dr1vel: August 2007

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Friday, August 17, 2007

So we stopped at Peets coffee to get some power juice and the barista had two interesting tatoos. One one arm had 'Red Forever' with a rose and the other said 'Blue ATWA' with a dagger. The barista said it was for a sacred society and wouldn't say which one.....

so I googled from my phone. Turns out red and blue refer to charles manson and one of his minions. ATWA refers to air, trees, water, and animals. Crazy to see one of the "Manson Family" in the wild....only in Frisco!

View from the Westin

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Scout Rifles

Well, Colonel Jeff Cooper's rifle concept has certainly been moving forward nicely while I've been away from the gun scene. He diefined the Scout Rifle as:

A maximum unloaded weight, with accessories, of 3.5 kilograms, 3 kg optimal.
An overall length of 1 meter or less.
A forward-mounted telescopic sight of low magnification, typically 2-3 diameters. This preserves the shooters' peripheral vision, clears the ejection port of the rifle, makes possible the use of stripper clips to reload the rifle, and eliminates any chance of the scope striking one's brow during recoil. Cooper has stated that a telescopic sight is not mandatory.
Ghost Ring auxiliary iron sights: a rear sight consisting of a receiver-mounted large-aperture thin ring, and typically a square post front sight.
A "Ching" or "CW" sling. Against common practice, Cooper advocated the use of a sling as a shooting aid. The Ching Sling offers the convenience of a carrying strap and the steadiness of a target shooter's sling with the speed of a biathlete's sling. (The CW sling is a simpler version of a Ching sling, consisting of a single strap.)
A standard chambering of .308 Winchester/7.62 mm caliber; 7 mm-08 for locales that forbid military chamberings; and .243 Winchester for young or recoil-shy people.
Cooper also commissioned "Lion Scout," chambered for the .350 Remington Magnum cartridge.
Other optional features included a retractable bipod, detachable magazines, a butt magazine, and an accessory rail for lights and other attachments. The addition of some of these features often render the rifle technically not a scout as originally defined, but this has come to be accepted by many as still conforming to the spirit if not the letter of the concept.

Source: Wikipedia

Steyr-Mannlicher Scout $2600
Note the front grip folds down to make a bipod, and the spare clip in the butt of the rifle. Rifle shown does not have the scope in the forward position, but the mounts are there.