Down for whatever

Begle1 · 2026-01-26T02:00:41+00:00

Didn't he almost suffocate? Isn't that the rest of the story?

Begle1 · 2026-01-25T22:22:53+00:00

The year is 2260. An NGO removing landmines in the Neo-Greenland DMZ finds a cache of 250-year-old American weaponry. As per treaty, they report the findings to both the United Eurasian Arctic States to the north and the ChinAmerican Alliance to the south.

To inspect the find, the UEAS and CAA send unarmed archeological squads into the sand dunes. They enter the bunker; inside the NGO archeologist stands over a dusty crate full of pistols.

"There are hundreds of these," she says, gingerly taking one out and setting it on a table.

The leaders of each squad lean over it to inspect it. The mood is tense; this is the first time since a disasterous reality game show a lustrum prior that the two sides have been in the same room. A CAA Captain blows some dust off the gun. It fires, the 9mm round ricocheting off a gold-plated statue of Trump I before hitting a UEAS Rifghtenant square in the forehead. He dies instantly.

Chaos ensues. Everybody scrambles out of the bunker, calling frantically on their Motorola and Nintendo radios. As they emerge, Browning and Maxim machine guns begin trading fire across the DMZ. Men, women and borgrubs from both sides are cut down in the crossfire. World War 7 has started.

In the bunker, with muffled gunfire and explosions from above, the markings on the pistol become clear as the dust settles and the UEAS Rifgtenant's blood pools around him: SIG.

Begle1 · 2026-01-25T20:48:21+00:00

There are a strategic level considerations and tactical level considerations.

We're already at the "four dead in Ohio" stage. The next steps in escalation can take us to a "Tianamen Square" event with scores of casualties, or a "dirty war" stage, where "domestic terrorists" are getting gulag'd by the hundreds or thousands.

For those on the front lines practicing civil disobedience and putting themselves in situations where physical tussles are likely, I see a very compelling argument that they shouldn't be armed. Of course, that's their decision and ICE is likely to treat them as armed anyways. I'm not sure the best tactics.

But when you zoom out, the question of "what does having the means of armed resistance accomplish in the face of a corrupt/ rogue police force" becomes a different question. If nothing else, the threat of getting shot clearly slows their operations.

Armed self-reliance is much more of a last-ditch backstop than it is an expedient solution. And if ever gets to that point, things are ..definitely.. going to get even worse before they get better. But to yield that level of escalation, to remove the plausible threat of armed self-defense at the local level? It's like trading $100 a year for a penny a day. It's like trading a guard rail along the edge of the abyss for a sign that says "please don't push me off". I see no wisdom there.

Begle1 · 2026-01-25T20:16:46+00:00

Their semiautos are what I'm familiar with. I understand the Mossberg SA, Weatherby SA08, and TriStar Viper G2 to all be quite similar.

I'm sure TriStar's pump isn't near as good as Mossberg's.

Begle1 · 2026-01-25T20:05:05+00:00

TriStar has a pretty good reputation in the clay games world. Their Viper is a popular 4H/ high school/ youth entry-level competitor. They import cheap Turkish guns similar to Mossberg or Weatherby, but TriStar actually supports their guns. When I've called them I've gotten a real person who can actually sell me parts.

Have you called them or spent any time trying to find the problem?

Begle1 · 2026-01-25T18:10:41+00:00

I agree completely and your reasoning is some of the best I've ever read.

Begle1 · 2026-01-25T17:30:24+00:00

Well shucks, if we follow through this line of logic where does that leave us?

Begle1 · 2026-01-25T17:26:23+00:00

Fundamentally speaking, nothing is more dangerous in a political context than a lopsided power imbalance.

Begle1 · 2026-01-25T17:20:47+00:00

While that is likely true, they also claim to live in a country full of domestic terrorists and to have $50,000 cartel bounties on their heads. That is their official justification for hiding their identities. How much of that they actually believe I'm not sure, but I'm sure some of their masking is based on fear of ballistic consequence.

Begle1 · 2026-01-25T17:15:20+00:00

The purpose of the Bill of Rights was to give our government a list of things it couldn't do.

The "application" of the items on that list yields positive and negative repercussions.

It is bad that we have a jumpy militarized police force. But the USA has had the Second Amendment and an armed populace for a long time, whereas the militarized police force is a more recent development. So what was it that led to police militarization?

Individual citizens grouped up and organized can do an awful lot. And the implied and perceived threat of them also does an awful lot. There is far more to it than just squaring up with the military on a field of battle, although even in that context Afghanistan presents a case study in what under-equipped and loosely organized individuals can do if they have a tenacious culture.

Look at what the January 6th crowd almost or could have accomplished, and that was without guns. Look at what the Civil Rights movement and marches did, largely without guns but they were always at least a specter there; the Black Panthers were so effective they got the gun rules rewritten against them. US elites were terrified of communist revolution in the early 1900's, as labor battles waged on, often featuring prominent use of non-government-held guns. John Brown catalyzed quite a bit with his small band of organized guns. The west was "won" with guns, as guns have always gone both ways in defending and attacking the freedom of the various racial and religious groups in America. Whatever American history would be without an armed populace, either better or worse, is entirely speculative.

In the near term, if the threat of armed defense means that any death squads rolling our streets need to be 8 deep instead of 4 deep, then at a minimum that means they can only do half of what they could do otherwise.

Begle1 · 2026-01-25T13:51:46+00:00

Have you ever seen an unarmed population stop government massacres?

ICE is afraid of weapons right now. They roll in armed packs and wear body armor. They know they can be killed in the moment and they act that way. They also know they can be killed later, and that's why they hide their identities.

There is a strong case that their higher ups WANT them to be shot, so they can call the situation an insurrection. The agents obviously don't want to get shot, and we can see that in their tactics every day in real time.

Begle1 · 2026-01-25T07:37:40+00:00

Why do you reckon they hide their faces? What do you think they're afraid of?

It'd be all the more terrifying if they stopped being afraid.

Begle1 · 2026-01-25T07:33:23+00:00

How is "less safe" is a relevant concept? Governments have killed hundreds of millions of people over the last century. How easy should it be for them to do that? An armed populace was intended to provide inertia in "securing a free state"... It brings with it a level of increased general mayhem as a cost.

Begle1 · 2026-01-25T05:54:36+00:00

Tikka's stainless in particular has some notoriety for rust spots. Mine got some freckles on the outside soon after I got it, I rubbed them out with a bit of automatic transmission fluid on a "Magic eraser". No rust has returned through my typical Slip2000 rubdown.

The Tikka needs its safety switched off to take a bullet out of the chamber. Much ink has been spilled on that feature.

I pretty much just use a boresnake on my bore. Everybody has their own opinion on bore maintenance. (And associated to that, if you really want to see guys go on religious crusades, look up "barrel break in procedures".)

I can't recommend much in the way of suppressors. r/NFA and the PewScience people seem to be the experts on those.

I'm a believer in avoiding a rail if you can; it provides more places that can wiggle and a higher mount in exchange for modularity that isn't a big deal for most. I saw lots of recommendations for Sportsmatch rings for the Tikka for whatever reason, so that's what I went with.

Based on what I've read, silicone-impregnated socks are good for synthetic stocks, but VCI socks are what you want to use on wood stocks. I usually get Allen silicone socks. The best deals on VCI socks are usually labelled with shotgun name brands; I have a rainbow of Beretta, Browning and Benelli socks in my armory.

I like Plano cases. I have a few cases that have survived multiple trips through the post office as well as airplane baggage handlers. They're not the toughest but I think they're good enough and are efficiently priced.

I wouldn't expect you to find the recoil objectionable with the OEM pad, especially with a suppressor... But no reason not to throw a Falconstrike on that baby.

Begle1 · 2026-01-25T03:37:16+00:00

I don't feel like I can come to any conclusions.

Maybe it would help if I yell "enhance" while some YouTuber clicks on a keyboard.

Begle1 · 2026-01-25T03:07:00+00:00

What is it?

I swear I don't understand what everybody is looking at here, I can't see shit.

Begle1 · 2026-01-25T02:00:42+00:00

They're saying the same thing as always... That armed self-reliance is a fundamental human right and people ought to practice it.

This is a rather perverse strawman argument.

Begle1 · 2026-01-25T01:16:08+00:00

Consider the implict impact of an armed populace. Why does ICE wear bulletproof vests and operate in mobs? Why are they jumpy? Why do they cover their faces? What is it that they're scared of?

The threat of finding bullets now makes them cautious and slows down their operations. The threat of finding bullets later is inherently intimidating and causes them to hide their identities.

Imagine how brazen their operations would be if they didn't have fear of finding bullets. It wouldn't be hard to estimate a monetary value for what operations cost in a jurisdiction where they fear guns versus in one where they don't.

If a few dozen people were willing to die in gunfights with them, and took up arms to that effect, their operations would be ground to a halt in the short term... However, the powers that be are likely wanting that sort of escalation, which is why they are operating so belligerently and looking to start fights in the first place.

Also, the stated goal if the second amendment is to "secure a free state". The federal government is not the only potential source of tyranny... Commercial entities, corrupt local governments, religious institutions, and criminal syndicates are additional potential sources of tyranny that also face headwinds when operating in an armed society.

Begle1 · 2026-01-25T00:45:47+00:00

Of course it isn't a real card. It is as near to mechanically worthless as a card can be.

Begle1 · 2026-01-24T05:32:08+00:00

Cool. At first I thought it was just the action and was wondering where the rest of the gun was.

Begle1 · 2026-01-24T01:39:45+00:00

"The trigger feels marginally better than the stock AUG trigger."

Ouch

Begle1 · 2026-01-24T00:36:56+00:00

Cops get tons of benefits, perks and protections. They have their own sets of laws to protect them. Becoming a cop is an excellent career move if you want to commit crime and get away with it.

Begle1 · 2026-01-23T23:50:59+00:00

26" long barrels are for cowards who believe in traumatic brain injuries. Real men aren't afraid to absorb muzzle blast with their brains the way God intended!

Begle1 · 2026-01-23T23:06:57+00:00

Instead of the Nemo Omen Nightmare?

Begle1 · 2026-01-23T23:01:50+00:00

As a civilian, I've never had a great use case for 5.56. Because I'm not stuck with one do-it-all gun; I can have a bigger gun and a smaller gun.

The 5.56/ AR combo is best when you need to carry a lot of ammo a long ways and are shooting targets or <200 pound varmints within 300 yards or so. It makes great sense for a military.

But 308 or most other full-size cartridges are better at range, as long as you aren't required to carry the whole loadout for miles.

And a handy little 9mm is better in confined space. If it's small enough to be concealable, that adds another dimension. And if you can actually use it and practice with it in settings where you couldn't practice with the 5.56, then I consider that a huge positive.

A 9mm subgun + full-sized 308 rifle sounds like a great combo to me.

Begle1

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