If you are in the gun business you need to read this!

California has decided that they are better at handling firearms transactions than the Federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.  The California Department of Justice, Division of Law Enforcement, issued an informational bulletin dated 5/29/08, No. 2008-BOF-05.

Quoting, “Beginning July 1, 2008, California Penal Code Section 12072(f)(1) prohibits all FFLs from shipping to an FFL in California unless, prior to delivery, the FFL intending to deliver, sell or transfer the firearm obtains a verification approval number from the California Department of Justic (CADOJ) Bureau of Firearms. This includes transfers that occur at gun shows.”

This poses several interesting questions.

1. What happened to the second ammendment?
2. What happened to the ATF?
3. Who put California in charge of interstate commerce?
4. What happened to the ICC?
5. If California were so efficient at running Buracracies, would they have money problems?
6. Will killing another segement of the California tax base help solve state problems?
7. Has there been a single case of guns transfered between Federal Firearms License (FFL) holders that resulted in violent crime of any kind?
8. Why in the hell would any gun business outside California continue to do business with law abiding federally licensed gun dealers in California?
9. Does this mean Arnold is really a “Girly Man”?
10. On the FAQ page attached to the announcement the #1 item claims there is no cost associated with this program.  Apparently our time and effort is of no value?
11. Why have we not heard outrage from California Dealers (FFL holders) on this subject?  Could it be they fear repercussions?

I am sure you can think of more questions but those few just poured out of my pen as they say.

Item #16 on the FAQ page generously offers every interested person the opportunity to receive a copy of the bill which put this law into effect.  I plan to call for a copy as I am sure you will want to.  After all, we want to be sure we do not run afoul of any California Laws even if we plan to boycott the state from here to eternity.   The phone number where you can request a copy of the bill is 916-445-2323, request bill “AB 2521, Chapter 784, Session 2005-2006.  Hopefully this won’t be too much of a burden on those resources.

Here is a pdf of the entire packet mailed to FFL holders:  http://www.z-hat.com/extras/California%20CFLC%20Program.pdf

According to a May 29, Telegram.com article, a uniformed veteran gave the 10-year-old two empty rifle shell casings from blanks used during the town’s Memorial Day celebration Monday morning.  Bradley gave one of the empty casings to his grandfather and kept the other as a souvenir.  The trouble began when he took his souvenir to school the next day. 

“He was just playing with it at lunch,” explained Crystal Geslak, Bradley’s mother. “He wasn’t showing it to anyone; he had it in his hand and was playing with it.”

A teacher saw him with the harmless piece of brass and confiscated it.  Ms. Geslak was then called at work and told to come and pick up her son, who had been suspended for five days!

Ms. Geslak arrived at the school to find her son in tears.  “I was totally shocked. I couldn’t believe this was happening,” she said.  “It was just an empty shell, not even from a real bullet.  A sharpened pencil would be more dangerous than this piece of metal.”

“He was so proud to have been given them.  His dad’s a veteran, his uncle’s a veteran, both his grandfathers are veterans.  Memorial Day is a big thing to us.  It’s a very important holiday and we have a big celebration every year,” Ms. Geslak said.

Ms. Geslak, who will be forced to miss work in order to stay home with her son, says she is worried about what having a “weapon-related suspension” on his school record will mean to his future.

To add insult to injury, the family says a school official told them that the shell would not be returned, and that the next step might involve assigning a probation officer to Bradley!  Yes, you read that right, a probation officer.

A young boy punished over a harmless souvenir.  By any standard, that’s just unacceptable.

From the Shcool Districts web site, thier mission statement:

Our mission is to enlighten, motivate, and educate all who pass through our doors.  We will provide a safe environment that promotes an appreciation of diversity and preparedness for the future.

This young man and his family understand the price of freedom, they actually celebrage Memorial Day as it was intended, not just as a bankers holiday.  They understand what it takes to be prepared for the future.  A piece of inert metal poses no safety hazard to anyone.  Of course that’s just my view, but then the mission statment say they will respect my diverse opinion???  Seems like a mixed message to me.

If you’d like to express your concern over this incident, please visit http://www.winchendon.mec.edu/.  You will catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.  To leave a voice message for Brooke Clenchy, Superintendent of Schools, please call 978-297-0031. 

I have only shot a couple of matches with Garands over the years but it was a ton of fun.  Now Hornady is offering match grade ammo designed for use with the M1 Garand.  They chose powders that should provide long life for the barrel and gas system on these work horse rifles.  After years of either reloading or relying on military surplus ammo, competitors now have another option for good quality ammunition.

Loaded with 168 grain A-Max bullets with a muzzle velocity near 2700 feet per second, this might be pretty good ammo for new match shooters to learn on.  For more information on the M1 Garand and matches check out the Civiliam Marksmanship Program.

On May 28, 2008 attorneys from Safari Club International, the states of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, the federal government, animal rights groups, and other sporting and ranching groups, crowded into a Missoula, Montana courthouse to argue the temporary fate of Northern Rocky Mountain wolves.  In all, eight individual attorneys each weighed in about whether the federal court should grant a preliminary injunction motion that would place wolves back on the endangered species list for the period of time necessary for full litigation of the animal rights groups’ challenge to wolf delisting.  The federal government attorney defended the legality of the delisting action and each of the state attorneys demonstrated why their states’ laws and management plans would sufficiently maintain viable wolf populations. SCI took its oral argument opportunity to explain that the balance of public interests, represented by the diverse parties involved in the lawsuit, and each affected differently by the status of wolves, was best served with wolves remaining off the endangered species list.  The court took the matter under consideration and promised to rule expeditiously.

Over the weekend, a DNC committee reinstated delegates from Florida and Michigan, awarding them half a vote each as punishment for holding their respective primaries before February 5 in violation of party rules. The committee awarded Barack Obama 59 delegates from Michigan, despite his name not appearing on the ballot.  It has been reported that “Many Obama supporters voted for “uncommitted” on the ballot as a way of showing support for Obama.”  Yea, that’s what I would say if I wanted to hand some delegates to him too.

You may recall a few years back when the Democrats lost an election based on the outcome of the Florida vote they were strong, or you might say the strongest advocates of protecting every vote as being essential and that somehow the voters of Florida were being disenfranchised.  Fast forward to present day, the DNC is totally willing to disenfranchise Democrat voters, ie Michigan and Florida.  Just seems inconsistent, what do you think?

Well, it’s finally happened, New York state has passed a bill that is the first step toward taxing Internet sales.  I understand the state thinks it’s loosing out on revenue some how.  I suppose it never occurs to legislators that many of their constituents are making a living on the Internet so this precedent is a slippery slope. 

If this progresses to the point that I have to collect sales tax for every state that writes one of these laws you can bet that will put an unfair and unreasonable burden on my business.  This is exactly why in a 1992 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, Quill v. North Dakota, the Court determined that out-of-state retailers cannot be required to collect sales tax on purchases sent to states where they did not have a physical presence.  Would I continue to do business on the Internet if this expands?  Not if it becomes a paper-work nightmare.   Neither will THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS of other Internet sellers. 

The loss in revenue to individual states will at least ballance out the gain they percieve by taxing this business channel.  As usual the Liberals think that everything is a zero sum game.  They do not realize that thier actions will affect the economy and people at large.  If you would like to read a more complete explanation of New York’s new law check out the link below.

http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/3740056/Amazon+Tax+Lands+in+New+York.htm

NEWTOWN, Conn. — The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) has announced a new program designed to help local public and private ranges increase participation in the shooting sports.

The Range Partnership Grant Program is making available a total of $250,000 per year for projects that specifically address one or more of the following objectives: recruitment of new shooters, reactivation of lapsed shooters and increased opportunities for active shooters to try another discipline. The NSSF is especially interested in new, creative approaches to these challenges.

“This program was inspired by the success of our Hunting Heritage Partnership grant program, which funds recruitment and retention efforts conducted by state wildlife agencies,” commented NSSF Senior Vice President Chris Dolnack. “We are confident that this concept will also work for shooting ranges.”

Eligible organizations are limited to public or private ranges and clubs, or educational institutions with hunting or shooting sports curriculums and faculty.

Grant guidelines and applications are available at www.rangeinfo.org/grants. 

ABC News’ Ed O’Keefe Reports: The Obama campaign is taking issue with a comment President Bush made while speaking to the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel’s statehood.

“Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along,” the President said to the country’s legislative body, “We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: ‘Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.’ We have an obligation to call this what it is –- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.”

Senator Obama seems to think that everything is about him!  I guess he did not hear about Jimmy Carter’s distasteful and anti-American act of meeting in April of 2008 with the leader of Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert did not meet Carter during his visit to Israel and Washington criticized him for his contacts with Hamas, which both regard as a terrorist group.  It would be much more impressive if the Senator called for Jimmy Carters passport to be revoked for his actions.

Action tuning (blueprinting) is the process of making all the parts that make up the action square and true to the bore. First the locking lugs of the bolt must be lapped to insure even solid contact with the locking surfaces in the receiver. When finished the lugs should have equal contact area and contact should exceed 80%. This is accomplished using professional lapping compounds which produce smooth even surfaces.  Finally we put the action on a precision mandrel and turn it in the lathe to face the front of the receiver square to the bore.  Note the areas in the picture that are pointed out, the light spots are where the metal was in full contact during bluing, the dark areas were exposed to the bluing salts, obviously contact was not even.

Barrel Lapping is available for new barrels upon request.   Lapping the bore can offer more uniformity, velocity, and accuracy. This process removes the small burrs and marks left in the bore from the machine process. It also polishes the bore, which reduces fouling. A side benefit is that, there is little or no break in for a lapped bore. Which saves lots of time, money, and tedious cleaning.  Many of the best barrels are lapped by the manufacturer, McGowen, Hart and Lilja are three examples.  

Barrel Fit is the next consideration. The barrel must be set up on the lathe so that it is centered perfectly on the bore. Centering the barrel on the bore insures that it will be mounted squarely in the action. The shoulder will be exactly 90 degrees to the bore and the threads will be concentric to the bore, all essential to accuracy. Equally as important is the crown. It also must be concentric to give best accuracy. Over the years we have tried many styles of crowns at many different angles to the bore. Some work better than others but the bottom line is always the same, if it is concentric it will be accurate. 

Trigger Jobs can do more for accuracy than you might think. These days the factories are shipping guns with trigger pulls of five to eight pounds. To add insult to injury they include lots of sear engagement  (shooters call that ‘Creep’).   A trigger job will minimize sear engagement and bring the pull to a consistent weight that will give the shooter better control over the moment of ignition.

Bedding methods varies a little from one action to the next. The best method on average is to free float the barrel and bed the action. This can be accomplished through either pillar bedding and glass bedding. Pillars are made from metal usually aluminum, the purpose is to add a support to the stock so that it cannot be crushed by the action screws. The pillars also add stability to the bedding job. Glass bedding is the most common method used. Fiberglass and epoxy are used to bed the action of the rifle. This adds stability and protection from humidity. Proper bedding requires an understanding of the pressure points of the action and the methods that will provide the best support and results. A good bedding job will improve accuracy.

Ammunition is a major factor in accuracy for any rifle.  Accurate ammunition is a product of good reloading skills and tools. There are many makers of reloading dies. Quality varies widely from one manufacturer to the next. All will work to produce usable ammunition. Accurate ammo requires better quality dies. Just like the rifle, the dies must be concentric in order to be accurate.  Think of it this way, if you were to draw a 12 inch long line on a piece of paper with a ruler held firmly down you will get a single clean line from end to end. What happens if you stop every inch and pick the ruler up, replace it on the paper, and continue the line? Likely no matter how careful you are the line will not be perfectly straight. When we reload ammo we are picking up the ruler with every component used and with every process executed.  That is why its so important to make sure everythint is just right when loading for accuracy.

This is by no means a complete discussion of rifle accuracy but its a good start.  I recommend that you take your reloading manuals down off the shelf and read some of the articles that they contain.  You will be amazed how much good advice on how to load the best possible ammo is already on your shelf.