Pack Rat or Miscellaneous Collector?

On April 18, 2011July 26, 2012 By Tom LindsayIn Uncategorized

Yesterday I was in the garage for something totally non-gun-related, and I got to looking at my workbench area. The work area in my garage is a multipurpose self built tool bench, set against the wall, so that I can use the spaces between the wall studs for storage. The storage looked cluttered enough to push me over the edge to decide to clean it all up, and a couple of hours later, I faced a serious fact.

In the best terms, I am a collector of miscellaneous stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not bad enough to be on one of those hoarding shows, but, then again, no one on those shows thinks they’re as bad as they are. No, my problem is not to that scale, but yesterday I got a glimpse inside the head of those folks.

Once I was done, I had a written inventory of some of the more troubling items. For instance, I found that I own 224 rounds of ammunition for guns that I do not own.

200 rounds of cowboy loaded .38 special, from a gun show during a time when I had it in my mind that I would take up Cowboy Action Shooting. Then I figured it would take $2000 to get into the sport, not counting ammo or reloading equipment.

8 rounds of .30-06. The best part – they’re blanks. Got them from a divorcing friend whose son was in ROTC some time back, and didn’t know what to do with them as he was moving out.

4 rounds of .308. At least I think they’re .308. They’re the thinner rifle rounds I found in a box of Russian 7.62x54R.

12 20 gauge shotgun shells. I got them when I bought my 12 gauge Mossberg 500, used. The guy I bought it from said, “Here, I got some shells, too.” Thanks.

I also own 20 rounds of 7.62×39 tracer ammo. At least that’s what the little bag says. I bought them at a country general store in Alabama in the late 90’s. (The guy had some cool holsters, too, and I still have his card. Some day . . .) These, I can at least try out, some day.

I also found that I own 4 rifle cleaning rods and 3 pistol cleaning rods, plus 2 bore snakes. This is in addition to the 2 rifle rods that cam with my military rifles, and the 3 cleaning rods that came with my Glocks.

I have 4 pairs of shooting glasses and 3 sets of ear muffs. Granted, I do host a lot of people without their own gear, so this doesn’t bother me.

So, what do I take away from all that?

Don’t lose sight of my goals. I can still get into Cowboy Action Shooting, it’s just going to take a little longer, by buying the guns one or two at a time. My first goal is a Ruger Vaquero in .357 / .38 special. If nothing else, this would be a really awesome barbecue gun.

Keep a list of the things I would be willing to swap, and put them out on the forums.

Keep a list of my accessories with me, and when I’m tempted at a gun show, Walmart, Dick’s, etc., consult the list. It’s not perfect, but it avoids some of it.

I welcome other ideas on organization.

And the Winner is . . .

On April 15, 2011 By Tom LindsayIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Sergei

Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov lived from 1894 to 1986, and designed the Samozaryadnyi Karabin sistemi Simonova (SKS), or “Self-loading Carbine, Simonov’s system,” in 1945. You can read more about him here.

The winning name for my SKS was submitted by my friend @jea_nine from Twitter. She wins my eternal gratitude, and the adoration of millions.

Thank you, @jea_nine!

Tax Day = National Buy a Gun Day

On April 15, 2011 By Tom LindsayIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Today is the day income tax filings are due in the United States. If you owe money, today is the day to pay it. If you’re due a refund, I hope you already filed, and have the refund back.

I filed in February, and had the money back in time to buy a new .22 caliber Browning Buck Mark pistol for my birthday.

I do not consider this purchased with Other People’s Money, since it was my money after all, and the .gov was just holding the excess until I asked for it back. Rather, I see this as an interest free firearms purchase payroll savings plan. It works for me.

I urge you to do the same with your refund. If you can’t do it this year, adjust your withholding so you have an extra $50 a month taken out, and you should be set. It’s a painless way to save.

So, as much as it pains to, “Happy” Tax Day!

Be Prepared

On April 14, 2011September 9, 2013 By Tom LindsayIn Be Prepared, Planning, Training

When I was in school I was a Boy Scout, and while I never rose as far as I would have liked to (I made First Class), the principles of Scouting have stayed with me all these years. By far the best thing I learned was to live the Scout Motto, Be Prepared. Today, there are countless expressions of this concept, from Colonel Cooper’s color code, to the OODA Loop.

This is the fist in a series of postings where I plan to talk about emergency planning and what I have done. I don’t pretend that my way of planning is the only way or the best. It’s just what I have done. But I hope you can learn from it.

First, I sat down and made a list of the kinds of emergencies that my family and I could face. This was a brainstorming session, and I didn’t question the probability of any event at this time. Yes, the list was extensive, and it includes black holes and alien invasion. To me it was important to consider the larger emergencies, because when you really think about them, a lot of the preparations you make for more intimate events like a fire or home invasion would be the same you would make for them.

My wife and I then picked the most likely events, and the easiest preparations, and made our plan. We’ve been at the plan for a few years, and we are steadily making progress. Here are some of the low hanging fruit, as it were, that we found we could do right away.

Make a printed telephone list. We found that we were all relying on our cell phone address books for contact information, but, if we lost our cell phones in an emergency, that information is lost, too.

Make sure there is a family member or friend outside your immediate area who will agree to be a contact for everyone, if necessary. This came from some reports during Katrina and other emergencies, where local communications were impossible, but where people could call or email someone outside the affected area.

Make sure you have a texting plan on your cell phones. This is because text messages are sent by a different method than cell phone calls, using the carrier signal that the cell phone tower uses to keep track of where your phone is. Even if the all cell phone circuits are busy in an emergency, it may be possible to send short text messages. Make sure everyone knows short messages they can send quickly.

Make sure your guns are locked up away from any children. They should not only be out of reach, but out of the prying eyes. Our kids never knew where I kept our pistol safe until they were old enough and they were trained how to use them. Make sure all the responsible adults in your household are trained, and know how to access them.

Practice. Just as you should have fire drills, practice other kinds of drills – tornado drills, earthquake drills, home invasion drills. When you are out in public, always stay alert (Cooper’s Condition Yellow at a minimum), and practice finding the quickest path to safety.