And off we go:
And here are a couple of little distractions:
So, it’s off to work we go:
Month: September 2023
Classic Beauty: Tempest Storm
“If you’re going to be bad, be bad; if you’re going to make being bad your career, do it all your life.”
In the case of Tempest Storm, the “bad” was to be a burlesque dancer and stripper; and she did it from her teens until… well, her last performance was at age 90. So let’s get on with the show:
Here she is in glorious Technicolor:
And here, at age 85:
And a redhead… wonderful, she was.
Worthy Additions
Just the other day I was sauntering in a desultory fashion along the well-trodden (by me) byways of Teh Intarwebz, and happened upon Collectors Firearms Cruffler pages. (For my Furrin Readers and others unfamiliar with the term, it stands for guns classified as curios and relics — C&R firearms — and the licencees thereof are known as Crufflers. They are mainly people like me, although I’ve never had a C&R license.)
Anyway, here’s the page; and if you follow the link, you’ll see that almost all the fine old beauties listed show signs of age — e.g. “some frosting in the barrels”, “slight pitting” and “dings and scratches”, to name but some.
Most alarmingly to my eyes, however, are the prices, which seem to be mostly in the > $1,000 stratosphere (and some a great deal more than that).
And yet, amidst all that carnage are to be found some excellent bargains, namely, some of the excellent Swiss Schmidt-Rubin Model 1911 straight-pull rifles and carbines (here, here and here). Note the prices, which are well under that magic one-grand number. Here’s the 1911 (long) rifle (one of which I once owned, and still wish I’d never sold):
Indulge me for a moment while I ramble on about these rifles. Here’s what I said about them in my Great War Rifles post:
First introduced in 1896 and improved in 1911, chambered for the powerful 7.5x55mm Swiss cartridge, the Model 1911 had a straight-pull bolt action, and was unquestionably made to the highest quality standards of any rifle of the time (and higher even than many production rifles of today).
The Mod. 1911 is a marvel of functionality, its workings intricate and precise, its accuracy outstanding.
(For the whole story, feel free to diverge from this post and watch Othias and Mae’s take, and if you’re too impatient, just watch Mae shooting the thing.)
To work the Mod. 1911’s action is to experience poetry in engineering, and the rifle, even with that forward-mounted rear sight, is more accurate than 90% of the people who’ll ever shoot it. (The later K.31 shortened the action and moved the rear sight back towards the breech.)
Let me be succinct: if one takes into account the quality of workmanship, ease of use, smoothness of the action, efficacy of the ammunition, and finally price, I cannot see a better bargain in the firearms market than these three rifles.
So: what about the ammo?
Sadly, the original RUAG-made 7.5x55mm (or GP 11) ammo ended production in the 1990s, but apparently has since been restarted as of 2016. I say “apparently” because I suspect it’s being made purely for domestic use in Switzerland as I can’t find it for sale anywhere in the U.S. of A. Here’s what it looks like:
It was the only ammo I ever used when I still had my 1911 rifle, so I have no idea how other brands will perform.
“Did you say other brands, Kim?”
Indeed I did. A quick perusal at Ammoseek brought forth these options (click to embiggen):
I know, it’s a little spendy at $1.20+ per pull, but to put it in perspective, that’s cheaper than the current price of .30-30 I’ve been seeing. (I would go with the Czech Sellier & Bellot, just because I’ve had excellent results with their other calibers before.)
Here’s my suggestion:
For just under (or a little over, depending on your choice) $1,000 you can get your hands on one of the best bolt-action rifles ever made, one that still shoots as well as the day it left the factory, along with 200 rounds of ammo to feed it. It will almost certainly outshoot all the other C&R rifles listed at Collectors, and most likely a whole bunch of the other rifles they sell, too, not just the mil-surp ones.
Just in case you have a spare grand burning a hole in your pocket and a desire to own something special.
I don’t have the grand, but the desire to own a Schmidt-Rubin 1911 again is burning a hole in my heart… and I am not lying.
By the way: yes, the later model K.31 was a shorter rifle (e.g. how the Germans changed the Gew. 98 into the K98k), but: the 11’s receiver was forged, and the 31’s cast. I happen to prefer the ring! of the 11 to the clack! of the 31, just as I prefer the sound of the pre-64 Winchester Model 70 over their successors (for the same reason). There’s nothing wrong with the K.31 — and it loses over 2lbs off the Mod. 1911’s 10. Yes, the older rifle is heavy; but you’re not going to go on any route marches or parades — and whether in offhand or bench modes, that extra weight tames the stout recoil of the GP 11 cartridge.
Worse Ways To Go
I have to admit that I’m not only sympathetic, I’m a little envious of the way this guy decided to go out.
Porn was being filmed onboard a retired doctor’s party yacht before cops swooped and arrested him on suspicion of drug and gun charges, according to new police documents.
Authorities raided his 82-foot-long yacht called the JessConn, named after his two children, on September 5 in Nantucket after a woman on board called a friend for help. The woman told the man, ‘they were doing drugs all weekend long and people on the boat had been making pornographic films’. She added that she wanted to leave the boat before passing out, causing her male friend to contact authorities – telling them that she had overdosed.
The man told the Nantucket Police Department that the boat had ketamine, Adderall, ecstasy and cocaine on board.
Law enforcement sources told the Current that several prostitutes were found on the boat. No charges have been brought on these claims.
Scott Burke, 69, was charged with one count of trafficking a Class B drug, one count of possession to distribute a Class A drug, one count of possession of ammunition without a license and four counts of possession of a large-capacity feeding device.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges and was ‘extremely uncooperative’ when police boarded the yacht and was placed in handcuffs and detained because of his behavior, according to an affidavit. The married father-of-two claimed that the woman who overdosed had been working for him for a few weeks, and her female friend was staying on the boat.
But here’s the kicker:
Burke was released on a $200,000 bail last week after his lawyer told Plymouth Court that he has terminal stage four cancer — and just months to live.
So if you know you’re going to die soon, and if you have the money, why not go batshit crazy and spend it on one last over-the-top sex orgy?
The charges, by the way, are bullshit. He’s a doctor, so presumably he has the Rx prescription for all those drugs, and the “unlicensed ammo” charge is idiotic — but it’s Massachusetts, so anything’s possible.
And by the way: I want to know what a “large-capacity feeding device” is, and why possession thereof is illegal.
Now that he’s out on bail, Burke might just off himself with an OD of drugs they didn’t find, rather than letting the cancer take him. Under the same circumstances, who wouldn’t do the same?
News Roundup
Today is hereby proclaimed as SEX NEWS DAY (because I’m sick of all the other shit).
...key word: Romanian.
...there are Southern Baptist biker gangs in Britishland? Who knew?
...only a cousin? They should just move to Mississippi.
...when “horny bastard” is translated into New English — “untreated sex addict”, my aching nuts.
...keyword: Virginia? This should play well with the voters [/sarc]; unless her district includes Alexandria, in which case all bets are off.
...”sexual health doctor”? Which medical school offers this speciality?
…
From the Dept. of Sex Education:
...not a bad idea; it’s not like anyone is going to snitch on them, after all.
...judging by her pic, the “miracle” is that the kid could get it up in the first place.
...#Catholic Church
...wait till you see the pics.
...but she’s okay with having orgasms with other guys, for money? I got nothing.
And in (link-free) SEX INSIGNIFICA:
...”granny grabber”, we got it.
...headline edited for clarity.
Must say, she’s a little light in the superstructure for me, but the legs are pretty good.
No-Fly Policy
Why am I not surprised that Oz airline Qantas screwed up yet again?
Fed-up Qantas passengers who were forced to sit on the tarmac for six hours before their flight was eventually cancelled have unleashed on the airline.
Flight QF93 from Melbourne to Los Angeles was cancelled at 3 am on Tuesday after it was decided the plane was too heavy to take off due to strong winds. The doomed flight had already been delayed before customers boarded.
‘We just wanted to get off. We were tired, there was no water, we weren’t even offered any food, we weren’t allowed to get out of our seats.’
‘This isn’t their first rodeo, they didn’t have any contingency plan and they’re never on the front foot. You’ve got to get on the phone to them, you’ve got to chase them up, you’ve got to be the one that tries to get your compensation or get your complaint in.’
And:
A Qantas spokesperson has since apologized for the inconvenience to customers.
Frankly, I’m amazed — at the apology, not at their behavior.
Qantas is one of the several reasons why I’ll never visit Australia. They have a near-monopoly on flights to that foul country, and their arrogance has become legend among frequent travelers. After our first flight to Sydney was canceled because of the WuFlu, Qantas refused to give me a refund because they’d put a two-year restriction on refunds — and as the OzGov only opened the gates after three years, Qantas told me, in almost these terms, to go and piss up a rope.
Of course, I’m also still furious at the bastard OzGov for their inefficiency and intransigence when they cocked up my trip to visit my family in Sydney a while ago — a cock-up which cost me nearly $4,000, by the way, and which made me swear never to go Down Under, ever.
(Apologies to Readers Biwoz and Bluey, amongst others — it’s not your fault, of course.)
As for Qantas, my advice is that if you have to fly to Oz for whatever reason, fly any other airline — Qantas’s prices are always high anyway — because you’re less likely to be treated like shit. It’s worth taking, say, Cathay Pacific or Emirates even if you have to connect (and wait some time) in another airport, because that hassle is likely to be more pleasant than dealing with Qantas. If Qantas is “the spirit of Australia” as they claim, Oz is pretty much fucked.
Caveat viatorem.
