Yeah, yeah. I took a break. Or more like the creative juices called in sick. So here we are.
Went to the Long Range last weekend. A bunch of guys were just finishing up and offered me their once-fired .308 brass – of course I said yes. About 150 cartridges, plus a couple dozen Commie 7.62x 54 R. I don’t use that stuff. I shot about 50 rounds of 120 g. 6.5 Creedmoor, walking it out from 300 to 1100. It did well, but was consistently shooting a couple MOA higher than my ballistics program. I was using Alliant 4350 powder instead of my usual Hodgdon; perhaps burn rate was the issue? I did adjust for MV from the chrono and it still went high. I’ll just make note of that.
So I brought out some 147s and started right at 1107. On the large rectangle target in three rounds, so I shot at some of the smaller targets. An invisible left to right breeze required 4 MOA of correction; I ended the day with a satisfying hit on the Fox target. A good day.
Today I did brass.
All annealed and rinsed, ready to size when dry. I also annealed the beejeesus out of my left thumb and forefinger. Text dinged and I knew it was a relative responding to my birthday wishes. Distracted, I reached for the propane knob and instead grabbed the neck of the .308 brass I had just annealed. Lesson: don’t get distracted. D’oh.
I watched the Artemis launch last night from my very grounded bar stool. I tried to analyze my emotions and came up with anger. And a touch of sadness or melancholy.
In the summer of 1971, I stood on a beach just south of Cape Canaveral/Kennedy and watched a massive Saturn V rocket launch Apollo 15 to the moon. I was 19, at a military academy, and so proud of our country. Only two years earlier Neil Armstrong had set foot on the moon and I saw it in the middle of the night in black and white. And my uncle had been part of the team that put that TV camera together. And between those two events, Apollo 13 suffered its catastrophe, and American ingenuity, bravery and ultimate can-do attitude brought our astronauts back safely.
Mercury. Gemini. Apollo. The US meant business, was in space, on the moon and headed out further. Apollo 17 went back to the moon in December, 1972.
Then, America lost its way. Vietnam, War on Poverty, urban unrest, whatever it was, it was a Jimmy Carter-like malaise. I remember at the time some of the arguments – if we can put a man on the moon, we should be able to eradicate poverty. That was a big one.
After watching the launch last night, then staying up late to watch the maneuvering testing in the capsule (no toggle switches, analog instruments, nor mechanical controls! All touch screens, tablets and a thumb controller!), I asked Grok to compare figures for me. If we had continued NASA funding at Apollo-like funding (it peaked in 1966 at 4.4% of the federal budget. Today it is 0.35% of the federal budget), we would have spent somewhere between 6 and 9 trillion dollars (in 2024 dollars) on the space program. Yikes. That sounds like a lot of money. But that was supposed to have given us sustained lunar bases, early Mars missions, larger space stations, all per the original post-Apollo plans.
Let’s compare that to the “War on Poverty”: Since the end of the Apollo program (roughly after 1973), the U.S. has spent an estimated $15–25+ trillion (in inflation-adjusted dollars) on means-tested anti-poverty and welfare programs.
Given recent stories about massive fraud in social programs, one would have to think that a significant portion of the $15-25+ trillion was wasted or stolen.
And have we “won” the war on poverty? Hardly. Stanford University said:
our findings indicate that the growth of antipoverty policies has reduced the overall level of poverty, with substantial reductions among the elderly, disabled, and blacks. However, the poverty rates for children, especially those living in single-parent families, and families headed by a low-skill, low-education person, have increased. Rates of deep poverty (families living with less than one-half of the poverty line) for the nonelderly population have not decreased, reflecting both the increasing labor market difficulties faced by the low-skill population and the tilt of means-tested benefits away from the poorest of the poor.
So, you tell me – should I be angry seeing that we wasted 54 years before going back to the moon? That we are still a one-planet, all our eggs in one basket species living on a rock in space that routinely over millennia gets bombarded with life-destroying objects? That we wasted trillions of dollars on “the poor”, who will always be with us? I hope we become a true spacefaring species again. Low Earth Orbit is great, but there is more out there.
Subject: Re: Re: Cousin, the invasion is accelerating on both sides of the pond – the evil forces aren’t even hiding it anymore
Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2026 16:03:11 -0400
Amelia,
I knew you’d get it. That Rotherham video is everywhere over here too. The same script: deny it, smear the victims, import more of the problem.
Here the NGOs are literally running ads in Venezuela and Haiti telling them “come now, the border is wide open and the free money is waiting.” Then they sue Texas when we try to stop the buses. It’s coordinated. Same foundations, same talking points, same endgame: break the West, demoralise the natives, install a compliant replacement population that doesn’t remember 1776 or 1066 or Magna Carta or any of the things that made us dangerous to tyrants.
They want us atomised, resentful, and too busy fighting each other to notice the real architects at the top. I’m putting together a big piece next week naming the foundations and the politicians who’ve taken their money. Might get the blog deplatformed again but fuck it – someone has to say it.
Miss you more. When this all goes tits up, you’re welcome on the farm. Bring whatever cats survive.
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Cousin, the invasion is accelerating on both sides of the pond – the evil forces aren’t even hiding it anymore
Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2026 21:22:09 +0000
Deal. I’ll pack the surviving cats and the family shotgun.
You’re right – it’s not about compassion. It never was. It’s demographic warfare dressed up as charity. The end of the West as we knew it, delivered by people who hate what we built and can’t wait to watch it burn.
Keep writing, cousin. The normies are waking up faster than the censors can keep up. One day the bill will come due.
Love you to bits,
Amelia
P.S. If the blog gets nuked again, I’ve got a mate who runs a dark-web mirror. Just say the word.
Yes, we do math here. Emily is taking you back to old-fashioned book learning. With a very practical application.
We’ve recently shown that, yes, you can accurately shoot a .22 Long Rifle bullet and hit a 5” target 300 yards away. It does take practice, but so do all good-to-have skills. So what? Well, can that round be lethal at that range? It might be nice to know if there was a tasty rabbit or a less tasty squirrel or other source of protein out there. And you just couldn’t get any closer. Or if a farmer asked you to clean out ground hogs, woodchucks, whatever from his plowed fields. But does the .22 have the kinetic energy sufficient do to so?
Now, math. Kinetic Energy is one of several ways to measure bullet effectiveness. Let’s make some comparisons using our KE = 1/2 x Mass x Velocity Squared. For a .50 BMG (like from a Ma Deuce machine gun), plug in bullet weight of, yes, 660 grains and a muzzle velocity of 2900 feet per second. Kinetic energy comes out to an amazing 12,324 foot pounds. That’s lethal to light armored vehicles at a mile. How about an M4/AR15 round? Plug in 62 grains and 3,025 fps and you get 1,260 foot pounds, generally accepted as lethal to humans at 500 yards. How about a 1911 shooting a 230 grain bullet at 850 fps? 369 foot pounds. Clearly lethal at pistol engagement range.
But how about a tiny little 40 grain .22 round traveling at 1,260 fps? A paltry 141 foot pounds. And that’s at the muzzle. “But, Mr. Red”, you say, “.22s have killed a bunch of people!” Yep. It’s called ubiquity. It’s not magic; there are just a metric sh*t ton of .22s. The .22 is not generally accepted as a self-defense round, but shear numbers give that result. So there’s something more going on than just energy.
Tomorrow let’s talk about bullet design, wound channels, cross-sections and bullet placement. But still keep in mind our long range .22 shots.
Subject: Cousin, the invasion is accelerating on both sides of the pond – the evil forces aren’t even hiding it anymore
Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2026 14:12:47 -0400
Hey Amelia,
Hope you’re not freezing your arse off in that grey little island of yours. I just posted the latest on KatNap Fever about the border numbers here and I’m fuming. Another 300k+ “encounters” last month alone, mostly military-age men from the third world who get bussed straight into red states with debit cards and hotel rooms while our vets sleep on the street. It’s not “migration,” it’s replacement.
And I know you’re seeing the same rubbish in the UK. The boats keep coming, the hotels get filled, the grooming gangs keep grooming, and Starmer’s lot just shrug and call anyone who notices “far-right.” Same script on both sides of the Atlantic.
Who’s actually running this? The NGOs with the Soros money? The Davos crowd? The same globalist parasites who need a permanent underclass that doesn’t speak the language, doesn’t share the culture, and will vote for whoever promises more free stuff? They want Western civilisation gone – replaced by something easier to rule. Low-trust, high-chaos, no more pesky middle-class taxpayers asking questions.
Tell me I’m wrong, cousin. Or better yet, tell me you’re seeing it too. Miss your face. Send pics of the cats if you’ve still got any left after the last “enrichment” wave.
Love,
Emily
KatNap Fever Blog | “Napping through the apocalypse… barely”
Subject: Re: Cousin, the invasion is accelerating on both sides of the pond – the evil forces aren’t even hiding it anymore
Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2026 19:45:22 +0000
Em, you beautiful mad Yankee,
You’re not wrong, you’re just early… and I’m living it. Another 1,200 crossed the Channel yesterday in rubber dinghies that cost more than my bloody car. Small boats, big men, zero women or kids in sight. They get five-star hotels, £50 daily cash, and lawyers who fight deportation like it’s the Battle of Britain. Meanwhile my nan’s been on a waiting list for a hip replacement for 18 months.
The “evil forces” have names here: the UN migration pacts, the EU leftover bureaucracy, the Home Office quislings, and yes, the same billionaire philanthropists who fund the NGOs that literally advertise the route on TikTok in Arabic and Pashto. It’s not incompetence. It’s policy. Flood the West with people who have no stake in it, crash the welfare state, crash social trust, and suddenly “democracy” means whatever the new majority wants – which won’t be free speech, women’s rights, or Christmas lights.
They’ve been open about it for decades. “Diversity is our strength” was always code for “your civilisation is over.” I saw a video the other day of an Afghan “asylum seeker” in Rotherham bragging that in twenty years “you’ll be the minority.” The comments were full of British lads saying “we’re already the minority in our own cities.”
Send me the link to your latest blog post. I’ll share it round the Telegram groups that haven’t been banned yet. Love you, you mad cat lady. Stay armed and angry.
Amelia x
(P.S. The last “migrant” wave nicked three of the neighbourhood cats. Only two came back.)
Dear Mr. Red: Do you really get mail from people about the blog? Doubting Debbie.
Dear Debbie Downer: Of course! Don’t you get daily mail inscribed with perfect cursive penmanship, properly addressed, stamped, and sent though the stellar US mail service? You don’t? Oh, you must be a loser. Or have no friends. But don’t worry! Just keep reading here and we’ll fix all that!
Dear Mr. Red: Is Emily a real person? If not, where did she come from? Sleepless in Seacaucus.
Dear Sleepless: It depends on your definition of “real”. Not so real that Mrs. Red would take offense. Let’s just say that Emily sprang from my head fully-formed, much like Zeus and Athena.
Dear Mr. Red: With all your vast wealth of knowledge, which do you prefer, 9 mm or .45 ACP? Wondering William
Oh, you dear sweet child! American Apple Pie or Euro-Pellet? Go reread the blog.
Dear Mr. Red: Ginger or Maryanne? Another dear child! Much like The Paolo, Mr. Red is not required to choose.
Dear Emily: Is Mr. Red as awesome and good looking as I think? Covetous Cougar
Dear CC: You have no idea! Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.
After our successful .22 zeroing and ballistics table confirmation, there is more to talk about. Remember that all that work is good specifically for one rifle with one ammo type at one particular Density Altitude. Nevertheless, that is extremely useful information. With that rifle and ammo you can shoot anywhere in the world with that Density Altitude.
But it is also useful to compare against other ammo you have tested. Looking back at my Aspirin Shoot matches last year, some ammo acts very similarly. Yesterday’s CCI Standard was 7 MOA at 100 yards. At a range of DAs, Wolf and SK were also 7, while Eley Match was always 5.5 to 6. At 200 our CCI was 28, with Wolf and SK at 26 and Eley 23.5 to to 25. Although we didn’t shoot 150 with the CCI, all the other ammo came in at 15 to 16. Useful information to know if your ballistic app crashes or you are shooting without it.
There’s another fascinating thing about many ballistic calculators. Yesterday our real life shots were very close to what was predicted. What happens if that is not the case? You can plug in your results and the calculator can adjust its trajectory formula to match. That will also predict other distances for which you have no actual information. You now have a custom ballistics table!
Other ballistics trivia: your program is going to ask you some very important questions – distance between center of the barrel and center of the scope. This is scope height and is fed in as an offset, and can be thought of as shooting a piece of paper that is covering the end of the muzzle. Your 1.5” scope height will make the bullet hole 1.5” lower than what the crosshairs see.
You’ll also be asked about bullet shape models. G1 uses a standard bullet shape like a .45 ACP bullet. That’s great for pistols or rifles shooting pistol calibers, but is nowhere near accurate for modern spitzer type bullets. G7 is the shape you want to use. Or, if you’re lucky, the ballistics program has your bullet in its library with an exact shape.
You will also need to know the rifling of your barrel. For virtually all .22s, it is 1:16 – the bullet does one complete revolution in every 16” of barrel length.
Finally, and I can’t stress this enough – you must invest in a chronograph. The prices have come way down on these. Without knowing the exact muzzle velocity of your round, you are putting garbage into the formula – GIGO – Garbage In, Garbage Out. I have seen many shooters look at the manufacturer’s advertised MV on the side of the ammo box. I can guarantee that is not the speed of the round in your rifle. You are just wasting time and ammo if you don’t use accurate info.
So, now, get a ballistics program! Most ammo manufacturers have free ones on line that will work very well. Take the time to program it before going to the range. Now, paper and pencil go in the range bag. You should have wind device that also gives you DA, although some ballistics programs will grab local weather info over the internet for you. Take your time, document everything, and see what happens. GOOD LUCK!
KatNap Fever! 