David Bowie’s Kooks has been caught in my Velcrobrain for the past three days, actually.
Author: Kim du Toit
1953?
Nicole Johnson discovers one of only 150 ever built… in fiberglass, in 1953. What?
The Glasspar G2 came out just under 10 years before the E-type Jag. And honestly? I think it looks just as good.
And that DeSoto V8 sound… I’m amazed Nicole didn’t have a Big Moment. I nearly did.
Afterthought: Speaking of E-type Jags, Jay Leno has restored his 1963 XKE Roadster, and takes it for a drive. It is unquestionably one of the prettiest E-types I’ve ever seen — the color alone is worth the price of admission — and the fact that he’s restored (and not modified) this old beauty makes it even better.
Retrospective
Sometime ago, a commenter asked: “What happened to Nigella Lawson? You used to be so sweet on her” (or words of that nature).
Simple answer: she lost a whole bunch of weight, and along with that, Nigella got all gaunt ‘n stuff. (It’s all okay to lose weight; but sometimes, something essential is lost along the way.)
I thought I’d illustrate the point with (what else?) a couple of pics. Here’s Our Girl in years gone by:
And magnificently tousled:
Then she started to lose weight:
And had she stopped there, I think we can all agree that this would have been fine. But she didn’t:
I mean the basics are still there, but…
And a couple more reminders of days gone by:
See what I mean?
I know; she’s got older, too — but the gaunt, “skinnier” Nigella just doesn’t do it for me anymore. And that’s a Sad Thing.
News Roundup
And today:
...with all the usual mil-spec quality controls one has come to expect from the MoD.
...so, our 2A rights are safe, then.
...and to think, they stopped working on that silly cancer cure thing, just for this. I suspect government funding is behind this one.
...yeah, that “soft on crime approach” is working everywhere it’s tried.
...good fucking question. Too bad it wasn’t Biden asking it.
...uh, I hate to break it to you, Blimpo, but I have more chance of winning New Hampshire than you do.
From the Dept. of Global Cooling Climate Warming Change©:
...as opposed to the date they predicted in 2001: January 12, 2015.
From the Dept. of Health, two opinions:
...as written by “experts”, and the following appeared in the same newspaper on the very same day:
...and I’ll call next time I’m in town, I promise.
...call me when when a bunch of people die from this latest variant — because nobody has yet, despite all the fearmongering.
From the Wild Kingdom:
...like sharks need any help in that department.
...1. shoot it. 2. shoot it again. 3. shoot the owner.
In Economics News:
…
...don’t say he didn’t warn ya.
From the Heart of Stone Department:
...too bad it wasn’t on the return trip, but them’s the breaks.
...okay, how many of you have ever thought about doing this?
...yeah, me too.
And in RES INSIGNIFICA:
...and on a parallel train of thought:
And lest you think I never give you anything useful in these Roundups:
(link)
Caliber Comparison
Longtime Friend & Reader John C. sent me this email over the past weekend:
Kim,
I found this article (“6.5 Creedmoor vs. .308 Winchester”) and thought you might find it interesting. I have .308 dies, a .308 Savage bolt gun, and if I get the urge to build another AR I’d do it in .308 because I have the dies. Not enough difference for me to collect another caliber, I’m slowing down.
A buddy was asking about it, though, and I said if he has no .308 and is getting a new gun he should consider the 6.5 Creedmoor (CM). If he has a .308 I said stick with it. He’ll likely not ever shoot beyond 500 yards. Your thoughts?
I thought it was a pretty good article, but unless I think I’ll take up F-Class (unlikely), like the author I’m not gonna think about it for me any more.
Cheers,
John
This was my response:
John,
I enjoyed the article. My additional thoughts are as follows.
For 95% of all shooting, anything more than 400 yards is unlikely. (Targets and long-distance disciplines excepted, and the other 5% if you’re hunting antelope in eastern Montana, for example.)
In my opinion, therefore, the only difference between the .30x and the .25x (6.5mm, .270 Win etc) is that the latter doesn’t recoil as hard. As someone once said, they’re all good enough that the deer won’t know the difference. It’s the reason I prefer the 6.5x55mm Swede over just about any other: plenty of range (further than I can confidently shoot at), lots of penetration (high sectional density/SD), flat trajectory and so on.
If you’re a devotee of the .308, it’s fine. It may be the best all-purpose medium cartridge ever made, taken across every kind of use (military, hunting or target). I just prefer not to beat my shoulder up if I can avoid it. It’s the same reason I prefer 7x57mm over the 8mm: more or less the same effectiveness, smaller bruise.
Now that said, I love shooting. I love shooting, a lot. Which means that I pull the trigger more, in a single range session, than 75% of other shooters, and under those circumstances, recoil is a big thing.
Postscript:
It’s one of those things where you really don’t have to get all worked up over finding the “perfect” cartridge — trying all sorts of different calibers, loads etc. — and letting the perfect be the enemy of the good (or in this case, good enough).
Frankly, I think that riflemen need to find the cartridge/chambering which suits their personal criteria (mine, as above: maximum effectiveness with the lowest possible recoil), then find the cartridge (bullet weight, manufacturer, muzzle velocity whatever) which works the best in your rifle, and lay in a boatload of ammo of those specs (or reload accordingly, if you’re that way inclined).
Then shoot it lots, and become a master rifleman.
…or, as the above linked article puts it:
