This is a catch-all for random and undifferentiated thoughts that didn’t make it into my previous NRAAM reports. I’ll put in a jump, since this is running long…
Something I thought was cool: the Burris dope card generator. Select your scope, select your caliber and ammunition, put in other parameters (temperature, humidity, wind velocity and direction, elevation, measured muzzle velocity, etc.) and it’ll generate a snazzy dope card telling you how low or high you are at various yardages, what the wind drift is, and how many clicks on the scope you need to come up, down, right, or left. There may be other scope makers who have something similar: I don’t know, but Burris actually had theirs on display at their booth.
(Noted: I got to wondering if there was any general rule of thumb as to how barrel length impacts velocity (for every 1″ of barrel, how many feet per second do you lose?) and ran across this student paper: “Effect of Barrel Length on the Muzzle Velocity and Report from a Mosin-Nagant 7.62x54R Rifle“. Basically, the guy went to the range with a Mosin, a chronograph, a laptop, and some other tools, and started cutting down the Mosin barrel and measuring how the muzzle velocity and sound profile changed. Way cool.)
Also noted: Oehler Model 35P chronograph: $535. Labradar Doppler chronograph: $560. Caldwell chrono: $175. I like both the Labradar and Caldwell units, but I don’t know anybody who has hands-on experience with them. I think Tam has tested the Magnetospeed, but that doesn’t appeal to me for reasons. How hard can it be to build something that measures time of transit between two sensors at a known distance apart? Why hasn’t someone designed a cheap Arduino based chronograph yet? I know Oehler has a lot of experience, and they’re an Austin-based company, but I don’t want a thermal printer and the associated paper. Send the data to my iPhone like we’re living in the 21st Century!
Also: I’m really liking the Burris 2-7×32 Scout scope. They actually had them on display (unlike Leupold), I got a chance to play with one briefly, and when I put it to my shoulder, the sight picture was right there. No fumbling, just…there it is.
We also got to handle a couple of Steyr Scouts at the Steyr booth. Nice rifles. As they should be, for nearly $1,800 before you put a scope on it.
Steyr also had hats for sale at their booth. I think either the “Wels” or the “Graz” on this page (which is linked from Steyr’s site) are what they had. And they are darn nice hats, we all agreed. But none of us was willing to spend $165 for a hat.
On the other hand, these Propper polos are also pretty nice and reasonably priced. I may have to pick one up for testing and evaluation. They feel kind of weird to the touch, so I’d like to see how they feel on skin in 100+ degree temperatures before committing to a whole wardrobe.
Another story from the road: I know it’s kind of trendy right now to crap on Remington. And not without reason. But someone who isn’t me (SWIM) and I were hanging out at the Remington booth looking at the R1 10mm Hunter. The guy working the booth – who I’m pretty sure was Travis Tomasie (the big “Travis” on his jersey was my first clue) – struck up a conversation with us. Paraphrasing very loosely from memory (emphasis was in the original conversation):
Travis: Nice gun, isn’t it?
SWIM: It is. I have one.
T: Cool!
SWIM: I just wish it shot better.
T: What’s wrong with it?
SWIM: (explains his problem: basically, the gun jams every third to fifth shot, even after cleaning and lubing. Karl had the same problem when he test fired it, so it isn’t the shooter.)
T: You should send it to us. We’ll make it right.
SWIM: I know it’s out of warranty…
T: No. Everything we’ve sold since 2016 has a lifetime warranty. That’s too nice a gun to let it act like that. Send it back. We’ll take care of it.
SWIM: Okay. How do you handle shipping?
T: We’ll take care of shipping both ways. We’ll take care of you.
I, personally, have felt a little sour on Remington ever since I read Linoge’s story over at the old Walls of the City about ordering a new Remington 700 and getting screwed over. The R51 issues didn’t help much. But listening in on the conversation with Travis went a long way towards restoring my faith in the company.
“We’ll make it right.” Gotta love that.
We spent a decent amount of time at the Browning display, but we didn’t see this: the X-Bolt Micro Composite. I don’t actually need one, but: 20″ barrel, 6 pounds 5 ounces, just under 39″ long? With a forward scope mount and a third anchor point for a sling, it sounds like this could make a quality scout rifle. I’d love to see a scout build based on this. (I’d also love to see a left-hand version. Not for me, but for SWIM.)
Noted: more manufacturers seem to be getting into the “precision rifle” market. Ruger was first, as far as I know, but now Smith and Wesson and Winchester have products that are new to me for 2018.
What I find funny about this: CDNN was blowing out various Ruger Precision Rifles for a good while. I don’t know if they aren’t selling for Ruger, or if the ones CDNN was trying to move were in less desirable chamberings. It seems weird to see other companies trying to move into this segment: is there really that much interest in, and demand for, long range rifles? Have we reached AR saturation, and the “precision rifle” is the new hotness?
Edited to add: right after I posted this, I got another CDNN mailing with more Precision Rifles. Not just in 6mm Creedmoor: they are also offering .308 Winchester and 5.56 NATO. So much for the “less desirable caliber” theory…
I don’t have much to report as far as my travel configuration. Nothing’s changed very much: the only thing I did this time was to leave the big Nikon at home in favor of the iPhone and a little Nikon. As it turned out, I didn’t take any pictures at all with the little Nikon, used the iPhone for everything that needed photos, and really didn’t take that many photos.
If you were following the day one exchange between Manhattan Infidel and myself: I got Project e upgraded to Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. And…it hangs at the Ubuntu boot screen.
If, however, I invoke the GRUB bootloader and select one of the Ubuntu entries (other than the default) from the list, it seems to boot okay. I haven’t figured out what’s going on yet, and really didn’t want to spend the time diagnosing it on the road. I got the machine working well enough that I could do some blogging and leave Blue Hydra running in the hotel room during the day while we were at the meeting.
(I haven’t sat down and analyzed the Hydra data yet, either. From what I saw, it looks like Hydra turned up a Fitbit or two, and some sort of audio device. Among other things.)
One of my other problems right now is that Project e is nearly nine years old now. While it still works decently, I’m starting to feel like a lot of my Ubuntu issues are the result of running on old, underpowered hardware. I’d like to do some more advanced security related work, like hooking up an Ubertooth for use with Hydra, and I’d like to get more into GPU based password cracking. So I’m on the lookout for a good used i5 or i7 based laptop with a dedicated GPU at a reasonable price: these do seem to show up from time to time at Discount Electronics.
Regrets? I have a few, but then again, too few to mention. I tried to get together with Weerd Beard, but my timing was horrible. This was my fault, not his. I saw Roy Huntington a couple of times: as I’ve written before, he did me a great personal service a while back, and I wanted to say “thank you” in person. But he was always engaged in talking with other people for business purposes, and no way was I going to interrupt.
I don’t regret not going to the leadership forum: too much pain in order to sit through a bunch of speech making from politicians. (A couple of my companions did, and reported back.) I do regret that we were not able to get Lawrence a Trump-signed MAGA hat. (We did briefly joke that we were going to give him the JM hat and tell him that was Trump’s signature. Sadly, though, Mr. Miculek has far too legible a signature.)
I also didn’t make it over to The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, but that was my own damn fault: it was within walking distance of the hotel, but I decided to hold off. One of these long weekends when Mom is looking to see some different scenery and the city isn’t full of people, I plan to run us up there so we can tour the museum and the Bush 43 library.
If you happen to be a gun blogger reading this and planning a trip to a NRAAM, I highly recommend getting a press pass. It didn’t seem to get me any special treatment from vendors, but it did save me from paying Four! Dollars! for sodas at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. Actually, the folks running the press room seemed to be doing a pretty good job, based on the limited time I was in there. Praise be to them (especially the young lady who got me my credentials) and may flights of angels sing them to sleep.
I made it to two presentations: the second Garand one (missed the first) and John Plaster‘s “Sniping in WWII”. I read the first edition of The Ultimate Sniper and want to pick up the second, but I’d never heard him speak. He’s a pretty engaging speaker, and I enjoyed the talk, but I had to leave early: the talk was listed as 1:30 – 3:30, and he was still going strong at 3:45. My bladder couldn’t take any more, captain!
We intended to make it over to a liquor store, but kept spacing on it. Which means I still haven’t been able to mix myself a Ross Thomas.
Some of the folks I was with (who have been to multiple NRAAMs over the past few years) asked if I was sold, and if I’d go back. Sure! I’d love to be able to go to Indy next year! I’d also love to be able to go to the S&WCA symposium in Richardson next year! And DEFCON! And do some travel outside of the US: maybe see London for the first time or New York City again before I die! It looks like probably one of those things is going to happen in 2019, unless I win the lottery or hit a massive jackpot in Reno.
Thanks to Karl of KR Training (official firearms trainer of WCD), SWIM, and my other NRAAM companions, who shall remain unnamed to protect their privacy.