Glibertarians.com 2017 Archive

Category: Guns

  • Firearms Friday: National Reciprocity

    Recently, congress actually did something. I know, I am as shocked as you are. I was even more floored to learn that what they did was something I was happy about. The house recently passed HR 38, better known as the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. This bill, if passed, will provide ‘full faith and credit’ protections provided by the constitution to concealed carry permits. What this means is that your state issued concealed carry permit will be valid in all states, just like your driver’s license and marriage license (SLD fucking state licensing). This of course has caused much pant shitting terror in the liberal world, because if enacted, flyover hicks (myself included) would be crawling all over New York, LA, and every other liberal bubble armed to the teeth. It’s one thing to arm criminally negligent illegal aliens or teenage gang members, but that hayseed with a MAGA hat and a Ruger LCR in his pocket is just too much to deal with. Today I want to take a glimpse into the future, a future where concealed carry is the de facto legal standard. Join me while we explore.. TRUMPS AMERICA! (horns blare, title fades to black)

    What would be the result of national reciprocity? Defiant hysterical opposition, initially. Those latte sipping snowflakes aren’t going to just smile nervously and let a bunch of heavily armed Nazis march into their cities (insert France joke here). Expect a lot of illegal arrests, a lot of lawsuits, and probably at least one officer involved shooting where he is as guilty as the DNC’s IT staff but gets off cause ‘muh fear for muh safety!’. Eventually the defendants will be found innocent, the unlawful detainment lawsuits will succeed, and the coasts will be brought kicking and screaming to the reality that we do live in the same country. This is where it gets interesting. You see, once the coastal elite realize no one is coming to save them and this is the reality they now inhabit, they are going to have to make a choice: either stick to their guns (pun intended) and insist their path is righteous, or demand to have the same ability to carry concealed as the unwashed horde now terrorizing their city. Knowing what I know about the average progressive and his moral integrity, they will universally choose the latter. I expect to see mobs with pitchforks and torches (since, you know, they don’t have guns) demanding shall issue concealed carry in all of the restrictive states within a few years. Hawaii may be able to hold out, since they are an island and flying with guns is still a pain in the ass, but the rest will fall like dominos.

    Then the miracle will happen. Those people on the coasts, the ones that swore to god and their country that national reciprocity would lead to blood in the streets, that Armageddon is nigh, will wake up and realize that they are still alive. Some of them might even find a handgun on their nightstand and a second picture ID in their wallet. And that is when the lie will come crashing down. They will realize that gun ownership is not some mark of the devil, and that carrying a gun doesn’t turn you into a Klansman. It is simply the end result of being a responsible member of society. A society that understands that there are those that exist to exploit and intimidate others for their own personal gain, and at the end of the day you are your own first responder.

    Am I being a bit naive in my assessment? Perhaps. Maybe the courts completely disregard the written intent and prior law and declare the bill unconstitutional. Perhaps the police simply ignore the law and the prosecutors look the other way. Maybe the blue states prosecute every defensive shooting so aggressively that carrying concealed is a greater liability than it is worth. But maybe I am right. And if I am, this will be the greatest cultural shift in America in recent history. For the first time in 50 years, guns will become normalized. That is what the progressives truly fear. They have based so much of their rhetoric on othering gun owners, painting them as racists, knuckle draggers, vigilantes, closet murders, that should the curtain be pulled back on this it would be damn near a death blow to their culture war. How can you continue to live the lie of the evil gun owner when your daily existence contradicts that? When your friends and relatives prove you wrong every time you go out to dinner? When random strangers smile and hold open doors for you instead of shooting you dead? You can’t. This is my vision of the future. As a gun owner, and an eternal optimist, I can only hope.

  • Firearm Friday – Introduction to Long Range Precision Rifle Shooting

     

    Everyone loves to watch snipers in movies and TV shows make ultra-long shots undetected, then slip away. Anyone who’s seen the movie “Shooter” with Marky-Mark remembers the cold bore shot at a can of stew a mile away. First round hit? Yeah, right. That’s maybe a 2% shot, never mind his now-deaf dog. Just like most everything else in Hollywood, what you see is a very simplified version of what’s necessary to successfully hit a target farther away than most track and field events.

    Long range rifle shooting has a lot of moving parts that must come together perfectly, or you’re going to miss. In this article, I’ll be covering the absolute basics of lingo, gear, and what’s necessary to make hits at distance.

    My background: I’ve been shooting LR precision rifle matches for about 3 years. I was lucky to be employed by a precision rifle ammunition company and surrounded by some of the best in the industry, which jumpstarted my foray into the competitive LR world.

    In LR competitions, typically called precision rifle matches, we typically shoot 1 to 3 MOA steel targets at 300-1200 yards from a mix of prone and alternate positions. Matches are broken down into 5-10 stages, with about 10 rounds shot in ~90 seconds. Top shooters usually have a hit ratio of around 80%. There are a ton of local and national level matches, loosely governed by the PRS. It’s unbelievably fun, and I highly recommend it.

    Definitions

    For those who don’t speak the LR lingo yet, I’ll define my terms.

    Long Range: any shot taken that if the trajectory of the bullet is not accounted for, will result in missing the target. Long range is different for every rifle system and zero distance. What’s long range for .22LR could be a chip shot for .338 Lapua Mag.

    Minute of Angle (MOA): an angular unit of measurement equal to 1/60th of one degree. It scales linearly with distance. For simplicity, we can define one MOA as 1 inch at 100 yards, 5” at 500y, 10” at 1000y, etc.

    Ballistic Coefficient (BC): the ballistic coefficient of a projectile is a measure of its ability to overcome air resistance in flight. Longer, pointier bullets lose velocity more slowly than round, blunt bullets, resulting in less bullet drop and wind drift at the same distance. Less drop and drift leads to less trajectory calculation error and higher hit percentages.

    Transonic Range: the range of speed between about Mach 1.2 and Mach 0.8 (typically 1275 fps – 850 fps) where a bullet’s shockwave transitions from completely behind the bullet to completely in front of it. Because this happens over several hundred yards, each bullet design has a unique transition through this range, leading to trajectories that may not line up with predictions. Typically, longer, higher BC bullets are worse through transonic. This is why a weapon’s “effective range” is listed to what yardage the bullet reaches transonic. I.E. a 308 shooting a 175 SMK @ 2650 fps at sea level hits transonic at about 900 yards, which is where the “308 can’t shoot 1k yards” and “308s drop out of the sky at 900y” nonsense comes from.

    Equipment

    Accurate, repeatable, precision equipment, like the gear required to make first round hits at 800 yards is not cheap. I’ll list gear in descending order of importance.

    Ammunition – High quality, consistent ammunition loaded with the highest BC bullet available and temperature insensitive powder is the most important ingredient to successful long range shooting. Great ammo in an ok rifle can get you acceptable results. Bulk ammo in a top of the line rifle will have you all over the place at distance.

    “Good optics.”

    Optic – A good optic is essential. If you’re on a tight budget, I’d spend most of my money here. A $900 optic on a $300 rifle is a much better system than a $300 optic on a $900 rifle. You need precise, repeatable elevation turrets, a good reticle, magnification range suitable to your application, and clear glass. The fixed power SWFA mil quad scopes are a good budget option in the $300 range. I wouldn’t want anything less than a scope in the $8-1200 range, like a Vortex PST or a Bushnell DMR. Once you go above $1500, you get really good stuff. Zoom ranges I’d recommend are in the 3-15x to 5-25x range. Almost everyone in the competition world runs 5-25x, does most of their shooting on 15x, and their zeroing on 25x.

    Rifle – A rifle capable of 1″ 5 shot groups at 100 yards is a good minimum standard. I’m not happy with a load for a match unless it’s shooting 0.5″ or less. I’ll go in depth on cartridge selection later. Rifles meeting the 1″ criteria can be had for as little as $300. I’ve seen Savage Axis rifles shoot very well. The Ruger Precision Rifle is a great deal if you’re looking for a more feature rich rifle in the ~$1200 range. Most competition precision rigs are custom everything and will run you in the $3-5k range.

    Ballistic Solver – You absolutely, positively need to know your bullet’s trajectory to make first round hits. Thankfully, the app store has tons of solvers, most of which are very accurate with the correct inputs out to transonic. No more needing to verify dope every 100y (even though you still can to confirm). All you need is your bullet’s BC, your ammo/rifle specific muzzle velocity, and current atmospherics and you’re off to the races. I’m partial to the Applied Ballistics solver for $30, but there are other good options like Shooter for $10, etc. You can even get a small weather station with an anemometer (measures wind speed) called a Kestrel with ballistics solvers built in to give you current atmospheric corrected elevation AND estimated wind corrections.

    Laser Rangefinder – Once your target is out past a few hundred yards, your bullet’s trajectory starts dropping rapidly. If you think your target is at 770y but it’s really 700y, you’ve just missed a half a foot high. You absolutely need to know the range to your target to make first round hits. Thankfully, a Sig Kilo 2000 will range to 1000-1400 depending on light conditions, and do it for ~$400. You can buy better rangefinders, but less expensive units might not get you out to the magic 1k yard mark, which is within the capability of most rifles. It doesn’t help to have a rifle that can outshoot your rangefinder. Ranging with a reticle is very slow and error prone, especially out past 500y.

    Chronograph – Knowing precisely how fast your bullet is going is imperative to a good trajectory solution from your ballistic solver. The old school optical chronos are no match for either a magnetospeed or a lab radar. The former uses magnets to measure velocity, the latter uses radar. Both are sufficiently accurate and don’t run into the lighting condition induced errors that optical chronos suffer.

    Bubble Level – Even a few degrees of cant in your optic’s reticle can have a significant effect on your bullet’s trajectory. A miss that’s initially assumed to be a bad wind call can often be the effect of a few degrees of cant in a shooter’s reticle.

    There’s a ton more gear that I’d recommend buying, but as long as you have quality offerings of the above, you’ll have a solid foundation for LR accuracy.

    Taking the shot

    Seeing as though the equipment list above is a mile long, the process of making first round hits at distance is involved and surprisingly time-consuming. Here’s the procedure, assuming you’ve zeroed your rifle at 100y and have chronographed the lot of ammo you’re using:

    1. Range the distance to your target

    2. Use environmental indicators and/or a kestrel to estimate wind speed and direction

    3. Enter range, wind speed, atmospherics, and direction of fire into your ballistic calculator (muzzle velocity and BC are already entered)

    4. Either adjust your optic’s turrets to the solution provided or use the optic’s reticle to hold for the solution

    5. Double-check environmental wind indicators for any changes and that your bubble level indicates a level reticle

    6. Use solid marksmanship fundamentals and break the shot.

    Once you’ve broken the shot, its imperative that you mitigate recoil as much as possible, using both proper fundamentals, and, ideally, a muzzle device that aids in recoil reduction, such as a muzzle brake or a suppressor. In the event of a miss, being able to see your bullet splash is all the information you’ll have available to make a correction. If you fail to spot your miss, your correction will be a guess, and likely an incorrect one.

    This is where an experienced spotter on high-quality optics comes in very handy. He can be watching your bullet trace and impacts to call out immediate corrections for you to adjust and reengage.

    An incorrect wind hold is the most common reason for a miss. Wind is very hard to read correctly, and at 800y, a typical 308 can have around 20” worth of wind deflection in just a 5 mph wind. Seeing as though an average man is ~18” from shoulder to shoulder, aiming center and missing that 5 mph wind call would put your bullet nearly a foot off his shoulder.

    With a bit of practice and homework, you’ll start becoming a proficient LR shooter. I have to admit, watching your trace smack a piece of steel you can’t see with your naked eye is some seriously satisfying stuff.

  • Firearms Friday: Body Armor

    Today, I am going to talk a bit about the opposite of guns. What is the opposite of a gun, you might ask. Peace? Love? Puppies? No morons, it’s body armor. For those of you just unfrozen from a 200 year cryo sleep, body armor stops bullets before they can enter your meatspace and STEVE SMITH you to death. And no, I don’t know who would know about STEVE SMITH but not understand the concept of body armor, but I’m sure if he exists he’s reading this at some point. There are 5 official levels of body armor as defined by the National Institute of Justice: NIJ level IIa, II, IIIa, III, and IV. III and IV are hard armor plates rated for rifle rounds, while everything else is soft armor only rated for handguns. Soft armor is what is usually used by police officers since it is lighter and flexible and can be worn more comfortably for long periods of time, while plates are worn by military for their ability to stop rifle rounds. I do not know much about soft armor since I don’t own it and I have never used it, but I would only recommend soft armor if you need to wear it for long periods of time or need to do a lot of walking while wearing it and don’t anticipate rifle fire. For most civilians I cannot think of a case that would justify wearing soft armor as part of your everyday loadout, and since it would be inferior in a SHTF situation, I don’t recommend it at all. If there is some situation where you need to wear armor inconspicuously then soft armor is probably the only thing that will work, but again I cannot think of many realistic situations outside of police work that would warrant it. There is another reason why I don’t recommend soft armor: It deforms when hit. Unlike a hard plate, soft armor will bulge to absorb the impact of the bullet. That means that while the bullet won’t actually enter your body, it will still feel like you got punched in the gut by Mike Tyson. Stopping the first bullet is no good if you’re laying there gasping for air immediately afterwards.

    So that leaves hard plates. There are two commonly available types of plates: Ceramic and steel. Ceramic plates are the more traditional variety. These are sometimes referred to as SAPI or ESAPI plates, although that technically is a specific brand used by the US military. The advantages to ceramic plates are low weight and no spalling (I’ll get to that in a minute). Ceramic plates usually weigh half as much as equivalent steel plates, which means less weight for you to have to carry around. The disadvantages are cost, shelf life, and durability. Ceramic plates break when hit. That’s how they stop the bullet. But that also means they cannot take 2 hits in the same place. A ceramic plate can only withstand a few hits before it becomes completely worthless. Ceramic plates can also break if dropped onto a hard surface or if something heavy is dropped on top of them.

    Steel plates are the newer variety of plates, and they come from a bit of good old redneck engineering. See people were looking for reusable targets they could shoot. Some people tried mild steel like you find at the hardware store but they figured out that rifles will punch holes clean through that stuff. They eventually found out that abrasion resistant steel (known as AR500 steel) was strong enough to stop most rifle rounds and they started making targets from them. Eventually someone realized you could make some very inexpensive plates that could stop a lot of bullets. The advantages of steel plates are price and durability. Theoretically, a steel plate can take hundreds of hits without failing and there are videos showing level 3 plates taking upwards of 90 rounds before failing. The disadvantages are weight and spalling. Steel is heavy, and lugging big heavy steel plates around is going to suck. These plates usually weigh around 8 pounds a piece, which works out to 15-30 pounds per set. The other issue with steel is spalling. As I said before, ceramic plates break when hit. Steel plates actually shatter the bullet, but when that happens it makes a bunch of high velocity shards spray out from the face of the plate. These shards probably won’t kill you but they will hurt, and if you get hit with enough of them in a soft vital spot like your neck it can make your day pretty bad. To help mitigate this, all decent plates come with a layer of spall coating on them to help catch the fragments. It’s usually a modified version of truck bed liner. I tried making my own plates using roll on bed liner and it didn’t go so well, so I recommend buying them pre coated. It may cost a little more but it’s worth it.

    Now let’s go into protection levels. I told you before that there are 2 levels of hard plates, III and IV. That’s not entirely true. There is a third category that has come out recently called III+. III+ is not an official NIJ rating. It was created by manufacturers as a bridge between level III and IV plates. So what is III+? Well, level 3 plates stop normal rifle rounds and level 4 plates stop armor piercing rounds. Some normal rifle rounds are armor piercing under certain circumstances, however. Level 3 plates are designed to stop 5.56, 7.62×39, 30 06, and 308. However, M193, which is considered a non armor piercing 5.56 round, will defeat a standard level 3 plate. To remedy this, companies came out with 3+ plates, which will stop everything level 3 plates will stop, plus M193. Level 4 plates are designed to stop everything short of hardcore rounds like 300 win mag, 338 lapua, and 50 bmg. Level 4 armor will stop any normal gun. To my knowledge, level 4 armor is only available in ceramic, but I could be mistaken.

    So what should you buy? Before we go into this I want to remind people that this is my opinion and you may find contradicting info elsewhere. Just remember that I am not trying to sell you anything. With that in mind, my answer on what you should buy is: it depends. I will tell you that because of the widespread proliferation of AR 15s and M193 ammo I strongly recommend not using anything below a 3+ rating. Beyond that, its a question of budget and desires. If you want to be able to stop basically any bullet fired at you, then level 4 is the only way to go. Remember though, you will only be able to take a few hits before the plate is compromised. If extreme durability is more important to you, a 3+ steel plate is probably your best bet. If you have a bit of money to spend and want a lightweight setup, 3+ ceramic plates are going to be your recommended option. Personally I run 3+ steel plates in my carriers. AR500 armor currently has level 3+ plates starting at 90 bucks a piece and level 4 plates at $115. It doesn’t get much cheaper than that for brand name armor.

    One final piece of advice: Get a curved front plate. Curved plates are much more comfortable, especially if you’re a little round yourself, like me. You only need 1 curved plate. Back plates can be flat. Women should run 2 flat plates (this info came directly from an AR500 salesman). Their, uh… features make flat plates more comfortable.

  • Firearms Friday: Back From the Dead

    Missed me, didn’t ya? Since we haven’t one in awhile I’ll just do some gun links. Better to ease into it after a long absence.

    Remember the SHARE act? Remember how it was going to be the most awesome pro gun bill in history? Remember when Las Vegas got shot to shit? Well, good news! The SHARE act is back! Except it isn’t going to deregulate silencers anymore… it’s gonna ban bump stocks instead! Yay…. wait, WHAT?! What the actual fuck! What kind of stupid party bait and switch is this exactly? Do you want to get firebombed, DC? Cause this is how you get firebombed.

    See if you can guess which 17 states formally oppose national reciprocity. Most of these should be obvious but there were a few surprises mixed in. Put your guesses in the comments.

    Your weekly nut punch: Record expunged for ex-Tulsa cop acquitted in fatal shooting. Not only does she get to go home safely, but she can find a new job without all of that pesky negligent homicide business muddying up the waters! Still won’t save her from a 10 second google duckduckgo search.

    Along that tangent: Cops are corrupt? YOU DON’T SAY!

    For all my ATF haters out there, SB Tactical is feeling you. They just released two new products designed to work with their stock arm brace that makes it even better as a stock arm brace. Seriously, they aren’t even trying to hide it anymore.

    Status: Operator AF.

    See, this is why only police officers should have guns. They are the only ones calm, responsible, and trained enough to shoulder the burden of safe firearms usage.

  • Wednesday Afternoon Links

    Hey kiddos, I’m here to provide you with your daily dose of afternoon links! Won’t this be fun?

    • Speaking of kiddos, the Paddock family is really working hard at notoriety. The Vegas shooter’s brother is in the OMWC way currently having been arrested during an investigation of consumers of adult content featuring child actors.
    • The .in.mb family seat in rural NY now has a spectacularly named gun club for homos and trans-folk “Trigger Warning Queer and Trans Gun Club.” I’d rather see the membership and clout of the Pink Pistols grow, but I’ll take what I can get.
    • Fun fact: Playa Manhattan is masturbating furiously right. this. minute.
    • Philipines continues to snuggle up to people we don’t really like.

    And since I was drunk at Oktoberfest this weekend, here’s a scruffy blond fellow in (faux) leather lederhosen playing the sax.

    Thanks, Alpine Village Oktoberfest!

  • Firearms Friday: Mandalay Massacre

    I was hoping I would bring you triumphant news of the SHARE act passing a vote in congress this week. Instead I am writing you on the heels of a legit massacre and hoping we don’t have more gun control crammed up our asses by Thanksgiving. For those of you that just awoke from a coma, a guy took an actual arsenal to the 32nd story of the Mandalay Bay Casino and rained death into a crowd of 22 thousand country music fans. Roughly 60 dead, 500 injured. The perpetrator of what has now become the worst mass murder in modern American history? 64 year old Stephen Paddock: accountant, gambler, lover of old Filipino women, and millionaire. Yes, you read that right. This guy was loaded. Regularly dropped bills in Vegas, and had no problem clearing his tab. So why murder a bunch of drunk white people? Good question! If you know, please call your local libertarian gun blogger and let me in on it, cause right now it’s driving me insane.

    I’m not going to mince words about it: this one is bad. In terms of optics this is the worst shooting in history. This wasn’t an easily explained case of schizophrenia or Islamic terrorism. This guy was the model gun owner. He passed every background check and followed every law, right up until he didn’t. How bad was this shooting? Let me just say that it made even me briefly question my belief in the second amendment. If that doesn’t make you nervous then you aren’t paying attention.

    The focus now has shifted onto the guns the killer used. More specifically, the stocks. He had 12 rifles equipped with slide fire stocks. If you’re unfamiliar with them, I went over the particulars in one of my previous articles here. Basically, it’s almost full auto, and it allowed the shooter to crank out hot lead in record time. Bills have already been introduced to ban them, and it turns out the NRA are who we thought they were in the words of the immortal Dennis Green because they have decided to completely abandon their principles and throw gun owners right under the public opinion bus. You can do what you want, but when the NRA asks me to renew my membership I am going to tell them I spent the money on a slide fire and then tell them to get fucked.

    I am not here to argue about the various efficacies of the proposed bills nor am I going to wax on about the effectiveness of full auto or bump fire in a combat scenario. Quite frankly, I have no answers this time. What do you say to someone to defend private gun ownership after an attack this heinous? Do you simply state #notallgunowners? Do you argue about personal responsibility and individual liberty to someone that was shot through the stomach at this event? What can you even say that doesn’t make you sound like Satan’s personal defense attorney?

  • Firearms Friday: Vhyrus After Dark

    I wasn’t going to even do a FF this week since there wasn’t much to talk about, but I’m sitting here at work not wanting to work so I figured fuck it, let’s go for it.

    The big story: D.C. will officially be ‘shall issue’ come next week. Unless of course they try to weasel out of it, which they will, so don’t hold your breath. Interestingly not a single judge on the panel voted for En Banc. A sign of the times?

    The big non-story: The SHARE act did not come up for a vote this week (at least not of this writing). So a big fuck you very much to congress, who once again can’t do shit that everyone wants. No link, cause how can you link to something NOT happening?

    The PMag is now authorized for requisition by the US Army at a unit level, putting it one step away from mass adoption as GI equipment for the entire US military. Yes, I know how unimportant this is in the broad scheme of things. It’s a slow week.

    If you look in the dictionary for ‘hypocrisy’, you may find an entry for Camiella Williams, a self admitted juvenile gang banger turned anti gun activist that has her concealed carry license and regularly carries a gun while working to strip other people of those same rights. Can I get a fuck off slaver?

    Who wants a 10mm hi-point carbine? I think I might!

    Bass Pro Shops officially closes the deal on the buyout of Cabelas for $4 billion dollars. I always liked Cabelas more than Bass Pro so I don’t have high hopes for this one.

    Here’s an awesome video of transparent suppressors being used in slow motion.

    Finally today, I leave you with a sad bit of news. It is with deep emotion that I announce that CarnikCon is officially dead. The channel and all of the videos have been officially removed from Youtube by the creator, Dugan Ashley.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84WcNJNkU0Y

    Goodnight, sweet prince; And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

    Luckily someone was smart enough to archive all of the videos for posterity. Some heroes don’t wear capes.

     

  • Oktoberfest

     

    The 2017 Oktoberfest will start in Munich, Bavaria, Germany on the 16th of September at noon Central European Time and will run until the 3rd of October. It is the world’s largest beer festival with roughly six million attendees annually, but it is more than just beer. There is food, carnival rides, and shooting competitions.

    There are other Oktoberfest celebrations around the world. The Munich Oktoberfest is the oldest, largest, and the subject of this article.

    I went to Oktoberfest in 2016. It was not my first time in Munich, but it was my first time at Oktoberfest. Unfortunately, I missed the shooting competitions, but I drank, ate, and enjoyed myself.

    The countdown to the start of the festival is on the website for the festival.

    First, a little mood music from the Rockaholix Buam where they sing about Bavaria in the Bavarian dialect to the tune of an Irish drinking song while driving around the Bavarian countryside in an American made pick-up truck flying a pirate flag and flags with the Bavarian coat of arms.

    Oktoberfest History

    To summarize the Oktoberfest Wikipedia article, the first Oktoberfest was held in front of the Munich city gates on October 12th, 1810. It celebrated the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. The location was named Theresienwiese (Theresa’s Meadow) and is commonly known today as Wiesn. The celebration included horse races, food, and drink. The celebration turned into an annual event. As the event grew and became more popular, the festival moved to September to take advantage of better weather. With only a few exceptions due to war and epidemics, the festival has been an annual tradition. This year’s Oktoberfest is the 184th Oktoberfest.

    Oktoberfestbier

    The most common beer served at Oktoberfest is a Märzen. The style name comes from the fact that the beer was traditionally brewed in March then stored in cellars and caves over the summer. The beer was brewed in March because brewing was prohibited in Bavaria between April and September. Early Oktoberfestbier was darker than modern Oktoberfestbier. The beer’s alcohol by volume will vary from 5.5% to 6.2%.

    The Modern Oktoberfest

    The modern day Oktoberfest starts in September and runs until either the first weekend in October or German Unity Day (October 3rd) if the first Sunday in October is either the 1st or the 2nd. The festival lasts 16 to 18 days.

    The only beers served are beers brewed in Munich that comply with the Rheinheitsgebot. Currently, the brewers who meet those criteria are Augustiner (the locals’ favorite), Paulaner, Spaten, Hacker-Pschorr, Löwenbräu, and Hofbräu.

    There are 14 large beer tents and many smaller tents. The tents are torn down and rebuilt each year. The big tents have indoor seating capacities from 1,000 to 8,400 people and many have outdoor seating areas. The smaller tents have indoor seating capacities in the hundreds and most do not have outdoor seating.

    Each tent has one brewer’s beer available. Oktoberfestbier is only available in one liter glasses called Maß. The official price list for a Maß of Oktoberfestbier is here. Hefeweizens, where available, come in half liter glasses. There are tents that sell wine, and one of the big tents specializes in wine.

    The tents have food available. Each tent has its own menu. A few examples of the variety of food:

    • ox at the Ochsenbraterei
    • seafood at the Fisch-Bäda
    • veal at the Hochreiter’s Kalbsbraterei
    • fresh baked goods at Cafe Mohrenkopf

    The atmosphere is different in each tent. Locals like the Augustiner-Festhalle. Hofbräu Festzelt is popular with American, Australian, and New Zealander tourists. Bräurosl hosts a gay and lesbian party on the first Sunday of the festival, see Rosa Wiesn, in German only, for more information.

    There are also a wide variety of carnival rides and games. The Teufelsrad seems to be rather popular. The goal is to stay on a wheel spinning with increasing speed while the staff try to knock you off the wheel.

    Before we talk about the shooting competitions at Oktoberfest, let’s talk a little about guns, shooting clubs, and shooting festivals in Germany.

    Gun Laws in Germany

    This paper from the Library of Congress has one of the best English language summaries of German gun laws I’ve seen. Germany is not a good place to be a gun owner. This article says the current system traces its roots to 1928. The current system mandates separate licenses for acquiring, possessing, or carrying a firearm. Obtaining a license is not easy. There are storage requirements for firearms. Except for the national registry of firearms, current legislation is implemented by the German states even though the legislation is federal.

    According to the registry, there are about 5.5 million legal privately owned firearms in Germany and about 1.4 million legal gun owners. In 2013, Der Spiegel published an analysis of the registry breaking down gun ownership by state. Bavaria has the most registered firearms (1.1 million) but only comes in second on a per capita basis (9.2 per 100 residents). Rhineland-Palatinate has the highest per capita rate of gun ownership (9.7 per 100 residents).

    No one knows how many illegal firearms are in circulation in Germany. The Der Spiegel article I linked above includes an estimate of 20 million illegal firearms. In my research for this article, I’ve seen estimates as high as 40 million illegal firearms. Unfortunately, none of the articles I’ve been able to find include a methodology.

    Shooting Clubs and Shooting Festivals

    There are shooting clubs all over Germany. Many are affiliated with the Deutscher Schützenbund (DSB). The DSB was established in 1861 and reestablished in 1951. The DSB has regional organizations, and clubs are under the regional organizations. Total membership is about 1.4 million. Their English language website is here. Their website has historical information about German shooting clubs from their start until to the Second World War; however, almost all of the history is in German. With some help from Google translate as my German is not good enough to read all the historical information, I will summarize.

    German shooting clubs trace their roots to Medieval times. German towns were defended by militia companies armed with crossbows. Over time the companies took on a broader view of protection and defense, and started acting as mutual aid societies. Their practices grew into social events, which over time turned into modern Schützenfests (shooting festivals).

    As European armies switched over to firearms, the shooting clubs switched as well. The shooting festivals and clubs began receiving municipal funds. Winning competitions became quite prestigious. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the reliance on shooting clubs for defense declined; however, the clubs’ and festivals’ existence continued. In the mid-19th century, clubs in Gotha, Frankfurt am Main, and Bremen worked on centralizing and standardizing clubs. This work culminated in the founding of the DSB in 1861.

    In the late 19th century, with the rise of the German Empire, the DSB declined again. The reason is that competition shooting with military arms grew. The DSB did not allow use of these arms as they wanted to stay apolitical. The DSB stayed apolitical until the rise of the Nazis, whom they initially supported in hopes the Nazis would end the internal disputes and disunity of Germany. On the other hand, the Nazis did not like the DSB and tried to shut it down. The DSB could not show a clear Germanic origin for traditions like shooting birds, and the DSB did not want Nazi paraphernalia at their shooting ranges.

    Schützenfests continue today and have spread throughout the world. The oldest in America is in Cincinnati, Ohio. Australia has one near Adelaide, South Australia.

    Germany has many, and hosts the largest in the world, which takes places annually in late June to early July in Hanover, Lower Saxony. The 2018 Schützenfest runs from Jun 29th through July 8th. The Hanover Schützenfest opens with a parade of shooters from all over the world, though I’ve read that not all take part in the shooting. According to the festival’s website, in 2017 12,000 shooters took part in the parade. The website says there were 148 million attendees, but based on other sources I think that is a typo. 1.48 million attendees in 2017 is probably the correct number. The festival includes beer tents and carnival rides.

    Shooting at Oktoberfest

    Oktoberfest is not a Schützenfest, it is a folk and beer festival. However, there are some elements of the shooting festivals at Oktoberfest and it has two shooting competitions. One competition involves air pistols and air rifles. The other uses crossbows.

    The first Sunday of the festival, there is a parade of rifleman. After the parade, the shooting competitions may begin. At the end of Oktoberfest, there is a ceremony at the Bavaria statue near the Schützenfestzelt to recognize the Landesschützenkönige (loosely translated as the shooting champion).

    The rifle competition is held at the Schützenfestzelt (Shooter’s Party Tent, website here). The competition is run by the Bayerischer Sportschützenbund e.V. (Bavarian Sport Shooting Association, BSSB, German only website). The competition uses air guns at a distance of 10 meters (roughly 11 yards). There are 110 shooting stands in the Schützenfestzelt. I have not been inside the Schützenfestzelt, but supposedly it is possible to watch the shooting. The BSSB’s website says the general public, aged 12 and older, is allowed to take part in the competition; however, only members of the BSSB are eligible to be Landesschützenkönig. The shooting hours are 8 AM through 5 PM on the Saturdays and Sundays of the festival, except the last Sunday when shooting stops at 2:30 PM. Weekdays shooting is on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday between 10 AM and 5 PM. Entry fee for air rifle shooting is 18.50 Euros for adults and 7.50 Euros for students and children. Entry fee for air pistols is 12.50 Euros for adults and 5.50 Euros for students and children. There is prize money available, from tens of Euros to low hundreds of Euros.

    The crossbow shooting competition is held in the Armbrustschützenzelt (Crossbow Shooter’s Tent, website here). I’ve been inside the Armbrustschützenzelt, but I could not find where the competition occurs. The Winzerer Fähndl, a crossbow guild, built the original Armbrustschützenzelt after moving out of the Winzerer Fähndl tent. I cannot find much information about this competition beyond that it dates back to 1895 and this brief video.

    When You Go

    • Book early. When I went in 2016, I looked for hotels in February 2016. Most hotels were already booked.

    • The Munich City government has imposed restrictions on AirBNB like services, so be careful if you go this route. Don’t be the person that gets your host in trouble.

    • Munich locals agreed with me when I told them my plans: Skip the weekends and go to Oktoberfest during the week. The weekends are too crowded and it is too difficult to get into a tent. If you do go on the weekend, expect the tents to fill up in the early afternoon. The weekdays are much quieter and the tents fill up in evening instead of early afternoon. Note that some tents have family days during the week where families get discounts; however, anyone is welcome in the tent.

    • I’ve heard that some tents accept credit cards, but I didn’t see any acceptance of credit cards when I was there. Expect Oktoberfest to be strictly cash-only, and pay as you go.

    • It’s OK to stand or dance on the benches, but keep your feet off the tables.

    • You can reserve tables in the tents, but only for large groups (usually eight or more people). Reservations fill up early, so like with hotels, reserve early. If a table isn’t reserved and isn’t full, ask if you can join. Most locals will gladly let you join them if there is room for your party. In almost every tent, you won’t be served unless you are seated.

    • If you decide to wear a Dirndl or Lederhosen, spend money (a few hundred Euros from what I hear) to get good stuff. Otherwise you will stick out as a tourist. Ladies, the Dirndl apron knot goes on your left front if you are available, the center front if you are a virgin, right front if you are not available, and back if you are a widow or a waitress.

    • I didn’t get a car while I was there. I relied on public transit. German public transit is good. The Münchner Verkehrs-und Tarifverbund (MVV, Munich’s public transit system) English language website includes schedules, maps, fare information, and trip planners. There is an U-bahn (subway) station at the Wiesn for the U4 and U5 lines, which is sometimes closed during Oktoberfest due to security concerns. The Hauptbahnhof (Main Train Station) is a fifteen minute or so walk from the Wiesn. All S-bahn lines except the S20 go through the Hauptbahnhof. The S1 and S8 go to the airport. To go from the Hauptbahnhof to the Wiesn, follow the signs. There are signs at the Wiesn which will direct you to both the U-bahn station and the Hauptbahnhof.

    • Due to increased security, you won’t be allowed to take large bags into the Wiesn. The Wiesn is now fenced off, and you can only enter and exit at certain points.

    • Don’t drink too much unless you want to end up on the Munich Barfs web page or in Youtube videos like this one.

    If you go, I hope you have a good time. Oktoberfest is a lot of fun.

    Postscripts

    For those that like looking at men

    I’m a straight guy, so I am a bit clueless about what those that like looking at men are attracted to, but I think the pictures I found of men in Lederhosen won’t work. Instead, have a video of Bavarian Stone Lifting, which does not take place at Oktoberfest.

    For those that like looking at women

    Enjoy this gallery of women at Oktoberfest.

    Editor’s Note: DEG is already deep into the spirit of Oktoberfest, so to speak, so he’ll check in for comments, questions, and general applause on Monday.

  • Firearms Friday: Left Handed Lamentation

    I want to start off today with some excellent news: The SHARE Act has passed out of committee in the house and is headed to the floor. This bill does a ton of awesome stuff, most noteworthy being the removal of silencers from the clutches of the evil NFA, as well as gutting the ‘non sporting purposes’ bullshit and preventing rifle ammo from being banned as ‘armor piercing’. Barring any unforeseen problems in the house and senate (I’m looking at you, McCain, you shitbird) it should be on the president’s desk in a few weeks. This would be the biggest pro gun victory since the sunset of the assault weapons ban. Do everything in your power to get this to pass. Seriously, this is YUUUGE!

    In case that last bit of news made you too excited, here is a little nut punch to even you out: Paul Ryan has unilaterally blocked the National Reciprocity Act from reaching the floor, claiming ‘the timing is not right‘. This fucker needs to be primaried.

    That’s enough news. Onto the topic du jour. When most people buy a gun, they probably put an immediate consideration into things like price, reliability, and features. I, however, am a bit different. When I see a new gun, the first thing I ask myself is ‘can I even use it?’. That’s because I am left handed. If there was ever a hobby that discriminated against left handed participants, I would imagine shooting to be just behind polo in that regard. Up until very recently, you could not even get ‘ambidextrous’ or ‘left handed’ guns. You had to simply buy a right handed gun and learn to do everything ass backwards. God forbid you needed to reach a safety at any point cause you were proper fucked. I have heard that in WW2, southpaws would leave their 1911s on the half cock notch and learn to draw and cock the hammer before firing, since the safeties on those guns could only be used right handed.

    Not exactly what I had in mind when I did the GIS, but I’ll take it.

    Things have gotten much much better in the last few years as gun companies realize there is a whole 20% of the market they could be servicing better. Even 7 years ago when I started seriously getting into guns, there were only a handful of companies that made ambidextrous handguns. Now just about every single brand has a left hand friendly model. Even Glock’s newest generation has an ambi slide lock and a reversible magazine release.

    This does not mean that everything is awesome, however. The handgun market might be very lefty friendly at this point, but the long gun market still has much to be desired. Let’s take one simple example. Say you wanted a 9mm rifle. Most of you would simply go online, buy a Kel Tec Sub 2000 for around $350, and call it a day. Not quite so simple for me, however. You see, the Sub 2K has a right hand only safety and mag release. I could probably learn to use them, but if I am going for competition use those extra few seconds add up. This means I have to look at guns 2 to 3 times more expensive just to get the features that I need. I either have to build a custom 9mm AR or I have pony up damn near a grand for something like a CZ Scorpion Evo. That is a significant price bump just because I was born this way. Revolvers are similarly problematic because 99% of them are completely right handed. I know of one company making a very small number of reversed 38s for southpaws, but that’s it.

    It isn’t just boutique guns that suffer from this problem. Let’s look at the ubiquitous AR-15 platform. Aside from the trigger, there are three controls on an AR: The charging handle, the safety, and the bolt release. All of these are inherently right handed. If you normies wanted to buy an AR, you could go and get the cheapest thing from Palmetto State or Radical Firearms and be happy. Lefties don’t get off so easily. First, I would have to change out the safety. That’s a minimum of $20. Then I have to add an ambi mag release. Another $20. I also need a BAD lever. 30 bucks. Finally, I need an ambi charging handle. The absolute cheapest I have ever seen one is $40. Add that up and you are looking at an extra $120 just to use the gun. Mind you these prices are the bare minimum. It is not uncommon to pay $50 for a good ambi safety, $50-$100 for a lefty mag release, and $80+ for a charging handle. You can see how quickly this stuff adds up.

    The place that really gets dirty for lefty shooters are bullpups and bolt action rifles. By design these guns are not ambi friendly. You have to go for one hand or the other, and since most people are right handed, most guns are as well. I do not own a single bolt action rifle for this very reason, and up until the Tavor was released I didn’t own a bullpup, even though I love bullpup rifles. The Tavor can be set up for left or right handed operation, but in order to make mine a lefty I had to pay an extra $200 and ship the gun out for a conversion. Not cheap or convenient.

    I think the worst part about all of this is that there are ways to make guns more lefty friendly. Companies simply don’t do them. Top break revolvers have been around for centuries but they are basically nonexistent today. Ambidextrous bullpup designs are starting to proliferate but they are still in the minority. To my knowledge there has never been a bolt action rifle that could be swapped from left to right handed operation (trust me, I’ve looked). Just about the only place ambidextrous design is in vogue is the handgun market, which is kind of silly because the handgun is probably the easiest weapon to learn to use weak handed.

    I am sure there are some of you out there reading this rather incredulously. Waah, poor Vhyrus was born a freak and the world won’t change to accommodate him. And you’re right. This is a minor gripe. A textbook first world problem. That is exactly what’s wonderful about our country in [current year]. Things are so good I can bitch that my military grade death rifle isn’t user friendly enough. Compared to disease, starvation, war, slavery, oppression, and everything else going on, this is a giant nothingburger. So, in reality, this rant is actually glowing praise of our society in disguise. But, I still want my left handed guns dammit, and I sincerely hope that the ambidextrous trend for gun makers continues to build. Because as it is now, the kids are definitely not all right.

  • Firearms Friday: Ballistic Babbling

    In the beginning, there were many weekly articles. Weird Wednesday, Manly Monday, Thicc Thursday, Fur Friday. How the march of time has taken it’s toll. Now all that’s left is Jewsday Tuesday and yours truly. If this is some literary version of Highlander, if there can be only one, let that one be FIREARMS FRIDAY!

    That's a gun he's holding. Honest.
    THE GLIBBENING!

    Okay, now that I got that out of my system, I have no idea what to write. So I’m just going to babble.

    I guess the big news is that Glock’s newest updates, generation 5, have now hit the shelves. Notable are the lack of finger grooves, the flared magwell, and the ambidextrous slide stop. I’ll have to check these out once I find one in the flesh.

    Pmags have been officially adopted by the Air Force following a series of tests that showed they outperformed the .mil brand by a wide margin. Huh, a private company outperforming it’s public sector counterpart? Unheard of!

    Don’t mess with Texas. They have shotguns.

    So it turns out this happened. I really don’t know what to think. On one hand it obviously wasn’t necessary, on the other hand… flamethrowers are definitely a credible and imminent threat. I’ll let you guys discuss.

    This is also a thing now. Trolls make the world go round.

    Apparently there is a new system in place that should slash wait times for NFA items like silencers. Sounds great and all, but frankly my dear I don’t give a damn. I will not give one peso to the government for infringing on my rights. Fuck you, repeal the NFA.

    I appreciate a company willing to make fun of itself. In that regard, apparently I do not buy enough CAA products.

    https://youtu.be/e6MzAWciAqo

    And finally, let me play you the song of my people. I may have posted this before, but I’m lazy, so take it again, bitch. And put your ass into this time.

    Okay, that’s all I got. I’ll be around to answer questions, so ask and ye shall receive.