Retro uh, oh look Mustangs!

OldNFO just got a new Colt Mustang. Harumph! Get off my yard! Here are its elders:

 

They are all in .380 and from L to R are: Pocketlite, Mustang MKIV/Series 80, and Mustang Plus II MKIV/Series 80. If I had a Government Model I would pretty much have a complete set!

After spending time with several Kel-Tek P3-AT's and the new S&W Bodyguard, I must say if I am going to carry a .380 right now I would rather have one of these. And of course I am prejudiced , they are beautiful! 

I do get the prejudice naturally as I do have one of these tricked out name badges, LOL!

Clear all moorings!

Done! 

Engineering reports ready to answer all bells! 

 

Retro Sunday!

I sold a lot of smoke and mirrors back in the day.  Dahalquist DQ-10 speakers? Check. Speak of matched capacitors, silver soldered wiring, turntable bedding? Check. Build Hafler Amps for people? Check. Grado phono cartridges? Check. They were the Monster Cable profit center in the day.

I also sold some things that have even now stand the test of time. Dinosaurs perhaps, but I refuse to get rid of them, even with the demands they make. 

I have two Pyramid 8W subs and two 7's. 

I have made concessions on the mid range speakers and replaced them with some Paradigm's. I still have the Pyramid 7's and run them every once in a while.

Lagniappe's Lair commented a while back that he digged the song "Mr. Blue Sky" back in the day. I you tubed it and sigh.... a political commercial header. So here it is.  Commercial free.

I think. At least you did not have to watch a commercial for "The One" on this version.


The 8W's? Dual voice coil, really inefficient, heavy as hell, big too. 

I mean REALLY power hungry. There is a dedicated Denon Amplifier at 120 watts per channel just for these! 

  














Built in cross over for the Met 7's. Looks like this on the back panel:

The designer of all of this is still out there. Dick Sequerra is still making stuff.

Bottom line for my readers? Don't believe all the hype. I was glad to take your money and you were glad to give it to me. Even when I sigh... went here. 

  








I did not stay long.

So do you want to buy some really over priced deionized water? 

Don't worry, I have chosen to use my powers for good now! 

Remember...

While some celebrate Memorial Day as the unofficial start of summer and ask if you will be "chilling and grillin" during this Holiday, I must point out that is not the reason for this Holiday. Others in the Blogosphere are much more eloquent than I on this matter. 

People died in defense of this Country and the rapidly decreasing freedoms for individuals it stands for. I run this every year here:



I also replace this:

With a new one made here. The old one will be disposed of properly.

Never Forget. The Honor Guard last week performed the final duty for a Brother in Arms. It means much.

I have low self esteem

Well, I do occasionally. I think we all do. Did I do this right? Was I good enough? I know there are many things in my life subject to debate. When I think I am not up to standards that are defined by others I resort to checking this page out. 


I do make a difference. At the range or doing mundane tasks like cussing out a grip bushing on one of these. 

Its not my Colt. I felt I needed to post about one to let Old NFO I have not sucked the S&W Kool Aid that hard!  

Any M1 Carbine Gearheads out here?

So the barrel is marked 7-43, Inland MFG.  and I found this:

There is a "P", a "w" and and "s" stamping here. Anyone know anything about this stuff?

Trigger Group housing looks like this:

I have read two books on this rifle and book smarts don't translate into experience. What should I be looking for on this rifle to determine its provenance?

Thanks for the help on this old girl!

Thank You

From my real world Family to my Blogger Family, thank you so much for your kind words and prayers during this difficult time.  It means much to me that somehow, mildly disturbed electrons can make such a connection here that spans time and distance with ease. I as well as my Mother and Father appreciate your condolences. 

The VFW Honor Guard went above and beyond the call of duty. I sincerely appreciate these veterans and the active duty solders that gave of their own time and expense to perform during the ceremony.

Rest in peace Kyle, the next time we meet I will bring the coffee.

If I am to be traditionally interred, I could not think of a more beautiful place than this.


Thanks again my friends. It speaks volumes to me. Even if nothing is heard in the traditional manner. 

One of my Uncles has passed.

He was a self made man. Lived independently, built his house, a talented carpenter. Loved to fish. Took care of his Family. He always enjoyed telling stories about he and my Father on the river back in the day. Rest in Peace Kyle. 

"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." Ecclesiastes 12:7



Obituary For: JAMES KYLE ELLIOTT | Reins Sturdivant Funeral Home



The picture is of him and his Daughter. On the river of course. 

Charline has a roomie!

Charline has a roomie, an older sister! An M1 Carbine. Looks like this on first blush.

 

First things first. Here is the wood after cleaning with Oil Soap. 

I think her name will be Suzi! Inland manufactured, barrel dated 1943. Receiver serial matches. The Garand is in good company I think! 

RIP Carroll Shelby

You made some great rides and Lee Iacocca notes in his book: "Every time Mr. Ford shook hands with that chicken farmer it cost Ford Motor Company at least a million dollars".

 Rest in Peace Sir, your legacy is secure and in many good hands. 

Zippo's!

Over at The Troopers Gal, she comments first on a great weekend and some new Zippo gear. I had to get one. I like it and it looks like this:

The cylinder in the middle has its instructions next to it. Spare lighter fluid, place for a spare flint, key ring, hook, and small screwdriver. It is very functional and handy. Who would not want some lighter fluid and a flint handy? Even if you don't have something like this:

Yeah, I collect them. They are wonderful tools and can be used for many things. I remember seeing them proudly displayed in cases such as this:

 They STILL have a lifetime guarantee and I can say if you send one back, you will not be disappointed, much like Case knives. 


If anyone has one laying around, here is the short identification chart:

Old meets new again!

Marketing vs Reality

So way back when in 2001 I stumbled across this little commercial:

So what do I do? Stumble off to the Jag store and buy Version 1.0 of one of these. I figured: "hey, FoMoCo owns them now, Lucas is nowhere to be seen and maybe they don't leak anymore". Plus you get cool photos of things that can go horribly wrong like this too! 

Its the little things with this machine. I only have 25K on it and from day one the defrost bezels have an annoying propensity to pop out of the dash. There was a recall on that too, but the factory effort was lacking. So today I resorted to this:

Ok, I had a boat load of TSB's and recalls. The Jag store *cough Scott Jaguar *cough* here treated me like a red headed step child. I finally started taking it to Knoxville TN. They at least were nice about me actually pulling up in one of these. They gave me a killer XK as a loaner too!

The A/C is back on line, the annoying low washer fluid message is gone, and now only the dead front channel on the stereo and one dead drivers side seat motor remain. For now! Sigh... Let's try some more marketing:

Ok, I feel better: Unfettered avarice imported from Madison Avenue always works, right?

In the machines defense, it is a blast to drive and does have a very rare (only 7 percent came across the pond) with one of these in it.

It is a nice TV commercial! 

So where is my flying car?!?!?

I have used X10 devices for decades to run lighting remotely in my homes. It's cheap and for the most part reliable. In fact my security system has an X10 interface and will light up the joint in a heartbeat if it goes off. I have noted that several other technologies have arrived and the ability to control such stuff from the Interwebz with mobile devices and integration with IP cameras is leaving X10 behind. So I ordered some "starter stuff" for Insteon. One thing that is a biggie for me is it is backwards compatible with X10. So today I get a Ethernet controller, two light switches, and a plug in lamp controller. I go to it on the light switches for the front porch.

Well, as they say the future is here. I hope wall switch Version 6.5 is backwards compatible V. 5.6!

Oh, and whoever threw the user interface program together for Web enabled devices, I'm glad you got a gig after designing graphics for the Atari 2600. 

I STILL don't have my flying car either!