It has come to my attention that many women who’s husband or boyfriend likes firearms are bothered by it. They do not understand what the interest might be and associate weapons with violence. Certainly, many are designed for that purpose, but there are perfectly viable reasons to own, shoot and appreciate firearms. It isn’t about violence or killing people. Most gun owners are good, honest citizens who hate violence and couldn’t even imagine shooting another human being.
Take Switzerland for instance; one of the most peaceful European country. Every head of a family is required to keep his rifle at home after his military service. We are talking about a fully automatic assault rifle kept in every closet of every house in the country. Yet, you are statistically more likely to be murdered in England, where all guns are banned than in Switzerland, a country full of them.
Mechanics: Men like to take things apart. We like screwdrivers, hammers, files, power tools. It is almost irresistible for us to understand how machines work. Since boyhood, most men have been tinkering with one contraption or another. Guns come in thousands of models and calibers, from the simplest to the very complicated. They can be customized, fixed, accurized and field tested. Reloading cartridges is also a very interesting hobby. It is the improved chemistry set of our childhood.
History: Firearms have shaped the world since the middle ages. The technological evolution of weapons and how they changed the world is an interesting field of study. I know my history because I know which guns where used at certain key periods and how they are linked to other events of that time. They provide me with a timeline on which to link further knowledge. Without evolved weapons we would still be living in caves, at the mercy of predators.
Sport: The accuracy challenge. Not everybody likes golf… If you like playing darts, bowling, or pool, you can understand why someone would enjoy shooting. It is a mental game requiring concentration and self-control. Many disciplines are available, such as cowboy action shooting, practical shooting, pistol and long range rifle competitions. Biathlon is an Olympic sport. There is something for everyone. It takes you outside, with your family. Much better in my opinion than watching people get shot on television. Violence? Yes, it’s in the movies, the news, everywhere but at the shooting range.
Hunting: Until about 150 years ago, hunting was essential to survival. I doubt very much there were many vegetarians back then. You couldn’t go buy your vitamins at the supermarket, and meat had to be shot. It was that or starvation. My mother recently, in a conversation about my grandfather, recounted how as a child during World War Two she never was hungry. My grandfather was a hunter and trapper. There was always food available. He would also trade his game for other necessities, such as butter and milk. Many others were starving. He took care of his family. Hunting is a skill that should be preserved. You never know which direction the world is going. In light of the current economical state of affairs, it is good to know how to feed your family. For some, it is an affordable way even today to put food on the table. Between getting food stamps and shooting a deer, what do you think the most honorable choice is? Hunting is also a good opportunity to enjoy nature. You don’t have to shoot anything, but if the perfect opportunity presents itself, why not? I do not approve of hunting for trophees, only for consumption. Everyone should own a hunting rifle, even just a .22, just in case… Hunting is in our genes. You gather the berries, we’ll get the mammoth… If you don’t mind that your man goes fishing and owns a fishing rod, it is no different than hunting and owning a rifle.
Self Defense: As much as we don’t like to think about it, there are predators out there ready to kill you and your family to get your stuff. Men are protectors by instinct. We like to be able to protect our families, especially when children are involved. Every parent has the responsibility of protecting their kids. Not having the means to do so makes one an unsuitable parent in my opinion. We are lucky enough to live in a country with a good police force. In most cases, a patrol car can be at your door withing five or ten minutes. Is that fast enough? Try this: With a stop watch in your hand, stand in front of your front door. Start the time, open the door and calmly walk to each of your children’s room, then yours. Pause ten seconds in each room. Stop the time. How long was that? Long enough to kill everyone in the house. It has happened. You think your door is strong enough to resits a blow from a sledge hammer? Windows? Probably not. What is your husband or boyfriend supposed to do when five thugs take your door down? Ask them to leave? I am being a bit blunt here, but those matters are not trivial. If you expect your man to protect you, give him the tools to do so.
Owning a gun is not only socially acceptable (except in the People’s Republic of California) but responsible. Do not worry if you significant other likes guns, be glad of it. One exception, if anyone ever pulls or merely mentions a gun in anger, they have no place in your life. How many guns does he need, you might ask… Well, as many as pairs of shoes and handbags that you own… Give it a try, let him take you to the range, keep an open mind. You might have more fun than you ever imagined!
Darn, I forgot to write a review of the Enfield #5 Jungle Carbine .303 British rifle video I posted on Youtube.. I was a bit worried about that one.. First, I am not a rifle shooter. I used to own a Ruger Mini 14 and a US M1 Carbine, but didn’t shoot them too much, as there was no long-distance range close to my home back then. My Grandmother made a delicious rabbit pate, and the Mini 14 sure delivered in that respect.. I regret selling both, as they were great rifles. Second, I read too many forum posts about the fierce recoil of the Jungle Carbine. Anyway, thanks to my friend and Systema buddy Dan, I got an Enfield #5 I can show you!
The Jungle Carbine is basically a shortened Enfield #4, developed to fight in the South-East Asian jungles.. It is lighter and shorter than the regular #4, but shoots the same .303 British ammunition used officially from 1888 to the 1950s! It is said that the .303 has dispatched the largest game animals on earth and certainly was an excellent military cartridge, not far behind the also legendary .30-06. After shooting it, I can say that I have no doubts.. The #5 being somewhat rare, many #4s have been converted to the #5; that doesn’t make them a real Jungle carbine. Dan’s rifle is the real McCoy. Everyone who knows anything about these guns heard about the “Wandering zero” problem.. Honestly, I can’t tell. I don’t shoot well enough at a hundred yards to notice. It probably would be a problem for target shooters, but in all practicality, who cares? If I can hit a 12×12″ target at 200yrds with iron sights, it’s good enough for me. I used to want a rifle capable of minute-of-angle accuracy, accurate to at least 600yrds. Do you know how far 600 yrds is? It’s VERY far away! 100yrds is far enough, 200 is way far out there.. Have one of your buddies walk 200 yards away and look at him.. He’s small.. Very small.. If someone was shooting at me from that distance, I wouldn’t bother shooting back, I’d run. Hitting a moving target that far would be either a miracle, or the work of a talented professional, in either case, you’re dead. By the way, the Discovery Channel ranked the Lee Enfield third (#1 AK-47, #2 M-16) of the “Top 10 Combat Rifles of All Times:”
Third place surprised me, before I shot the rifle. Now I understand.. The action is butter-smooth and very fast to operate. The magazine holds ten rounds, and reliability is absolute. The .303 hits hard..
We’re not at war, so you might ask, why a battle rifle? Well, it would make a great hunting rifle for one thing. I can certainly see it as an excellent hog hunting gun here in Florida. Ever heard of the “Scout Rifle” concept from late Col. Jeff Cooper? Ruger has one, it’s a hot topic right now. The Enfield makes a great SHTF rifle.
I wish more rifle manufacturers would chamber the .303 British in modern guns. I only know of the Ruger #1 in that caliber. Come-on CZ, pretty please..! It would allow military gun owners to have a great combo, mil-sup/modern rifle pair in the same great caliber.
Back to our review.. Recoil wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated. After twenty rounds, I had enough, but it was great fun. I was wearing a t-shirt, mind you. With a jacket, I could have shot two more boxes. Look at the group at the end of the video. Not great, but not bad either. I have three boxes left, and I am sure my next target will look much better. The trigger is pretty bad, but what can you expect.. A competent gunsmith could fix it. I did see an aftermarket adjustable trigger group available online..
The Prvi Partizan ammunition was very consistent in velocity. 174gr bullets clocked at 2235fps. (2255, 2217, 2209, 2203, 2211, 2178, 2242, 2273, 2262, 2272, 2266).
Again, the Jungle Carbine is not a target rifle. For it’s intended use, it does very well. I certainly would bet my life on it with less reserve than I would an AR-15.. Maybe I’m just old school, but something that has been in service without fail since 1907 deserves some consideration..
I use these functions all the time; for testing email addresses, generating passwords, formatting parameters, etc. I will post new ones on this page as I create or find them. If you have good ones, please post them in the comments, thanks.
function is_email_valid($email) {
if(eregi("^[a-zA-Z0-9._-]+@([a-zA-Z0-9._-]+\.)+([a-zA-Z]){2,3}$", $email))
return TRUE;
else return FALSE;}
function format_phone($phone)
{
$phone = preg_replace("/[^0-9]/", "", $phone);
if(strlen($phone) == 7)
return preg_replace("/([0-9]{3})([0-9]{4})/", "$1-$2", $phone);
elseif(strlen($phone) == 10)
return preg_replace("/([0-9]{3})([0-9]{3})([0-9]{4})/", "($1)$2-$3", $phone);
else
return $phone;
}
function genpassword($length){
srand((double)microtime()*1000000);
$vowels = array("a", "e", "i", "o", "u");
$cons = array("b", "c", "d", "g", "h", "j", "k", "l", "m", "n", "p", "r", "s", "t", "u", "v", "w", "tr",
"cr", "br", "fr", "th", "dr", "ch", "ph", "wr", "st", "sp", "sw", "pr", "sl", "cl");
$num_vowels = count($vowels);
$num_cons = count($cons);
for($i = 0; $i < $length; $i++){
$password .= $cons[rand(0, $num_cons - 1)] . $vowels[rand(0, $num_vowels - 1)];
}
return substr($password, 0, $length);
}
function javagoto($url){
echo"
<script type=\"text/javascript\">
<!--
window.location = \"$url\"
//-->
</script>";
return 1;
}
function clean_number($new){
$new=preg_replace('/[^a-zA-Z0-9 \.]/','',$new);
$new=number_format($new, 2, '.', '');
return $new;
}
function ForceHTTPS()
{
if( $_SERVER['HTTPS'] != "on" )
{
$new_url = "https://" . $_SERVER['SERVER_NAME'] . $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'];
header("Location: $new_url");
exit;
}
}
I received a great email today, here it is:
An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama’s socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.
The professor then said, “OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama’s plan”. All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A. After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.
The second test average was a D! No one was happy.
When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.
To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.
Could not be any simpler than that.
Hornet Gyroplane: Still going… Next step willl be the landing gear. I am waiting for some extra cash to place an order at Aircraft Spruce. The Engine, a Rotax 447 is in my storage unit at the airport. That was a major item financially ($2000). Left to do: The tail (Dominator tail), 5 gal. fuel tank, rotor head, rotor blades (another major item). The rest is small potatoes, hardware, aluminum and such. I spent a lot of money traveling this summer, so the gyro was put on hold. We had such a great time though, no regrets! Keeping at it, I will finish it eventually. I give myself a one year deadline, let’s say before the end of the Mayan calender, October or something. I’ve got to fly that thing before the end of the world 
Dagny, my 32ft Steel Sailboat: Big disappointment here. Someone stole all the bronze ports on the boat, ten of them, worth thousands of dollars. I was wondering what to do about the whole restoration, but after this unfortunate event, honestly, I have lost hope to ever finish it. Sometimes you have to cut your losses. I have been paying $340 for storage at the marina every month, and that has taken it’s toll. So, the boat has to go. I am not giving up on sailing of course. Remembering the saying “Go small, go now!” I need to be a little more realistic with my boat building ambitions. So, here is my new boat project. It’s only 15ft long, but a strong blue-water design. It also can fit on a trailer or in a shipping container. No marina fees required here! I can also build it at home, instead of driving half an hour to Bradenton..
Lehigh County Long Rifle: Still going as well. It is a small, manageable project. I am only missing a few parts, so it won’t be long before I finish. I actually picked it up again this week for some sanding on the stock. That will be a great looking muzzle-loading gun. Again, I am not sticking to historical correctness, as the next step will be parkerizing the barrel..
That is it for building projects. I have too much to do as it is and need to stop starting too many things at once. I can finish the above three, if I don’t add anything else…
P90X: I have to say, results were great. Then, I slacked off before leaving this summer, and haven’t picked it up again yet. I put back on all the weight I lost during the five weeks I trained. Shame on me. So, another round it is, starting after my parents leave on December 2nd. What people interested in P90X need to realize, is that it is a lifelong commitment, not just a 90-day program. Although you don’t need to train as much as during the first 90 days, a regular exercise plan is a must to keep whatever you gained (or lost during that time. Otherwise, you will lose it all as I did. At leat, I know I can do it, and how to do it again. I know it works, and that will be a good motivation to start again. I consider doing P90X a great achievement, as it is anything but easy. I failed however to retain my gains, and I need to fix that.
Systema: Same as P90X, I slacked off.. It is like bicycle though, so I certainly haven’t lost it all. The physical aspect, I need to work on of course, and P90X will do that. I also need to go back to class! Teaching will certainly help too. Since I got requests for starting the pro-bono/class promotion study group again, I am thinking of setting it up again a couple times a month or so. Systema is more than something I do, it is now partially something I am. It is hard to explain to someone who isn’t practicing.. So, what don’t you try it? I am sure there is a class nearby where you live, check out Vladimir Vasiliev’s site, and systemasarasota.com for our local class schedule.
Work: I am getting into iPhone application development! Problem is, I need a Mac. It is a good field to get into because the current pool of IOS programmers can’t keep up with demand, and hourly rates soared to $100 to $200 per hour. Who knows how long that will last, but I need to catch that ride before things calm down a bit. I do want to publish my own apps of course, as well as write apps for whomever hires me to do so. Anyone has a great idea and a development/marketing budget?
Other Stuff: I have been pretty active publishing videos on Youtube. I have been on a “disaster preparedness” kick lately, storing food and gathering survival gear.. No, I am not paranoid.. Maybe my brain is telling me something, which it unconsciously computed from world news and personal observations, mainly “things aren’t going better..” So, I am merely following my intuitions and just taking a few basic precautions.. See my above Youtube channel about that.. You might want to do the same.. Overall, I plan on shaking things up a bit in 2012, as I have been a bit sluggish lately, you may have noticed..
Why am I writing about all this? I guess that since the things I like to do might be a bit unusual, I am hoping to provide from mere mild entertainment to useable good advise. I am curious by nature. It has prompted me to learn a lot of things, many useless, some potentially life-saving, and everything in between. I always liked to listen to what other people have to say, because we all have some interesting insights. By writing and making videos, I am giving back the same way I learn. By getting feedback and comments I also learn more about the things I am interested in. It’s an exchange of information. Not to mention metting interesting people with the same interests. Anyway, it’s time better spent than watching fail videos on Youtube.
Private Life: Should remain private.. Though I can say, everything is just dandy 
I wish everyone a good Thanksgiving!
Gil.