Sunday With Blackthorn - Today We Discuss How Your Shotgun Patterns At Various Distances - And - Why Shotguns Are Really Not Too Long To Use In Your Home For Defense

 In this first video Clint Smith Talks about the need to Take your Shotgun to the range , and see how it and the Ammunition you're using work at varying ranges. This is especially important for knowing where all those pellets are going and how big the pattern is. At close ranges such as you find in  the average middle class home, the shot you use use will tend to cluster closely together at 10 yards or less. Meaning you will need to aim and not just point it in the general direction.

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                    In this second short video Clint shows why the much touted concept of how a Shotgun, as well as even  a short barrelled  Carbine, is no good for use inside the home because they're too long and can hung up while moving through the house if their is an intruder. Allow me at this point to refer back to the Video I previously posted about how "clearing" your house is not the best idea when you have "unwanted guest" in your home at Zero Dark Thirty.

*UKRAINE INVASION NEWS UPDATE* Ukrainian Hackers In Conjunction with the Group ANONYMOUS Take Down Russian Government and Media Websites Including The Kremlin!

 

 

 Looks like old Vlad underestimated just how unpopular his little "Peacekeeping" operation was going to be.

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-698718

Some Common Sense Tips On Home Defense From Clint Smith

 Some advice on doing the smart thing and not making any critical mistakes when an "uninvited guest" gets into your house.

In The 21st Century, Your Privacy Is Never Assured

 

A quick note here, this initially happened under the Trump Administration. 

This goes back to when the Government wanted to be able to access (after the fact) phones used by active shooters with ties to Islamic radicalization after an event in San Bernadino California in the last few months of 2015. You  might be thinking, "well, I don't have  a problem with that", however administrations change, attitudes change, and as the old saying goes 'round and round we go and where it stops, nobody knows'.

Or as the other saying goes, 'be careful what you wish for, you just might get it'.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/the-fbi-reportedly-considered-buying-spyware-that-could-hack-any-phone-in-the-u-s/ar-AATg3lm

 

 This is a write up from a different source

F.B.I. Secretly Bought Israeli Spyware and Explored Hacking U.S. Phones

Israel used the NSO Group’s software as a tool of diplomacy. The F.B.I. wanted it for domestic surveillance. Then everything soured. Here are highlights of a New York Times Magazine investigation.

By Michael Levenson
Jan. 28, 2022

It is widely regarded as the world’s most potent spyware, capable of reliably cracking the encrypted communications of iPhone and Android smartphones.

The software, Pegasus, made by an Israeli company, NSO Group, has been able to track terrorists and drug cartels. It has also been used against human rights activists, journalists and dissidents.

Now, an investigation published Friday by The New York Times Magazine has found that Israel, which controls the export of the spyware, just as it does the export of conventional weapons, has made Pegasus a key component of its national security strategy, using it to advance its interests around the world.

The yearlong investigation, by Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti, also reports that the F.B.I. bought and tested NSO software for years with plans to use it for domestic surveillance until the agency finally decided last year not to deploy the tools.

The Times found that sales of Pegasus played a critical role in securing the support of Arab nations in Israel’s campaign against Iran and negotiating the Abraham Accords, the 2020 diplomatic agreements, signed at a Trump White House ceremony, that normalized relations between Israel and some of its longtime Arab adversaries.

The U.S. sought the cyberweapon for domestic use.

The U.S. had also moved to acquire Pegasus, The Times found. The F.B.I., in a deal never previously reported, bought the spyware in 2019, despite multiple reports that it had been used against activists and political opponents in other countries. It also spent two years discussing whether to deploy a newer product, called Phantom, inside the United States.

The discussions at the Justice Department and the F.B.I. continued until last summer, when the F.B.I. ultimately decided not to use NSO weapons.

But Pegasus equipment is still in a New Jersey building used by the F.B.I. And the company also gave the agency a demonstration of Phantom, which could hack American phone numbers.


A brochure for potential customers, obtained by The Times, says that Phantom allows American law enforcement and spy agencies to “turn your target’s smartphone into an intelligence gold mine.”

The year long Times investigation was based on interviews with government officials, leaders of intelligence and law enforcement agencies, cyber experts, business executives and privacy activists in a dozen countries.

It tells the story of NSO’s rise from a start-up operating out of a converted chicken coop on an agricultural cooperative to its blacklisting by the Biden administration in November because of its use by foreign governments to “maliciously target” dissidents, journalists and others.

NSO began with two school friends, Shalev Hulio and Omri Lavie, hatching start-ups in Bnai Zion, an agricultural cooperative outside of Tel Aviv, in the mid-2000s.

One of their start-ups, CommuniTake, which offered cellphone tech-support workers the ability to take control of their customers’ devices — with permission — caught the attention of a European intelligence agency, Mr. Hulio said.

NSO was born, and the company eventually developed a way to gain access to phones without the user’s permission — no need to click on a malicious attachment or link. (That the company’s name sounded like the N.S.A. was a mere coincidence).
‘You start to believe your every move is watched.’

After NSO began selling Pegasus globally in 2011, Mexican authorities used it to capture Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the drug lord known as El Chapo. And European investigators used it to smash a child-abuse ring with dozens of suspects in more than 40 countries.

But abuses have also been revealed in reports by researchers and news organizations, including The Times.

Mexico used the spyware to target journalists and dissidents. Saudi Arabia used it against women’s rights activists and associates of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist who was killed and dismembered by Saudi operatives in 2018.

That year, the C.I.A. bought Pegasus to help Djibouti, an American ally, fight terrorism, despite longstanding concerns about human rights abuses there, including the persecution of journalists and the torture of dissidents.

In the U.A.E., Pegasus was used to hack the phone of an outspoken critic of the government, Ahmed Mansoor.

Mr. Mansoor’s email account was breached, his geolocation was monitored, $140,000 was stolen from his bank account, he was fired from his job and strangers beat him on the street.

“You start to believe your every move is watched,” he said. In 2018, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for posts he made on Facebook and Twitter.

Through a series of new deals licensed by the Israeli Ministry of Defense, Pegasus has been provided to the far-right leaders of Poland, Hungary, India and other countries.

Mr. Netanyahu did not order the Pegasus system to be cut off, even when the Polish government enacted laws that many Jews inside and outside of Israel saw as Holocaust denial, or when Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, at a conference attended by Mr. Netanyahu himself, falsely listed “Jewish perpetrators” among those responsible for the Holocaust.
The blacklisting of NSO infuriated Israeli officials.

American companies have been trying to build their own tools that could hack phones with the ease of NSO’s “zero click” technology.

One of those companies, Boldend, told Raytheon, the defense-industry giant, in January 2021, that it could hack WhatsApp, the popular messaging service owned by Facebook, but then lost the capability after a WhatsApp update, according to a presentation obtained by The Times.

The claim was especially notable because, according to one of the slides, a major Boldend investor is Founders Fund — a company run by Peter Thiel, the billionaire who was one of Facebook’s first investors and remains on its board.

The recent American blacklisting of NSO could suffocate the company by denying it access to the American technology it needs to run its operations, including Dell computers and Amazon cloud servers.

The rebuke has infuriated Israeli officials who have denounced the move as an attack not only on a crown jewel of the country’s defense industry but on the country itself.

“The people aiming their arrows against NSO,” said Yigal Unna, director general of the Israel National Cyber Directorate until Jan. 5, “are actually aiming at the blue and white flag hanging behind it.”

 

A Philosophy Lesson For Today

 

Sunday With Blackthorn - Today We Discuss the New Mossberg 590S

 Your average Shotgun will fire 2-3/4" long shells. A lot of Shotguns will fire both 2-3/4" and 3" shells. Then we short Shotgun shells like the ones made by Aguila. These are 1-3/4" long and while capable of performing in the Self Defense arena (as well as being suitable for smaller statured people or recoil sensitive persons). The main advantage is for closer ranges in particular (ie: defense inside the home at close quarters) and the fact that it allows you carry more shotshells in the mag tube. 

In most shotguns that are chambered for 2-3/4", the magazine tube holds 5 rounds, whereas with the 1-3/4" shells you can carry 7 or 8 rounds in the tube. And if you live somewhere that 8 round magazine tubes are legal on your Shotgun, you can now carry 11 rounds. 

That is not an inconsequential upgrade. 

Whether or not you personally would carry the shorter shot-shells is strictly up to you. 

Now most shotguns chambered for the standard 2-3/4" & 3" will not reliably cycle the shorter rounds, with the exception of a couple of Winchester Shotguns. otherwise you have to have some modifications done to your Shotgun.

The new Mossberg 590S (and yes, the S stands for short) is designed to allow you to shoot the Short, regular, and Magnum loads.

In any event watch the video, read the articles, and  decide for yourself what you think.

 

 

Personal Defense World Article

  https://www.personaldefenseworld.com/2022/02/mossberg-590s-pump-action-series/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=SIG+Sauer+P365+is+Built+How+You+Want+with+the+Custom+Works+FCU+Studio%3B+The+Canik+METE+Series+Comes+with+a+Lot+of+Extras+at+an+Affordable+Price&utm_campaign=PersonalDefenseWorld_Enews-02+16+22&vgo_ee=%2B6ARl58JL4fX0rCxHDfwynwFoqDlMHNmyq65fGLdufk%3D

 

Review of The Aguila Mini-Shotshell

https://www.outdoorhub.com/stories/2018/08/03/aguila-minishell-little-shotshell/

Between Problems With The IRS, Having Their Amazon.Com Donations Froze, And Having the Head of The Memphis Chapter Sentenced to 6 Years For Illegal Voting......

It's Shaping up to be a bad year for BLM. 

I won't even get into the purchase of an $8 million dollar mansion for their Canadian Headquarters (which also used to be the headquarters of the Canadian Communist Party)

I'll just stick to the items in the Header title above.

  

 https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/blm-accounting-gimmick-further-delays-disclosure-of-its-60m-bankroll

https://nypost.com/2022/02/17/amazon-suspends-black-lives-matter-from-its-charity-platform/

 

https://nypost.com/2022/02/06/memphis-blm-founder-pamela-moses-sentenced-for-illegally-voting/ 

And You Think Flying NOWADAYS Is A Questionable Experience?

 Check out this early maintenance video. 

 

 

 

NY State Sees A Legal Loss In SCOTUS And Starts Working On How To Negate it

 This is similar to what Chicago did in the wake of the Heller Decision in 2008. Their attempt to force gun stores out of the city while banning purchase of firearms from outside the city limits (thereby negating the ability to even buy a firearm) being the most obviously egregious and stupid ones. Chicago passed I believe 3 laws to negate the effect of the the Heller Decision which were all taken to court, and were all declared unconstitutional.

My best guess is that NYS will not fare any better if the NYSRPA wins their case (which has already been heard by SCOTUS.

So, having gotten that brief overview out of the way, let's get on with the video.

 

Sunday With Blackthorn - Today We Discuss The Benelli M2 Semi-Auto Shotgun

 So 2 Sundays back we reviewed the Beretta 1301. Today I thought it would only be fair  to cover the Benelli. Especially since I mentioned as how Benelli is owned by Beretta. Now just in case you're wondering why I'm not covering the Benelli M4 instead, pretty much every review was centered around the M1014 version that has been adopted by the USMC. And frankly , I'd rather discuss models that are geared towards the civilian market. 

So, without further ado, let's get to the M2 Review.

Uncle Joe's On It!

 

Sunday with Blackthorn - Today We Discuss Shotgun Shell Holders

 

 Due to the constraints of carrying spare  ammunition  for your Shotgun, today we will discuss the more practical ways of keeping your personal choice in heavy artillery fed. The Pros, the Cons, the Good, the bad, and the unmitigated ugly. The RECOIL Magazine article linked to below covers pretty much all the options. 

And...

Once you're done perusing that, there will be a brief review of the option that I have recently decided to go with. Originally written for the forum, I'm guessing that only about 6 or 7 guys have seen it, so I figured I'd share it with the rest of you self defense aficianados.

https://www.recoilweb.com/shotgun-shell-holder-guide-feeding-the-beast-172793.html?utm_source=bm23&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Image+-+https://www.recoilweb.com/shotgun-shell-holder-guide-feeding-the-beast-172793.html&utm_content=How+To+Survive+a+Winter+Snow+Storm.+&utm_campaign=Offgrid+Newsletter+-+01/03/22

 

  My Review of the Esstac Shotgun 'Card"

 Why the call these things 'Cards' I have no idea. Essentially it's a nylon sidesaddle. Anyway, my 20 Ga Mossberg always presented a problem because the fore-end was what you would call a sporting style. It's several inches longer than the type you find on SG's designed for defensive purposes. Accordingly, your typical rigid sidesaddle wouldn't fit.

So I went out and bought couple of different brands of nylon soft sidesaddles, cut them down from the typical 5 or 6 rounds to 3 rounds so that they would fit on the receiver without interfering with fore-end when I racked it. Okay, so now they fit. But the long and the short of it is that the loops are actually for 12 Ga, and are just a little too big to keep the 20 Ga shells from falling out if you shoot, and sometimes even if you just shake the SG to forcefully.

After watching the TFB TV Youtube video SG series, I decided to see if the nylon sidesaddle the guy touted was available in 20 Ga.

To see the video, go to the 4:30 mark here; 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sro9uUOL0vM&list=PLLTsr5AXoX23aFOVP2vLmr_vb_ir_kbmU&index=8

And yes it was! I tried to buy several, but I actually only got one, because it was the last one they had in stock. A quick note here, getting SG accessories for 20 Ga SG's is damned near impossible.

So it showed up and the difference in quality was astounding as compared to all the trash I had previously purchased. I still have to cut it down to fit on the side of the receiver. but I filled this thing up with shells, and shook it around like an Epilectic having a seizure.

Not a single Shell fell out.

Anyway, I decided to write a Review for the website, and it finally posted today. This is it in it's entirety;

Esstac 20 Gauge Shotgun Card 

Holy Shit!! A 20 Ga Shotgun Card that 's actually designed FOR 20 Ga Shotshells!! No longer do I have to suffer having my 20 Ga ammo falling out of the loops because despite what the advertising said, the ones I used to buy were designed for 12 Ga and the 20 Ga part of the description was just a load of B^^LS^^T. Not to mention that my new ESSTAC SG Card doesn't flop around like a wet noodle. I can't wait to get notified when these are back in stock. Thanks guys, you sell a quality product for a decent price, and that's pretty rare these days.

For anybody interested in SG accessories, here's the link to the website:

skdtac.com/esstac-20-gauge-shotgun-card/

And No, I do not get any kickbacks from the company.

One Of The Advantages Of Being Joe Biden