Thursday, 26 January 2012
The Wasteland Crow Project
Nothing at all gun related or tactical here, just some old-fashioned, post-apocalyptic, zombie-killing blades and leatherwork. Beautiful craftsmanship on both parts from the Wasteland Crow Project.
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
.950 JDJ - Not Sure That's Entirely Necessary...
According to Wikipedia, the .950 JDJ round is
"The .950 JDJ is the world's largest, and most powerful caliber rifle cartridge.[citation needed] Loaded .950 JDJ cartridges are approximately the length of an empty .50 BMG casing (i.e., 4"), and are based on a 20x102mm case shortened and necked up to accept the .950" bullet. Projectiles are custom-made and most commonly weigh 3,600 grains (230 g) which is 8.2 ounces or over half a pound."
These guns are too heavy for anything useful, cost upwards of $8000 and rounds are $40 a pop. My favourite factoid about this beast is "The muzzle energy of the .950 JDJ is comparable to the kinetic energy of a 2,800 lb (1,300 kg) automobile traveling at 20 mph (32 km/h).". Errrmmm...
"The .950 JDJ is the world's largest, and most powerful caliber rifle cartridge.[citation needed] Loaded .950 JDJ cartridges are approximately the length of an empty .50 BMG casing (i.e., 4"), and are based on a 20x102mm case shortened and necked up to accept the .950" bullet. Projectiles are custom-made and most commonly weigh 3,600 grains (230 g) which is 8.2 ounces or over half a pound."
These guns are too heavy for anything useful, cost upwards of $8000 and rounds are $40 a pop. My favourite factoid about this beast is "The muzzle energy of the .950 JDJ is comparable to the kinetic energy of a 2,800 lb (1,300 kg) automobile traveling at 20 mph (32 km/h).". Errrmmm...
Monday, 23 January 2012
Skirmish Airsoft Mansfield
Friday, 20 January 2012
Offensive Morale Patches
I don't think I've said this before, at least not in print. I have voiced my thoughts on this to a few people, but have never written it down.
Morale patches are not really my thing. I've just recently bought a Tactical Beard Owner's Club patch from the guys at TBOC, and subsequently, a Mil-Spec Monkey hat from Fire Support to mount it on but apart from that and the Bravo Company team patches I have from the now almost defunct airsoft team I used to play with, I've never worn patches on my gear.
Having said that, they don't bother me. Some of them are pretty cool and/or amusing, but they don't really do it for me. What does offend me massively are the 'Pork Eating Crusader' and 'Infidel' style patches that have been going around for the last few years. The pages of Wikipedia describe the term Infidel as:
"An infidel (literally "one without faith") is one who has no religious beliefs, or who doubts or rejects the central tenets of a particular religion – especially in reference to Christianity or Islam.
Infidel is an ecclesiastical term in Christianity around which the Church developed a body of theology that deals with the concept of infidelity; which makes a clear differentiation between those who were baptized and followed the teachings of the Church vs. those who are outside the faith. The term infidel was used by Christians to describe non-Christians or those perceived as the enemies of Christianity. The usage of the term for non-Christian monotheists distinguishes the term from heathen or pagan. As such, the term infidel has often been applied to atheists, whose disbelief is viewed negatively by both Christianity and Islam."
Are these patches specifically designed to offend and alienate an entire culture? If they offend me, then surely the Muslim population as a whole must be horrified, not least when they see it written in their own language on someone that is supposed to be helping their country. This strikes me as counter-productive and distasteful at best and behaving like a naiive and immature wanker at worst. If someone from another country walked down the street outside your house armed and in full combat geat with a patch on their arm that said 'Satanist' or 'Church Burner' or the like, I'm pretty sure a great many people would be offended, not least members of the conservative Christian republican persuasion (who, by definition, should also be deeply offended by the term Infidel). In the eyes of extreme fundamentalists, I would imagine a violent reaction might ensue, presumably something that would be actively discouraged rather than provoked. If, however, someone can provide me with a valid reason as to why these patches are a good idea and not just ill-advised and in bad taste then I'd be prepared to listen and reconsider, but I think this is unlikely.
I'm not going to link to any specific manufacturer or retailer as there are a great many producing these items and I wouldn't want to pick out individuals, needless to say, I consider the manufacture, retail and use of these to be pretty irresponsible. I don't know how prevalent the use of these patches is in the current middle eastern conflict areas, but they are pretty popular in the airsoft community and, to summarise, I don't like it.
Morale patches are not really my thing. I've just recently bought a Tactical Beard Owner's Club patch from the guys at TBOC, and subsequently, a Mil-Spec Monkey hat from Fire Support to mount it on but apart from that and the Bravo Company team patches I have from the now almost defunct airsoft team I used to play with, I've never worn patches on my gear.
Having said that, they don't bother me. Some of them are pretty cool and/or amusing, but they don't really do it for me. What does offend me massively are the 'Pork Eating Crusader' and 'Infidel' style patches that have been going around for the last few years. The pages of Wikipedia describe the term Infidel as:
"An infidel (literally "one without faith") is one who has no religious beliefs, or who doubts or rejects the central tenets of a particular religion – especially in reference to Christianity or Islam.
Infidel is an ecclesiastical term in Christianity around which the Church developed a body of theology that deals with the concept of infidelity; which makes a clear differentiation between those who were baptized and followed the teachings of the Church vs. those who are outside the faith. The term infidel was used by Christians to describe non-Christians or those perceived as the enemies of Christianity. The usage of the term for non-Christian monotheists distinguishes the term from heathen or pagan. As such, the term infidel has often been applied to atheists, whose disbelief is viewed negatively by both Christianity and Islam."
Are these patches specifically designed to offend and alienate an entire culture? If they offend me, then surely the Muslim population as a whole must be horrified, not least when they see it written in their own language on someone that is supposed to be helping their country. This strikes me as counter-productive and distasteful at best and behaving like a naiive and immature wanker at worst. If someone from another country walked down the street outside your house armed and in full combat geat with a patch on their arm that said 'Satanist' or 'Church Burner' or the like, I'm pretty sure a great many people would be offended, not least members of the conservative Christian republican persuasion (who, by definition, should also be deeply offended by the term Infidel). In the eyes of extreme fundamentalists, I would imagine a violent reaction might ensue, presumably something that would be actively discouraged rather than provoked. If, however, someone can provide me with a valid reason as to why these patches are a good idea and not just ill-advised and in bad taste then I'd be prepared to listen and reconsider, but I think this is unlikely.
I'm not going to link to any specific manufacturer or retailer as there are a great many producing these items and I wouldn't want to pick out individuals, needless to say, I consider the manufacture, retail and use of these to be pretty irresponsible. I don't know how prevalent the use of these patches is in the current middle eastern conflict areas, but they are pretty popular in the airsoft community and, to summarise, I don't like it.
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
The MagBus
This thing is badass. Magpul's promotional Unimog, which can currently be seen cruising the strip in Vegas for the SHOT Show.
Here's another short video of another Magpul-sponsored Unimog traversing some pretty deep water on the Couch Offroad Engineering website. Read all about this 'mog, christened 'Bam Bam', on the Couch Uniblog.
Here's another short video of another Magpul-sponsored Unimog traversing some pretty deep water on the Couch Offroad Engineering website. Read all about this 'mog, christened 'Bam Bam', on the Couch Uniblog.
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
SIG Carbine Conversion
There's already been one for Glocks, now here's a gay carbine conversion from SIG Sauer. info care of SoldierSystems.net.
In all fairness, this one does look pretty cool, but even so. What's wrong with just using the handgun on its own?
In all fairness, this one does look pretty cool, but even so. What's wrong with just using the handgun on its own?
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
This Week's Project...
I have a (potentially) small project for this week. Last time I visited Urban Assault I took my G&P Stoner. When I got it chrono'd, it fired at 349 feet per second. Four feet per second over the site limit. FOUR FEET PER SECOND OVER!
Having still not used this gun (story of my life) I have bought a Systema M100 spring to replace the stock, and slightly hot G&P one. Now all to do is to figure out how to get the beast apart.
Pics and swearing will follow shortly.
Having still not used this gun (story of my life) I have bought a Systema M100 spring to replace the stock, and slightly hot G&P one. Now all to do is to figure out how to get the beast apart.
Pics and swearing will follow shortly.
Friday, 23 December 2011
Modify One-Piece Hop Unit
Stolen from the Airsoft GI website, this looks pretty impressive for anyone who wants a finely adjustable, high quality hopup unit...
Item details:
Description:
There has been many Hop up units to claim that they are the best hop up unit to date, but Modify’s new hop up unit may actually fit that bill. The Modify Hop-up unit features a one piece, metal unit which is perfectly cast and does not display any seam lines, burrs or any other casting defects. Next we move onto the actual hop up adjustment gears, Modify constructed their gears with metal sleeve inserts which are secured with O-rings to ensure little to no lateral movement. Modify redesigned the hop up arm to be wider then most and features gearing inside to allow for finer tuning and to ensure that the arm does not move and being properly set. The unit comes with two hop up arms as well, the other arm differs by the hop up nub being built into the arm which is advantageous because the nub cannot shift, move, flex or change shape which provides more consistent results. Simply put, the Modify M4/M16 1-Piece Metal Hop Up will provide the user with extremely consistent hop up and might just be the best hop up on the market.
Specifactions:
Manufacteror: Modify
Model: 1-Piece Metal Hop Up
Design: M4/M16
Features:
One piece metal construction
High quality adjustment gears
Redesigned hop up arms
Item details:
Description:
There has been many Hop up units to claim that they are the best hop up unit to date, but Modify’s new hop up unit may actually fit that bill. The Modify Hop-up unit features a one piece, metal unit which is perfectly cast and does not display any seam lines, burrs or any other casting defects. Next we move onto the actual hop up adjustment gears, Modify constructed their gears with metal sleeve inserts which are secured with O-rings to ensure little to no lateral movement. Modify redesigned the hop up arm to be wider then most and features gearing inside to allow for finer tuning and to ensure that the arm does not move and being properly set. The unit comes with two hop up arms as well, the other arm differs by the hop up nub being built into the arm which is advantageous because the nub cannot shift, move, flex or change shape which provides more consistent results. Simply put, the Modify M4/M16 1-Piece Metal Hop Up will provide the user with extremely consistent hop up and might just be the best hop up on the market.
Specifactions:
Manufacteror: Modify
Model: 1-Piece Metal Hop Up
Design: M4/M16
Features:
One piece metal construction
High quality adjustment gears
Redesigned hop up arms
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Friday, 16 December 2011
11th in Google.co.uk 'Airsoft Blog' results...
I'm pretty happy with that, considering all of those above me (with the exception of Everything Airsoft are affiliated to shops or airsoft sites. Not sure I should have given EA a link there either...
Travis Haley Talks FN SCAR
Not a huge fan of the FN SCAR (although it does depend on what mood I'm in), but this is certainly interesting stuff.
Kydex Holsters
Been thinking recently about holsters. I recently bought a railed Marui SIG 226 and an Army Detonics .45 Combat Master. The SIG is pretty easy to accomodate holster-wise until you get the M3 torch on it, then it becomes a pain in the arse. Unless you want to spend top dollar on a holster, which I don't really as I rarely use a handgun on the airsoft field. You also have to consider the difference in the width of the Marui SIG's slide compared to the real thing, especially when buying Kydex holsters, there is always the chance that they just won't fit.
The Detonics is similarly difficult to holster because of the placement of the nearsight. Lots of US manufacturers make holsters to suit the Detonics fans but again, you have to spend a lot of money to get a good one.
The alternative is to make your own holster. Kydex looks like a pretty easy material to work with and is relatively cheap. For a holster that costs around the $80-100 mark, which, by the time you've factored in shipping to the US and the inevitable customs charges, you are going to be paying around the same in £Sterling, which is too much cash for something that will be rarely used other than to just hold a sidearm that never gets pulled on the airsoft field.
In my search for the wisdom of the Kydex holster masters, I've found some pretty good info on the net. I started out looking at the high end Kydex holsters and found Raven Concealement. Raven's gear is used by Chris Costa and features quite heavily in the Magpul training videos. Their stuff looks top notch with a wide variety of choice of styles and supported weapons platforms. this site is my benchmark for determining whether it is actually worth investing in time, tools and materials to try and make the holster. Let's see how that works out. Sometimes the cost is not so important as the challenge and the learning of new skills (this is still the justification for the amount of time and money I've poured into my L119A1 when I could have just sent it to Fire Support and got them to do it).
As far as obtaining the materials, I found a couple of sites in the US. KnifeKits.com, as the name suggests, supplies kits, materials and tools for making knives and sheaths and the like, inlcuding Kydex sheets. ParacordSecrets.com don't actually supply kydex sheets, but have a bunch of kits for sale (knives and magazine carriers rather than holsters) and a load of interesting articles and bits of hardware for sale.
By and large, so far, the most informative article I've come across is this one on the 1911 Forum giving a step by step set of instructions on making a really professional looking kydex holster. Now the guy who wrote this tutorial has a fully equipped workshop with some awesome power tools, but nothing that could not be achieved with a normal drill and toolbox and a bit of care and attention.
Now I need to get some kydex sheets. Watch this space...
The Detonics is similarly difficult to holster because of the placement of the nearsight. Lots of US manufacturers make holsters to suit the Detonics fans but again, you have to spend a lot of money to get a good one.
The alternative is to make your own holster. Kydex looks like a pretty easy material to work with and is relatively cheap. For a holster that costs around the $80-100 mark, which, by the time you've factored in shipping to the US and the inevitable customs charges, you are going to be paying around the same in £Sterling, which is too much cash for something that will be rarely used other than to just hold a sidearm that never gets pulled on the airsoft field.
In my search for the wisdom of the Kydex holster masters, I've found some pretty good info on the net. I started out looking at the high end Kydex holsters and found Raven Concealement. Raven's gear is used by Chris Costa and features quite heavily in the Magpul training videos. Their stuff looks top notch with a wide variety of choice of styles and supported weapons platforms. this site is my benchmark for determining whether it is actually worth investing in time, tools and materials to try and make the holster. Let's see how that works out. Sometimes the cost is not so important as the challenge and the learning of new skills (this is still the justification for the amount of time and money I've poured into my L119A1 when I could have just sent it to Fire Support and got them to do it).
As far as obtaining the materials, I found a couple of sites in the US. KnifeKits.com, as the name suggests, supplies kits, materials and tools for making knives and sheaths and the like, inlcuding Kydex sheets. ParacordSecrets.com don't actually supply kydex sheets, but have a bunch of kits for sale (knives and magazine carriers rather than holsters) and a load of interesting articles and bits of hardware for sale.
By and large, so far, the most informative article I've come across is this one on the 1911 Forum giving a step by step set of instructions on making a really professional looking kydex holster. Now the guy who wrote this tutorial has a fully equipped workshop with some awesome power tools, but nothing that could not be achieved with a normal drill and toolbox and a bit of care and attention.
Now I need to get some kydex sheets. Watch this space...
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Military History: Top Sniper II TV Series
I have no idea if this has been shown in the UK but from the first ten minutes, it looks excellent. Looks like most episodes are available on YouTube too. Enjoy.
RMJ Tactical Warhammer
Dear Santa,
I know it's a bit late in the day, but if you're passing through Chattanooga on the way to my house, could you pop into RMJ Tactical and pick me up some of their goodies, specifically their incredibly bad-ass warhammer (as seen on MilitaryTimes.com). I fully expect the zombie apocalypse to happen soon, so supplying me with this bad boy is practically a public service. Oh, and a tomahawk and kydex holster would also be cool.
Love,
David
I know it's a bit late in the day, but if you're passing through Chattanooga on the way to my house, could you pop into RMJ Tactical and pick me up some of their goodies, specifically their incredibly bad-ass warhammer (as seen on MilitaryTimes.com). I fully expect the zombie apocalypse to happen soon, so supplying me with this bad boy is practically a public service. Oh, and a tomahawk and kydex holster would also be cool.
Love,
David
Monday, 12 December 2011
Navy Seals for the 21st Century?
An unprecedented blend of real-life heroism and original filmmaking, Act of Valor stars a group of active-duty Navy SEALs in a powerful story of contemporary global anti-terrorism. Inspired by true events, the film combines stunning combat sequences, up-to-the minute battlefield technology and heart-pumping emotion for the ultimate action adventure. Act of Valor takes audiences deep into the secretive world of the most elite, highly trained group of warriors in the modern world. When the rescue of a kidnapped CIA operative leads to the discovery of a deadly terrorist plot against the U.S., a team of SEALs is dispatched on a worldwide manhunt. As the valiant men of Bandito Platoon race to stop a coordinated attack that could kill and wound thousands of American civilians, they must balance their commitment to country, team and their families back home. Each time they accomplish their mission, a new piece of intelligence reveals another shocking twist to the deadly terror plot, which stretches from Chechnya to the Philippines and from Ukraine to Somalia. The widening operation sends the SEALs across the globe as they track the terrorist ring to the U.S.-Mexico border, where they engage in an epic firefight with an outcome that has potentially unimaginable consequences for the future of America.
More info about Act of Valor on IMDB
More info about Act of Valor on IMDB
Wednesday, 7 December 2011
$7 for this? Seriously?
The Tourniquet Retainer from Mayflower costs $7. A good idea, but is it worth the money? It would take longer to set up the sewing machine than it would to actually make one of these. Seven dollars plus shipping for two short pieces of webbing and a few inches of shock cord? Come on.
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
Lost the screws from your SERPA eh?
Fear not. If you have a junior hacksaw or Dremel tool or something like that, pop along to your local Screwfix store. These screws will serve as replacements for the three that hold your SERPA holster to the MOLLE or belt attachment.
Rawl BZP Machine Screws Pan Head M4x20mm (Pk25)
Part No 97740-0025
£1.52
As mentioned above, youll need something to cut them down as these are 20mm long anf they only need to be about 8mm. No big deal considering the screws were only £1.52. I hate to think how much Blackhawk would rush you for some replacement screws, but a pack of five 25mm bolts with nuts in B&Q was £6.08.
EDIT: disregard the above, it's rubbish. When I got home and tried the screws properly, it turns out they are the correct size but have the wrong thread - only screwing in a couple of turns. Back to the drawing board.
Rawl BZP Machine Screws Pan Head M4x20mm (Pk25)
Part No 97740-0025
£1.52
As mentioned above, youll need something to cut them down as these are 20mm long anf they only need to be about 8mm. No big deal considering the screws were only £1.52. I hate to think how much Blackhawk would rush you for some replacement screws, but a pack of five 25mm bolts with nuts in B&Q was £6.08.
EDIT: disregard the above, it's rubbish. When I got home and tried the screws properly, it turns out they are the correct size but have the wrong thread - only screwing in a couple of turns. Back to the drawing board.
Thursday, 3 November 2011
Travis Hayley Talks Airsoft
Travis Hayley of Hayley Strategic Partners talks about the benefits of live-ammunition shooters cross training with airsoft guns for safety, confidence-building and cost-effectiveness reasons.
The Raid
Deep in the heart of Jakarta's slums lies an impenetrable safe house for the world's most dangerous killers and gangsters. Until now, the rundown apartment block has been considered untouchable to even the bravest of police. Cloaked under the cover of pre-dawn darkness and silence, an elite swat team is tasked with raiding the safe house in order to take down the notorious drug lord that runs it. But when a chance encounter with a spotter blows their cover and news of their assault reaches the drug lord, the building's lights are cut and all the exits blocked. Stranded on the 6th floor with no way out, the unit must fight their way through the city's worst to survive their mission. Director Gareth Evans (Merantau) and rising martial arts star Iko Uwais reunite in this adrenaline-fueled action film.
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