It's not pretty, but it works.

During my last range session with the 9mm AR-15 built with a Bushmaster lower receiver and Rock River Arms 9mm top end, the bolt failed to go fully forward a few times.

This problem grew worse as the bolt grew more fouled, which can be a problem with carbines chambered for pistol cartridges. At times the bolt wouldn't have enough momentum to strip cartridges off the top of the magazine. Sometimes an empty would not completely extract and blocked the bolt's travel. I took the bolt out, wiped it down on a leg of my faded, holey, blue jeans, and noticed an improvement. However, every so often I'd have to slap the upper receiver opposite the ejection port to jar the bolt home.

Colt 9mm buffer assembly, 5.2 oz.

I am running a Hahn Precision dedicated magazine well block that uses the standard 5.56 bolt catch, a standard carbine spring and a Colt 9mm buffer. The Colt buffer, as well as the RRA 9mm equivalent or DPMS counterweight buffer used in pistol-caliber rigs, allows the bolt to travel far more than it needs to for a 9mm. The maximum overall length of a .223 round is 2.26 inches. The max overall length for 9x19mm ammunition is 1.169 inches. Because the bolt travels too far back, I've had live or ejected rounds trapped between the fully retracted bolt and the ejector.

So I decided to buy a spacer to place in the far end of the buffer tube to limit the bolt's travel. However the one I first settled on would have cost me more than $30 including shipping, which was more than I paid for the Colt buffer assembly.

The frugal gene inherited from the Scot ancestors kicked in, and I dug a prime bolt out of a bin. I rounded the hex bolt head and turned it down to .980 diameter. I also turned the shaft down to .78 diameter after cutting the bolt to an overall length of 1.08 inches. I thought that length, .011 in. shorter than the difference between the two cartridges' overall lengths would be close.

Colt buffer assembly, left, and spacer fitted to CAR action spring, right

The opposite end of the carbine action spring fit the bolt shaft perfectly. The overall diameter of the spacer allowed it to slide down the CAR-length buffer tube. However, it fit tight enough to not allow side-to-side rattles. However, I had to cut the overall length down to .906 so the bolt stop would engage.

After the dimensions were set, I polished the piece, gave it four baths with cold blue, oiled it and set it aside to cure. What little testing I've done has been flawless. I'll put the carbine to a more extensive test Thursday.

The bolt does close with a bit more snap despite not traveling as far. The end of the recoil spring sits .54 inch, the thickness of the spacer's base, forward of its former resting point at the end of the tube. Because the 9mm carbine is blowback operated, the slight boost in spring power will push a little more gas out the muzzle and less fouling will result. It also takes less effort to chamber a round by working the charging latch.

Don't try doing this at home if you're already running high-pressure ammunition such as NATO M882 9mm ball, +P, +P+, or your home-rolled zombie stoppers. Go slow, don't blow stuff up and rearrange your body parts.

Hahn Precision sub caliber buffer assembly, 8 oz.--note the longer full-diameter section that increases action spring tension.

If I were to build another 9mm carbine, I'll probably try Hahn Precision's sub caliber buffer. It is longer, heavier at 8 oz., and has the thicker base to increase spring tension. It does all the stuff my 5.2 oz. Colt buffer and homemade spacer does. Despite costing twice what I paid for the Colt buffer, a bolt and cold blue, it is a whole less trouble.

UPDATE: I shortened the spacer, reducing the overall length to .840 inch after more range work Thursday afternoon. The bolt catch would sometimes fail to activate before the spacer was shortened a bit more. The carbine is running 100 percent now. The empties land in a much more consistent and tight pile nearly eight feet out at 2 to 3 o'clock from the ejection port. Also, the extractor hook isn't scarring the case rims near as much.

Peace, Baby

The female anchor of The Early Show at CBS, Julie Chen-Les-Moonves, is sporting a shiny peace chickentrack around her neck this morning while delving into who will win or lose under President Obama's proposed budget.

She is a member of the wealthy few, those who should pay their fair share. Life in the high tax bracket is hell, so maybe the medallion is appropriate.

Border Violence: Decades of finger pointing

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, long at the forefront of the left's efforts to erect barriers between U.S. citizens and their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, said Wednesday that the Obama administration plans "just a few gun-related changes" including a new ban on "assault weapons" and "high-capacity ammunition feeding devices". Holder made the announcment at a news conference on the close of a 21-month investigation and arrest of more than 750 Sinaloa drug cartel members in Mexico and the U.S.

Holder said that putting the ban back in place would not only be a positive move by the United States, it would help cut down on the flow of guns going across the border into Mexico, which is struggling with heavy violence among drug cartels along the border. ... "I think that will have a positive impact in Mexico, at a minimum." Holder said.

The Mexican government plus many journalists and politicos in this country have long claimed nearly 95 percent of weapons used by Mexican criminals are smuggled there from the U.S. We are to told to believe fully automatic weapons, M203 40mm grenade launchers, anti-tank weapons, .50 cal. M2 heavy machine guns, hand grenades, mines, and body armor are purchased by straw purchasers at U.S. gun shows and gun shops.

Here's a December 2008 "after-action report" from Barry R McCaffrey, General USA (Retired), ex-Clinton drug czar. Gen. McCaffrey is now a consultant for various organizations including NBC News. He urges state and federal authorities to stop this smuggling of crates of "high powered military automatic weapons", hand grenades, night-vision goggles, ComBloc RPGs, state-of-the-art communications encryption and interception hardware, helicopters, etc., 90 percent of which has been bought from federally licensed gun dealers primarily in California, Texas and Arizona.

Under arrest: Hitmen with their tools, Mexico City

"It is hard to understand the seeming indifference and incompetence of US authorities at state and Federal level to such callous disregard for a national security threat to a neighboring democratic state. We would consider it an act of warfare from a sanctuary state if we were the victim. ... The bottom line---the US is ineffective and unresponsive to Mexican concerns about weapons, bulk cash, and precursor chemicals flowing south into Mexico from the United States--- with a blow-torch effect on the security of the Mexican people."

Before we run out and string up some Federal Firearms License holders, all who undergo a criminal records check and face growing scrutiny and regulation by state, local and federal agents, let's look back into the past with Lora Lumpe. Although she's a D.C. lobbyist, Lumpe doesn't work for the National Rifle Association. She represents the Friends Committee on National Legislation, founded in 1943 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and most likely views the NRA as a MIPC proxy.

She defines the MIPC this way, "It’s President/General Eisenhower’s Military-Industrial-Complex, 50 years later and fully integrated into the political life of the nation." I'll write about Lumpe's efforts to combat the MIPC in another post. In the meantime, remember:

"No Mienta por otra Persona."

A Handy Online Reloading Tool

I cranked out some ammunition on the blue press tonight after chores and dinner. The press was still set up for .223. It took about 10 minutes to switch it over to 9mm. Then I commenced filling two Akro bins with freshly minted, 115-grain 9mm ball ammunition.

The first two months of the year are good ones in which to spend time reloading. The reloading room in the basement is dry, out of the wind and not far from the Bunn coffee maker. Jerome, a high school senior and fellow National Rifle Association member, has escaped to the farm some during the late fall and winter to learn how to reload for a pair of AR-15s.

I started reloading at about the same age. No one I knew here in the Osage Cuestas reloaded metallic cartridges. I learned from reading Speer and Lyman reloading manuals, which in themselves were tough to come by for a nearly-broke teenager out in the sticks. Nope, VHS players hadn't been invented yet. Online stuff--it was clothes attached with wooden pins to wire lines spanning part of the back yard.

Some change is well and good such as this page I'm using more and more by Hornady. I particularly like the ballistics calculator. It can be used for any bullet by Hornady or otherwise if you have its ballistic coefficient. Here are the results for the 9mm ball, which I plan to use in a carbine with a 16" barrel.

Input Variables

Firearm type	Carbine	Sight Height	1.5
Bullet Weight (grains)	115	Ballistic Coefficient	.177
Muzzle Velocity (fps)	1200	Temperature	32
Barometric Pressure (hg)	30.36	Relative Humidity	78%
Zero Range (yards)	100	Wind Speed (mph)	0

Ballistics Table in Yards

Berry's Mfg. plated FMJ 115 gr., .177 B.C. www.hornady.com

Range (yards) Muzzle 25 50 75 100 150 200 Velocity (fps) 1200 1141 1092 1050 1014 955 906 Energy (ft.-lb.) 368 333 304 281 262 233 210 Trajectory (100 yd. zero) -1.5 1.5 2.9 2.4 0.0 -11.3 -32.0 Come Up in MOA -1.5 -5.8 -5.5 -3.1 0.0 7.2 15.3

Hats off to the folks in Grand Island, Nebraska--Hornady Mfg. Co., Inc.

The right to privacy

The Ninth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution safeguards the basic human rights of individuals, including the right to privacy. The U.S. Supreme Court has issued rulings regarding the right to privacy in Griswold v. Connecticut, Roe v. Wade, and perhaps other cases.

Staff members of the Los Angeles Police Department and the district attorney's office should be boning up on constitutional law judging by the latest leaked celebrity evidence photo obtained by TMZ and then picked up by other "news" media organizations. The media coverage of this act of violence has been unethical and immoral. No crime victim, not even a celebrity such as Rihanna, should be treated this way by "journalists" and law enforcement officials who have sworn to uphold the Constitution.

No wonder so many women are afraid to report acts of domestic violence and sexual assault. One can see why journalists and goverment officials rank lower than used car salesmen in public opinion polls.

Guffaw Stimulus

Some ordinary Americans who have studied economics gathered in Mesa, AZ, to "encourage" President Obama in his efforts to bring about stagflation.

This protester's take-out order:

+1, and add a stack of blueberry pancakes, two eggs over medium, whole-wheat toast, some honey, side of crisp bacon, black coffee, and freshly-squeezed orange juice from the Navy cooks who operate the White House Mess. No styrofoam or paper--bad for the environment. The gilt-edge White House china will work. :)

One Sign I'd Like to See

I saw this sign and a link to the creator's site, author Chuck Klein, in the Gunbroker newsletter. He's given full permission to anyone who wants to post their business premises with it.

I'll spend more time and money in a business where the proprietors care enough about public safety to post such signs. All sorts of gun-free zones come to mind, places where murderers and robbers don't check their guns at the door, where the blood of innocents has pooled. There are schools, churches, courthouses, malls, government facilities and murder capitals such as Detroit, Chicago, and the District of Columbia where law-abiding citizens struggling to survive are treated like potential criminals.

When I see a gun-ban sign, I have to decide to go back to the parking lot and lock my pistol in the car before entry, to disobey the sign or to spend money elsewhere. Criminals on the other hand, make other decisions. They've chosen to commit armed robbery, to rape or to kill people who most likely have no means to resist. They sure aren't going to pause at the sight of a gun-ban sign. In fact, it should raise their hopes.

On the other hand, it must be disappointing for them when they expect a victim-rich environment but encounter armed people determined to live. So the places with gun-ban signs must be owned by people who seek to extend every courtesy to violent felons.