The Devils Porridge - CORDITE at Gretna Green:

Cordite was colloquially known as the "Devil's Porridge" - the name comes from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who wrote in 1917: "The nitroglycerin on the one side and the gun-cotton on the other are kneaded into a sort of a devil's porridge".

 - In 1917 - when wartime emergency production had reached 800 tons per week - King George V and Queen Mary visited H.M. Factory at Gretna.

This explosives manufacturing site stretches 19 km and straddles the borders of Scotland & England - and was developed in 1915 as a wartime emergency measure - to relieve an acute shortage of ordnance - that came close to loosing the war for the British side. The establishment was serviced by 34 engines on 125 miles of it's own Military Narrow Gauge railway tracks  - its own coal powered electricity power station, and a dedicated water reservoir that was filled by a 42 inch pipe pumped from the River Esk.

- I'm guessing that not many people have heard of this extensive explosives / ammunition site near the famous elopement wedding village of Gretna Green. - I only learnt of it recently when watching a BBC 4 program celebrating British train journeys & stations  - A travel series that was presented by a smug ex-Transport Minister of Thatchers right-wing regime - one "Michael PortaLoo" (Portillo) - who's government presided over the closure of 2,000 stations and one third of the rail network !

Quanset Hut Behind Blast-Walls

At this huge munitions plant - established hurriedly in 1916 - women used to hand-mix gun-cotton into liquid nitroglycerin to make a double-base explosive - and their hair would turn orange from the chemical effects. - Some even gave birth to 'Canary Babies'  - babies born having a striking yellow skin that eventually changed to a more normal hue.

Hand Mixing 'Gun Cotton' into Nitroglycerin

There were 4 main sites there at Gretna - and in 2005, the British Government announced it planned to close all the remaining sites that now comprise CAD Longtown by mid-2009 - but that decision was later clarified to mean only the NON-explosive aspects of these facilities would close.

Back in 1917 the Gretna MoD Factory had 11,576 women workers and 5,066 men - it is understood that currently the complex is used mainly for the storage of explosive munitions & ordnance and was called 'Central Ammunition Depot' Longtown and then 'Base Ammunition Depot' Longtown.

- Earlier, in January, this year they were advertising the sale of 25 (that leaves 100) miles of narrow gauge railway tracks from one area - Eastriggs

• "25 miles of 2ft 35lb per yard narrow gauge railway line to include: 250 Turnouts (90% of line is with new steel sleepers, 10% is wood)  Installed between 1990-2007."

Cordite is classed as a Low Explosive  Propellant and originally comprised a mix of 58% nitro-glycerin by weight, 37% gun-cotton (nitrocellulose) and 5% petroleum jelly. - Using acetone as a solvent, it was extruded as spaghetti-like rods initially called "cord powder" or "Ballistite".

Cordite.

Marty K.

Quantum (a discrete packet) of Ruger Imports:

The mysterious tale of just why it is still taking an-age-and-a-half for one 327 Federal Magnum Ruger SP101  revolver to emerge from its chrysalis in USA and to flutter gracefully across the Pacific Ocean into my caring hands - should be preserved in the same room of your brain where you also keep your understanding of Quantum Physics.

- Don't try to understand either story - best really to just accept them eh.

Beautiful Just.

Mind you - when I am told that the wee revolver has landed in NZ and cleared Customs ( -prrlease!) - then I've got to exchange a pink verification form from my club - for an Application For a Permit to Procure form - and then exchange that for an issued Permit to Procure - this must be transmitted to the Importer for release of that exact item to me - and then I must promptly take that piece of paper (returned & completed by the Importer) together with the new stainless-steel machine in a locked sturdy container - to have it registered on my Police-file after the Firearms Office have eyeballed its serial numbers.

Note: My nearest Firearms Office is one and a quarter hours drive away from home.

But it will all be worth it ... Consider that 'quantum' comes from the Latin 'Quanta' meaning "How great"!

So - should I set about finding a Hogue grip for it now or later? - What flavor are your quarks?

Marty K.

Sawn-off Rifle/pistol 'Ditched' in Taupo:

This sawn-off rifle was discovered on a Taupo driveway when a car was driven from its car port.

Police had chased a stolen car from Rotorua around midnight - and that vehicle was abandoned near the Taupo home in the early hours when the occupants fled on foot.

The .22" firearm was found with a round chambered but no magazine is shown in the photo.
The homeowner had heard the commotion outside during the night,

"It sounded like someone ran down the driveway," he said. 

"I heard a clatter and it sounded like someone jumped the fence which set the dogs off.

"I went outside to see what had happened and the police yelled at me to stay inside.

"I never would have thought a loaded gun would be sitting on the driveway the next morning. The neighbour's kids play outside there all the time, we're just lucky they were not around."

Nutters with hacksaws - Scum that our Police have to deal with.

Marty K.

After researching & writing 1,036 blogs I've got something NEW to try .. I've signed-up to Patreon. - In over five years I've not made one cent from this .. NOW you can send me a wee support $ - starting from $1. to get all this stuff from New Zealand - over a year that's nearly the price of one Shooting magazine. - Am I worth it?

https://www.patreon.com/posts/24075745

Guns? - Smoking is Far More Fatal:

We seem to be bludgeoned daily with screaming headlines about 'active killers' using "assault rifles" to threaten the very existence of civilized humanity.

- However I was strongly alerted to hear an anti-smoking oncologist state that SIX MILLION people die every year from smoking tobacco.

Why is that not headline news?  .. no blood to see - just painfully dying in bed?

Now I had in my head a figure of 1 million people dying every year from warfare & conflict since the end of WWII - but we are told that has fallen away considerably in recent years.

- But I had to follow those death figures further eh. Now - GunPolicy.Org clearly state in their on-line gun-control preaching that:

"Global Impact of Gun Violence"

"Small arms, commonly known as firearms or guns, are used to kill as many as 1,000 people each day."

_________________

Now that makes:   1,000 per day x 365 days per year = 365,000 per year. (their figures).
- World Population currently is 7.4 Billion and rising. Now some activists claim that 'Gun Control' is a Public Health Matter because of its impact on society.. indeed Philip Alpers (who used to claim he was a journalist when working in NZ) - now calls himself Adjunct Associate Professor at the Sydney School of Public Health. - where he runs GunPolicy.Org

- Surely if Public Health was his true concern he would direct the public's time & money toward the 6 Million annual smoking deaths that are caused by the tobacco industry getting young people addicted for profit.

Marty K.

Mossberg Brownie Pistol:

O F Mossberg - a Swedish-American founded his own firearms manufacturing business in 1919 to make his 'Brownie' four barrel .22" rim-fire pistol.

I never knew that Mossberg ever built anything short/handy until I spotted a photo in the 1976 first issue of "Pistol and Revolver Digest" (sometimes aka 'PARD').

Mossberg Brownie Four Shot .22" Long Rifle.

- Mind you - I didn't know that they had made a Martini action rifle in the past either..(M11?)

 Five Dollars!

Mossbergs built this wee gun from 1919 to 1932 with a double action and a rotating firing pin. - An early version was made by the Shattuck Company under licence to Mossberg when he worked there.

A very similar Model 422 was sold by Advantage Arms from 1985-1987.

Advantage Arms 422 Available in .22" Long Rifle & .22 Magnum.

There is(was?) also a 'Cop 357'

COP .357  (also Built by American Derringer Co. in 1990).

Marty K.

After researching & writing 1,036 blogs I've got something NEW to try .. I've signed-up to Patreon. - In over five years I've not made one cent from this .. NOW you can send me a wee support $ - starting from $1. to get all this stuff from New Zealand - over a year that's nearly the price of one Shooting magazine. - Am I worth it?

https://www.patreon.com/posts/24075745

'BUY BACK' - Minnesota:

A Minneapolis gun buyback program targeting weapons used in street crimes may be shooting blanks, as detractors said a Saturday collection mostly took in antiquated, unused or homemade arms from legal owners and did little to thin the firearm supply actually available to dangerous criminals.

Two Minneapolis locations collected about 150 firearms Saturday, but both exchanges were forced to shut down several hours early when officials ran out of Visa gift cards – $25,000 worth, The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

One person constructed a “shotgun” out of a piece of wood, some tape and a pipe. They were given a $100 gift card for the contraption. It appears that firearms users are following the Australian 'buy-back' scandal from a few years ago - and are making "guns" from rubbish just to hand them in for cash.

One anonymous gun owner said he received $200 in gift cards that he planned to use to buy a new firearm. That man said he didn’t think the program was serving its intended purpose.

“I just don’t feel that a criminal is going to come up to a fire department with a bunch of police around it and turn in a gun,” he said.

Marty K.

Wedgetail Industries Australia - AR-15s:

The Firearms Blog are reporting that Wedgetail Industries has started manufacturing in Australia semi-automatic AR-15s for domestic sale. Named after the Aussie wedgetailed eagle, they are making the critical components for the AR-15 including, but not limited to:

• Barrel
• Bolt
• Bolt Carrier
• Trigger Group
• Upper Receiver
• & Lower Receiver.

Seeing that the firearms are already very restricted there, Wedgetail are offering the weapon in what the US would classify as “short barrel” and standard rifles. The first offerings include a 10.5″, a 14.5″, and 16″ carbine. All weapons are 100% ambidextrous, using an ambi charging handle, Norgon ambi-catch, and a Teal Blue Bravo PDQ style bolt catch/release.

- Replying to the Firearms Blog post - Wedgetail say we should expect to see further developments from them in coming weeks - possibly in them selling new products & hard to find spare parts into the very regulated Australian market.

Rifles in .223" and 300BLK are offered by WEDGETAIL INDUSTRIES who are listed as a private company registered in Tasmania? / Victoria.

This is great news for the Aussies - now having both Lithgow Arms. & Wedgetail making shooting gear inside their borders - so no Import Permits required.  Good news.

If anyone can give me more details, - contact information etc. - I'd be happy to post it and support them in any way.

https://wedgetailindustries.com/contact/

Marty K

After researching & writing 1,036 blogs I've got something NEW to try .. I've signed-up to Patreon. - In over five years I've not made one cent from this .. NOW you can send me a wee support $ - starting from $1. to get all this stuff from New Zealand - over a year that's nearly the price of one Shooting magazine. - Am I worth it?

https://www.patreon.com/posts/24075745.