Tuesday Turbo Boost: Laugh 'til You Hurt!

Don't Turn It Blue!

Be careful with your tools when you go...


Back To The Old Grind!

Not My Victrola: Dancing In The Moonlight with Rudy Vallee

Looks like an early fall, so you better get this done soon. We'll all be moving inside real soon.

Crankin' It Up: A Real Golden Oldie, 105 Years Oldie!

Ada Jones recorded this classic in 1909.  Who wouldn't fall for a fluffy ruffle girl?


My Pony Boy by TrueBlueSam

Weekend Steam: One For The Steampunk Crowd

The YouTuber who posted this video didn't provide much information; just that this was shot in Italy, and it is a re-creation of an original steam crawler design. It leaves us with more questions than answers, but it sure is cute!

100 Years Ago; The Battle of the Marne

One little gun at Nery stalled the month-long German advance and gave the French and British troops just a little breathing space before the Germans made their final push to take Paris.  Hundreds of taxis ferried troops north to fight, and the German army was ultimately stopped and pushed back.  Both sides began digging in, and trying to out-flank the other as they pushed to the sea.  No-one had a clue what the next four years would bring. Click Here and Here for a couple of good writeups of this historic battle, and consider the scale of the beginning of the Great War.  This one battle claimed about 100,000 killed on both sides.  The French and Germans both had 1/4 million casualties, and the British had nearly 13,000.

Stories of German atrocities began to come out, and they were used to good advantage by the Brits and French as recruiting tools.  Deniers abound yet today, and I don't know how much to believe.  We see unspeakable atrocities today in the current world wide war, and our news people are doing a gallant job of ignoring and hiding the extent of evil being used against the West.

Here is what Robert Service had to say about it; and you must remember that he was there, and would be on the Western Front for two years.


"In the streets of the city I see French soldiers wearing the fourragere. It is a cord of green, yellow or red, and corresponds to the Croix de Guerre, the Médaille militaire and the Legion of Honor. The red is the highest of all, and has been granted only to one or two regiments. This incident was told to me by a man who saw it:

The Blood-Red Fourragere

What was the blackest sight to me
Of all that campaign?
A naked woman tied to a tree
With jagged holes where her breasts should be,
Rotting there in the rain.

On we pressed to the battle fray,
Dogged and dour and spent.
Sudden I heard my Captain say:
"Voilà! Kultur has passed this way,
And left us a monument."

So I looked and I saw our Colonel there,
And his grand head, snowed with the years,
Unto the beat of the rain was bare;
And, oh, there was grief in his frozen stare,
And his cheeks were stung with tears!

Then at last he turned from the woeful tree,
And his face like stone was set;
"Go, march the Regiment past," said he,
"That every father and son may see,
And none may ever forget."

Oh, the crimson strands of her hair downpoured
Over her breasts of woe;
And our grim old Colonel leaned on his sword,
And the men filed past with their rifles lowered,
Solemn and sad and slow.

But I'll never forget till the day I die,
As I stood in the driving rain,
And the jaded columns of men slouched by,
How amazement leapt into every eye,
Then fury and grief and pain.

And some would like madmen stand aghast,
With their hands upclenched to the sky;
And some would cross themselves as they passed,
And some would curse in a scalding blast,
And some like children cry.

Yea, some would be sobbing, and some would pray,
And some hurl hateful names;
But the best had never a word to say;
They turned their twitching faces away,
And their eyes were like hot flames.

They passed; then down on his bended knee
The Colonel dropped to the Dead:
"Poor martyred daughter of France!" said he,
"O dearly, dearly avenged you'll be
Or ever a day be sped!"

Now they hold that we are the best of the best,
And each of our men may wear,
Like a gash of crimson across his chest,
As one fierce-proved in the battle-test,
The blood-red Fourragere.

For each as he leaps to the top can see,
Like an etching of blood on his brain,
A wife or a mother lashed to a tree,
With two black holes where her breasts should be,
Left to rot in the rain.

So we fight like fiends, and of us they say
That we neither yield nor spare.
Oh, we have the bitterest debt to pay. . . .
Have we paid it? -- Look -- how we wear to-day
Like a trophy, gallant and proud and gay,
Our blood-red Fourragere."

 Robert Service, Ballads of a Bohemian, Book IV

10/22 Malfunctions With Its Favorite Ammo?

Our old, reliable 10/22 didn't fling empties clear a couple times, and then it went click.  It ran OK after jacking in a new round, but while Susan was changing targets I located the round that failed to fire.  It had been hit with a light strike.  We didn't realize what was going on, but there were a few more failures to throw the empties clear, and one round had one side of the case crumpled on chambering.

Here's what we found out.  The firing pin was sticking forward, interfering with a clean catch by the extractor, and also causing misalignment for chambering.  The cause is a broken firing pin rebound spring, which pushes the firing pin to its rearward position in the bolt.  When broken, the spring can jam up the firing pin, causing it to rest forward, where it is not hit effectively by the hammer.  It can also interfere with chambering and extraction.  This rifle is out of commission until new parts are installed, and they are already on the way.  Listen to your rifle!

Carmi Rifle Club LadySeed Highlight

Dawn is one of the coordinators at the Carmi Rifle Club, and we shoot with her regularly at the weekly Pistol League evenings.  She was able to attend the annual LadySeed event on Sunday, and she earned the coveted Rifleman Patch.  She even scored higher than the required 210 points! I think everyone was just as thrilled as she was.

                                       

Every shooter made improvements from the intense workout, and we plan to attend another Illinois Appleseed event in October.  Check out the groups Dawn was putting on paper!  You can tell she has been practicing, and it paid off.  Congratulations, Dawn!

Ruger's Auction To Benefit The Light Foundation

Here's another one for the serious Ruger collectors.  This Super Blackhawk was made in limited numbers and was never a cataloged item.  It is a convertible model in .44 Magnum and .44/40.  !00% of the proceeds of this auction will go to benefit the Light Foundation, so bid until it hurts!  This fine, rare gun will sell mid-day, Wednesday, September 10, 2014.  Click Here to visit the GunBroker page.

$2025.99!  Some joker had to throw change down; I wonder if the tactic saved him a dollar or two.

August 2014 e-Postal Results

August was a good contest, and everyone made enough hits on the targets that they should feel good about their shooting skills.  Billll of Bill's Idle Mind took top honors, and then impressed us by submitting more targets by shooting one-handed, with both hands!   Great Shooting, Billll!  Here's the rundown:

Class 1; Rimfire Handgun, Iron Sights	Firearm	Distance	Stance	Score
Billll	Ruger Mk I	18’	Freestyle	81
Billll	Ruger Mk I	18’	Strong Hand	79
Billll	Ruger Mk I	18’	Weak Hand	66
Chester	Ruger SR-22	15’	Freestyle	79
Mike B	S & W 617	18’	Freestyle	72
Mike B	S & W 617	18’	Strong Hand	61
Mike B	S & W 617	18’	Weak Hand	65
Kim	Ruger Single-Ten	15’	Freestyle	70
Merle	S & W Model 34 Kit Gun	21’	Freestyle	9
Danno	Ruger 22/45	33'	Freestyle	8
Class 2; Rimfire Handgun, Optical Sights	Firearm	Distance	Stance	Score
David (TBS)	Ruger Mk III Red Dot	15’	Freestyle	63
Susan (Mrs TBS)	Ruger Mk III Red Dot	15’	Freestyle	54
Merle	TC Contender 2X Scope	21’	Freestyle	53
Jill Ann	Ruger Mk III Red Dot	15'	Freestyle	38
Class 3; Centerfire Handgun, Iron Sights	Firearm	Distance	Stance	Score
Merle	British Enfield No 2 Revolver .38/200	21’	Freestyle	52
Chester	Springfield XDM .45	15’	Freestyle	50
Class 4; Centerfire Handgun, Optical Sights	Firearm	Distance	Stance	Score
Merle	TC Contender 2X Scope 9 mm	21’	Freestyle	53

Thanks to all who participated.  If I have left someone out, please e-mail right away and straightem me out.  Be sure to print out the alligator target for September and enter again!