Archive for January, 2005

Jan 30 2005

The practical “tactical” SKS…

Published by Mugwug under Project: Anti-Zombie Rifle

I have owned an SKS since I got into shooting. My first was a Norinco SKS (only recently sold to my cousin) that provided the basis for any marksmanship skills I possess today. Since that first SKS I’ve owned a number of the different variants, and now only have my solitary SKS-D.

Like many SKS owners I was stunned by the vast array of aftermarket accessories available for the SKS, and after some experimentation I was not particularly impressed with most of them. I do believe the standard SKS is pretty much perfect (and cheap) in its “issue” configuration. That said I retained my SKS-D specifically as a “project” gun, and have been thinking long and hard about what MY perfect SKS would look like.

Not my dream SKS

This is NOT my dream SKS. This rifle looks like almost every other “custom” SKS out there.

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Jan 29 2005

Yes…we had ANOTHER crash.

Published by Mugwug under General

Yep…sites been down for days, the MySQL database was eaten…. good times, good times….

Don’t even get me started..

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Jan 15 2005

Death to SPAM!

Published by Mugwug under General

Thats some dead Spam!I hate SPAM.

My online existence has been plagued by idiots seeking to increase their ranking at the expense of useability and functionality. It fills my email inbox, it fills my unmoderated comments page here on the blog, it drags me to websites that have nothing to do with what I was searching for in the hopes that I will suddenly find a need for a cheaper source of viagra, penile growth serum or online gambling.

I have committed far too much time to spam. Not only does it not add to my quality of life, it wastes my time and expends my limited online resources (During the tail end of my use of MoveableType I was spending approximately 30-45 minutes a day just clearing spam comments, and attempting to ban IPs and tweak my anti-spam settings). It is irritating, invasive and it angers me more than a little.

As a therapeutic exercise I decided to take my vengeance on the only physical SPAM object I could find. For the princely sum of $2.49 I transported a can of spam to the middle of nowhere and executed it. It was offered no blindfold or last cigarette. I fired a single round into that can of evil, then three more into its prone form.

The results were less than dramatic, as it turns out a can of spam offers no ballistic protection what so ever. A small hole (approximately .30 inches in diameter) where the bullet went in, a small hole (roughly the same size as the opposite hole), and a small meat tunnel through the can.

It felt good. This Spam, at least, will bother me no more.

8 responses so far

Jan 14 2005

A good day at the range….

Published by Mugwug under Firearms

Wow...the M14 rocks!Finally had an opportunity to drag the M14S to the range, put it through its paces and give a try at properly zeroing the scope. Initially it was shooting almost a foot to the right, the scope was easily adjusted to bring the rounds in a nice consistant group. The weather was a little too cold to spend the extra time to practice at 100 yards, but I’ll return once the final series of modifications have been made to the rifle.

Also featured on this trip were a few “abnormal” targets, the most noteworthy being a can of Spam in a symbolic attack on the bots that attacked my website so regularly (pics will be posted in the near future).

This visit was of course marked by all sorts of cold, in fact it took Mike and myself 45 minutes to open the padlock on the range gates (which involved alot of walking, some anti-freeze wiper fluid and finally my trusty zippo before it decided to function properly).

8 responses so far

Jan 12 2005

M14 update

Published by Mugwug under Firearms

So the rifle has been moved to the recently refinished USGI stock, which will give me the chance to do the whole thing over again with the old stock. I am quite pleased with the results, as the OD color scheme is a nice change from generic black.

M14 in its new stock

Of course I am still waiting for a few items to finish the upgrade, including the new spring guide, and some shims. The op-rod guide needs to be tightened, and I hope to take a crack at all this over the next week or so.

4 responses so far

Jan 06 2005

My daughter Jillian Marie

Published by Mugwug under Baby Blogging

Jillian MarieObviously the entries about my daughter Jillian were lost in the last crash (and as my most recent backup predates her delivery, we’re not likely to recover them). So in the interest of some sort of continuity here is the story of Jillian.

It really started Wednesday morning (November 24th) at 03:00hrs, when I was shaken awake by Lisa telling me we had to go the hospital (I think I had been asleep a few hours at that point). Never one to argue with a pregnant lady I threw some clothes on, grabbed the Baby Bug-out-bag, jumped in the car, and after mere moments we arrived at Mt. Sinai Hospital, ducking through their emergency room to be directed down a series of corridors and up a series of elevators to arrive at Maternity Triage, only to be told we had to find our way back to admitting to complete a series of forms, provide our insurance card, complete a field sobriety test and answer a skill testing question or two.

This completed, we trundled back to Maternity Triage and after the inevitable delays always associated with hospitals (and I am CERTAIN that my sticking up for the medical staff failed to help Lisas inpatience) we were told Lisa was not in “active labour”, and that we should go home and relax (uh, right…).

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8 responses so far

Jan 05 2005

M14 Stock Project - Refinishing (Olive Drab)

Published by Mugwug under Project: Norinco M14S

A year ago I acquired a second USGI stock for my M14S rifle, I had planned on experimenting with various paints, and trying out some camoflage schemes on this stock (leaving the stock I already had as is). The stock, purchased used for $40, was found to be in horrible shape when it arrived. It appeared the previous owner had attempted to repaint the stock using some sort of racing green oil-based paint, applied with a brush. The checkering on the stock had been painted so heavily it was almost smooth, and the paint itself was extremely resistant to removal.

Stripped USGI M14 stock

The first step was the removal of the oil based paint that had been used (or at least most of the paint), and this was accomplished with good old fashioned elbow grease and alot of sandpaper (medium and fine grit). The checkering was cleared by running an exacto-knife down the rows and scraping the old paint out (a rather tedious process).

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4 responses so far

Jan 03 2005

Affirmation is nice now and again….

Published by Mugwug under General

I am not, despite my best efforts, a writer. I mangle the english language with almost complete abandon, and my use of punctuation is questionable at best (I have always used more commas than absolutely required). Despite this I’ve been fortunate in that some people have taken an interest in the things I have written, and have actually sought permission to use them (some have just used them without permission as well, although I’ve yet to find an uncredited example) from time to time.

Undoubtedly there are some here that remember my early efforts with CSIO.Net as an outlet for my frustration with the private security industry. Much to my suprise the articles were well received, and were reprinted in a few trade papers and even a school textbook (last I heard Mohawk College had used one in their law and security textbook, I never did get my copy however…hmmmm). The articles on security were shortlived, as there are only so many ways to say “minimum wage monkeys cannot protect you” in a polite way, and I got tired of restating the obvious.

zombiesquad logo remains the exclusive property of its owners.As flattered as I was to have one of my articles used in a school textbook (even if that textbook is now being used by a college graduate to prop up his dining room table) I’m afraid this was eclipsed by a recent request to use some of my zombie survival material over at the Zombiehunters.org knowledge base.

I have to admit that I spend more time than is good for me, and less time than I want lurking, and occasionally posting over at the Zombie Squad Survival Forums. While I was initially interested in the forums because of the zombie content, the survival (yes I know thats a dirty word, perhaps “disaster readiness” is a better phrase?) aspect makes for fascinating reading, and it pleases me to no end to have contributed even slightly to that community.

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Jan 02 2005

Movie: “Resident Evil: Apocalypse” (2004)

Published by Mugwug under Zombie Movie Reviews

“Resident Evil: Apocalypse” (2004) directed by Alexander Witt.
(MF Title: “Alice in zombieland…again”)
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Oded Fehr, Thomas Kretschmann and Sophie Vavasseur.
Zombie Film Rating: full skullhalf skullno skullno skullno skull

Oh no... after all that trouble you're not going back into the hive are you?Overview: Following the incident in the first film, the Umbrella Corporation has decided to re-enter the “Hive”, and in the process they release the T-Virus (and assorted nasty infected thingys) into Racoon City proper where things rapidly get out of hand.

Like all evil corporate entities they move quickly and quietly. Evacuating their staff and sealing the city, allowing only those that are uninfected to leave. When it becomes obvious that the infection has reached explosive levels the city is locked down, and those inside left to fend for themselves. With escape or infection being the only two options, a small band of survivors make a deal with a scientist on the outside to rescue his daughter, in exchange for their evacuation.

Their timeline is moved forward when it’s discovered that the Umbrella Corporation has plans to cover up this mishap, forever.

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