Got the ol' ten speed ready for Spring.

Gentle reader,

Yes, this is the third blog today! I'm playing catch-up. Like many people, some time ago, we bought "mountain" bikes. Ours were aluminum framed with full suspension and disc brakes. All the latest stuff. Bought new at................Toys-R-Us! 

Nancy came across an old ten speed bike, what are now called "road bikes" at Salvation Army and bought it. So, she gave her mountain bike to our former son-in-law.

Some time later, I too found a road bike at the same store. This one is a circa-1980's Univega, Metroprix model. Designed in Italy and made in Japan. Fully 20 POUNDS lighter than the mountain bike! So, I gave mine to my daughter along with the kid trailer.

Since then, to my delight, I found the "head badge", correct 1980's vintage for it for $8.00! I glued it on with RTV silicone glue. I also removed the gold handlebar tape which had been applied over the stock black tape. I applied, Italian-made cork/rubber alloy grey (or is it gray?) tape which is cushioned.  See the picks below. BTW, it is a 12-speed. I knew that, but "ten speed" puts the image in one's mind of the curved handlebar/ thin tired bikes of our youth.

Note that it came with fenders. They weigh only a few ounces and no worries of riding through puddles!

Working for the Washington, D.C. Metro, I was destined to own a:

Note, no front sprocket guard. Thus, I have to clip my pants leg to avoid getting it caught in the chain.

Yep, that's six sprockets. Now, to get off my butt and go ride it!

Thanks for looking!

Scott

China to the rescue! Fisheye lens viewer.

Gentle reader,

As you may know, I am a photographer and have been a camera collector. I still have film in the freezer, B&W and color and some fine film cameras.

My ebay user ID is "rfcollectin". Which means I collect rangefinder focusing cameras. My goal once was to own a Leica, the ultimate  RF camera. Here's mine, which I covered in red sea-snake skin:

Pretty, isn't it? That is a Russian Jupiter 8 lens which is a copy of a German Zeiss Sonnar lens. It is f2.0, I also have an f1.5 version. Leitz lenses are SO expensive. 

The one camera I really use, Nancy bought me. It is a modern version of a Leica made by Cosina in Japan and bearing the Voigtlander name. Which Cosina acquired and produced numerous versions of in various lens mounts. See:

Voigtlander Bessa R 

Here's mine with with all the lenses I have for it, save one.

Below, it has the 12mm fisheye lens which was made by Sigma and sold by many other brand names. It is a "T mount" lens which can be adapted to many cameras with the right adapter. I made a number of shots with it mounted on my Nikon DSLR. With the APS-C sized sensor, the field of view is similar to a 35mm film 18mm lens. See:

The Robb Collections: A 12mm Experiment

I found, on ebay, a fisheye viewfinder for Holga fisheye cameras. It came direct from China and fits the Bessa R fine and gives a good view of what the lens "sees". A RF or rangefinder camera does not view through the lens as all non-SLR cameras. So, one needs an appropriate viewfinder to compose the scene correctly. 

While it is all-plastic, it works well. Below, mounted atop the camera in the flash shoe.

Below, from the top. Note the knurled metal piece between the lens and camera body. This is the T-mount adapter for non-SLR cameras. RF cameras are shallower than SLRs because the have no mirror that must flip up to make the picture. An SLR T-mount adapter is 1/4" thick.

I plan to make a series of photos with this camera mounted vertically on a tripod going in a full circle. Then get the film developed and put on CD. Then, using Photoshop Elements, create a 360 degree photo. 

That's it for now! Thanks for looking!

Scott 

ISSC MK22 rifle fully "tacticool"

Gentle reader,

Again, I want to thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Your comments are warmly received and I respond if I can.

You may recall in January, I'd written about my first rifle (I'm 56, by the way) a 22 caliber long rifle version of the FN SCAR military rifle. See here:

The Robb Collections: 22 caliber guns

ISSC is headquartered in Austria, but the guns are made for them in Germany. 

I'm new to real guns, thanks to my wife who protects a US Government facility and is of course, armed. She has several pistols and a revolver. I was happy shooting airsoft ones. See:

The Robb Collections: More on the Airsoft pistols

Most recently, we bought a rare, 1968 to 1971 vintage Ithica 49R which is a 22 LR rifle that looks and works like the classic cowboy rifle. In other words, lever action. I'll blog about it soon.

I like 22 caliber rounds because they are the least expensive (used to be cheap, but those days may be gone forever) bullets. An FBI report stated that probably more people have died as a result of someone shooting them with a 22 bullet than any other round. I only shoot paper targets at the range. By the way, the gun didn't kill them. The bullet fired by the other person, did.

But, being a man, which means overgrown boy, I just had to make my 22 rifle look "awesome" and like it's ready to go to war. Thus the term: Tacticool. Verses: Tactical.

In the post in January, I stated that I didn't know New York state has similar laws to California's. Meaning, 10-round magazine limit, no "flash hider" no folding or extendable stocks, etc. Which explained why I got the rifle for the bottom bid price of $525.

Thanks to a source in Europe, I was able to acquire the part to make the stock fold, but not yet have I figured a way to make it collapse and extend. But I will. I have some ideas. 

I found the company that does warranty repair for the official imported of ISSC guns and through them ordered the 48-state flash suppressor or "hider". Despite the name, it does not hide the flash from anyone. I simply directs it in such a way as to prevent the person shooting from being temporarily blinded by the flash. Frankly, 22 rounds don't have much of one anyway. Unfortunately, with the hider on the barrel, it's now too long to fit in the case! So, I removed the stock (pull out one pin) and it fits fine.

First photo below is the rifle fully tacticoolized. Note, that none of the photos show the completed rifle with the new hider on it. I shot these a few weeks ago.  Those discs are the lens caps for the scope. I have since bought flip-up types for it.

Above it has the BSA "Sweet 22" scope which is made for 22 LR bullet trajectories. 

Above is the first scope that we bought at the gun show. Both scopes "zoom" like a camera telephoto lens. This scope incorporates a very big and bright green laser.  Green lasers being more easily seen than red.

Above and below is a bipod which folds and extends. I found that even using it, and kneeling, at the range that it is very hard to the rifle steady. Makes me appreciate how difficult the military sniper's job must be. Plus, I see the importance of shooting laying down.

Below are comparisons of the two scopes. Completely different approaches of the designers.

Below, the Sweet 22 mounted. Another difficulty of using a scope is getting one's eye the exact distance from the input objective lens to see clearly.  This is called "eye relief".

Below, the bipod folded. It's spring loaded to fold up and keep the legs together, the spread then when folded down for use.

Below, is the now folded stock.  Note, it is fixed to the #2 position. If I could collapse it, it would fit in the case!

 Below, is the "whole shebang" folded. The reason I chose the type of front vertical grip that I did is because it too folds. Not just 90 degrees, but at an angle too. See Matt's tactical SCAR in the January post for the type of front grip he likes. This grip mimics that angle.

Below, see the new "hider" installed, the "legal" rifle end for the two wimp states; installed, and at bottom an M4 hider I hoped to adapt to the rifle. It would have taken some serious machine work to adapt it. Being it is internally, or "female" threaded and the ISSC ones are male threaded with the outer barrel being female threaded.

Finally, below, see the folded stock from above. I have stopped using the attached "single point sling", because I don't find it necessary.

Well, that's it for today. Later this weekend, it's gun cleaning. I have five 22-round magazines for this now (YEAH!) and so have fired well more than 100 rounds through it. Also, we want to clean and lubricate the Ithica 49R before we shoot it for the first time. 

Thanks for looking!

Scott