Guns Are Dangerous:

 You too may have observed that it is not only Fact & Truth that are lacking in today's society .. My most recent pair of work jeans fly opening has been presented with a limiting five inch only zip. - I seem to remember that antique strides had wider binary openings of at least TEN INCHES.

Both the British and New Zealand Governments are striving to disarm civilians by regulation and restrict private firearms ownership. 

THE UNITED KINGDOM HAS 140 TONNES OF PLUTONIUM STORED AT THORP IN CUMBRIA.

There are 1,000 kilograms in a Tonne.

There are 1,000 grams in a kilogram.

  100 grams of Plutonium could OVERDOSE 1 BILLION Civilians with radioactivity.

1 Kilo of Plutonium could overdose TEN BILLION CIVILIANS.

The British Government owns ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY THOUSAND KILOS OF PLUTONIUM.

1,400,000 BILLION PEOPLE is more than a few folk to be 'OVERDOSED' ..

Or  .. looking at it a little differently - that 140 tonnes of British Plutonium would build more than 28,000 Nuclear Bombs.

Do you find these figures disturbing?

How do you define a 'Terrorist Organization'?

Marty K.

Coronial Inquiry into TARRANT's Killings:

 Believe it or not there are still many deluded persons in our so-called "21st Century" that believe in "Stopping Power" "Knock-Down Power" and a variety of superhuman entities they call "GODS"

Mankind - that is us homo-sapiens - has been around this planet for some 300,000  years .. not 2,100.

New Zealand's Chief Coroner has just announced that she has opened an "in depth" inquiry into the Christchurch racist killings of 51 innocents by Brenton Tarrant in 2019.

This Coroners Court will open the process permitting interested persons to ask questions and to present evidence.

I am surprised that NZ Shooters Organizations remain silent despite  - at last - shooters now gaining an opportunity to expose hitherto suppressed FACTS.

- But this - sadly - is how unrepresented our law abiding gun owners remain.

https://www.1news.co.nz/2021/10/21/coronial-inquiry-opened-into-march-15-terror-attacks/

 Marty K.

APATHETIC NZ Shooters - Have They Gone To Sleep?

I've lately been taking an interest in collecting decent watches - ready for something to do when the morons completely BAN all legal gun ownership - and I'm currently wearing a radio-active tritium illuminated Swiss titanium cased watch on one wrist and a SEIKO Air-Diver watch on the other limb that has LumiBrite  lume . - When I roll-over in the night it's like an flight deck marshal conducting planes with illuminated baton-wands.

I've been blogging about gun use in NZ for years now .. since 2014. - Trying to warn about the CORRUPT & short-sighted anti-gun movement. 

These charlatan politicians & "journalists"  are using the cheapest of sensational trickery to self promote and to suck-in shallow thinking morons to emotionally over-react & support their hasty self serving response.

In the "gun free" UK 'Mother Country' the current shock-horror issue is about doing something to protect women from being raped and killed by rogue police officers .. and the current best idea is a phone app. that will alert police after the woman is overdue .. maybe after having been attacked.

- See the twisted political logic here? - Make it illegal for a woman to have any means of self-defense like pepper spray or any other weapon - leaving her vulnerable .. then offer an on-line phone alert to tell her potential attacker of concern where she is and that she is alone and frightened.

Blood RED is the Media's favorite color.

The Politicians are using bloody tragedy to hide their incompetence and failure to be effective - while journalists are just doing what they always do - screaming as loudly as they can whenever opportunity arises to fan the flames of  misfortune.

BUT NZ GUN OWNERS HAVE GONE TO SLEEP & ARE SNORING THEIR HEADS-OFF WHILE DOING NOTHING TO DEFEND THEIR RIGHTS.

- WHAT HAVE YOUR ORGANIZATIONS DONE ?

While the Christchurch massacre was in the news together with Jacinda's fresh  GUN BANS - I would get thousands of readers .. but now months later - far fewer readers are strolling by.

- How many hunters have looked at the new fees for a Firearms Licence and the THIRTY-FIVE PAGE application form that will likely decimate the number of LAWFUL shooters here?

Firearm ownership rights in NZ are under the strongest attack from Police, Press, and Politicians that has ever been mounted .. and we are doing NOTHING to protect or protest.

One-by-one, existing shooters will face lengthy delays in license processing, increased costs for paperwork and security installation and the firearms licensing officials instructed to be OBSTRUCTIVE AND OFFICIOUS in dealing with Law Abiding citizens.

Many shooters facing these increasing difficulties are beginning to give-up.

Our law abiding numbers ARE falling while gang violence and shootings continue to rise.

The waiting list for Firearms Licence Processing is now approaching 10,000 applications delayed for up to more than a year.

Please join your shooting organization and TELL THEM TO DO SOMETHING - before it is too late.

Lawful gun ownership in New Zealand is being strangled by political charlatans & police management who are trying to cover-up their own incompetence and underfunding - by blaming the single most select LAW ABIDING sector of New Zealand society  -for the POLICE's own inefficiencies..

Marty K.

Veteran Revolvers:

I've recently collected my latest 'restricted' purchase from the convoluted Courier-Dealer delivery process now imposed by NZ Police management. 

-The current ruling here is that the seller cannot send any firearm directly to the buyer .. but has to take it to a nearby friendly dealer who will then courier the piece to another dealer - for the purchaser to collect it from, so that she/he can then take it in a locked container to a Police Firearms Office to be checked & registered to their file.

'DIG THE RIG?' or 'CALL ME OLD FASHIONED?'

Coffee with three old service friends in 38 S&W

- The Canterbury South Island roads were busy ..  and the central Christchurch roads are still somewhat uneven & rough following the earthquakes some ten and a half years ago (in 2011). 

- But the three hour plus return safari was worth while both to observe the range of 'clients' at the Central Police Station and to complete the transfer of this old WWII revolver - only 48 days after arranging to buy it.

U S PROPERTY Marking Indicates This Victory Model S&W Revolver* - Was Built (1943) Under The U S "Lend Lease" Program. 

*As bought, those early replacement Pachmayr rubber grips are much better for shooting than the original stocks - but maybe I'll look for a wooden set closer to original issue eh .. The old gun is an interesting un-original, mismatched, battered and corroded mess - BUT it is tight as a drum and was bought for a very reasonable cost .. considering that it's OK functionally.

The 'G H D' is the Military Inspector's mark for Guy H. Drewry Lt. Col., USA, who was the inspector for Smith & Wesson .38 Revolvers from 1930-1946.

- The stamp that looks something like a number 8 is the US ' Flaming Bomb' ordnance mark. The Shell and Flame (a.k.a. Flaming Bomb) has been used by European armies for several centuries before adoption by the U.S. Army. In fact, it is still used by many countries in Western Europe, i.e. the Grenadier Guards in Britain. The mark represents an iron hand grenade with a powder charge and a fuse which was lit before throwing.

The "Lend-Lease" policy, formally titled An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States was a program under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom (and British Commonwealth), Free France, the Republic of China, and later the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, and materiel between 1941 and 1945. Lend-Lease effectively ended the United States' state of neutrality which had been enshrined in the Neutrality Acts of the 1930s. It was a decisive step away from non-interventionist policy and toward open support for the Allies.

Being one of 59,305 Victory Models supplied during WWII - this grey "Parkerized" wartime collectable will join my two other valued .38 S&W caliber revolvers so it ought be happy eh.

All three old 38 S&W caliber guns are well travelled .. as the British 5 inch Webley is a Singapore Police Model and the 4 inch Webley has an Israeli Military issue stamp .. I suppose this now opens a gap where an Enfield No. 2 Revolver should be?

An interesting observation on the registration of firearms in New Zealand .. This & many other S&W Revolvers were originally registered here - all with the same number found stamped inside the cylinder crane .. a factory assembly-part number rather than the actual SERIAL NUMBER that is under the grip frame.

Note: Anyone researching & working with older British firearms may come across the abbreviation FTR among many .. there are countless possible meanings for this acronym but the one we need to know here is - FACTORY THOROUGH REPAIR - where equipment is recalled for service replacement of faulty components - while other parts may be substituted with later designed improvements resulting in '*' or '**' stampings before re-issue from 'Arsenal Overhaul'.

Note 2: This S&W will be the only one of that brand that I currently own - and it reminds me of another bigger 44" MAGNUM S&W revolver .. a big Model 29, that was handed to me - open and fully loaded with six rounds - on range by an old friend. This heavy long barreled 'gat' was beautifully dark-blued fitted with original slim timber "wood splinter" stock slabs and in as-new unworn condition. The skinny frame had no 'grip adaptor' nor other after-market padding. - In the 40 plus years I'd known this guy - NEVER had I seen him shoot this pristine pistol. - That is known in some circles "as a clue" - well it's a 'man thing' eh - so with him hovering at my shoulder I took a firm two-handed grip, aimed and loosed off one only stinging shot .. opened the cylinder and handed the piece back to rest mostly unfired for maybe another 30 years.

Two Poms and a Yank

Marty K.

That's an interesting 36/38 Cartridge box eh. - That's what this outfit called the .38"S&W.

Here's an interesting ' end of the line' piece from a Field & Stream "Gun Writer" ..

https://www.fieldandstream.com/guns/old-handgun-cartridges/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR17q5qLrhfE3WNtB7MHm9TlNiStjCvc_RAR6CE3_ApNI9EcLgoCnk2H0FQ

- I'm happy to bet this joker $500 that in twenty years time we will still be able to buy these cartridges  45 GAP, 41 Magnum, 32 H&R Magnum, 25 Auto, 40 S&W, & 32 ACP.at your friendly local Gun Shop .. plus some .38"S&W short too.

Marty K.

On The Range Again - Clever Government Thinking:

 It was good to be out with good company in the fresh air again .. except the New Zealand Spring weather dropped the daytime temperature to around 7 C. and bucketed-down freezing cold, near-snow wet-stuff onto the proceedings. - Ah well you can't have everything eh - and it was great to be nearly out of COVID LOCKDOWN once more.

I took a 38 S&W(short) 4 inch Webley and some blocks of  'ballistic' Plasticine to further test and compare how Hornady's lead 148 grain HBWC might consistently perform.

I had fun with other handguns including my Glock G44 rimfire - but that's not in this story.

I'm trying to build-up a picture of just how effective an obsolete underpowered cartridge fired from a vintage WWII "weak" break-action revolver can perform. - This would be decried as a total wimp mouse-gun by many US Gun Experts - but the results differ ..

I have loaded these flat-ended soft lead Wadcutters inserted both conventionally and 'inverted'. I locate them hanging out of the stubby brass by around 3/16 inch (rather than flush with the case mouth - as is usual in a .38 Special ) and held them in place with a firm roll crimp over a very small charge of ADI  AP70N powder.

When shooting I was initially caught-out by the inverted loads hitting an inch lower than the conventional - but we got there in the end and made some properly placed hits.

    Inverted Wadcutters                  Normal Forward Facing ..

The  "proper wadcutters" penetrated some 6 inches of clay whereas the backwards bullets punched through 3 inches - only half as far - but MUSHROOMED perfectly to .650" - .700" .. nearly 100% expansion.

My guess from other testers' results is that these rounds in 10% Ballistic Gel would travel around two to three times further in the jelly than in the 'clay'. - So you get to pick penetration versus expansion .. or maybe you might alternate the loads in your cylinder and aim your sights a little higher.

Ballistic gelatin is a testing medium designed to simulate the effects of bullet wounds in animal muscle tissue. It was developed and improved by Martin Fackler and others in the field of wound ballistics. It is calibrated to match porcine muscle, which is itself ballistically similar to human muscle tissue.

- Guess no.2 is that these results would be similar to those using 38 S&W Special brass in an appropriate revolver.

_________________________

I've worked-out that one reason the dollar-greedy marketers keep pushing newer "HOT" miracle guns & calibers with "knock-down power" as being essential upgrades - is that gun makers cannot make any extra profit by telling you in the Gun magazines that THE NUMBER ONE IMPORTANT ISSUE is actually HITTING YOUR TARGET .. with whatever you already own. Their stories are selling you "the sizzle" to make you want to give the manufacturers lots of your hard earned money.

ALL firearms work more-or-less .. As long as you reliably hit close to your aim point. - Don't stand in front of ANY loaded gun - old or new.

Marty K.

P.S. If I were to live somewhere that my Basic Civil Rights were not refused-denied by corrupt politicians .. I might be asked what would be my choice of caliber and handgun for self defense.

- Currently I would consider my Glock G19X  9mm appendix carried would do very well - with perhaps either my Ruger SP101 revolver in 327 Federal Magnum or the Webley 38-200 as a 'back-up'.

- But so much depends on what you have got and where do you live eh ..

__________________________________

PPS ..

Is anyone else wondering why the 'GUN FREE' Mother Country UK didn't put nuclear driven engines into their two brand-new Elizabeth Class AIRCRAFT CARRIERS that haven't got any aircraft?

They have got stored around 140 metric tons of PLUTONIUM up in Cumbria - enough to make 28,000 nuclear warheads .. so they could have used a bit of it to push their costly white elephants  proud vessels about the seas instead of having a fleet of oil tankers follow them around eh.

That 140 ton mountain of plutonium is stored at the THORP Plant - Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant

.. that used to be called SELLAFIELD  

.. that used to be called WINDSCALE 

.. that was originally called CALDER HALL - in CUMBRIA 

.. that used to be called CUMBERLAND.

Every contamination 'radiation event' seems to be followed by by a name change - to confuse interested parties ..?

- I think they still call England 'GREAT BRITAIN' ??

- Politicians eh 

Marty K.

Shooting Your Wad with WADCUTTERS:

"Arguing with idiots is like playing chess with a pigeon .. No matter how good you are, the bird is going to shit on the board and strut around like it won anyway."

There are some folk who believe in 'knock-down power' & 'stopping power' with much the same fervor that they believe in god, heaven and hell. - I too have a strong religious belief. - I believe that when you are dead .. you are dead. When I leave, I'll be a long time gone.

 - Just to clarify matters for any of you who think that the heading is a 'sexual' reference .. a WAD is a disc of felt, card or wax used to separate the powder charge from the load of shot or ball that is often lubricated.

"Full" Wadcutter bullets are blunt-ended cylindrical lead projectiles that are designed to cut a neat clean full-bore hole in paper targets to make the process of scoring in precision pistol competitions easier ..

NOW .. just to introduce the world of geometry into things (were you off school that day?) a SPHERE being the hardest of shapes to deform, may well pass down a gun barrel - through the air - through a flexible mass - and exit, to pass onwards into infinity - fully expecting to remain ball shaped and unchanged by life - as stuff moves aside to permit it's passing .. only to return elastically. - If you smooth the hole left in a paper target by round-nosed hardball with your finger from the rear .. you can put the edges right-back where they started.

The Infamous MANSTOPPER (Webley) Eley made Mk. III .455" Cartridge of 1898 *

These are Hornady .358" cold swaged 'hollow-based' 148 grain HBWC  - knurled & dry-lubed ..

WADCUTTERS

"WADCUTTER" bullets are so named because they cut a clean circular disc or WAD from the   paper  targets .. the first record of this use dates from 1900 ish - but it was soon noticed that this was also a very effective design for self defense in the smaller carry-guns at moderate close contact ranges.

These pills are good because they cut a clean full diameter hole - because the full length of the projectile rides down the barrel-bore engaging efficiently with the rifling spin to enhance ACCURACY - because the hollow-base expands to "obturate" tightly into variable bores, - because the moderate muzzle velocities achieved from handy pistols prevents bore-leading, - And because the lousy un-aerodynamic shape is not an issue at handgun ranges generally below fifty meters.

Low recoiling, - Accurate and Easy to shoot ..

In 1975 An Evaluation of Police Handgun Ammunition by the U S Dept. of Justice measured 38 Caliber wadcutters as being THREE TIMES AS EFFECTIVE as 38 Round Nose 158 grain. bullets in "wounding power".

NOW .. I have read an "expert" claim that these are no good for self defense because they don't expand .. well all you need to do is fire some into ballistic Gel. or Plasticine and recover the slug to see that even at modest low velocity from an obsolete 38 S&W caliber revolver .. SOFT LEAD expands somewhat & may well tumble (yaw) after impact ..

The hollow base in these lead wadcutters L.HBWC is much like that in the MINIE BALL ..

Captain Burton's Conical Minie Balls caused much enhanced wound damage over round balls in the Crimean and U S Civil Wars.

__________

*Note:  the infamously preferred Man Stopper .455 round from the 'Thompson LaGarde Trials' was named as "Government Mk III Solid Brass" - referring to the solid brass drawn CASE and it is the 288 grain soft 12:1 lead alloy slug that is hollow 'cupped' both coming & going ..

Note 2: .. Just for folk who say that .45"acp bullets are undersized in the Webley revolvers - THE Webley Story states that these barrels are bored & gauged .440" - .441" - .442" with seven groove .004 / .005" deep rifling .. Please don't blame me - I'm only the student.

- There have been folk who load L.HBWC slugs INVERTED or backwards to make a huge 'hollow point' round that expands to twice caliber .. BUT they underpenetrate and stop a little too soon by current FBI standards.

There is a fascinating relationship between velocity/expansion/penetration and the design-material hardness - cavity size-shape.

I reckon the shape of the  Federal Hydroshok Deep  Central Pillar or CONE is a significant clue to retaining penetration while gaining serious expansion ..

- Stick a central cone, small self-tapper screw or steel ball into the hollow of a reversed HBWC and what will you get in 10% Ballistic Gelatin .. ?

_______________________

There is one serious failing when shooting full wadcutters that it would be rude not to mention .. If you've fired the revolver empty and now need a reload - wadcutters can be rather slow to align & insert into the chambers as they lack any taper or lead-in. - Oh and I did read one fruit loop write that wadcutter ammo was dangerous because some shooters mistake these live rounds for blanks .. yeah I know - but there's a lot of it around in Long-Horn Cattle country eh.

- Now there actually are semi-auto pistols that can handle shooting wadcutter cartridges .. such as the S&W Model 52 - but generally speaking if you'd like to try shooting wadcutters or other odd loadings .. you will need a strongly built REVOLVER as the typical 'auto' can be sensitive to choice of ammo for function.

Marty K.

P.S. This 'Gun Sam' Guy does a great job testing with Wadcutters ..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vJ-36kcEuA

 - Link to THE Webley Story ..

https://www.scribd.com/document/252860192/The-Webley-Story-WC-Dowell-1987

& this is a great read about the .455" Cartridges ..

http://cartridgecollectors.org/?page=introduction-to-455-cartridges

M.

Loss Of Life by Killing ..

 This is a difficult topic - especially considering that the last act by U S forces in Afghanistan was a drone attack that killed 10 innocent victims.

Our NZDF deployed in Afghanistan sadly suffered 10 deaths while there .. and I consider that they would have caused many more casualties than that figure in their firefights with "insurgents" while successfully engaged there ..

So we may have a situation here that our Nuclear Free New Zealand Government approves and authorizes killings by our DEFENCE FORCES -  and other related loss of lives - for political purposes in foreign lands but this same administration has abolished the DEATH PENALTY for those violent murderers who take innocent life here in New Zealand. 

We are being quoted vastly increased use of guns by the NZ GANGS who - as expected ignore all laws and will use anything as a weapon when ever they feel the need. This .. again as expected - demonstrates the complete failure of punitive firearms laws to reduce violence here - but it these regulations will of-course make it nearly impossible for the law abiding to legally own or use a firearm for sport and hunting.

Consider that BRENTON TARRANT who planned & slaughtered 51 innocents in Christchurch. - Our deluded Politicians will argue that he deserves to live.

It is quite clear from the government records that both here in NZ since 1961, and in the United Kingdom - that following the abolition of the Death Penalty - the murder rate has increased by MORE than two or three hundred percent.

The NZ figures 

Annual murder rate per million people (WITH the Death Penalty)
1926-1970: 6 

Death Penalty ABOLISHED IN 1961.

1985-1992: 21 
1994-1998: 15 
1999-2003: 14 
2004-2008: 12

I think that is very clear ..

https://flicense.blogspot.com/2018/12/homicide-rates-since-abolition-of-death.html

Nobody can claim that our government is against 'killing' on ethical-moral grounds - as they hand-out medals, including the NZ VICTORIA CROSS to their own professionally trained military killers.

Nobody can deny that abolition of the death penalty has resulted in much increased loss of defenseless & innocent lives in New Zealand.

An absolute minimum change must be a return to the DEATH PENALTY for the murder of  Police Officers and multiple terror killings of innocents.

Sadly there are some 65 MILLION DEATHS worldwide EVERY YEAR from all causes. - Adding a few vicious killers to that number will hardly change the statistics but will make our law-abiding families somewhat safer.

One Of These Reasons (- the Second) - Is True

Killers don't have much to lose now .. if they get away with it they just carry-on - and if they get caught and locked-up - they are banged-up with all their mates .. and fed three times a day with plenty of TV to watch.

For how much longer can our political charlatans deny the facts & continue to ignore the real issues? 

Marty K.

Hi Marty

I am all in favour of the Death penalty with one proviso; the penalty can only be administered (with appropriate facilities provided by the state, ie: gallows, lethal injection, etc) by the victim or victim's immediate family. The Death penalty can only be given in circumstances where there is clear and irrefutable evidence of guilt, and not available for convictions based on circumstantial evidence. If the victim cannot do the deed then life imprisonment shall be given. The State should never have the power of execution except in the case of Treason, subject to the same conditions of conviction.

Conveniently, Helen Clark's government abolished treason as an offence - probably too many Labour MP's in danger of it!

Cheers, Rod

Hi  Rod, How are you doing/?

I certainly note  & respect your opinion .. and I would concur that the bereaved family could well have the RIGHT to be the activator of the termination .. BUT for example what about an orphan having been killed  - or any other victim whose total family were killed by the perp at the same time (or earlier)?

I don't understand your view that THE STATE should not have "power of execution" .. how does this align with the state having three or four military branches specifically trained, armed and used to kill  - not to mention NUCLEAR WEAPONS, nerve agents, high explosives  etc ??

The detail of the method is certainly open to debate .. personally I'd suggest a sleeping gas followed by CO2 in a closed but comfortable cell .. but I expect that there might be some who might prefer gradual crushing starting from the feet while applying hot pokers.

Marty K