Most of us enjoy firing and using cowboy guns. This means lever action rifles, double barrel hammer type shotguns, and single action revolvers. I began firing these types back in the 1960s. I was about seven years old when I fired the Herbert Schmidt .22 revolver my father owned. The revolver handled nicely. The action wore out after a decade or so of use and the ejector rod fell off as well. It certainly wasn’t first class – or second or third class – but it worked OK for a few years.
Later I owned Colt and Ruger revolvers that worked just fine. The High Standard Double Nine wasn’t a single action but it looked like one and it too worked well. I have owned some type of .22 caliber revolver of the cowboy style most of my life. The latest is a fun revolver that won’t break the bank.
I have used several Ruger Wrangler rimfire revolvers over the years. The revolvers use inexpensive source materials. After all, the .22 develops little pressure and momentum. It doesn’t take a block of forged steel to work well in a .22 caliber revolver.
The Wrangler is a fixed revolver. If you need a long range shooter or something for firing the .22 Magnum then you really need the Ruger Single Six, which is more expensive, but worth the tariff. For casual plinking, informal targets, cowboy type single action training, and training young shooters the basics of handgun shooting, the Wrangler is a sure bet. And even more – the Wrangler will serve for small game at modest range. That is a number of chores the pistol can fill at less than three hundred dollars retail. The top of the list is fun shooting. We all need a firearm reserved for fun and this is a good one.
The Wrangler is available in a wide variety of finishes. Cerakote is durable and versatile. All Ruger Wrangler revolvers are supplied with a cold hammer forged barrel. The Wrangler features a transfer bar ignition. This means you may safely carry six cartridges in the chambers and keep a loaded cylinder under the hammer. Open the loading gate to load the revolver. Load a chamber, rotate the cylinder until you have loaded six chambers, and close the gate. To fire cock the hammer and press the trigger. The Wrangler like all Ruger single action revolvers uses a coil spring set up instead of the ancient leaf spring design. The Ruger single action revolver never seems to give trouble. The Wrangler has followed in this tradition. A new model features a birdshead grip frame. This grip frame-more or less- was originally delivered with the Colt Lightning. It is far more popular today than the Old West, but it offers a singular look. Some like it, some don’t. It comes off best in smaller revolvers with a short barrel, I feel.
My Wrangler birdshead features very nicely done wooden grips. The barrel is shorter than the standard Wrangler with a 3.75 inch length. This is a good compromise for carrying in the field. It doesn’t rob the pistol of much velocity but offers a lighter, neater revolver that isn’t difficult to simply thrust into the back pocket. The revolver is delivered with a very nice DeSantis Wild Hog holster. I found it interesting that the birdshead revolver is only ten more dollars than the standard Wrangler on the shelf. Yet the grips are wood rather than composite and the DeSantis holster is very nicely made. The holster offers ambidextrous carry, right or left hand, and may serve as a crossdraw. While I like this holster a great deal I also like the DeSantis Doc Holliday. I ordered this holster just before Christmas. It is very nicely made of quality leather. Nothing wrong with the ‘free’ holster that came with the Wrangler. The Doc Holliday will get a lot of use.
Firing the Wrangler is a joy. Remember- stay safe. Don’t cock the hammer in the holster. Wait until the revolver is well clear of your body! The hammer is easily cocked- the birdshead grip may move the hand a little closer to the hammer- and then press the trigger. As the handgun recoils grasp the hammer and cock it again. This is a fine practice piece if you shoot cowboy action. The sights are nothing to brag about. They are authentic cowboy type fixed sights. They are properly regulated for 40 grain loads. I would say that this is a ten yard sure thing for squirrel so you are good for a thirty foot tree. Rodents and reptiles at a few paces are a sure thing. As for accuracy- I think fast handling and shooting is a greater test of the firearm. Just the same the Ruger was tested for accuracy. I fired very carefully at fifteen yards. Most of the five shot groups I fired were inside of three inches. A single group when I was really on my game went into 2.2 inches. So- the handgun is accurate as the cylinder locks up tight, the barrel is good, and the trigger action is clean. The sights are nothing to brag about and perhaps my eyesight isn’t either. But I fired without shooting glasses. What it is for- fun shooting- the Wrangler Birdshead is a great revolver. It could be pushed into other chores such as Kit Gun, Camp Gun, and small game hunting. But fun shooting, that is the trick.
The new rule for ‘Frames and Receivers’ still has not been published on regulations.gov as of this morning, so who knows when we’ll deal with that nonsense again. So instead, let’s watch something fun. Ian has uploaded a wonderful video on the FINAL FORM of the BAR.
The Browning Automatic Rifle, made famous in World War II by American Forces. Originally adopted at the end of World War I. Shown to the military by John Moses Browning in essentially a, ‘Hey gents, check this out. You’re going to want them.’ party (and they did). Perhaps most infamously used by Bonnie and Clyde.
This was the magazine-fed 30.06 that almost started the battle rifle trend. It was close, arguments could be made that it’s success and the M1 Garand’s success led to the M14’s layout. The BAR also evolved into the M240, the FN MAG58, which is among the most beloved general purpose machine guns in existence.
Anyhow, the BAR still had some legs left in the 1950’s, a whole four decades after its debut. The 7.62 NATO had been agreed to since the US still loved them some 30.06 and we were going to completely disregard our promise to adopt FN FAL’s instead of the problematic M14 because we loved the M1 Garand too and the M14 looked like a Garand (operated quite differently).
So FN made one final variant in the 50’s, just before that battle rifle era, and this is it. Enjoy. Give Ian a follow too, you’re crazy if you haven’t.
Didn’t we just leave this party? The ATF is at it again, having released the final version of the new rule regulating so-called “ghost guns.” It’s basically the same as the first rule, except now it has all the commentary about how they ignored most of the comments from law abiding gun owners. What a surprise. Oh, Caleb isn’t on this episode because he was lost in the Mines of Moria.
In 2013 Taurus did something surprising and brought a rifle to the market. They have done rifles and even SMGs in Brazil, but this would be the first time they brought a rifle to the American market. They chose to take Taurus SMT MT G2, an SMG, convert it to a PCC, call it the Taurus CT9 G2, and bring it to the United States. They did this in 2013, which put them in a prime spot to get hit by the PCC craze that would be coming in 2014 and 2015.
Yet, the CT9 G2 failed and failed somewhat miserably, so what happened? Functionally the gun wasn’t terrible. The CT9 was reliable, easy to shoot, had decent ergonomics, and was surprisingly accurate, so what happened?
The CT9 Was… Kind of Ugly
When you import a semi-auto rifle into the United States, it has to have some form of ‘Sporting Use’ and cannot be imported with the basic cosmetic features we know and love. When FN imports SCARs, they come in a weird neutered configuration, and once in the States, they fix ‘em up.
The CT9 came to the States in a thoroughly neutered format and kept it. We got the terrible thumbhole stock that made the CT9 butt ugly. It’s very USC in its design, and the American variant of the rifle just looked bad. Taurus should have imported the gun, fixed it up, and attached a folding stock or even an AR-style stock. Anything but the thumbhole design.
10 Round Proprietary Magazines
Whenever I’m reading about a new rifle, and I see the term ‘proprietary magazines,’ my stomach lurches. Proprietary mags don’t always suck. CZ’s Scorpion mags are great, easy to find, affordable, and came in various capacities. Well, the Taurus CT9 is an example of proprietary magazine failure.
The gun came with two ten-round magazines, and that was it. Taurus never imported, sold, or made available any higher-capacity magazines. The weapon was never popular enough to warrant aftermarket support either. So owners were stuck with ten rounders and some modified Uzi mags to work, but most owners were stuck.
Weird Design Choices
On the outside, the design was pretty standard. It’s a blowback-operated 9mm PCC. Nothing crazy. The magazine release sucks with the short ten-rounders, though. The design wants you to grab the magazine as your thumb strikes the magazine release. However, a giant magwell is in the way of doing so.
The sights are big chunks of plastic that don’t fold out of the way. The front sight can’t be adjusted, so hopefully, it’s right! The rear sight can be adjusted and comes with a peep sight and a close-range aperture that resembles a Glock rear sight for close-range shooting. The sights… kind of suck.
Also, as part of the neutering, the barrel isn’t threaded. They should have deneutered the whole gun when it got to the states, but at the very least, they should have threaded the barrel with PCCs being so easy to suppress.
Absolutely Zero Support
Taurus released the gun and said have fun and faded away. They went to the store to buy cigarettes and never came back. They did diddly with the CT9. Not just magazines, but they never offered any 922R parts or support either. CZ did it right with the Scorpion. Release it, then get to working on kits to satisfy 922R to allow the manufacture of SBRs. You can toss an optic an AR foregrip on and that was about it.
The CT9 got zero aftermarket support, either. Looking at message boards, people found various ways to attach stocks and similar items. No one else supported the gun.
Pistol Versions Never Existed
Taurus could have imported stockless, large format pistols variants of the CT9 and been ahead of the curve. That’s the route CZ took, and it worked well. Large format pistols would be easier, and wouldn’t have to worry about 922R and sporting purpose clauses. In 2013 braces had just been unveiled and certainly weren’t what they are now.
However, Taurus would have been ahead of the curve with a more SMG and more pistol-like version of the gun. Plus, we could have gotten real mags with the pistol version. I’m betting the SMG look would appeal to a larger crowd than the weird PCC look.
The CT9 and The Future of Taurus
Taurus has been innovating, experimenting, and seemingly upping its quality control in the last few years. I think the CT9 or something similar could make a serious comeback. Hell, make it use PT92 mags so Beretta mags would be available, or pull a Ruger and have multiple magwell options.
As of now, most CT9s are tough to find and seem to be drying up. I’m sure Ian will have one on the Forgotten Weapons channel soon. Or they might be back and better than ever in 2023, continuing the Taurus glow up.
The SCAR and FN catch flak, some deserved and some overblown.
But despite cost, despite a charging handle that went back and forth (at SOCOM request), despite trouble with optics, and despite SOCOM later saying, ‘Oh, yeah. The M4 can do most of this no problem, we’ll buy 17’s from now on,’ the SCAR is still one of the most high functioning rifles in any of its several calibers.
Henry and Josh run the SCAR 16s and a modern 1-8 LPVO (The newest Primary Arms offering) through the practical accuracy course and it scores 17, 16 is a perfect score and Henry through one miss high on the last target.
What I want to highlight is one of the most well documented displays of why I love the SCAR rifle. Look at the recoil (or rather lack their of) influencing Henry’s shooting. Look at how quickly and how consistently the SCAR places follow up shots, even at the 350-500 yard targets where groups are usually opening up usually the SCAR is stacking rounds.
The SCAR16 is incredibly accurate and incredibly durable, the Marines testing the IAR variant couldn’t induce one of their malfunctions in the test gun. The rifle runs incredibly well.
But as Mike Jones pointed out in his recent SCAR video, it comes with some weirdness still the FN has not changed. The suppression voiding the warranty (not FN’s services, just the official warranty), the A2 pistol grip, the dated early 2000’s handguard layout, the A2 pistol grip, the odd and stiffer mil-spec single stage trigger in the commercial gun, the A2 pistol grip… Yeah that one is the most annoying feature on any rifle offering that is not a retro.
I’m out of funny applicable movie memes to apply the absurdity of this situation, so I’m using Colion Noir’s video instead.
The Texas lawyer and 2A advocate distills down the absurdity of this rule rather nicely.
It still makes no sense.
It still doesn’t clear up much.
It will still not have any impact on violent criminality.
It still isn’t published in the register as of this writing. Maybe as of your reading, but not as I am writing this.
I’ll summarize in text what I’ve been baffled about since President Biden opened his mouth and stumbled through is speech, picking things up and putting them down, while saying ‘Look, its gun shaped. Grrrr.’ [paraphrased].
The new rule, 120 days after its publication date, will regulate firearm assembly kits that do not require home builders go through an FFL to acquire them into ones that do. The exact methodology behind this determination of whether it is or is not a firearm is about as murky and vague as it gets, despite the ATF’s assurance that it isn’t.
What it amounts to is this.
Frames are fine still, technically.
Because PMF’s are completely legal and do not require serial numbers per ATF, the only exception is if the PMF is an NFA item, frames are still not required to have a serial number on their own
Whether a frame/receiver is or isn’t a firearm isn’t dependent upon the frame or receiver itself
Whether a frame is or isn’t a firearm is dependent upon the amount of assistance provided that is packaged into the kit
“Readily convertible,” was the key phrase the ATF locked onto. As far as I can tell, “readily convertible” simply means, ‘comes with directions’. So to use Joe Biden’s clumsy IKEA example, the couch is only a couch if it comes with directions to assemble it into a couch. If it is all the parts to make a couch but doesn’t come with directions or tools to assist you in its assembly, then it isn’t “readily convertible” into a couch and is therefore still not a couch.
The rules changes are very specifically targeting products like the Polymer80 that provide guidance to the buyers so they can assemble the firearm safely. They are declaring them firearms, requiring serializing, requiring FFLs to serialize them and track them in their A&D records (for all the good that will ultimately do as most traces dead end anyway, “successful” or not). However they couldn’t go so far as to ban 80% type frames outright, they had to invent the term “readily convertible” and give it a very convoluted definition. It absolutely hits Polymer80’s as they exist right now, the market for them is going to shift. How far remains to be seen.
“Stone Glacier is a result of 15 years of solo sheep hunts from the Dall country of Alaska to the unlimited districts of Montana’s Beartooth Wilderness. The goal has been straightforward: build the lightest, most durable gear using only the toughest technical materials available.”- Stone Glacier
Stone Glacier has a history of making great packs, clothing, and gear for the hunter. Now, insert Competition Dynamics, NRL Hunter, and other precision shooting leagues that bring you into more realistic shooting scenarios and can even involve some camping. Participating in this means that you have to have the right equipment just like you would in hunting.
Stone Glacier and Caylen Wojcik, a Marine Corps Scout Sniper and co-host of the Modern Day Sniper podcast, go over this in a great blog post below. Caylen has also worked with Stone Glacier to design the Kiowa 3200. With both a hunting and shooting perspective in mind, this is also a great day pack option for larger framed people.
Compatible with all SG frames including the R3, Xcurve, and Krux EVO Frames to achieve a 150+ pound load rating (check Design page for load rating info)
Dimensions: 20.5″ Tall x 12″ Wide x 8″ Deep (meets TSA carry-on size regulations)
2,200 cubic inch main bag
36 L
External compression panel
Hydration compatible (Hydro Sleeve – Sold Separately)
Heavy duty YKK #10 zipper
Cordura 500 and Xpac fabric
Heavy-duty, 1″ Duraflex military approved buckles and webbing
Made in the USA
Purchase Price/Options
Colors: Foliage, Tan Price: $289
Worth mentioning, whenever an order goes through on stone glacier they have the customer use Route. It is basically an additional tracking and insurance on where your package is. It gave me a warm fuzzy especially with the current shipping issues we are all facing.
From the Writer, During the Match
The need for a new day pack came from shooting National Rifle League Hunter Matches. I needed to be able to hike with 100 rounds of ammo, tripod hooked to the bag, and comfortable enough to go up and down hills while having a rifle over my shoulder. It also needed to be able to give me quick access to things such as my tripod and shooting bag since I deploy these on the clock. I used to run an Eberlestock bag and it did its job however a big drawback of it were some of the smaller pouch placements. For instance, a small pouch was only located on the very top which made it flop over when retrieving anything. I also had to makeshift a way to stow my tripod as there wasn’t any cinch tabs to retain it. Note: This specific bag is a couple of years old so I am sure that Eberlestock now has better options.
I found Stone Glacier named in two main places, one, after searching “pack and tripod” on snipers hide, and by seeing a couple other precision rifle shooters and dudes in the equipment industry who knew about bags. A couple of options came up in both areas. After looking at each option I decided on the Stone Glacier Avail 2200. This is their smallest pack and is known to be a “day pack” as you can pack enough items for a day or two and still carry your animal out. The reviews were high and I noticed right away that it came with a tripod foot, straps on the side for tripod retention, and an easy to grab pouch in the front that enables you to just stuff items on the fly without having to unzip anything. It being a day pack as well means that it is a smaller frame. Me being a smaller framed female, and only having to carry a day worth of items, I didn’t want anything too large.Here it shows how the pack looks on a grown man.
Inside the cabin at the Arena, packed before the first day of shooting for NRL Hunter.
I ran this pack for the first time at a National Rifle League Hunter match in Georgia at the Arena Training Facility. Setting it up I immediately found use for the two smaller pouches on the inside of the pack and found ease in retaining my tripod. There wasn’t much hiking this match however the straps already felt like it balanced the weight better. I have not used the belt on the pack yet as I didn’t need to. The front pouch worked great for just throwing my rear bag in without being retained by anything but having the pouch tightened down. The bottom of the pouch held my ammo well without creating sag in the bottom of the bag as the bottom of the bag is a different, stronger material. The bungee cords kept the things I didn’t need every stage out of the way and stayed put.
The Biggest Takeaways
Tripod Stowing
The tripod foot sewn into the side of the pack and the cinch cords made retaining the tripod and removing it off the pack easy and fast. Stowing a tripod is as easy as collapsing it, putting one foot into the foot pouch, and cinching the strap down. Super easy and I haven’t ran into it snagging or coming loose during a hike yet.
Also, I could still get into the bag when the tripod is stowed. That is huge as I may need to reload my magazines or grab something inside but don’t want to loosen my tripod on the side of the bag.
Pouches
Sometimes when buying packs kitting the pack out with smaller pouches can be an additional purchase and separate placement after purchasing the bag. With the Avail 2200 the two smaller pouches on in the inside of the pouch were already there. Therefore, I had the larger pouch that can be accessed from the outside of the bag, the two smaller pouches sewn into the front side of the bag but can only be accessed by opening the bag, and the main large compartment which has two even smaller almost cup sized pouches on the walls of the bag.
Having pouches that are already sewn in and perfect size are a must.
Light and comfortable
The Stone Glacier Avail 2200 weighs 3lbs and 8oz overall without any additional frames. The pack is super light yet comfortable on the back and shoulders. It is also strong enough to hold weight as it is made from Cordura 500 and Xpac fabric. It also uses military approved Heavy-duty, 1″ Duraflex buckles and webbing.
Besides the amazing gear, Stone Glaciers passion for hunting shines through on all of their platforms. There are many cool hunting videos where they go in depth on certain hunts, the need for conservation in certain areas, and just as cool, really helpful product set up videos.
Too often we still hear that guns are the problem. For example, esteemed Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Tweet (“light footing” it around her responsibility for Chicago’s safe streets): “We have a common enemy: it’s guns & the violence they bring.”
Yet there has been a gradual shift in messaging by our distinguished gun control competition. In recent years, they’ve backed off somewhat from their longtime gun ban and confiscation demands and moved more toward restrictions around the edges. That doesn’t mean they’ve given up their yearning to ban guns (or “buy-back” certain types, leading toward more). But they’re learning (like Beto O’Rourke and Mehmet Oz running in state elections this year) that you don’t win popularity contests demanding to seize law-abiding voters’ lawful personal property.
That’s to the good, despite their unredeemable craving to take your guns. They can get nothing done if they aren’t broadly popular, culturally and politically, and the winds have been blowing against them. So even though we can’t trust their ultimate goals, they are actually getting farther away from enacting them and they know it.
Here and there are even some glimmers of rational thinking by people from whom we might have expected worse. In the NRA’s America’s 1st Freedom article covering much of DRGO’s mission, “No Doctor Should Prescribe Gun Control”, Tennessee emergency physician Matt Tipton said “Gun ownership should not be treated as a public-health issue. Instead, gun safety should be taught.” [Ed: Matt, have you joined DRGO yet?]
Another emergency physician wrote in Emergency Medicine News last month that we should be “Standing AFFIRM—Putting the ‘Public’ in Public Health”. Dr. Christopher Barsotti correctly asserts “that our society’s current approach to firearm injury prevention—political advocacy for legal control of a consumer device—has not yielded results.” He realizes that “firearm injuries happen as a result of gun misuse, and . . . [that f]irearm safety training teaches us how to use the device safely.” The problem comes when “[h]urt people hurt themselves and others. True firearm safety requires device education with health education,” i.e., training. Amen!
Going on, “[h]undreds of millions of guns are privately owned by tens of millions of gun owners, including more than a third of emergency physicians and more than 40 percent of trauma surgeons.” Solving the “public health” (still has to say that) “requires the engagement of . . . the U.S. population that chooses to exercise its Second Amendment constitutional right.” That’s right, Dr. Barsotti, and nothing’s going to work without us. “Preventing firearm injuries and death is a priority concern for all Americans.” We’ll be watching to see where this goes.
Also encouraging is that some typically anti-rights “researchers” are writing that the only practical intervention is to address the actors in violence, not the weapons. Two studies regarding suicide demonstrate this.
On March 14, JAMA Network published “Mental Health Treatment Seeking and History of Suicidal Thoughts Among Suicide Decedents by Mechanism, 2003-2018”, in which Allison Bond, MA et al document the differences between those who suicide by shooting themselves compared to those who suicide by other methods. They found that “that suicide decedents who die by firearm are less likely to seek treatment, more likely to die on their first attempt, and more likely to tell someone about their suicidal thoughts or plans.”
It’s not startling that someone who chooses especially lethal means is less likely to seek help and more likely to die. What’s interesting is that the same person may nonetheless be more likely to mention to someone they might do that. Most people who think about suicide drop hints and clues, and it’s not clear that there is any reason that those contemplating suicide by firearm should more likely do that. This incongruity will take more work to resolve, and could be productive.
Credit them with worrying about suicide rather than the means. At the same time, there are plenty of anti-s who will take this to justify Red Flag Laws to take away guns and accomplish nothing further.
December 2021 brought “Alcohol and drug offenses and suicide risk among men who purchased a handgun in California” in Preventive Medicine by Garen Wintemute MD et al. Yes, the usual suspects. First of all, this was a “cohort study”, not randomized or blinded. Their highlighted finding is that men with alcohol charges buying handguns were more at risk of firearm suicide than men with drug charges buying handguns. The rest is window dressing.
Such a finding could easily be misused: “We must stop all men arrested for alcohol intoxication from buying handguns!” Yet the real point is very different. The study may have identified a very precise cohort of men (alcohol charges + handgun purchase) whose elevated risk of dying by suicide may be worth very specific intervention. However, their own results show that their risk of dying by firearm suicide is no different from their risk of dying from any cause of suicide. So the intervention must be attuned to mental status and life stressors, not to gun ownership per se.
Investigations like seek to conclude that dealing with the guns is the preferred intervention, even when they demonstrate otherwise! That these get published underlines how such authors have to mispresent their work in order to pad their CVs and support the agenda of their funders. But once public, even their facts speak for themselves.
Since we’re talking about suicide, let’s close on a useful note. One of the very few things that Bloomberg mouthpiece The Trace has come up with is “Where to Find Help If You’re Experiencing Suicidal Thoughts or Depression”. Once you’re past the first self-congratulatory paragraph, there are some really useful pointers to resources that can help prevent tragedies in which almost 46,000 Americans died in 2020, the latest year with a full count. For this, we can all help each other regardless of politics and other agendas.
.
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— DRGO Editor Robert B. Young, MD is a psychiatrist practicing in Pittsford, NY, an associate clinical professor at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.
The Maven RS.4 has been one of the more easy riflescopes to boresight, zero, and adjust the zero stop. Both elevation and windage turrets have a toolless cap with the cap blending in perfectly with the rest of the turret. The zero stop adjustment is as easy as using an included hex wrench to loosen three set screws and line up the base pins. Not only is it easy, but the included directions are straight and to the point with no confusion. Included in the article are both pictures of those instructions and some written instructions that include helpful tidbits that were found when going through the zeroing process.
These instructions can also be found on the scope website page here.
Boresighting
First, to get you close at the range so you aren’t wasting time and money you will want to boresight. This is as simple as resting your gun on a stable surface and taping a target to the wall at distance. I taped the target at 25 to make it easier to see. Then, looking through the bore of the gun, line it up so that the center of the target is in the center of the bore. Then, without moving the gun at all, look through the scope. You then want to adjust the turret (without unscrewing anything yet) to get the center of your reticle to the center of the target. What you are doing here is lining up the bore and the optic to get close before shooting rounds downrange. Dependent on the scope mount you are using you could be way low or dead on.
Don’t get nervous if you have to make quite a bit of adjustment during boresighting. I myself due to using a 0MOA scope mount had to come up a lot on the turret before it looked to be lined up. If you are using a 20MOA, dependent on the gun, you may be a lot closer.
Zeroing the Scope
After everything looks to be lined up in the boresight, you can adjust your turret right there. You may have to do this again when you go to the range to zero and confirm, but personally I like to adjust my scope in a more controlled environment, especially if it is my first time with that scope. This will allow you to take your time to learn and ensure that you are adjusting it correctly.
To adjust the zero is actually very simple. Both the elevation and windage turret are a three piece turret. One piece is the cap, the next is the wall of the turret where all of the hashes are, and last is the actual turret where you will adjust the return to zero.
To adjust the zero, while holding the turret wall and not adjusting where you found your boresight to look lined up at, take the cap off of the elevation turret. It will look like there is no cap because the fit is so seamless and it blends into the ridges well. When unscrewing this cap again make sure you don’t actually adjust the turret. Keep those numbers lined up exactly as they were. Once the cap is off and again without turning the turret, bring the hashed portion of the turret straight up. It is almost like a ring slipping off the turret. You then can slip that ring back down onto the turret but this time with the zero portion on the center of the turret. Screw the top cap back on without turning the turret and there you have it, zeroed after a boresight. This is the same method you will use after going to the range and needing to do any additional adjustment.
Use the same method for both your elevation and windage.
The cap blends perfectly into the whole turret. This is with it a bit unscrewed.Shown is the cap off with the slip ring. Ensure that you don’t move the turret with the ring still in place as this will adjust your zero.
Zero Stop
Adjusting the zero stop is essentially adjusting your scope to where the scope will stop at zero (or close to it) and won’t be able to be turned backwards past the zero. This ensures that after making an engagement and bringing the scope back to zero, once you hit that stop you are actually at the zero and not a revolution up or down.
After boresighting, this is personal preference, you may want to adjust the return to zero right there due to still being in a controlled environment and learning how your scope works.
Showing where my personal zero stop is set.The Zero Stop ring with one set screw hole showing. The zero stop ring is pushed to the very base of the scope and both pins touching.
To adjust the zero stop, follow all of the same steps in adjusting the zero. So, unscrew the cap and slide the ring off the turret. Then using the included hex wrench, unscrew the small set screws on that zero stop ring. You will want to use the specific wrench given due to those screws being small and not wanting to damage them. It is hard to see where the wrench makes contact with the screw so don’t take a shortcut and just use the included wrench. After loosening the three set screws you can now freely slide the zero stop mech. Slide the mech all the way down until it touches the bottom of the turret base. Once all the way down, rotate until the zero stop pin makes contact with the base pin. So looking left to right it will go base pin on the left, zero stop pin on the right.
Retighten all screws without overtightening. Remember these are small screws be careful not to strip them. After all three screws are retightened follow the steps from before and put your elevation ring back over on the zero mark.
Sometimes it won’t line up perfectly dependent on where your zero is. Don’t let this make you nervous. Mine goes a touch past the zero. The zero stop works as it should, just go past where it stops, then bring it back to zero. If you did all of this correctly and ensured that you didn’t move the scope before sliding the ring off your zero should still be in the same spot and now you have your zero stop set.
Confirm
No matter if you did all of these steps during boresighting, or at the range after putting rounds downrange, you will still want to confirm your zero. Remember that your target on the wall may have been at a different range other than 100yds to ensure you can see it through the bore. Also, anytime you take your turret apart it is good to shoot one more group and ensure that you are back to where you want to be hitting at 100.
I like to shoot 5 round groups when confirming or doing load development for gas gun work.
I will forever show this absolute imbecile when talking about 'ghost guns'
The ruling on ATF Definition of ‘Frame or Receiver’ and Identification of Firearms still has not hit the registry yet. That means the 120 time frame is still not in effect.
However the rules, definitions, and amendments themselves are on ATF.Gov/firearms/docs.
It is 364 pages.
They spent 364 pages of new regulation to try and make understanding what a frame or receiver is clearer and easier. Granted, there is bloat in the pages due to citation requirements and formatting, but still 364 pages.
There is a new novel’s worth text to try and explain that things that weren’t firearms might be firearms now, from a certain point of view.
They go on at great length about the threat posed by unserialized guns, and that is true. Unserialized weapons are a threat to citizens, law enforcement, and national security as a method of force useable by terrorists, criminals, and the unhinged. Unserialized firearms are dangerous, they are a risk.
What they fail to account for, as far as I can see, is how much greater a risk they are then the rest of guns. I see paragraph after paragraph espousing the risks of unserialized firearms in a vacuum, but none placing it in the context of unserialized firearms within a market saturated with serialized firearms.
This line on page 24 stands out, however.
At least one court has also concluded that ATF has a statutory duty pursuant to the GCA to trace firearms to keep them out of the hands of criminals and other prohibited persons. Blaustein & Reich, Inc. v. Buckles, 220 F. Supp. 2d 535, 537 (E.D. Va. 2002).
How seriously do the ATF pursue this statutory duty?
Individuals who submit falsified information on a form needed to purchase a firearm (e.g., do not disclose a felony conviction) may be subject to investigation and prosecution.
In fiscal 2017, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives referred about 12,700 denied purchases to its field divisions for investigation. As of June 2018, U.S. Attorney’s Offices prosecuted 12 of these cases. [emphasis added]
ATF field divisions may send warning notices to denied persons in lieu of prosecution, but this practice varies across divisions. -GOA report on Firearm denial cases, 2017 (most recent in their records)
They dive heavily into the eTrace system and how the eTrace doesn’t work on unserialized firearms, funny that a system largely dependent on serial number doesn’t work on things without them.
But back to the background checks they are trying to associate with serial numbers.
Twelve cases… twelve went to federal prosecution. Now this doesn’t account for local prosecutions, but the ratio here is still staggering. Clearly a NICS denial isn’t ‘wrong hands’ enough to warrant the attempt at putting these people in prison in the vast majority of cases. We’re talking .01% of denials ended in a federal prosecution for violating these super serious, crime stopping, definitely effective gun control laws. [/sarc]
Yet this is the fix they are proposing. They want to add serial numbers to everything. They want to pass Universal Background Checks. They want to add all of this to stopping “gun violence” and yet they have a federal prosecution rate of .01% of under the current rules?
Why is that?
GAO’s analysis for NICS denials by year 2010-2019.
So firstly, the most common reason is they are simply not a resident who can own a firearm. Not a convicted felon, not a danger based upon past other convictions, not a mentally adjudicated individual, they might just don’t know that they can’t buy a gun. I don’t know if illegal or unlawful alien is their actual residency status or if it is their residency status plus not being a resident qualified for firearm ownership is what ‘Illegal or unlawful alien’ covers, perhaps both.
“Illegal aliens are just undocumented!“
“Oh then they should have their full residency rights, including firearms?”
“No! Illegal aliens with firearm rights? Are you crazy!?”
No more borders!
Except for guns!
Then definitely borders.
All the borders.
Anyway, it’s fun to read them dive into just how much they are hyping the eTrace reports without finishing the cycle at actual convictions. They don’t give us a number or a projected number of additional stopped events based on these changes, they just repeatedly assure us it is important.
Because PMFs lack serial numbers and other markings from a licensed manufacturer, ATF has found it extremely difficult to successfully complete traces of PMFs. – Pg. 26
Notice it is complete traces, not achieve convictions. There was a problem in the data cycle, not in putting criminals who had committed violence in prison.
In the NPRM, the Department noted that, with the rapid emergence of PMFs in recent years, licensees have sought clarity from ATF on how PMFs may be accepted and recorded. – Pg. 26
Now this is something that ATF have needed to actually provide guidance and clarification on. Of all the things they are doing in this rule change, this one actually mattered to FFLs. Who is responsible and what are the requirements of serializing a PMF (Privately Made Firearm) if it enters the commercial stream. The final ruling is that FFLs are going to be shouldering this burden if they choose to accept PMFs into their inventories.
Personally, and just speaking personally, I would avoid non-serialized PMF transfers as part of my private business. From both a safe function standpoint, I don’t know if they built it correctly and I don’t want to transfer it to another person on faith alone, and an additional labor I am required to do standpoint. An FFL could charge to serialize and could make that part of the transfer, but it is still a great deal of compliance work. It will not be a net profit generator for most FFLs without 07/02 (manufacturing) tooling.
Further down we get into the analysis of the comments.
Over 3,000 were simply “Stop Ghost Guns” and the commentators in support are basically just drones of the ‘gun = bad’ mentality without a cohesive thought through logic chain as to why. Pro-gun commentators suffer from this too, it isn’t a surprise. We will get to those. What is interesting is their use of the commentary to bolster the rule change.
Commenters in support remarked that the proposed definitions are justified given the ease with which prohibited persons can intentionally circumvent Federal regulations to acquire unfinished frames or receivers that can be easily converted to functional firearms without a background check. -Pg. 57
Again, the adherence to background checks as the all powerful safety regulation gets thrown down against really hard when you look at the prosecution rate of failed background checks under the current system. By the numbers, we waste a ton of time and resources on background checks for very little gain. Roughly 99.99% wasted effort according to the 2017 federal prosecutions.
We’d be better served by keeping sentenced individuals for the length of their sentence, in instances involving violence, than we are by background checks. How many of the recently reported shootings were by early released individuals?
I also see no mention of prosecutions or enforcing the provisions that if a PMF is made by a prohibited person resources will be focused on that instead of nebulously attacking the PMF market for everyone, lawful or otherwise. I have a feeling we could deliver far more effect if we simply upped the penalties upon a conviction if the crime is committed with a PMF (assuming we enforced sentencing to completion in the first place).
Some commenters emphasized that women who are victims of domestic abuse are severely affected by the rapid proliferation of unserialized firearms that can be easily acquired without a background check by convicted domestic violence offenders or those subject to a domestic violence restraining order. -Pg. 60
These are based on technically accurate capabilities rather than actual data trends, sometimes called strawman arguments.
We have not identified any increase in abuse, assaults, or homicides that are outside the parameters of the general criminality in each of those categories in the broader spectrum of the United States as a whole. In short, we can say PMFs are a problem because they are easier for the felonious possessors to acquire without a background check, but we have no trend in general criminality outside the scope of the increase and decrease of violence in the US as a whole when factoring in the other influences. Factors like the loss of public trust in officials, elected officials ‘supporting violence’ from their supporters, and the stresses generating increased crime from the lockdowns and pandemic all have influence in that general criminality. We can say, in theory, that PMFs are a problem but we have no trend to point to showing they are actually a problem. We are finding them at crimes or associated with crimes but we aren’t seeing more crime directly linked to PMFs that are trending outside the overall, all factors included increase in violence we have seen since 2020. That is just the inference they are trying to have you make because they are finding more of a popular firearm format at crimes.
They cannot say that there are more crimes because of PMFs, if they could they would.
In opposition to the rule, there were 7,000 opposed in contrast to the 3,000 in support without further reason provided in either direction. These opposition notes start on page 82. So this measure is more than twice as unpopular as it is popular by submitted comments without further explanation.
“serial number tracing serves a governmental interest in enabling law enforcement to gather vital information from recovered firearms,” and “[b]ecause it assists law enforcement in this manner, we find its preservation is not only a substantial but a compelling interest”). -Pg. 90-91
This part is interesting. “Vital Information” is the term I catch on here, we keep hearing that serial numbers are vital and yet I don’t see evidence being presented that their absence is significantly hindering law enforcement from prosecuting criminals. Only evidence that it is making completing traces in eTrace problematic.
The strongest argument provided against the rule, in my opinion, was the vagueness and confusing nature of “readily convertible” in their rule, and to argument that the ATF basically says, “nuh uh!”
Department Response In light of the many cases rejecting such challenges, the Department does not believe the term “readily” is vague. Nonetheless, to avoid any doubt, the final rule provides additional clarity on the application of “readily.” The rule now expressly excludes from the definitions of “frame or receiver,” a “forging, casting, printing, extrusion, unmachined body, or similar article that has not yet reached a stage of manufacture where it is clearly identifiable as an unfinished component part of a weapon (e.g., unformed block of metal, liquid polymer, or other raw material).” Thus, the definition of “readily” is not applied to items in a primordial state that are not clearly identifiable as unfinished weapon (i.e., pistol, revolver, rifle, or shotgun) frames or receivers. Moreover, the final rule explains that, when issuing a classification, the Director may consider any associated templates, jigs, molds, equipment, tools, instructions, guides, or marketing materials that are sold, distributed, or possessed with the item or kit, or otherwise made available by the seller or distributor of the item or kit, to the purchaser or recipient of the item or kit. The final rule further provides detailed examples of when an unfinished frame or receiver billet, blank, or parts kit may be considered a “frame or receiver.” For example, a partially complete billet or blank of a frame or receiver is a “frame or receiver” when it is sold, distributed, or possessed with a compatible jig or template, allowing a person using online instructions and common hand tools to complete the frame or receiver efficiently, quickly, and easily “to function as a frame or receiver,” a term which is also explained in the final rule. These revisions make it clear that manufacturers will be able to continue to obtain unfinished billets or blanks from their suppliers for further manufacture without requiring that the producer be
licensed, mark such items, or maintain records of production and disposition. This is because their suppliers are not selling, distributing, or otherwise making available to their customers any jigs, templates, or other items that allow them to be readily converted to function as a frame or receiver. – Pg. 97-98.
The government’s response experts all over the industry stating the rule is vague is, “No, it isn’t.”
Instead of providing any firm timeframe, number of steps to completion, type or complexity of tools required for completion, or anything that could be roughly established as a measuring stick for what is and isn’t “readily” completable as a firearm, it basically states that if the parts come with directions for their safe completion, it is a firearm. Unless it isn’t. Oh and if there are tools to help complete it it is a firearm, unless it isn’t.
Example, since this is confusing as all get out. A block of aluminum with the directions for a CNC machine to complete the lower receiver would be fine. This is listed as the ‘primordial state’ of the material. But if a jig set were added to help in the various stages it might now be a firearm. If the aluminum then looks like the shape of a lower, because it was cast or machined enough, with the same completion directions attached it also is now a firearm.
It’s still vague, it’s just new vague instead of old vague.
Page 102 gets very interesting.
With these clarifications in the final rule, licensees, and the public, can make their own determinations to identify the frame or receiver of a weapon without an ATF classification.
We are smart enough to do it on our own! Until the ATF disagrees. That page also adds,
A “statute is not impermissibly vague simply because it does not spell out every possible factual scenario with celestial precision.”
The statute doesn’t give us any factual scenario. It removes the only vague scenario we had, “80%” completed and now just goes with, ‘Well, if there are directions it is a gun, and if there aren’t it isn’t. Also if it kinda looks like a gun or a gun part it is, and if it doesn’t it isn’t… unless there are tools and directions, then it probably is again.
That isn’t vague though. The ATF said it isn’t.
I’m also a “huge fan” [/sarc] of the ATF policy of ‘send a sternly worded note’ to the vast majority of people who fail their background checks. It is almost as if our background check criteria is vague, and not a great indicator of actual prosecutable threat potential. But that is not under the scope of the rule change.
So this is the rule in TL;DR format. I think…
It’s a gun if you provide directions and/or tools to help make it into a functional gun with the parts. Unless its “primordial” or from Home Depot.
I used to hate sunglasses. I have a big head, and most don’t fit. Years went by with me refusing to wear them, and I had no idea the damage I’d done to my eyes. However, in the last few years, I decided I’d like to have eyesight as long as possible and have added sunglasses to my EDC. My latest pair comes from Gatorz and are called the Skyhooks.
Gatorz became known as a company that made glasses for military, police, and shooters. They traditionally offered protection up to industry and military standards and were well suited for use in the field, on the street, and at the range. Those glasses are great…but they aren’t stylish, at least not to me. The Skyhook glasses represent a departure from protective glasses to a more fashion-friendly, lightweight design.
The Skyhook glasses still feature aerospace-grade aluminum frame construction and sport impact-resistant polycarbonate lenses. They are sure as hell tougher than Ray-Bans. These are very well-made sunglasses designed to last for years and look good doing so.
Aviator-style lenses don’t offer a protective wrap-around design but are still tough as nails. I have a big head, and small lenses don’t look right. Aviators help people ignore the fact I wear a 2XL kevlar.
Getting Fit with the Skyhook Glasses
Speaking of my big head, most glasses pinch, and the Skyhook glasses pinched at first. They dug in just a bit too much at the temples. The Gatorz website has a quick video that shows you how to adjust the glasses for a better fit. The frame can bend slightly to accommodate bigger heads or smaller heads.
After the glasses fit appropriately around my big head, I found them drifting downwards just slightly. If you hate pushing your glasses up as I do, you can adjust the nose piece. Bend it inwards to tighten the fit, and this keeps them from riding down your nose. I exercise outside, and it’s bright because I, for some ungodly reason, live in the Sunshine state. I tossed the Skyhook glasses on, and they didn’t drift, fall off, or lose their place on my face.
Once fit, they were quite comfortable. At one point, I forgot I was wearing them until I walked inside. These are the only glasses I’ve ever worn that I’ve forgotten about. I’ve owned and used Gatorz before, and they never left me feeling that way. The lightweight, minimalist design of the Skyhook made them easy to forget.
Staying Clear
The Skyhook comes in numerous lens colors. In terms of what you see, it’s either brown or smoke. The outside can be mirrored pink, mirrored blue, mirrored sunburst, and mirrored green. I went with the polarized smoke glasses. Polarized lenses block 99% of reflected light, eliminate glare, and give you a really nice and rich contrast.
The lenses are crazy clear and absolutely wonderful. The glare reduction makes the image appear clearer and brighter than my actual vision.
The Gatorz Skyhook delivers in the lens department. They also seem to be fairly resistant to scratches and abrasions. They are my every day glasses and have been tossed on the counter, in the center console, and they typically ride on my shirt.
They’ve taken some hits, I’ve dropped them, and once got them stuck between my center console and driver’s seat. They remain perfectly clear with no detectable abrasions or scratches. I use a simple lens cloth to wipe off smudges, and that’s about it.
Style
I love the minimalist and aviator look that the Skyhook contains. It’s sleek and slim. They are unassuming, with a small chrome Gatorz logo and a chrome finish applied to the screws that hold the hinges together. The accents do a great job of breaking up the all-black color.
I don’t know anything about style or fashion, so take my advice with a grain of salt. The Skyhook looks great. They fit with most clothing choices, be it casual or dressed up. They aren’t flashy either, which I appreciate. Sorry Kanye, but I can’t wear Shutter Shades.
The Gatorz Skyhook glasses are a great option if you want to look less tactical and more stylish. Ditch the Oakley M-Frames when you ditch the cargo pants. Sometimes you need something a little more casual and a little less sheepdog, and I think the Skyhook covers that.
Multiple people were injured at the 36th street station, image via CNN
Not to be outdone by California, apparently, New York is reporting a shooting in the 36th St. Subway Station in Brooklyn. The suspect is a gasmasked individual wearing a worker/safety vest.
The shooter, at this time, is still at large.
He got away.
A firearm has been recovered at the scene on the train or platform, no word on what it is. Given the nature of a train environment and number of shots, I would suspect a handgun.
The details surrounding this shooting, unlike Sacramento, point to a MAPS qualifying attack in a terrorism or lone unstable individual type of manner. It is not known at this time if any manner of post, manifesto, demand, or other identifying motive have been located.
The details known from the New York Times can be found here.
How’s that Gun Control working?
I hate being the one to keep pointing, and I am certainly not victim blaming (I am absolutely politico blaming), but we have had two devastating examples of how much paper tiger garbage gun control is from the two most heavily gun controlled states in the nation.
All their permits, and their background checks, and their approved lists of guns, and their magazine capacity limits, and their waiting periods, none if it mattered to 16 people in Brooklyn at 8:30 am. Ten of them caught a bullet and six more suffered other injuries either from trying to escape or the smoke canister.
What has New York’s gun control wrought? What have their rules and their efforts produced? Safety? Clearly not. We are living through a time where hostility has been seen and encouraged by folks in positions of power and influence against their political/ideological opponents. Civility is not the language of the day unless they are under attack, then it magically is again.
Are we honestly surprise to see this slippage? Are we shocked to see this logical progression of what one side allows the other will do?
We shouldn’t be. January 6th was a testament to that.
The question is what will New York do, double down on new rules like California? Have the President do the angry old man yells at cloud routine? Or, depending upon how this happened and what the motivations were, take some meaningful actions toward crime prevention and response.
When the Range Officer was introduced a few years ago I grabbed the first one I could find. I quickly learned the pistol wasn’t a variant of the Loaded Model or a GI Gun with good sights, it was more than that.
The Range Officer is a superior shooter and among the best combinations of accuracy and performance in a Springfield 1911 at a fair price. I have built up very nice pistols from the GI gun and the Mil Spec. But the Range Officer is really a nice target gun with a matte finish. Nothing sloppy in the barrel fit or trigger action. In many ways the Range Officer is a match ready pistol. You may not win the match but it is a great starter gun.
You would not win the match simply by paying for a custom pistol either. A steel frame 1911 will withstand a great deal of shooting. The Range Officer should last at least as long as a GI gun. The pistol is more tightly fitted than the GI pistols and this means that there is less eccentric wear. Just honest even wear for more years and ammunition than most of us will ever dream of.
The Range Officer features tight slide to frame fit. There is little lateral play. The barrel is well fitted. As you rack the slide your will feel the smooth but tight movement of the locking lugs into the slide. The pistol features a fiber optic front sight in some models, a simple post in others, and a rugged fully adjustable rear sight. The mainspring housing is properly checkered. The grips are attractive rosewood or cocobolo. The matte finish saves a lot of money on polishing time and expensive bluing but it has proven durable enough for hard use. The barrel is stainless steel and the barrel bushing is also stainless.
The barrel bushing doesn’t require a tool for disassembly. Just the same the fit is snug. The pistol is reminiscent of the first National Match pistols. It is target accurate but not fragile and useful for many types of shooting. The hammer and trigger feature the lightening cut out common to many Springfield pistol. Trigger compression is good. My example breaks at 6.5 pounds. There is a bit of take up, no creep, and a rapid reset. The safety indents in a positive manner. The grip safety proper releases its hold on the trigger about midway into its travel.
The pistol is supplied in a large gray lockable plastic box along with a plastic holster, dual magazine pouch, and a total of two magazines. The holster is OK for range work but nothing I would use for personal defense/carry. I have seen too many cheap holsters break at the paddle. Just the same- we need a range holster when beginning and this is it.
Firing the pistol is a pleasure. This handgun has been in use for several years. It has never failed to feed, chamber, fire or eject. Most of the loads through the Range Officer have been handloads until the primer shortage cut the wind out of my sails on that count. The majority of factors loads have been 230 grain FMJ types. This hardball load hits hard and offers decent accuracy. The Range Officer is more accurate than most pistols and offers real value for the money. The Range Officer doesn’t offer custom level performance but it offers accuracy similar to old standards such as the Colt Gold Cup. The next step up in performance and price is a big one. The pistol doesn’t feature forward cocking serrations or a checkered front strap, which I would not expect at this price point. The pistol’s accuracy is what matters. Reliability has been good. I would not hesitate to carry this pistol as it has never failed when serving in ammunition testing for several years.
Note: Springfield has discontinued the Range Officer as new models are introduced. There are still quite a few in the used market, even some new in the box pistols. These pistols are well worth their price. Check out the Garrison.
Accuracy testing,
Fired from a MTM Caseguard K Zone shooting rest
Distance 25 yards, Firing five shot groups, measuring the group from the inside of the most widely spaced bullet holes.
Biden gave a speech yesterday in which he said… well, he certainly said things. Stuff even. Words came out of his mouth, some of them in a reasonably understandable order.
What he didn’t say was the actual language surrounding his ban on ‘Ghost Gun Kits’ by redefining them as firearms. He just said they were banned for sale from non-FFL sources because they are firearms.
Woohoo! We have solved crime forever! Background checks have never failed.
This is a painful watch, good luck…
Biden passed that mention on too, trying to shame Congress (poorly) into passing UBC’s and banning ‘Assault Weapons’. He reminded us ‘Assault Weapons’ could be built without a serial number too.
Then he trotted out the old, tired, and wrong, “You couldn’t buy a cannon when the Second Amendment was written.” You absolutely could buy a cannon. There is no historical dithering on this issue either, you could buy a cannon. You could have an armed ship full of cannons. Someone get this man to a retirement home, please. He also used the good ole ‘deer in kevlar’ line in an, almost certainly made up, story about a hunter he met in the woods and talked about hunting with.
But why am I recapping?
As of this morning, one day after announcing, there is no published update of the ATF-2021-0001-0001 regulation that actually dealt with the rule change on Regulations.gov. We don’t have the official language of this ‘ban’ or how the ATF determines whether or not a kit is a firearm. This smells of the same vagueness the ATF recently published about Forced Reset Triggers where the asked owners to come to them, the ATF, and determine if their trigger qualified as banned or not instead of listing out models that were and why.
Regulations must be specific. As of this morning, we have zero specifics. The final published version of ATF-2021-0001-0001, which covered the frame and receiver alterations and definitions are not in text yet. The definitions aren’t public. We can’t know what the new line of firearm or non-firearm is.
But Biden said words, so we’ve got that going for us.
This Red Fox is smart enough to stay away from D.C.
In case you haven’t seen these recent news tidbits, allow me to catch you up on the latest insanity in D.C. Yes it involves Capitol Hill. But surprisingly, it only involves politicians tangentially. Also surprisingly the politicians weren’t the rabid ones.
The short version is that Capitol Hill was home to a wild red fox who has bitten between six and nine people (reports vary) in recent days, including a Congressman. That level of aggression is unusual in creatures that tend to be nocturnal-ish and reclusive.
This alarmed public health officials and thus the animal culprit was captured and subsequently tested positive for rabies. Apparently “animal lovers” are upset that the fox (and its kits) were euthanized and Twitter was doing its usual, because @capitolfox is a real thing.
To me this just reinforces that a huge portion of the general public are drooling idiots when it comes to wildlife. Rabies is deadly. And it’s reportedly a horrible, agonizing, painful death. Those people who were bitten will be getting multiple shots over the coming days to prevent them from, you know, dying a horrible death and stuff.
Thanks to Louis Pasteur there is a vaccine for rabies, which has been refined over the years. BUT, once the symptoms of rabies start, there is no going back. YOU. WILL. DIE.
Thus, that fox was going to die anyway and so were its kits, because they were exposed to the rabid parent’s saliva. But that didn’t stop drooling, anthropomorphizing yahoos from howling and mourning over the capture and euthanization of the wild animal. Did they expect public health officials to just let it run around and continue to infect more people and more wildlife? Well, sorry. Also sorry, but you can’t just jam a swab up the fox’s nose to see if it has rabies. You have to test brain tissue in a public health laboratory.
We vaccinate cats and dogs against rabies because of their proximity to humans. But wildlife is wildlife. Some states have vaccine baiting programs, but I doubt that DC does (though they might, NOW)
Rabies is apparently more common in bats these days in the U.S. , but that fox got it from somewhere. Being bitten by a potentially rabid animal is very serious business. Just finding a bat in a room where you were sleeping can buy you a trip to rabies vaccine-ville. Because with bats you may not even know you’ve been bitten, medical people vaccinate you anyway – because the alternative may be slow, painful death.
The people who were bitten by Capitol Fox definitely knew they were bitten and did the right thing in reporting it. And public health and animal control officials ALSO did the right thing, Twitter idiots notwithstanding. Rabies survives in a pool of animals, so this fox isn’t a one-off. There are more. The question is where?
