Firebase St Louis

Made it to St Louis!

Everything went well with our four vehicle convoy: the big Penske rental towing my car, and my truck towing the sailboat with our two gaseous German Shepherds making life miserable for my wife. It went very smoothly except for my tragic case of butt-death that started about 2 miles into the 1800 mile trip.

Things are pretty tense here in St Looney: Ferguson is continuously in the news. The gun stores have largely been stripped bare. At a neighborhood driveway party, many were expressing apprehension and not a little anger at all the threats. Out and about, I saw posturing from many young black males. I also noticed that many of them were wearing brand-new steel-toed work boots: new fad or is there a darker purpose?

Still, the wife is happy to have her bullet sponge around again. If things get interesting, we'll simply lock the door and wait out the insanity.

Hotheads exist everywhere - stay vigilant.

Glad you made it fine. What are the carry laws like over there? Also, when it's bad outside... it is a great time to load ammo!

Be careful there, CF. I'm sure you'll be fine, and you're the last person I need to advise about how to be safe in weird times. Regardless, be careful.

All this media hype about Ferguson is really starting to piss me off. Seems like they're just TRYING to get the natives agitated about this. I remember the same BS when the Rodney King trials were pending.

Good to hear you are moved and in one piece. Stay that way. I had been wondering how the move was going.

Tennessee Jed wrote:Be careful there, CF.  I'm sure you'll be fine, and you're the last person I need to advise about how to be safe in weird times.  Regardless, be careful.

All this media hype about Ferguson is really starting to piss me off.  Seems like they're just TRYING to get the natives agitated about this.  I remember the same BS when the Rodney King trials were pending.

Sometimes it seems more like the natives are already agitated and are trying to keep the media riled. Seems a lot of these stories are triggered from Ferguson rather than elsewhere. Thank you Al Sharpton for bringing racism back to the fore in the nation. I have come to believe there are none so racist as the blacks.

Thanks Corn, Dev, and TJ.

The move went amazingly well. Just a whole hell of a lot of work - and a very slow way to see the Southwest. Computing access was limited - I was typing on a netbook and it's @#$%^&* micro keyboard - and desperately tired. Now, I've got my desktop's keyboard plugged into the netbook  - soooo much better.  The main desktop is down until I can find the wireless access device (sigh.)

I haven't researched the laws fully - but apparently, MO just passed a law that allows open carry just about everywhere. I don't know what condition the gun has to be in - but anythings better than nothing. And the wife does have her CCW license.  

You can bet I'll be keeping my head down. Although, my wife enlisted a neighbor to help unload a previous shipment - and as a result of him schlepping all of the boxes labelled "Ammo" I'm now acclaimed as the neighborhood's armorer. (Sigh) They just don't get that I'm not going to be handing out firearms to the untrained.

Interesting that 'Boma's loss in the midterms seems to have ratcheted up the anger.

?You talking about anger in Ferguson, or in general.

Both - but the general national angst seems to be more increased.

http://video.lauraingraham.com/Blacks-Blame-Racism-Not-Obama-for-Dems-Midterm-Defeat-28138854#.VGY0tmdTZl5

It's effin' snowing.

Yup! That's what happens up here in the Great White North in winter, CF. No more brown grass for Christmas.

But, before Thanksgiving?!?

C'mon, give a SoCal native some time to get acclimatized!

{/whinge}

Ha! ?What do you think makes a great deer hunting season. SNOW! The deer won't bed down in the day but move about, and you see the tracks.

You wanted acclimatization time, you should have moved in July-August.

Ha ha, the cold has moved in... I think it's 12 degrees outside right now here in utah.

?So does that mean your suppressors puff smoke.

Hmmmmm, haven't shot the suppressors in weather this cold before. I will have to try. My guess is that the smoke and stuff lingers inside the suppressor for a while, but yeah--gotta try it and see. One of the problems of cold weather for me is load development. I am constantly trying to develop different loads for different bullets/calibers, but the cold messes things up--especially trying to do subsonic loads.

We once needed to load higher if we were shooting a winter IPSC match as the speed dropped about 30-50 or so FPS. Some had more issues, but I loaded hot enough that I didn't need any changes. And most of my winter matches were indoor. While it gets cold on an indoor range, it isn't like outside.

Phil and I both had to be careful when we worked up varmint loads. We were both shooting pretty much at the max, so if we worked up the load in the cool spring, in the HOT summer in SD the loads could overpressure. That always sucked. Phil was always on the lookout for "stable" powder. Hornady 4856 turned out to be about the best. Reloader 10 - not so much. We tested a Vitavorhi powder that was suppose to be stable, but it didn't give us the speed we wanted.

Don't quote me on that Hornady number - I'm not home to look at the can. I can check when I get home if anyone is interested.

Hornady or IMR, Dev? Either way, I'm interested. I think I've found my reloading stuff!

This has been the shift from the Nether area.

I get home tomorrow, but have to drag my stuff up to leave for hunting, so may not be able to get back to you until next week.

But it's Hornady, not IMR. That I sure. I can also look up the can of Vihti I have. That is suppose to be temp stable also, although I couldn't get max performance from it. I think it peaked about 4300 fps.

Devereaux wrote:This has been the shift from the Nether area.

I get home tomorrow, but have to drag my stuff up to leave for hunting, so may not be able to get back to you until next week.

But it's Hornady, not IMR. That I sure. I can also look up the can of Vihti I have. That is suppose to be temp stable also, although I couldn't get max performance from it. I think it peaked about 4300 fps.

Whenever, Dev. Absolutely no rush. Great luck on the hunt.

OK.

The Hogdon powder is 4198. The Vhit powder is N 530.

Thanks!

And how was the hunt?

Nothing. NO ONE saw a deer.

I was talking to Luke, one of the sons, and he suggested that a son-in-law's rabbit business was drawing coyotes and they are killing fawns, so the deer are getting scarce on the farm. Maybe Jack will get Peter to move his business so we can get deer back on the farm.

Not to derail the hunting topic, which I enjoy more than talking about Ferguson, but please be careful in the next couple of days, especially you CF.

I don't think it's a coincidence that the local govt is barricading stuff or that the grand jury's decision wasn't released prior to a weekend. These are all signs by those who know what's going on behind closed doors about what to expect.

While I don't live in a potentially threatened area, my level of precaution will be higher than normal between now and when the decision is announced.

How is it over there now where you live? Stay safe!

It's over -- and it isn't.

Unlike the Watts and Rodney King riots I'm all too familiar with, this issue never did involve the greater Black community. It has been manufactured by outside activists and racial hucksters, and assisted by the progressives and community organizers, such as the one in the White House.  And it's all being eagerly televised by the media.

Their tactics have changed; from confrontation to disruption. This "movement" is now practicing asymmetrical protests; largely peaceful for now - but they can become violent instantly. The driver who had his van stopped, surrounded, damaged and rear window shattered is an example.

That driver responsibly deployed a handgun - and the attack stopped. I think that's a good lesson for us all: we're going to need to carry 24/7.  It's getting weird out there.