing happened. I don't know how long I waited, but eventually I eased out barefooted into the trailer to find the intruder or intruders. Turned out that the crash was the wind whipping the combination glass-and-screen wire door outside the wooden one. A violent thunderstorm, just like in the werewolf movies had blown in and the glass in the "screen door." I was relieved. Even though no bugger was there in the dark, lonely place, such events tend to foster a bonding between one and a trusted handgun, particularly if it's "special" in the first place.

I have no idea how many rounds have been fired through this pistol, but it is considerable. I still shoot it these days and it still performs although in later years, the pistol has a Wolff conventional 18.5-lb. recoil spring and a Buffer Technology buff in it. It's not been hunting in several years and generally just gets limbered up at the firing range on occasion.

Over the years, I've had a few offers to buy it, some quite high, but I just won't sell this pistol. It really taught me many things and was there when I thought I might need it for serious purposes. Much of my "teething" as a fledgling shooter was done using Number 1. It served briefly as a police service sidearm, but I replaced it with handguns not having as much sentimental value, a silly thing I know, but something I just had to do.

It can still "cut it" today.

This group was fired at twenty-five yards using Winchester USA 115-grain FMJ ammunition. The flyers are mine and while there are certainly more intrinsically accurate 9mm pistols available, this is good enough for my purposes. Though I've had Spegel grips on this pistol in the past, I think I'll just leave the original factory stocks that came with it in place.

This 15-yard group was fired using Hornady's 124-grain XTP over 6.0 grains of Unique powder. This load averages around 1244 ft/sec from most Hi Powers and has been consistently accurate. It is warm.

I hope to use this pistol another 30 years.

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Iran Has Technology for a Nuclear Warhead to Fit Shehab-3 Missile

DEBKA-Net-Weekly 351 Updated by DEBKAfile

June 16, 2008

Urs Tinner, evidence against him destroyed

Urs Tinner, evidence against him destroyed


Some Western military and intelligence were shocked to learn that Iran had the blueprints for making a nuclear warhead that could fit onto its Shehab-3 missiles. The discovery was released by the former UN weapons inspector, David Albright, Sunday, June 16, ahead of the report on his investigation of the nuclear smuggling ring run by the father of the Pakistan nuclear bomb Abdul Qadeer Khan. He alleged that the nuclear blueprints passed to Libya, Iran and North Korea included “previously undisclosed designs for a compact warhead that could fit on Iran’s medium-range ballistic missiles.”

On May 22, Swiss President Pascal Couchepin, disclosed that, last December, the destruction had been ordered of a batch of 30,000 documents detailing construction plans for nuclear weapons, gas ultra-centrifuges to enrich weapons-grade uranium and guided missile delivery systems , evidence in a criminal case of a Swiss family of three engineers involved in the Khan ring.

DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s exclusive sources disclosed on May 30 that these nuclear blueprints were sold in underhand deals to those countries - and possibly also to al Qaeda - in the second half of the 1990s. Tehran has therefore had those designs for between 10 and 13 years.

This discovery makes nonsense of the supposedly definitive judgment in Western and Israel intelligence that Iran lacks the technology for building a nuclear missile delivery system. Because of these estimates, Western governments have been able to keep their sanctions-cum-diplomatic track with Iran rolling as though tomorrow would never come.

It is now evident that not only North Korea and Iran have known for some time how to build and deliver a nuclear warhead, but unknown recipients of A.Q. Khan’s merchandise, including terrorist organizations, may also command hazardous nuclear knowledge.

The three Swiss engineers, members of the Tinner family, are the father, Friedrich, whose ties with Khan went back decades, and his sons, Urs and Marco.

The Khan ring set up marketing headquarters in Dubai and Malaysia. The brothers have awaited trial for four years in a Swiss jail. Their father is out on bail and confined to Switzerland. The evidence against Urs Tinner, the hard disk he stole containing the incriminating nuclear documents, has now been destroyed by the Swiss authorities under the supervision of the UN nuclear watchdog.

DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s military experts reported on May 30: If Urs Tinner, a small cog in the Khan network, was able to steal a hard drive containing a mass of the network’s nuclear secrets, three conclusions are inescapable:

1. That Khan did not retain an efficient security system for the data he was selling. Therefore, his system was full of holes and his confederates and agents, whether employed on the technical or marketing side of the business, were able to help themselves to documents, diagrams and other illicit nuclear materials that were put on sale and, perhaps, go into business on their own.

2. It is an open secret among the American and Western intelligence services involved in uncovering the Khan ring that large sections are still going strong out in Pakistan, the Far East and the Middle East through channels still unexposed. They are bound to assume that the documents destroyed by the Swiss government may exist in copies still in circulation.

3. Some of their holders may have hung onto them for the last four or five years and then destroyed them when the Khan ring was exposed, for fear of being linked to the trafficker. On the other hand, it is possible that some of A. Q. Khan’s agents and accomplices sold his nuclear plans and secrets to terrorists linked to al Qaeda.

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Reuters


Oil surges to new record high near $140 a barrel


Monday June 16, 9:20 am ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil surged to a new record high on Monday of nearly $140 a barrel, propelled by weakness in the U.S. dollar which offset the bearish impact of plans by Saudi Arabia to boost output.



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