1871 NRA Centennial 1971

While digging around inside the Twins, I pulled out two replicas made by Daisy, one a Winchester Model 94 BB Rifle and the other a Single Action Colt 45 BB Pistol both of which are marked 1871 (dot) NRA Centennial (dot) 1971.

Each of them has wear marks, but no rust, from inadequate storage while I meandered around the world during my naval service. However, they are 100% complete with the exception of the boxes and paperwork that came with them. I would bet each has only shot a handful of BBs.

At this point, I thought what to heck, lets see if anyone is selling these on one of the online gun auctions.

Their value on the net, when you can find one seems to be a lot more than what I paid for them years ago. I only wish I had the boxes and paperwork that came with them. When you are young who knew they would become a collector's items.

Oh well, live and learn.

The Start Of The Season

Down from the attic the boxes came. Large or small, green or red, cardboard or plastic, long or short, they all came into the house on their annual pilgrimage. Two trees to pick from. This year we will use the shorter 6 1/2 foot already lighted tree that we did not use last year. It will be on blocks to look taller.


The blocks are ceramic pots normally used for plants. However, in this case they are pressed into service by the Blushing Bride.



Items, old and new are carefully hung in accordance with the hangers vision.



One fantastic work of art courtesy of my Blushing Bride. Now all it needs are some gaily wrapped boxes underneath it. Well that and some smiling little guys and gals running around it.



The tree seems to have met with local approval.

May you all have a very Merry Christmas.

Quantum Of Solace

James Bond and Camille

This the second best James Bond movie I have ever seen. Daniel Craig is the best. I say this was second because I was slightly more impressed by the opening chase scene in Daniel Craig's last movie, Casino Royale. In Casino Royale I was totally impressed by the jumps made in the elevator shaft.

Regardless of Daniel Craig's excellent James Bond, the Blushing Bride and I have been fans of Dame Judi Dench for years, from the first time we ever saw her in a British comedy on American television. She is always fascinating.

Quantum of Solace has two very beautiful supporting actresses in Olga Kurylenko as Camille and Gemma Arterton as Strawberry Fields.

It was a very action packed movie that kept my Blushing Bride and myself on the edges of our seats from end to end. We loved it.

Happy Thanksgiving To All My Friends

Diesel Boat Chow Hall, Aft

These are pictures of a diesel submarine's chow hall. Together they show the whole chow hall. Up to 24 sailors can eat in each sitting depending upon if the cook doesn't use any of the table space. The meal would consist of up to 5 servings depending on the amount of crew on board. The chow hall is also the movie theater, the library, classroom and provides any other type of space when needed.

Diesel Boat Chow Hall, Forward

I ate numerous Thanksgiving and other holiday dinners in submarine chow halls just like this one. The greatest thing about submarine chow halls was we ate off plates, not trays. Food was normally put on the table on platters or in large bowls and you served yourself.

Diesel Boat, Galley

As the boats got bigger, so did the chow hall however, they still look very much the same basically Formica and CRES (stainless steel). Over the years soda and milk machines were added to go with the coffee urns and microwave ovens were added to go with the toasters. The Galley is where the cook prepared the meal. It was about six feet from the passageway to the sink shown in the middle of the Galley picture. On the right of the picture where the ovens, grills and deep fat fryer. On the left the mixer and a small work area. Much of the food preparation such as salads would be done by the mess cook on a chow hall table.

Let us not forget that a submarine is a ship that suffers angles and dangles depending upon the operations it is involved in. The cook often had to work while the ship had angles (up) or dangles (down) of 30 degrees and most of it was done in the galley, from making rolls to roasting turkeys.

For those of us who could not be with our families because of duty or deployments the camaraderie of the ships crew made these holiday meals less difficult and something to remember.

May God bless and keep all of my shipmates, past , present and future. May God also bless those serving today wherever they are around the world.

May you all have fair winds and following seas.

Again, Happy Thanksgiving

Grandson Number 3

Stolen from my daughters blog at: http://www.dadamama.typepad.com/dadamama/

November 25, 2008

Bow To Him ... Or Not

Will: I am the boss!

Me: Um, no you're not. You're the kid.

Will: Well, I'm the Boss of the Bunnies!

Me: Do the bunnies do what you say?

Will: Actually, no.

My Growing Collection Of The Queens Rifles

This is my growing collection of the Queen's Rifles.

The 2A1 rifle at the top is Indian. It was manufactured in the Rifle Factory Ishapore, India in 7.62 NATO. It is essentially a SMLE No1 Mk3 rifle made with a higher grade of steel to handle the pressures of the 7.62 NATO round.

The No 1 Mk 3 rifle second from the top is Australian. It was manufactured in the Lithgow Small Arms Factory, Australia in .303 British.

The No 1 Mk 3 rifle third from the top is British. It was manufactured in the Birmingham Small Arms Co. Ltd., United Kingdom in .303 British.

The No2 Mk IV Training Rifle fourth from the top was originally manufactured as a No 1 Mk 3 rifle in the Birmingham Small Arms Co. Ltd., United Kingdom before being converted by Parker Hale to a .22 LR training Rifle.

The No 2 Mk IV Training Rifle fifth from the top was originally manufactured as a No 1 Mk 3 rifle in the Birmingham Small Arms Co. Ltd., United Kingdom before being converted by Parker Hale to a .22 LR training rifle.

The SHT 22 Mk IV Training Rifle sixth from the top was originally manufactured as a No 1 Mk 3 rifle in the Royal Small Arms Factory Enfield, United Kingdom before being converted by Birmingham Small Arms Co. Ltd., to a .22 LR training rifle.

The No 8 Target Rifle seventh from the top is British, from Enfield in .22 LR. This training rifle was not converted from another rifle but was manufactured as a training rifle

And lastly the Cooey Model 82 Training Rifle is Canadian, from Cooey in .22 LR.

Dad's Old Pistol

This is my Dad's old pistol, one of the very few items he inherited from his Dad. The story was his Grandfather built it. I think his Grandfather made the pistol grip. He may also have been the person who removed the loading lever missing from in front of the frame under the barrel.



The Barrel is marked, first line: J. Reid, New York City, and second line: PATD APL 281863.

It is possible the "L" after AP is an "I" but a mark in the barrel prevents accuracy.

When I started writing this post, I thought this pistol was a James Reid, Model 4, 32 rimfire pistol as shown in the 2008 Standard Catalog of Firearms By Dan Shideler on page 876. The Catalog says about 1600 of these pistols were made between 1862 and 1865. The barrel measures 7 3/4 inches from the cylinder to the end of the barrel which is also within the parameters given for this pistol.

With the exception of the loading lever, Dad's old pistol looks just like James Reids Model #4.

However, while posting this, I really looked at Dad's old pistol. And while looking, I realized I could not figure out the loading lever. As shown in the Catalog, and on Dad's old pistol, the lever enters the frame at the 0600 position. Pressure applied at that point would be appropriate for loading a cap and ball pistol. This pistol also has a loading gate looking forward at the 0200 position. The pistol in the Catalog also appears to have a loading gate in the same position.

The pistol also is unique in that the cylinder when you look into it from the back the chamber about 1/3 of the chamber almost appears threaded; while if you look into the cylinder from the front the first 2/3 of the chamber is smooth inside.

Now I am wondering if perhaps this pistol was originally a cap and ball pistol which was later converted to .32 rimfire and at that point the loading lever was removed.

My initial searches indicate there is not much info out there but I guess I will have to keep looking.

Anyhow, every time I go through the safe, this old pistol reminds me of my Dad.

May Dad rest in peace and know his family is still growing.

Before posting, more research led me to: http://www.american-firearms.com/index.html where I found a picture identical to the Model 4 identified in the 2008 Standard Catalog of Firearms By Dan Shideler on page 876.



The owner of the site has this picture identified as a Pocket Revolver No. 3, 4 1/2" with octagon barrel. He further states that James Reid manufactured a dual caliber revolver, .32 r.f. or .31 percussion caliber. Though the revolver was conceptualized as cartridge revolver, it could fire either cartridge or percussion. The chambers were made to accept nipples. That would appear to answer my question on why the rear portion of the chambers appeared to be threaded while the front portion is smooth.

Research continues.

You Gotta Move It, Move It

This was it, the weekend for Madagascar 2. The Old Salt and Blushing Bride took three grandchildren and one daughter to the Regal Theater on Saturday to see Madagascar 2.

The grand boys are 5, 3 and 3/4 years (9 months) of age and each one's behavior was exemplary (an old naval term). Much soda and popcorn was consumed and all had a great time.



The real stars of the show were the Penguins. They took over every segment of the movie they were in. In addition to them, the Nana from Yonkers was also a scream.


The supporting staff for the Penguins and the Nana included:
Ben Stiller as Alex the lion,
Chris Rock as Marty the zebra,
David Schwimmer as Melman the giraffe,
Jada Pinkett Smith as Gloria the hippo,
Sacha Baron Cohen as King Julien the lemur king,
Cedric The Entertainer as Maurice, Julien’s advisor,
Andy Richter as Mort the chimp
Bernie Mac as Zuba, Alex’s dad the head of the pride,
Sherri Shepherd as Alex’s Mom,
Alec Baldwin as Makunga, the bad guy, a challenger to Zuba and
Will.I.Am as Moto Moto, a watering hole lothario.

Flag Salutes By United States Veterans and Active Duty Personnel Not in Uniform

United States veterans and active duty personnel not in uniform can now render the military-style hand salute during the playing of the national anthem, thanks to changes in federal law that took effect in October when President Bush signed the Defense Authorization Act of 2009.

"The military salute is a unique gesture of respect that marks those who have served in our nation's armed forces," said Dr. James B. Peake, secretary of Veterans Affairs. "This provision allows the application of that honor in all events involving our nation's flag."

Changes in federal law last year, contained in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008, authorized active duty personnel not in uniform and veterans to render the military-style hand salute during the raising, lowering or passing of the flag, but did not address salutes during the national anthem.

Traditionally, members of the nation's veterans service organizations have rendered the hand-salute during the national anthem and at events involving the national flag while wearing their organization's official head-gear.

Time To Clean This One Up

My new BRNO ZKM 468 22 LR, a C&R treasure I picked up a few months ago and have only had time now to play with it.


It is a single shot training rifle manufacture in Czechoslovakia, it came with swivels installed. Some of the articles I read about it also called it a "garden rifle."


The two pictures above really do not show how poor the stock looks. Now don't get me wrong, dents and marks from use during it's previous life is acceptable. But the way the finish has been slopped on and the crud stuck in the finish is not.


The bluing is in good shape with some crud stuck in the corners from dried grease and oil. There are some pits in the metal under the stock. When cleaned, the stains on the in-the-white bolt were minimal.


The first problem with taking it apart, was removal of the take down screw which was very very tight. Finally with the aid of a 12 inch screw driver and a 12 inch crescent wrench the fitting unscrews.


Bummer, it has been cross threaded and its not really a screw. It is a cup shaped fitting with a screw slot that fastens over the end of a shaped bolt dovetailed into a fitting attached to the barrel. The shiny portion on the bolt identifies the cross threaded area that needs to be cleaned up for reassembly.


A close up of the cross-threaded bolt. Now I need to figure out how to clean up these threads for reassembly.



Right side of butt stock. The stock has been washed with 409, scrubbed with 220 sandpaper and very coarse steel wool.


Left side of the butt stock after some cleaning and being lightly worked over with 220 sandpaper and very coarse steel wool. The dark area in the butt stock does not appear to be a crack.

More to come, waiting on some feelers about the take down bolt.

Update: 20 November, 2008

It turns out the threaded bolt in question is metric and it may be M8X0.75. At least I have been told that is what is used on the present CZ550 rifle. Now I have to figure out where to get what I need to clean internal and external threads sized M8X0.75.

Update: 21 November 2008

You can not believe how unpopular a M8X0.75 thread really is. I may actually find some hens teeth before I actually ID the thread of this bolt.

Update: 24 November 2008



The adventure continues, here is the stock-bolt removed from the dovetail slot which attaches it to the barrel. The stock-bolt besides being of odd thread is also a one-of-a-kind shape to say nothing of the cap nut which actually secures the stock to the rifle.

In metric sizes, M8X1.25 is considered coarse pitch, M8X1.0 is considered fine pitch but there are it seems also two other rarer pitches which are M8X0.5 and M8X0.75.

So I have ordered a tap, a die and a thread restorer file in M8X0.75.

Update: 26 November 2008



The stock has been cleaned and steamed to minimize dents. It was then gone over with steel wool and scrubbed with Formby's Furniture Refinisher.

Update: 4 December 2008



The magical implements arrived yesterday. Of course they sat on the front porch because the deliverer didn't even ring the doorbell and no one uses the front door. But this morning while out doing my two mile walk I saw the package on the porch.

In a half hour, I had the stockbolt, end cap and a spring nut all cleaned up. They now screw together very nicely.

Also yesterday, I added another coat of Formby's Tung Oil to the stock and I touched up the bluing on the sling swivels, the trigger guard and some of the swivel screws. Some of the wood screws will have to be replaced so I will be out looking for them.

Updated 9 December 2008:


As you can see from this picture, the BRNO looks pretty nice. It is not complete yet. I still have to attach the swivels to the stock. The screws on it were old rusty wood screws. I found a place on line where I could order oval head black oxide wood screws. They are presently enroute. It turns out for the unknowing, black oxide is basically bluing.

Happy Veteran's Day

I would like to wish all veterans a very happy day. May each and every one of you enjoy today with those who mean the most to you. I thank you for a job well done. I also wish to extend this to any and all shipmates on active duty regardless of your service. Fair winds and following seas and may God take care of you all.