
Category: A Victory!
Russians

May 31, 2022
PRESS RELEASE
Kansas City, KS – The wait is over for southpaw shooters coveting CZ’s latest generation of precision rimfire rifles. CZ-USA proudly introduces two left-hand 457 rifles – the Varmint in .22 LR and American in .22 LR or .22 WMR – tailored for left-hand shooters.
These new models inherit the advanced features of the CZ 457 series of bolt action rifles but with left-hand comfort and ease of use. The bolt, push-to-fire safety, and a separate bolt extractor control mirror right-hand rifle models for left-hand comfort. The striker status indicator located at the rear of the bolt provides a quick visual check while hunting or competition shooting. A shortened 60° bolt throw allows rapid and convenient reloading and increases clearance between the bolt and mounted optics.
CZ 457 rifles feature an adjustable trigger mechanism with a low trigger pull weight, creep, and customizable travel. The Varmint and American both feature Turkish walnut stocks with checkering on the grip and forend. With the use of an exceptionally durable anti-corrosion finish for moisture and protection, the external metal parts hold up great in the field and make maintenance a breeze.
Barrels are cold hammer-forged, producing constancy from breach to muzzle and exceptional accuracy; each uses the industry-standard 1:16 twist and includes a threaded muzzle. The Varmint model has a shorter barrel with a heavy profile than the American’s light profile and longer barrel. The improved modular system of the CZ 457 allows for barrels in various cartridges from the previous CZ 455 series. The reliable 5-shot detachable polymer magazines used in this current series are compatible with past generations of CZ rimfire rifles.
The new Left-Hand CZ 457 Varmint and American include all the outstanding features of the series configured on the ‘correct’ side tailored for left-handed shooters. For more information, visit cz-usa.com.
CZ 457 (Varmint & American) Left-hand Features:
- Bolt handle is located on the left side
- Push-to-fire Safety on the left side
- Bolt opens with safety on
- Adjustable (weight and travel) trigger mechanism
- Turkish walnut stock
- Cold hammer-forged barrel; threaded muzzle
- 60° bolt throw allows quick and convenient reloading
- Detachable, Polymer magazine
CZ 457 American Left-hand Specifications:
- SKU: 02390, 02391
- Caliber: .22 LR; .22 WMR
- Magazine Capacity: 5
- Sights: None; Integrated 11 mm dovetail
- Barrel: Cold hammer-forged; 24-inch, light profile
- Stock: Turkish walnut; American-style
- Twist Rate: 1:16
- Trigger Mech: Fully adjustable
- Trigger Pull Weight: 2.25 lbs – 4 lbs
- Magazine: Detachable
- Length of Pull: 13.75-inches
- Weight: 6.17-Lbs
- Safety: Two-position; Push-to-fire safety
- MSRP: $589.00
CZ 457 Varmint Left-hand Specifications:
- SKU: 02392
- Caliber: .22 LR
- Magazine Capacity: 5
- Sights: None; Integrated 11 mm dovetail
- Barrel: Cold hammer-forged; 20-inch, heavy profile
- Stock: Turkish walnut; Varmint-style
- Twist Rate: 1:16
- Trigger Mech: Fully adjustable
- Trigger Pull Weight: 2.25 lbs – 4 lbs
- Magazine: Detachable
- Length of Pull: 13.75-inches
- Weight: 7.08-Lbs
- Safety: Two-position; Push-to-fire safety
- MSRP: $625.00
About CZ-USA
Since 1997, CZ-USA has offered American shooters and hunters the best firearms the Czech Republic has to offer. In 2019, CZ-USA completed yet another milestone by producing CZ firearms here in the United States at CZ-USA’s Kansas City, Kansas, facility. With the aid of this new production capability, CZ-USA will continue to improve, innovate, and add to the CZ-USA line-up of high-quality, affordable handguns, rifles, shotguns, plus custom-quality handguns from Dan Wesson. See how CZ-USA can make your shooting better, easier and a lot more fun at cz-usa.com/.
I guess those Folks liked their suds – Grumpy

I have had need of a gun when facing two-legged predators but twice thus far. However, I have had cause to wield a firearm for real numerous times against malevolent animals capable of killing me. This week was one for the books.

In the interest of full transparency, I really hate venomous snakes. There are doubtless those who feel that water moccasins are our pals whose irreplaceable contribution to the great circle of life is what keeps us from being utterly overrun by vermin. Whatever. Something else can eat the mice. It’s not like they’re endangered rhinos or federally protected snail darters. According to the WHO, venomous snakes typically kill between 81,000 and 138,000 people per annum worldwide.

I live in the Deep South. I stepped on a really big one once while out walking in the woods with my kids. It felt like I had trod upon Arnold Schwarzenegger’s forearm. I had that one ventilated with a .22 pistol at a slant range of three feet before my 7-year-old son walking behind me knew anything was amiss.

We have a lake on the place, and that attracts them like locusts. I killed thirteen moccasins the first year we lived here and nine the next. I snatched my precious daughter up one time when her little bare pink foot was about to come down on one coiled up on the back patio. In my corner of heaven they’re literally everywhere.
Know Your Enemy

There are four venomous snakes endemic to the US, only three of which are common. Coral snakes employ a neurotoxin akin to that of a cobra that is unimaginably lethal. However, coral snakes are by their nature docile and also fairly rare. I’ve never seen one in the wild. I’m told they have to gnaw on you a bit to do any real damage. The day I sit still and let a snake gnaw on me will be the day I vote Democrat.

The real players are the pit vipers—copperheads, water moccasins, and rattlesnakes of sundry flavors. These animals employ a hemotoxin that breaks down tissues and disrupts blood clotting.

Around 25% of poisonous snake bites are dry, meaning they do not involve envenomation. However, bites from pit vipers can produce some truly hideous wounds. I’ve seen a few as a physician, and snakebite is high up on my list of medical things I don’t want.

Antivenin is trade-named CroFab, and it costs $3,198 per dose. CroFab is made by milking poisonous snakes and synthesizing the nasty bits out of the venom. This stuff is injected into sheep, and the subsequent antibodies are harvested, cleaned, and tested. These antibodies are then dehydrated and packaged as a powder.

CroFab is polyvalent. This means that this one drug treats bites from all three pit vipers. As a result positive identification of the snake in question is not necessary.

Treating a snakebite can require a single dose of CroFab or quite a few. An article I read recently concerned a nine-year-old bitten on the big toe by a copperhead while at summer camp in Illinois. She kept the toe. However, her entire hospital stay cost $142,938. A friend bitten in the hand by a water moccasin ultimately shelled out $36,000 for the privilege. Did I mention that I really hate venomous snakes?
The Engagement

My bride and I walk around my rural farm about five days a week. I invariably carry a gun. This particular day I chose a really nice suppressed .22 rifle from TacSol. I slapped a ten-round magazine in place and called it good.

We struck out around the lake and saw a real monster as soon as we got near the water. He was swimming across the lake with his head held unnaturally high. Moccasins do that. He was heading away from me at a slant. If he got to the far bank I’d likely lose him. I’d conservatively estimate his size as breathtakingly gigantic.

I ran around the lake but could only get within about fifty meters before the brush got thick. I stopped, took a few deep breaths to steady my heart, and drew a bead off-hand. The snake was moving so I had to lead him just a hair.

The first round was right off his nose. The second was a bit behind. The third centerpunched the monster’s head. It sounded like I had hit a side of beef with a boat paddle. The massive snake rolled, showing me its cream-colored speckled belly. I jogged over close, found a small hole in the brush, and hit him with a single round of insurance amidships. A stream of bubbles erupted, and he headed down to meet Old Hob.

I caught my breath, suddenly feeling really good about being me. My beautiful bride had that “My hero!” look in her captivating eyes. One less water moccasin meant the world was now a better place. However, I needed some more ammo.

I jogged back to the house and dropped a box of fifty Federal Premium Hunter Match hollowpoints in my pocket. As I headed back to meet my wife I saw number two.

This one was almost but not quite as big as the first. He was heading across the lake at a leisurely pace. This time I could quietly slip around to roughly where the serpent planned to make landfall. He stopped about twenty-five meters out, curled his head back, and stared at me all hungry-like. I popped him between the eyes with a single round. My security shot pithed his gut, but he still floated.

If the hides aren’t terribly perforated I like skinning these things. The entrails smell like rotten fish, and you want to mind the pokey bits at the front. However, soak the skins in a 50/50 mixture of glycerin and rubbing alcohol and then stretch them out on a board and they’re quite pretty. The last couple of nice ones I had got eaten by something in my workshop. This would make a splendid replacement.

I ran over and mounted the canoe to fetch the demised beast. About halfway there number three broke cover and started trekking left to right. I paddled like a madman on an intercept course. Once within about twenty meters I swapped my paddle for my rifle and judged the geometry of the engagement.

The snake was moving left to right, while the canoe was slowing down of its own accord. I was about to launch a 40-grain bullet at about 1,000 fps from a moving platform at a moving target. Churning through all that math would have been a Gordian chore for a computerized fire control system. However, the system God designed that perches atop my homely shoulders managed it all in an instant. I blew this guy’s head off with a single round. Three up, three down, all in the span of ten minutes.
The Gun

A brace of c-notes will land you a fabulous base model Ruger 10/22 from your local Walmart. This gun shoots straight and well. Many’s the burgeoning shooter has cut his or her teeth on such an entry-level smoke pole. However, the suppressed TacSol X-Ring Takedown rifle is the .22 rifle for professionals.

Everything about this gun is literally perfect. The extended charging handle is reversible. I keep mine on the left so I can run it with my weak hand.

The Magpul X-22 Backpacker furniture is indestructible and nicely executed. Lock the bolt to the rear, pull forward on a spring-loaded stud, give the barrel a twist, and the gun breaks in half for storage. The front half snaps into the bottom of the stock to make a nice compact package. Assembly takes less time to undertake than to describe.


The 6061-T6 aluminum receiver has a built-in 15-MOA Picatinny rail for optics, and there’s a rear port for cleaning access. The Ruger BX trigger breaks like a prom queen’s heart, while the extended magazine release makes mag changes fast and painless. The all-up weight of this gun is a paltry 3.7 pounds, so it is easy to tote.

My X-Ring Takedown rifle also sports a TacSol TSS integrally-suppressed barrel. This suppressor is the same diameter as a bull barrel, so it fits the Backpacker stock perfectly. It also includes a top-end set of fiber optic sights mounted both front and rear.

The can is aluminum, while the entrails are titanium. It is just stupid quiet. I can shoot this thing all day long without plugs in complete comfort.
Ruminations

I topped my Rolls Royce rifle off with a Leupold VX-R Patrol 1.25-4x20mm optic. All up this rig is just crazy expensive. However, it carries like it’s not there, shoots like a laser, and lets me leave my muffs at home. I can consistently hit a target the size of my thumb on the move at fifty meters so long as I do my part.

Thanks to my TacSol rig there are currently three fewer deadly creatures wandering around my world waiting to poke me with poison. I’m stoked. That and my wife now thinks I’m kind of awesome.
www.tacticalsol.com
www.magpul.com

Malik Harris, 18, attempted to rob the NC Tobacco store in Greensboro, North Carolina late last month. An armed citizen stopped Harris in the act, fatally shooting him, WFMY 2 repots.
The incident happened sometime in the morning before 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 29th. Harris entered the store armed with a handgun and quickly started making demands, according to store clerk Adil Khawaja.
“There were three or four customers in the store. And the guy came in and put the gun on all the customers, made everyone come [behind the counter] at gunpoint,” Khawaja explained.
An elderly lady walked in during the holdup and Harris quickly confronted her.
“He grabbed her by the neck, brought her back [behind the counter] at gunpoint,” with the rest of the customers, Khawaja said.
While Harris was dealing with the woman, one of the customer who was already behind the counter retrieved his own firearm. That’s when the situation turned deadly for the teen robber.
“[The customer] shot him four or five times,” said Khawaja. “It happened like in 45 seconds. Like 30 to 45 seconds.”
Though multiple shots were fired, Harris was only hit once. But that’s all it took. First responders rushed him to a local hospital but he would not survive the injury.
Khawaja felt bad for Harris, but also pointed out the misguided nature of his plan. That is to say, armed robbery in a state with permissive carry laws and a well-armed citizenry.
“I wish it could have ended up differently,” said Khawaja. “Personally, I don’t want to see an 18-year-old kid die. He didn’t even start his life yet. That was just a very, very poor decision in a state like North Carolina, where everyone has guns.”
Meanwhile, Greensboro Police say an investigation is still ongoing.
It’s not clear at this point if the citizen who shot Harris was a concealed carry permit holder. If he (or she) was, then it seems based on the available facts that it’s a clear-cut case of self-defense. If the individual did not have a valid permit, he or she may face charges for carrying unlawfully.
To obtain a permit in NC, one must complete a firearms training course and be at least 21 years of age.
Here is what Old Malik looked like.
Shamare Malik Harris, age 18
Tuesday morning at 4:30 am, Maiso Jackson, who resides on Salem Street on the west side of Detroit, was awakened by a man knocking on his door and yelling.
Parts of this encounter were recorded on the homeowner’s Ring doorbell camera, which you can view in the video embedded above.
Jackson opened the door, and was met with a man showing obvious aggression.
“(He was) talking about how someone owed him money, I said no one here owes you money,” Jackson told Fox2 News, looking back at the incident.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he told the man.
The man was insisting that money was owed, and Jackson was unable to reason with him. He began to feel threatened, so he called 911.
While waiting for the authorities to arrive, the man became more violent towards Jackson. He broke a window, and Jackson feared that the destruction would continue. It was at this point Jackson chose to arm himself.
SEE ALSO: Caught on Camera: The Time Trudeau Told Voters Confiscation Will Never Happen In Canada
Jackson has had a gun for eight years and has taken part in gun safety training.
Jackson recalled the events, “I came outside and said you have to leave, you can’t be doing this. So then he reached for his gun and pulled it out. I had to defend myself, I had to shoot him because of that.”
Jackson fired four shots, hitting the man in the chest and killing him.
Jackson was sure that it was the perp’s life or his own, and that if he did not act in self-defense he would have been killed.
Police arrived and put Jackson in cuffs. Jackson willingly followed orders, being aware that even as a lawful gun owner he would be questioned about the incident.
“I was just in shock, he wouldn’t leave. He tried to kill me and I didn’t do nothing to the guy,” Jackson said. “That’s the part that’s kind of sad.”
By sharing this story, Jackson hopes that others can learn a lesson from his experience.
“You have to be on guard, you have to be prepared, You can’t just let people run you over, hurt you, and don’t do nothing about it. You have to defend yourself,” he said.
Jackson was questioned and released without any charges, according to Detroit police. However, Fox2 News reports that a prosecutor will review the case to ensure Jackson’s use of deadly force was lawful.
———————————————————————————-Good luck with the DA and I hope that you get cleared! Grumpy
Crime, homelessness and Democratic divisions over the issues took center stage Tuesday as a liberal prosecutor in San Francisco was recalled and seven states held primaries that helped mold each party’s image heading into November’s fight for control of Congress, statehouses and major cities across the country.
The recall of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin (D) — whom critics called too lenient — came as angst over liberal leaders’ approach to public safety also loomed large in a contest for Los Angeles mayor, where Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and billionaire businessman Rick Caruso are projected to advance to a runoff. Caruso, a former Republican, has pitched himself as a different kind of Democrat who will fix long-simmering crises in the nation’s second-largest city.
Soaring inflation, gun violence and abortion rights were on voters’ minds Tuesday as they headed to the polls in California, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota. Republicans are seizing on rising costs and crime to try to retake the House and narrowly divided Senate this fall. They have sought to pin those problems on the Biden administration and liberal policies, arguments that resonated with some voters Tuesday.
Turning in their ballots for Caruso together, a group of neighbors wished for “a better future” before taking a selfie. One woman said crime was her biggest concern — her husband’s brother had been robbed at gunpoint the day before in Burbank.
Surrounded by supporters at a bar Tuesday night, Boudin said the recall campaign “exploited an environment in which people are appropriately upset.”
“They were given an opportunity to voice their frustration and their outrage, and they took that opportunity,” he said.
“Looking for someone to blame,” an audience member chimed in.
Democrats are bracing for an uphill battle this fall amid low approval ratings for President Biden and political head winds that the president’s party has historically faced in first midterms. To counter those trends, Democrats are seeking to cast GOP candidates as extremists beholden to Trump.
“I’d like to get a functional country again,” said Iowa voter Mehgin Lawrence, who was torn between several Democratic candidates vying to challenge Republican Charles E. Grassley, 88, the country’s longest-serving sitting Republican senator. “There is a lot of dysfunction in general on both sides of the aisle.”
Grassley won renomination, the AP projected, and he is favored to keep the seat. In the Democratic race to replace him, retired Navy Vice Adm. Mike Franken defeated former congresswoman Abby Finkenauer, who was also seen as a strong contender. Franken has sought to appeal to Iowa’s swing voters. “It is that middle segment who want logical, pragmatic, smart, dedicated national servants to work for them, leader servants,” he said in a recent debate. “I believe I’m that person.”
The night’s first results from the East Coast and the Deep South, meanwhile, highlighted conflicts within the GOP, offering the latest tests of former president Donald Trump’s influence and more moderate candidates’ efforts to beat back challengers from their right.
In Mississippi, Rep. Michael Guest (R) was in a close race with challenger Michael Cassidy with a majority of the vote counted. Cassidy targeted Guest’s vote last year for a commission to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection by a pro-Trump mob at the U.S. Capitol. Rep. Steven M. Palazzo (R-Miss.) was forced into a runoff, the Associated Press projected, amid scrutiny of an ethics body’s finding there is significant evidence he misspent campaign money.
Sam Welford, 45, cast his vote for one of the opponents, Clay Wagner, and said Palazzo has “run his course.” Welford said he does not align with any party but said rising prices under Biden played a key role in his choice to vote Republican Tuesday.
“Look at where we are today,” said Pamela Turner, a retired nurse and “staunch Republican” in Mississippi who blamed Democrats for the state of the country, even as she voted to oust Palazzo. “Look at the price of gas.”
In New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District — one of many the GOP hopes to flip this year — Tom Kean Jr. was projected to defeat challengers who attacked him as not conservative enough. And Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who has clashed with Trump, won renomination, the AP projected.
Republicans call Kean a top recruit and say the former state senator is well-positioned to flip the seat in November. The son of a former governor and grandson of a former Congressman, Kean finished just over a percentage point behind incumbent Rep. Tom Malinowski (D) in 2020 and will face Malinowski again this fall under more favorable conditions for Republicans nationwide.
At a polling site in Bridgewater Township on Tuesday, Bob Hummer said that while he voted in the Democratic primary, he is leaning toward voting for Kean in the general election — he said thinks Republicans are better on economic issues.
In California, Democrats offered voters different tacks and tones on public safety — underscoring how the issue has rankled voters even in liberal strongholds.
A liberal DA finds voters’ moods have changed even in San Francisco
In 2019, voters embraced Boudin’s pitch for a less punitive justice system that looks to rehabilitate offenders. Drawing on his public defender experience and personal story — his parents went to prison when he was a child — Boudin triumphed over an interim district attorney backed by the Democratic establishment. The district attorney’s supporters say he has become an easy scapegoat for a systemic and nationwide problem: Crime rose in many large cities during the coronavirus pandemic.
“There is a very long tradition from the right of using these issues as a wedge, using these issues as a weapon, with no actual interest in the solutions that have been proven to reduce crime,” said Julie Edwards, a spokesperson for the anti-recall effort, in an interview.
But recently, leaders like Boudin have been on the defensive, as Republicans highlight some activists’ push to “defund the police” and as Democrats including Biden try to recalibrate their party’s image.
With about half the vote tallied by early Wednesday morning, roughly 60 percent were in favor of recalling Boudin, the AP said. San Francisco Mayor London Breed (D), who has called for a crackdown on “criminals who are destroying our city,” will appoint Boudin’s replacement.
Caruso, the wealthy developer in Los Angeles, has been framing himself as the change candidate in the mayoral race, vowing a tougher response to homelessness and crime. He has poured his own fortune into the campaign, spending tens of millions of dollars.
Bass, a veteran lawmaker and finalist to become Biden’s running mate in 2020, has also promised to tackle a “humanitarian emergency” of homelessness and made public safety a key issue. But she emphasizes social services to prevent crime and says not all neighborhoods want police to be more visible.
Early Wednesday morning, with most votes yet to be counted, Bass and Caruso were in a tight race. Because neither candidate won a majority of the vote in a crowded field, they will face off again November, when strategists say they expect Caruso would face tougher odds.
To some voters, the choice was anyone but Caruso.
“I think he’s a little too polished for my taste,” said Daniel Sackler, 57, even as he agreed with some of Caruso’s proposals on crime. “Billionaires are not to be trusted for the most part.”
Jennifer Dustin, 46, said she has considered moving her family from Los Angeles because of concerns about crime — but still, she voted for Bass.
“They are all going to say the same stuff,” Jake Kuczeruk, 33, said. “If it translates to action is the real question.”
In Los Angeles, public anger drives an identity-focused mayor’s race
Also in California, Rep. Young Kim (R), who flipped her seat in 2020, was facing not only Democrat Asif Mahmood but also GOP rivals including Greg Raths, a city council member and retired fighter pilot. A super PAC aligned with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has funded ads against Raths as Kim tries to ensure she advances in California’s unusual primary system. The two candidates with the most votes proceed to the general election regardless of party.
California Rep. David G. Valadao (R) was seeking reelection as his opponent, Chris Mathys, attacked his vote last year to impeach Trump for his conduct leading up to the storming of the Capitol last year. Trump hasn’t endorsed a challenger, despite pouring massive political capital into other critics’ races — underscoring many Republicans’ belief that Valadao is their best bet at retaining a blue-leaning district.
Other U.S. House races also grabbed the attention of party strategists. In Iowa, state Sen. Zach Nunn won the Republican race to challenge Rep. Cindy Axne, the conservative-leaning state’s only Democratic legislator in Congress. The seat is expected to be highly competitive this fall.
In Montana, one of Trump’s Cabinet members — former interior secretary Ryan Zinke, who resigned during an ethics investigation — was in a tight race for the Republican nomination in a new congressional district expected to boost the GOP’s influence in the House. Montana got a second House seat after the 2020 Census.
Zinke, who secured Trump’s endorsement, has four opponents in the GOP primary. Critics have noted he splits his time between Montana and California and have also highlighted the government watchdog report released this year that found that he broke federal rules as interior secretary and also lied to an ethics official.
Former local TV weatherman Mark Ronchetti won in a crowded GOP field to take on New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D), according to the Associated Press, as Republicans see room for gains even in a state controlled by Democrats. Ronchetti ran for Senate in the state in 2020 and lost to Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D).
Democrats said they believe that Ronchetti’s views are not in line with New Mexico voters, pointing to comments he’s made questioning climate change as the state has faced massive wildfires. “No individual fire or storm is the result of climate change,” Ronchetti told the Albuquerque Journal. “That isn’t the case.”
Annie Linskey and Scott Clement in Washington; Brian Wellner in Iowa; Ashley Cusick in Mississippi; Miranda Green in Los Angeles; and Jack Wright in New Jersey contributed to this report.