Why the Bushmaster ACR is a bummer 
2010.01.23 22:00 - Guns, Magpul Masada/Bushmaster ACR, Internet Stupidity, Meatspace Stupidity
The short of it is that it took Bushmaster two and a half years to take what should have been a nearly finished design, strip out half the feature set (integral front sight, compatibility with AR-15 barrels and FCGs) to remove the possibility of after-market parts, add some weight to the gun for no obvious reason (Bushmaster ACR: 8.2 pounds vs. 7 pounds for the Remington ACR), and then charge twice the expected price for the privilege of having a barrel twist that people who pay two and three grand for a rifle apparently don't want. Oh, and cheap out on the sights.0

It must look like a brilliant move to somebody, but I have no idea who.

[Update: According to one of Bushmaster's people posting for the company at arfcom, the ACR does use standard AR trigger parts. The barrel, however, is still a new part.]

Footnote
0. For the record, I like the MBUS: they work, and cost about a third what anything else with the same feature set costs. I'm even pretty sure they're there as much because they're made by Magpul as cost concerns. But, even a set of fixed (i.e., not flip-up) back-up iron sights made of steel costs twice what the MBUS does. When you're asking somebody to drop $3000 for a too-short rail farm and a folding stock, you could throw in a set of Troys for free. It would at least convey a sense that maybe you're not just charging the most you think you can get away with.
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Just as nice for twice the price! 
2010.01.19 07:35 - Guns, Magpul Masada/Bushmaster ACR, Internet Stupidity, Meatspace Stupidity, Whining
I hate to sound like all the ninnies that have been getting hysterical over the ACR rumours for the last three weeks, but it looks like the rumors are right and the basic version of the Bushmaster ACR is going to priced at $2700, or close enough to as makes no difference.

I've still got some checking to do, but unless I can come up with one for a lot less, my answer to that question is the following:

Screw. That.

A SCAR, ugly as it may be, includes a rail farm and a folding stock for that price, and the XCR is only a little more than half that. Someone on arfcom claimed that dealer price on the Remington version is $1850-2050, which might be do-able. I'll have to do some checking with my own contacts and see what turns up. I'm sure as heck not paying $3000 for one, though.

[Update: Checking complete. Unless something completely unexpected happens, I am not getting an ACR, at least within the current calendar year. C'est la vie. I hear SIGs are nice this time of year, though ....

I also feel like I should point out that Bushmaster's ACR shenanigans have been a pretty big bummer. I'll have a brief post on why in a bit.]
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Life is entirely too short to pay attention to hippies. 
2010.01.13 08:21 - Meatspace Stupidity
That is all.
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Why My Investment In Fictional Universes Is Increasingly Limited 
2009.12.02 09:00 - Entertainment, Books, Movies, Television, Meatspace Stupidity, Whining
I have the RSS feed from theforce.net laying around in my Google Reader subscriptions. This morning, that feed included an announcement of the cancellation of an upcoming Star Wars novel by Karen Traviss.

I really don't follow this stuff very closely, and what's going on here is one reason why. Karen Traviss has been writing novels in the Star Wars universe centered around some characters that are clone soldiers and a handful of Mandalorians, either referencing or creating a lot of stuff concerning the previously established warrior culture of the Mandalorians. I've read a few of these, because they've crossed over nicely into the sub-genre of military sci-fi that I've recently found myself enjoying, and because I do still like the Star Wars universe, despite the fact that it is often so shoddily and inconsistently constructed. So, I've got two or three of the Republic Commando novels on my bookshelf, and I'll probably pick up the couple of novels following those characters at some point.

Traviss has decided not to write this last book because, among other reasons, the Mandalorians are being retconned into pacifists during the movie time period, which presents certain existential difficulties for many of her key characters.

Uff da.

[Addendum: I fired this off without putting a complete title on it, so I corrected the title.]
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I did not know that 
2009.10.25 23:31 - Guns, Browning Hi-Power, Entertainment, Movies, Television, Meatspace Stupidity
According to imfdb, "John 'Hannibal' Smith's sidearm of choice was the Browning Hi-Power."

That's pretty cool, in a pop-cultural sort of way. I wonder if that's going to carry over to the movie they're doing?
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