German rifle engineering

I spotted a rifle hanging on a rack in a picture taken at the NRA annual meeting that caught my interest: the Krieghoff Semiprio in-line repeater.

No doubt it's too expensive for this provincial, who generally buys a rifle for its action. Then I hunt down a stock, barrel, optics, trigger, etc., over a long span of time to build a new rifle up the way I speculate it should be. Sometimes I don't finish, which leaves some components to for another project I may or may not complete. It keeps life interesting. There's always something to rediscover at the back of the basement shelves.

If you're the type to derive pleasure from being different that every other rifle toter, the Krieghoff may suit you. I doubt anybody in your gun club or circle of marksman friends will have a rifle like it. The Adobe Acrobat Reader file that can be downloaded at the bottom of this page holds more specifics.

The pluses: The no-tools-required, take-down feature that shortens the rifle into two sections no longer than 27.5 inches; interchangeable barrels, magazines and bolt heads; the prominent Combi-cocking device; push-button "Click-and-Go" sling swivels; optional 14 oz. "BreakO" recoil reducer; pre-machined for several types of mounts, which makes it possible to quickly switch to different optics; equally adaptable to both left- and right-handed users; and its 6.8 lb. weight.

Things that cause me pause: The scope travels back and forth with the barrel and forearm when the action is hand cycled. Then I wonder if something like a sleeve or piece of brush could catch between the action and forearm to lock up the rifle. And most of all, how will it group with that moving barrel?

I doubt I'll ever see a Semiprio here in the Osage Cuestas unless a lost Kansas City mogul stops by asking for directions to a hunting lease.

Obama's Organizing for the UK

One of Obama's changes has raised the ire of British investment managers, bankers and stockbrokers. He wants them to collect tax revenue without compensation for their efforts.

Maybe he does somewhat study history. Capital always flows out of a country following a socialist revolution. If he does bully the rest of the world in collecting taxes from U.S. citizens who have invested abroad, they'll simply become citizens of another country such as Andorra or Monaco or form some offshore, dummy corporations.

Anyhow, there are more Europeans questioning President Obama's right to regulate their governments and financial institutions. This crack in European Obamamania will grow wider as more listen less to what the President says and learn instead from his actions.

Engine of Opportunity

Eliot Spitzer, former New York attorney general and governor, is trying to rebuild his battered reputation after resigning as governor last year. The reason? "Private failings," is the one he offered. In case one doesn't remember, he was being wiretapped by the feds, who were trying to figure out why so much money was flowing in and out of Spitzer's bank account. It turns out he was spending it on hookers.

Day of Resignation: Spitzer and his wife, Silda. They are now in couples therapy.

Spitzer, once heralded as the future of the Democratic Party, has taken up writing opinion pieces. Here's one published April 29 in Slate that Spitzer co-authored with trial lawyer Peter B. Pope, "Gun Control Without Gun Laws: How Obama can use government procurement regulations to limit gun violence."

Keep the following Spitzer quotes in mind while you read.

“I stand before you today because this vision of government as the engine of opportunity is what I believe in.”

“As a citizen, and as the state's lawyer, I believe in an evolving Constitution. A flexible Constitution leaves room for us to consider not merely how the world once was, but how it ought to be.”

"I have always stated that I want ethics and integrity to be the hallmarks of my administration."

"Listen, I'm a fucking steamroller and I'll roll over you and anybody else."

Rule No. Three

I wonder how many e-mails Josh at GunsAmerica TV received after his interview with an Aimpoint representative, Angela Jennings, in Phoenix.

One can see Josh absentmindedly place his finger on the bolt-action rifle's trigger as the interview progresses.


Ms. Jennings, on the other hand, is well versed in gun handling in or out of exhibit halls. Congratulations to all those at Aimpoint in winning an American Rifleman Golden Bullseye Award for the Micro H-1.

"The Fed must not be seen by the public or the Congress as a piggy bank that can substitute for difficult fiscal policy decisions."--Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser

Lighten up, Chuck. And you're judged as being more "sanguine" than your other colleagues at the piggy bank.

The Magic Kingdom

A Florida congressman, Rep. Alan Grayson, did some brainstorming during a Disney World trip. Now he's introduced the Paid Vacation Act, which will give us average Americans lucky enough to have a full or part-time job a week or two of paid rest and recreation.

Grayson and his friends at the Center for Economic and Policy Research believe the Paid Vacation Act, if passed, will stimulate the economy "through fewer sick days, better productivity and happier employees."

“There’s a reason why Disney World is the happiest place on Earth: The people who go there are on vacation,” said Grayson, whose district includes Orlando and Disney World. “Honestly, as much as I appreciate this job and as much as I enjoy it, the best days of my life are and always have been the days I’m on vacation.”

Grayson explained it this way on his web site, "In other countries, it’s a matter of right. Everyone is entitled to it. In our country, it is a matter of class. Over time we are coming to realize that whatever your background, wherever you grew up, wherever you live, there are certain basic elements that people need to have enjoyable lives. They need health care. They need a decent paying job. And for a good life, they need time off.”

Skeptic that I am, I'd say the Paid Vacation Act simply duplicates services. The government continues to "stimulate" the economy by expanding the money supply, meddling with interest rates, taking over entire industries, and bullying pension fund managers to sell out those who don't trust solely on Social Security to fund their retirement. All of these actions are driving unemployment rates up, weakening the dollar so it buys less, and increasing the strain on entitlement programs including Social Security.

Paid vacation already exists. More and more of us average Americans are turning to it. It's the U.S. Department of Labor's Federal-State Unemployment Insurance Program.

And for a good life, we need politicians who don't resort to class warfare, Goofy, Daffy, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and our own greed and ignorance to manipulate us.

Joe's bunker blubber

Vice President Joe Biden is good for a laugh a day. While filling in for his brilliant boss, President Obama, at the Gridiron Club dinner, he gave up the "secure" and previously "undisclosed location" of the vice-presidential bunker.

Now Biden's office has released a statement saying he was only describing a former workspace upstairs at One Observatory Circle that has now been converted into a bedroom. But I guess the world knows why the neighbors were complaining about loud construction noises in 2002.

Joe, you're safe. No terrorists--even jacked-up ones--would want to take you out. It wouldn't be tactical.