fritz

I'm sure there is some truth in the stories of cutting up M-1s and '03s for the scrap yard. When I was in the military, working out of the welding shop, we de-militarized various missile and other ordnance by cutting them up with either torches or in the case of magnesium missile parts, with an arc welder set on max.

Some of the parts were brand new, such is the military way (remember the thousand dollar toilet seats?). There were always new ones, paid for by taxpayers, and eventually those came under the torch also.

But we must acknowledge the fact that the government knows more than we do. You simply cannot apply common sense to function of government, or everything would go haywire. I'll leave it at that.

fritz

The bargains are all gone my friends. Now you will pay more than the firearm is worth. This means less to those of Bill's affection than it does to those who believe in the description header of Tony's forums---"Turning junk into things of beauty".

Now that "junk" cost too much, but it is all there is left. Is scrounging and bargain hunting gone forever? I hope not.

I am 63 years of age and I have seen it all. Mausers of the 1893/1895 class selling for less than $20. And a helluva lot better shape than the "good" condition schitt that is hawked to us today. Mausers of the 1898 pattern were a bit higher. And fewer to choose from, until the early '90s when all sorts of Greek and Portuguese mausers were offered.

Anybody see one of those for sale lately?

But yet, I have not seen the price go up that much for the Turk mausers. Not nearly as much as the Wall Street stocks have gone up. Maybe we need to put our cash into stocks (not those on a rifle) instead?

Nahhh! I'm just kidding.

fritz

Karl,

With all your war talk lately, does this mean that you are maybe interested in resurrecting the idea of a War Party?

Have you a cabinent in mind? It shouldn't be hard to come up with a running mate. But what about campaign financing? It costs a lot of money to run a campaign today, especially when you are fighting not only the enemies overseas, but winning the confidence (and thus votes) of the American people also.

For a small fee, I would still be interested in writing some of your speeches, although I must admit that you are doing a pretty good job without me.

So maybe I'll just stay out of this one, and see how it goes. Whatever you decide, my best wishes to you. You have the right reasons to fight like you do for the cause.

fritz

I'm really not surprised, this coming after the announcements of Federal government wiretapping (without a court order).

This needs to be changed.

fritz

I didn't see much difference than his previous speeches, except the fact that he addressed the speaker of the house as "Madam Speaker".

fritz

Yeah, I gotta admit--this is better than the heat and drought of last summer. It's hard to turn down another rain, even if it messes up your schedule a bit.

Reminds me of the eternal optimist last summer, he kept saying it was going to rain tomorrow, and if he could just hold on for a bit longer, everything would be alright. It did keep many going, and not selling their entire herd. But it came at a price---and maybe was not in the best interests of business. But I have learned long ago that if you are so deep into debt, you do not have the luxury of holding out forever. I made it a point to never expand to the point that I could not manage what I took on. I saw way too many people, both farmers and ranchers over the years do that.

Now, today we have the eternal pessimists say it's going to rain tomorrow. Another thing I have learned in all these years is this---it's going to rain tomorrow.

I garantee it!.

fritz

Never having tasted that Green Chille beer (although it sounds pretty darned good), I guess the first thing that I would come up with, depending on whether you are a wine or beer lover) is Shiner Bock, brewed just up the road from me.

If you fancy wine, we have some old-timers still fermenting some very good mustang grape wine. It's better than that French or Italian stuff. Homemade wine was a big deal for a farmboy to partake of, and not get caught by the teachers. There were no written rules restricting it (just like a lot of other things that common sense told you not to try).

But it was not near as bad as the drugs that later became fashionable in school. Thank God I graduated before they took over.

The bet is on.

fritz

And from another Texan, I say "Amen".

It's all too true.

fritz

Jason,

I agree with you that the next election will have a slate of candidates that we do not know that much about, even if we try our best to get to the baseline beliefs of each. There will always be many who do not research the candidates, and just vote the party line.

It happens on both parties.

But, what makes you think that your firearms will be safe under ANY party this time? They either take them in the name of public safety, or homeland security (while they open your mail adressed to or from a gun distributor?

fritz

The more I think about all the clowns clamoring for prime time in the showring, I feel that there must be a Ringmaster. Every circus has to have a Ringmaster.

Who do you all think should be the Ringmaster in this circus? The head of each political party? Put one in each of the three rings?

There must be a Ringmaster!

fritz

Tony,

From what I gather, blowing an anvil involves placing black powder under it and seeing how high and far it will go. I once thought that you placed the powder in a recess of the anvil, but that would just make noise. I believe the idea was to launch that heavy metal into the air. Being solid iron, it should withstand quite a bit of powder.

I think the trick was to place the powder in just the right place to gain the most altitude. I'm sure there were some who were more proficient in this than others. Can you imagine the noise that a big charge of black powder would make?

That's why it was reserved for New Year's Eve.

At least that's my take on it. Like Jerry, I was too young to remember just how the old-timers did it. You don't see many real anvils anymore, those vises with an anvil are not anything like a real old anvil.

fritz

I guess this "hunter" didn't pluck the duck or anything, just threw it in the refrigerator---

Duck survives shooting, refrigeration

January 21, 2007 - Posted at 12:00 a.m.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Neither gunfire nor two days in a refrigerator could slay this duck.

When the wife of the hunter who shot it opened the refrigerator door, the duck lifted its head, giving her a scare.

The man's wife "was going to check on the refrigerator because it hadn't been working right and when she opened the door, it looked up at her," said Laina Whipple, a receptionist at Killearn Animal Hospital. "She freaked out and told the daughter to take it to the hospital."

The 1-pound female ring-neck ended up at Goose Creek Wildlife Sanctuary, where it has been treated since Tuesday for wounds to its wing and leg.

Sanctuary veterinarian David Hale said it has about a 75 percent chance of survival, but probably won't ever be well enough for the wild.

He said the duck, which has a low metabolism, could have survived in a big enough refrigerator.

"This duck is very passive," Hale said. "It's not like trying to pick up a Muscovy at Lake Ella, where you put your life in your hands."

submitted by fritz

Yes, this one is going to be better than a 3-ring circus.

All the clowns are gathering in the wings. It's almost showtime!

fritz

I believe that this one is going to be about name recognition, who has had their name before the public the most/longest.

I leave it to you to debate who that person (name) is.

fritz

Jerry,

You left that one open for a myriad of possible merger names. I am sure someone can come up with one, especially with the name--Peterbilt.

fritz

Blowing an anvil and shooting an anvil must be the same thing. It used to be real popular around this area, and probably a lot of the country also.

There would be contests to see who could launch one the highest. I have heard that the noise from one going off was pretty loud, I wonder if they wore ear protectors? Likely not, and thus the cause of hearing loss just as I am experiencing now.

Blowing the anvil on New Years Eve and turning over outhouses on Halloween was a big thing years ago.

fritz

Jerry,

There is one positive to come out of all this moisture, we should have plenty green grass once the warm weather comes (and it will come). We shouldn't have to mow the ditches this year (but last year it was so dry that there was no grass there either).

One thing I have noticed around here lately, there were several farmers who made a pretty good hay crop last year (mainly in the late fall). And those bales are still stacked on the turnrow, I wonder if they are waiting for higher prices? With all this winter moisture, I would expect hay to be plentiful in the late spring.

Maybe they should try to unload it while prices are high. I have my hay supply, so I won't have to buy any again.

fritz

SOAR

Today there was a program held in our state park on birds of prey. The speaker, founder of Save Our American Raptors, gave a presentation, with a cast of three of the raptors---an American kestrel, a great-horned owl, and a crested caracara.

Having previous commitments (feeding my cattle) I missed it. I missed the chance, for a donation of $5 I could have gotten my photo taken with the birds. It is probably best that I did not have the chance to encounter miss so and so (who has traveled over 200,000 miles in the last few years making her spiel).

I do not know what a kestrel is, nor a caracara. But I know quite a bit about the great horned owl. I saw how one raided my father's chicken roost every night and made off with a catch each night. The bastards works when we are asleep. But I caught this one in a coon trap, baited with his previous night's kill. He just killed for the blood.

Well, I wanted to dispatch him then and there, but my sister and my mother suggested we take him to the zoo. At the zoo, they said they already had a horned owl, but would take him and release him somewhere.

I made a stipulation that the "somewhere" was not to be within 50 miles of my farm, and let them have him. No more, I was more foolish then (not exactly an owl lover, just foolish). I have no idea where they released him, probably on some other chicken raiser's place.

fritz

I've always wondered if Pyrodex or one of the other black powder substitutes would work as well as old black powder when blowing an anvil.

That is something that is not done much anymore, but it is a part of American history. I guess the migration of farm boys to the cities had something to do with it, that and the black eye that the ATFE casts upon anyone using black powder (or any kind of powder).

Another part of Americana gone.

fritz

Dave,

I was in the service at that time also. Maybe I don't have any blood shedding medals, but I was part of it.

Right now, I am awaiting the word on the reinstatement of the draft. My feeling is that , no, it will not be reinstated anytime soon.

Do we have to fight the Vietnam war over again here? Take that to the "Fightin' Words Forum".

fritz

And sometimes receive more than what you asked for.

OK, so I asked the Lord for a little rain last year when we were in the grasp of a terrible drought. Many ranchers sold their entire herds, many farmers never harvested a single grain. Hay soared to $90 a bale (if you could get it). Water holes (not those in town) dried up. If you wanted water for your cattle, you pumped it from 300 feet below the ground.

But now, the Lord has answered our prayers with abundant (and that's the nicest word I can use for it) rain. It comes down every day, all day long. And ocassionally it freezes and makes life even tougher. If it keeps up much longer, I am sure that someone will begin building a big boat.

And to think that I used to be accused of not paying the preacher enough as the reason that I received no rain. Well, Padre, you have certainly delivered enough on my meager offerings. What do you want, more in the plate to make it stop?

Is anyone else in Texas getting this soupy mix of rain and ice/sleet? Forget snow, I would take it in a flash. But it's just this incessant rain. I thought that was reserved for the Northwest.

The week's forcast is for rain every day. It's El Nino's fault, but where was this child last summer when we needed him?

fritz

I'm waiting for Ben Gay and Uncle Ben's Converted Rice to merger, and become---

Uncle Ben's Gay.

fritz

It has been a few years since I have used my BP revolvers and Hawken rifle, and I used both Goex and Pyrodex in them. They both worked ok, but what struck me as a plus for the Goex was the fact that it was over 20 years old, and still ignited fine.

I'm not sure if the BP substitutes have the same shelf life, but I can say for sure that Goex is kinda like the Energizer bunny.

fritz

Jason,

Do you mean Jim Beam? I used to know a fellow by the name of Jim Bean, but he was a golfer, and preferred Crown Royal.

Now, that is a fine drink!

fritz

"SURE!! Lets keep it friendly though with a token stakes."

Of course, this is not worth fighting about (and thus moved to the other forum).

But first, we must agree upon a time frame for this reinstatment of the draft, as for the other part about the Democrats making a scapegoat of Bush, I concede that right now.

How about using the current session of congress as the time frame for this draft to be reinstated? I am open for another time frame, as long as we stay within our lifetimes.

A bet won posthumously somehow lacks the luster of one won in the present.

fritz