Hornady bonus bucksRemember back before the whole open carry at Starbucks thing blew up, back when there weren’t any ARs and AKs, just a bunch of guys and gals with their BBQ guns and nice holsters? Back then, part of their “impact statement” was to pay with $2 bills. Hornady Manufacturing had the same idea when distributing their annual bonuses, handing out $61,000 worth of $2 bills as part of the employees’ bonus package, with a request from management that they spend the money in Hornady’s hometown of Grand Island, Nebraska. Hornady employs more than 300 people in Grand Island, and they want the town to know that the Hornady employee family supports the town . . .

and spends money there. The $2 bills were only part of the employee bonus package, which also included a “nice check” and a deposit into their 401(k)s. Hornady also did the $2 bill bonus thing last year, giving out $48,000 in cash bonuses, and vice president Jason Hornady attributed the increase to “unprecedented demand” for ammunition, and employees’ hard work to meet that demand.

The Daily Caller had an article last week (filed under Womens Outdoor News) titled 5 Things You Need To Know About Personal-Defense Ammunition. It’s a very basic primer on ammunition, but it’s clearly aimed at those unfamiliar with firearms in general and personal defense specifically, so basic is OK. The fun part for me was venturing into the comment section. It leads off with this gem from “The_Old_Geezer:” I think I’ll just stick with three basic known truths: (1) a 230 grain round from a 1911a .45 ACP is going to stop just about anyone… A couple comments later, he answers a question from a self-proclaimed “newbie,” and his answer is good, up until the last sentence: You don’t have to be an expert marksman with any .45 ACP weapon only good enough to hit an intruder somewhere as they will be going down even if you fail to hit a vital organ area. Good to know I only have to hit them “somewhere.”

Here’s how you know when your rules are approaching ridiculous. It’s when a police officer can’t buy a gun or ammunition because of something that happened when he was a juvenile, something that didn’t preclude his becoming a cop. Jeremy Quate is an officer in Hillsdale, Missouri, but lives in Illinois. When he was 16 he was arrested for burglary, and given probation. He was told that obeying probation guidelines was his “shot at a clean record.” He completed his probation without incident, and his juvenile record was sealed. However, because the arrest was for a felony charge, he is being denied a FOID card. He wants to buy a “secondary gun” for off-duty use, but he can’t do that without an FOID, nor can he buy ammunition for his service weapon so he can practice. So he’s stuck, no doubt just like thousands of others.

One of the guns I’ve not yet been lucky enough to get my hands on is the BAR. I don’t exactly know why, but it’s always been one of the most intriguing guns I’ve ever seen. I will eventually shoot one, and maybe I’ll someday even be lucky enough to own one. In the meantime, I just have to live vicariously through folks like hickok45.

 
That’s the short and exciting version. If you’re like me and need more, here’s his full 20+ minute shoot ‘n show.

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48 COMMENTS

  1. You don’t have to be an expert marksman with any .45 ACP weapon only good enough to hit an intruder somewhere as they will be going down even if you fail to hit a vital organ area. Good to know I only have to hit them “somewhere.”

    Exactly. You can hit them in the Philippines, you can hit them in Florida, South Africa…
    You can even hit them in Pahrump, Nevada!

    I’m with you, Matt. I really would like a BAR. Classic.

  2. Wow…the cop should move to Missouri. What happens if Jeremy Q. pursues a suspect into Illinois?!? The mind boggles. Illinois sucks. I wish I could move to Indiana. Maybe next year.

    • Yeah, it would seem like there’s a very simple and obvious solution to that guy’s problems, and it’s just a short ride across a bridge in a U-Haul. He already works in Missouri, so what the heck?

      • Sucks on the taxpayer teat but then CHOSES to live in ILLINIOS. Not to bright (or ethical).

        FOID card what a repulsive BS.

        Pretty sure the Indiana border (and Iowa, Mo, Wi) is not closed. MOVE tomorrow, this weekend, now. Economy of all those states are much better shape that Il or Chicago.

  3. I’ll have to do some more research on this, but how good a shot placement do you think you need to kill a man’s soul with 45ACP?

    • Once the bullet exits the barrel, all that is required is penetration of the skin. If the bullet makes the target bleed, death is assured.

      • Oh come on, Sabrewolf. The late heavyweight boxer, Cleveland “Cat” Williams, took a .357 round to the abdomen, certainly bled a lot, but didn’t die. Granted, he was never again much of a fighter, but his death from the gunshot would was by no means ensured.

        • But by your own admission he was shot with a .357, not a .45. .357’s aren’t imbued with the magical soul killing properties of a .45.

  4. Sure, laugh you guys, but I saw a movie where the bad guy was hit in the chest with a .45 round and actually flew backwards a couple yards. If that isn’t conclusive proof, I don’t know what is.

  5. In fact, all 230gr .45 ammo leaves the factory enchanted to kill the soul only if the round remains in the target at the timeof death. It also leaves the factory inspected by a rabbi to ensure it is kosher, so that it is equally deadly to Nazis (a practice with roots in WW2).

    • That’s how it works…huh..all this time I was led to believe the round sucked the soul out as it exited the body…

      • The 45 round is actually completely silent as it exits the barrel. The sound you hear when you fire is the lament of every evil soul ever dropped by one.

  6. I wish browning would make a reproduction BAR in semi-auto. Not like their modern hunting rifles but like the WW2 BAR. I’d buy one.

  7. A an arrest without conviction for a felony does not legally prevent getting a FOID in Illinois. And I’m not sure, because the clause wouldn’t apply to me, but I believe there’s an LEO carve out. Something else is going on there.

  8. I want to go to the bank and just get a bunch of $2 bills and start paying for stuff with ’em and watch what happens.

    • …watching what happens is kinda humorous. The clerk will look at the bill, look at me, look back at the bill, and then one of two things occur: 1) they shrug and put the bill into the till, or 2) they call the manager over for a consult as to whether or not the bill is real. If the manager has any amount of years, the “ok” is given. If not, the blank stares continue.

  9. The BAR is one weapon on my very short bucket list. I have checked off SAW’s, M240’s, the M2 HMG and the like, but the BAR has still eluded me.

    My grandfather carried a BAR in the Phillipines during WWII with the 40th Infantry Division. Then he went to battalion inteliigence and carried a Thompson. Those two and an MG42 comprise my firearms bucket list.

    • Those who raved about the BAR never used a Bren. When the Brits were considering replacing the Lewis Post WW1, they did seriously consider the BAR, but when an embassy official stationed in Czechoslavakia commented on a new LMG being developed, examples were sourced for testing which then passed every test put to it.

      Even R Lee Emery thinks the Bren is better than the BAR after a side-by-side test. Especially when reloading.

  10. Today’s heroic police tale:

    Parma agrees to pay 16-year-old boy $40,000 to settle police brutality lawsuit

    Out-of-control Parma, OH cop James Manzo (who, naturally, is still on the job) struck a 16 year old boy twice in the head with a flashlight, because he thought he “got smart” with him. Because, officer’s safety.

    More info from “officer” James Manzo’s resume:

    Domestic Violence charges, harassment of a Black man walking a dog, the “accidental” discharge of his firearm

    James Manzo was the motivation behind a fictional character, James Mendoza in the book To Protect and Abuse.

  11. The .45acp is not the stone cold killer everyone makes it out to be…

    I shot a .45 once, and it baked me a cake and mowed my yawn, I thought it to be rather charming.

  12. A little slice of life. Some time ago during Battle Assemble training or monthly Army Reserve drill, I walked into the room where some soldiers were gathering around a table with a wallet open. The wallet belonged to one of them and the contents were spilled out as they went through it for an assigned exercise (long story). I noticed one of the cards was an Illinois FOID card so I was curious and picked it up. I noticed it said something along the lines “For Firearms purchase only. Does not permit user to Conceal Carry.” I muttered “F___ing Fascist!” and everyone in the room laughed. I looked up and asked what was funny, and one of them said “Just before you walked in Sarge, one of us saw it and said “F___ing Communist!”

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