Artillery shells courtesy cbc.ca

Some 50-75 people were evacuated from their homes late Wednesday afternoon after police received a report that “potentially dangerous devices” that looked like large caliber bullets and artillery shells were found in a recently-vacated apartment. Police set up a perimeter around the neighborhood, evacuated several dozen residents, rerouted school and municipal buses, and kept the area locked down for several hours. The munitions were eventually determined to be de-militarized, were removed by specialists, and residents were allowed to return to their homes after a few hours. The photo above came from the link above, which has more . . .

photos and a video, and another video with even more photos can be found here, though that one is in French. The son of a former tenant has come forward to say that the found items were his. Naturally, police “and the Army continue to investigate the legality of having these weapons in a home.”

Your Lockdown of the Day™ comes from East Hartford, Connecticut, where the Woodland School was locked down for an hour after officials discovered a student was carrying bullets. Police “searched the school” after receiving the report and seeing that the student had several bullets for a handgun, but no gun was found. No information is available on whether the student was disciplined or arrested. Of course, parents were notified of the lockdown, and that all students were at all times safe and were never in danger.

West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin on Tuesday signed into law Senate Bill 317, which allows people with concealed carry permits to bring guns into city-owned recreational facilities. The law requires those with a concealed carry permit to secure the weapons out of view and inaccessible to others. The article at wowktv.com points out that there have been several crimes committed with guns in [Charleston’s] recreational centers in the last ten years, specifically three at the Charleston Civic Center and eight at the King Center. I’m curious how many of those “crimes committed” were simply possession charges, because those would be meaningless in evaluating the efficacy of the new law.

An NRA-backed bill designed to help keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill passed out of the Oklahoma House Public Safety Committee Wednesday, for consideration by the full House. The bill would require county court clerks to forward adjudications involving mental health to federal authorities, presumably so they could be flagged and show up during a background check. The bill passed 12-0, with three abstentions.

A Canadian couple was arrested on firearms trafficking charges while crossing the Rainbow Bridge into Canada on March 16th by members of the Canadian Border Services Agency, who were acting on information provided by the Toronto Police Service’s Firearms Enforcement Unit. The couple was crossing the bridge with their two children. A search of their van turned up “seven handguns, two hand grenades, ammunition, over-capacity magazines and knives.” Upon the discovery of the grenades, “several lanes” of the Rainbow Bridge were closed while the munitions were secured. Search warrants were executed against the couples’ home, which resulted in the discovery of an additional 34 firearms, including 20 handguns, along with “hundreds of rounds of ammunition” (Oh noes!). Later investigation turned up five more firearms, allegedly smuggled into Canada. The couple was due in court on Tuesday, facing 73 separate firearms and firearms trafficking charges.

A few months back MattV2099 debunked the myth that putting your thumb behind the slide on a semi-auto when it fires will get it broken, finding that the worst you really needed to worry about was possibly cutting yourself on the sharp edges of the bottom of the slide. For that video, he used a GLOCK-brand GLOCK 17 in 9mm. Since the internet is never satisfied, a bunch of folks challenged him to “try that with a 10mm!” Never let it be said that MattV2099 doesn’t listen to his viewers. Here it is again with a GLOCK-brand GLOCK 20 in 10mm. Note that he does start this one off using the heel of his hand, before he goes to two thumbs, and then down to one. He’s crazy, but he ain’t stupid. (Some NSFW language)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnfkCFnaUZg
 
One of the first things that hickok45 says in this video about the Springfield Armory 1911 HRT Professional Model is “Even if you don’t care for 1911s, that’s a pretty one, isn’t it?” As someone who doesn’t care much either way for 1911s, I can’t help but agree.

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62 COMMENTS

  1. Yeah my late step father had one of those empty shell casings. He used it for an ash tray.

    • Yeah, as I read this I looked over in the corner of my den at the 105 Tank Gun shell casing holding my Blackthorn, Bo and PR-24…OMG! A gift from the RCD back in the 80’s…

      • Sounds about right really. This was back in the 80s, when he was in the army as a truck driver. The one he had looked like the shell casing that was silver/grey. Wish I still had it.

  2. What type of schooling do you need to be a “specialist” in handling a demilitarized shell casing???

  3. All I ever find when a tenant moves out is a pile of garbage and leftover junk furnishings. I never get left cool stuff like that

  4. The Canadian couple busted at the border must have been in Yee’s ring. He’s already ratting to save his hide. Or not. But my speculation is as accurate as anyone’s else.

  5. Meh, I’m not impressed with him doing that with 10mm, lets see him do that with a Ruger 44 Redhawk!

    …

  6. We need an article on cheap 1911-s, which one is the best? I mean the purdy 1911s are good too, but cheap is better.

    • I highly recommend the Rock Island Armory pistols. Mine has run like a dream since the day I got it. Held up well cosmetically with no ‘special’ treatment either.

      • +1

        I was going to pick up an RIA as a project gun, but there are too many reports that they just work. Not much sense in getting it to work on if it’s only to change grips and stuff like that. Changing working parts for working parts isn’t much of a project.

        (Still want a RIA, though)

    • Another vote for a RIA. I just bought their cheapy GI 1911 with the intention of modifying it into a fake M1911-A1. Cost just a few shekels over four hundred bucks.

      While obviously not a Les I think it’s damn nice gun for the money. Fit & finish is fine. Eats everything. Hits the target. Nice blaster. Don’t understand the hate.

      • Another +1 for R.I.A. 369$ from cdnn and shoots as well as many much higher priced brands, also suggest the A.T.I. 410$ from my l.g.s., but I also picked up a springfield mil spec from them for 500$ which for how well the others work may or may not have been worth the extra.

    • I’ve never shot the Rock Islands but my Taurus PT1911 is solid. The finish gets scratched if you give it a dirty look but other than that it’s reliable and accurate. If you want to buy American the Springfield Milspec and Ruger SR1911 are pretty safe bets, it seems. Though they go for 600-700 they might be pushing one’s definition of “cheap.”

    • What’s with all the love for the cheap, forgien, sweatshop 1911s in the comments…

      I’m not even a 1911 guy and the idea of a foreign made 1911 seems sacrilegious.

      It’s Americana, not Philippinesana, or Braziliana… It’s an American icon, it should be made here, by fat, sweaty, American hands.

      “Dude, that Harley made in the Philippines is bad ass! You should get one.”

      “Not as bad ass as my Corvette made in Brazil…”

      See how ridiculous that sounds… You 1911 guys freakin’ kill me.

      • Yeah, and those Harley’s and Corvette’s both run on oil from pipelinistan.. instead of Union 76 or Standard oil….. TRADITORS!!! ( sarcasm )

      • Well….throw out your suggestion on an cheap, reliable, American-made 1911 then. Lurker asked for advice and received suggestions based on many poster’s observations on RIA 1911s. The general consensus is that the sweatshop sacrilegious monstrosity that RIA makes is a good 1911 that is also affordable.

        • My suggestion would be the same as it would be for someone buying a Harley or Vette. Can’t afford it, don’t buy it, or getting something else.

          Y’all do can do what you want with your money though, y’all are grown folks.

          I just can’t see buying a piece of American history that isn’t made in America.

      • From my perspective:
        1911s are classic and have good history. (and no offence I think most poly things are kind of ugly) So if I want a pistol I want one. Also if I ever get money to buy a garand they sort of match.
        fact 2: I am a college student, and thus not rich.
        fact 3: If I want to ccw something sometime in the future, I don’t want to cry if it gets dinged.

        So my choice boils down to, buy a cheap 1911 (likely foreign) or buy a cheap poly gun (probably foriegn) Or buy a cheap surplus gun from classic arms (definetly foreign). Wheras with vehichles in my price range, I have at least 2 American choices, Ford rangers or Chevy s10s….

    • Depends on what you’re looking for.
      Bought an ATI 1911 with a combo conversion kit to .22lr for my wife. Had to break in the mags…but after that worked fine. The biggest problem I see with budget 1911s is that they typically come with budget magazines. Buy some high quality mags with some of the money you’ve saved and an already good gun will run fantastically.
      If you don’t mind spending a little more, the magnum research/desert eagle line of 1911s are one of the best loaded packages on the market for the money. I bought a Colt Goldcup trophey max, loaded it with Wilson Combat parts. It’s a great gun. Should have saved my money and bought the DE1911g. It has most of the features I wanted at 25% off the price. The 1911g is now on my Mechtech carbine and works like a dream there or on its own. Wish they made a bobtale commander.

    • So it looks like I wouldn’t go wrong with Ria, awesome. That confirms alot of other reading. Thanks folks.

    • I’d like to see a review of that and the Girsan ($439 at Bud’s). both are Turkish guns, and I would like to know more. Not that I could buy either here in California, mind you, but I am intrigued.

  8. I just now realized that the NRA-backed bill that passed in Oklahoma must be the reason that people like Bloomberg have armed guards instead of carrying themselves.

  9. So you think there would be a school lockdown if they found one link from a belt fed machine gun? Empty of course. Or maybe even a length of empty belt. Oh man imagine if they found a bottle of Hoppes, freakin federal hazmat team would be called in

    • Nah, because very, very few people would recognize a belt link or even a length of belt for the non-disintegrating type. And those that would recognize either of them would know enough to not get excited about it.

      I’m sure Hoppe’s would cause as much consternation as any other flammable/caustic chemical that a student would really have no rational reason to have in school, but I don’t think it would cause more just because it’s gun cleaner.

    • I found a single belt link for 7.62 NATO in my college parking lot and all I felt was minor excitement followed by slight disappointment that I couldn’t find any more (not much you can do with one belt link). I’m glad I found it and not someone else; a lockdown would have been really annoying.

    • I had a 20mm case I used as a paperweight through high school, including during class. No one ever batted an eye until after Columbine, and even then, it wasn’t that big a deal.

      Other things that happened before that particular national panic: students routinely forgot about having a pocket full of .22, and the final exam for senior metal shop was to make a hunting knife. Most of the student cars in the lot had rifles in them during deer season (so did an even higher percentage of teacher cars, I’m sure).

  10. Glad I thought better of it and didn’t try to smuggle an empty AT-4 tube home.

    Really though, what’s so dangerous about de-milled or dummy artillery shells? Some people use them as art or conversation pieces. Once the police determined they were de-milled, why persist in making a big deal of it? Are they planning to raid all the local gun shows too?

      • Oooohhhh… it’s in Canadia. I get it. Now it makes perfect sense.
        Really, it still doesn’t make any sense… but at least now I understand why the police soiled their collective undergarments.

  11. wow, lame.

    a buddy of mine during his time in the Navy secured himself several spent 5″ shell casings, which were used as an ashtrays on the enclosed back deck. only needed to be emptied every few months.

  12. I would dearly like to shoot that professional but I doubt that I would want to spend $2500 just to have one. The 1911 design remains the most ergonomic design on the market. Even the cheapest RIA 1911 has a smoother trigger than any non custom job around. There is a reason that it is still in use by the military and special police units 100 years after its introduction.

    Also I note Matt was wearing thick gloves. I would like to see him try it bare handed.

    • I don’t actually think the gloves made any difference to the point of the test he did. He noted in his previous video (with the GLOCK-brand GLOCK 17) that if he wasn’t wearing the gloves, the ends of the slide rails would probably have cut his thumb, as they were pretty sharp. But I don’t think the gloves mitigate the impact much, if at all.

  14. Matt’s RHMB in frog lube was pretty good. It turned black and blew up all over the brick it was on.

  15. Please tell me what an over capacity mag is? Did they just tape extra cartridges to the magazine?

  16. Uh OH….I have an arsenal of “hateful” things. I have a full size training RPG even though its blue I guess they need to evacuate…hehe, full 100 round belt with links of spent M60 brass from the Army, 20mm rounds, a 40mm case, various other brass shells and swords.

    Hell My doorbell button is a spent 44 mag round.

  17. All these lockdowns are laughable, if it weren’t so sad that this is what they’ve come up with to safeguard children. Growing up we played cops n robbers, cowboys and injuns, I had a small pocket knife (didn’t all Boy Scouts?), and I had a .45colt case jammed on the back end of my pen. Imagine what my “permanent record” would look like now.

  18. I have/own/shoot a 1911, a Springfield Loaded. I think any/every student of the gun, gun nut, gun fanatic, mildly interested gun owner, occasional shooter … must have at least one 1911 in his/her collection.

    • No, because I’d really rather have guns I can trust out of the box, because if they don’t work, I take a financial hit.

      And what is this “must have” nonsense? Who died and appointed you god?

    • I think about owning 1911s much like I think about owning boats…

      I don’t need to own a boat or 1911, I just need friends that own boats or 1911s.

  20. The central issue of personal freedom is underscored by this post. I have demilled ammo as part of WWII trench art and I suppose some people would consider that dangerous. So, as a result of **THEIR** ignorance, we would be subjected to police search and seizure in various parts of the world, and in our own country.

    Sigh.

  21. “over-capacity magazine” is a new one by me. whatever it is, though, i kinda want one.

    • Closest thing I can think of is “extra round” magazines, bought a couple for each of 2 Kimbers, but they’d fit any 1911. They’re flush fit, indistinguishable from the ones which came with the guns except stainless instead of blued, but the replacement for 6-rd mag holds 7, and the replacement for the 7-rd holds 8. Don’t ask how they do that, but they work fine, the only feed problems I’ve ever had with either gun was with the original mags, never with these. Sounds like an “over capacity” magazine to me!

      • Given the context, I believe it simply means “in excess of the legal maximum.”

        Which, given that we are talking about Canada here, could mean “a magazine that might have a barely adequate capacity,” or maybe better than that.

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