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Given Em An Inch, They'll Take A Mile. And A Half.

The book A Day in Rome means spending a whole day shopping, sightseeing, and getting accustomed to the lifestyle in the Italian metropolis. Nowhere else do culture and lifestyle match as much as in Romefrom the Vatican to the Coliseum, from the Spanish Stairs to the showrooms and shops of the best designers. Contemplate craft industry and modernity. Have an espresso on the wonderful piazzas at sunset, enjoy a good meal in the evening, and then pleasantly end the day by celebrating with the Romans. A Day in Rome comes with four music CDs: Presenting the atmosphere of the city, from modern to classical and from rock to pop.

Throughout his career, Bryant's been talking about as an outsider, specifically when it comes to being the most famous in the world in a sport that's overwhelmingly black. In the March 31 edition of the New Yorker, Bryant had this to say about the Miami Heat's Trayvon Martin hoodie protest back in March of 2012, "I won't react to something just because I'm supposed to, because I'm an African-American,” he said. “That argument doesn't make any sense to me. So we want to advance as a society and a culture, but, say, if something happens to an African-American we immediately come to his defense? Yet you want to talk about how far we've progressed as a society? Well, we've progressed as a society, then don't jump to somebody's defense just because they're African-American. You sit and you listen to the facts just like you would in any other situation, right? So I won't assert myself." And here is Stephen Smith who just got off the phone with Kobe Bryant, so he's able to speak to the controversy surrounding Kobe's comments about Trayvon Martin, and the role of facts versus emotions. And in case you're wondering who Tawana Brawley is.

And in a move that impressed me all to hell, we had FOUR folks track down what issue of Vanity Fair this woman is reading, although I have to tip my hat to Phil who came in first (followed by Johnny, Jan, and Rick). Also, Sean found the actual location of the Wadsworth theatre photo -- turn sout it's in fucking Canada!

For those of you with an excellent memory, I first received and answered Nathan's email about two years ago. And I suppose just like I revised my initial thoughts on AR/AK ownership, I'd like to also take this opportunity revise my answer to Nathan. My opinion wasn't just wrong, it was bloody stupid and teeming with ignorance. I've often thought of pulling that post down just so I don't have to face the occasional shame when someone brings it up, but I won't let myself. Instead, it serves as a reminder of two things. First, sometimes I'm not as fucking smart as I think I am and second, even the most ignorant among us can achieve enlightenment. To the AR/AK guys out there, I really do feel stupid when I revisit my words. I imagine this is what people felt like who claimed the earth was flat, fifteen minutes before Magellan showed up. Not you NASCAR guys though, anyone with a black Chevrolet Monte Carlo with a big slanted "8" painted on each door and NASCAR stickers covering the rear window, is still kind of a tool, in my book. Anyway. So without digressing too far, the reason I revisited this post is to use it as a point of reference for 5.45x39 ammo. Spending only $268 to get 2,160 rounds of surplus ammo shipped to your door? Breaks down to a whopping $0.13/round. That's cheaper than my Mosin stuff.

Quick background: The 7.62×39mm round is a rifle cartridge of Soviet origin that was designed during World War II, and thanks to world's most recognized military pattern rifle was designed for this cartridge -- the AK-47 -- the cartridge is utilized by both militaries and civilians alike. The cartridge remained the Soviet standard until the 1970s, and is still one of the most common intermediate rifle cartridges used around the world. It was replaced in Russian service by the 5.45×39mm cartridge, which is used by the current issue AK-74 and variants.

Modern rifle bullets are usually a lead core surrounded by a very thin layer of steel and surrounded again by a copper jacket. On the flip side, old surplus military ammunition is made entirely of a steel core encased in a copper jacket. This is because steel core ammo was both cheaper to produce and had better ballistics; i.e. because lead is a sort metal and deforms easily, steel core bullets penetrate hard stuff better than lead core bullets do. Now that's not to say that steel core ammunition is armor piercing -- true armor piercing bullets have an extremely hard core, usually made of heat treated tungsten-carbide. But if you ask the BATFE? Yep, steel core ammo is armor piercing. Why? Because they're the fucking BATFE and they say so and and they have no oversight, that's why. Regardless, there's a feel-good law in place that says it's illegal to import steel core ammunition that can be fired from a handgun. Now as previously stated, AKs and SKSs are rifles, so no problem importing steel core 7.62x39, right? Wrong. As of February of 1994 it's been illegal to import such ammo because some yahoo decided to release an AK pistol capable of firing the OMGARMORPIERCING steel core ammo. In banning the import of steel core, the (then) ATF effectively doubles ammunition prices from $90/case to $209/case. And now? Shit, try 560 rounds for $595 or $1.06/round.

Where this comes into play now is, despite the market staying as far away from this as possible for decades, some asshole just recently released an AK pistol chambered in 5.45x39 and guess what? Right on cue the BATFE is pulling out a little something from its first album and banning the import of surplus 5.45x39 ammo. The rumors have been swirling for the last week or so, and things really came to a head on Friday afternoon. [recorded phonecall to the BATFE]

The ban will affect the very inexpensive military surplus ammunition currently on the market and not the bi-metal rounds imported by Wolf Ammunition and others. This will undoubtedly result in an immediate skyrocketing price increase for the military surplus currently in the US. Think I'm kidding? This case was $275 on Friday afternoon. So I urge a word of caution to all my AK-74'ers out there, if you are looking for inexpensive surplus 5.45x39 steel core ammo, you better get while the getting is good. Because like water and real estate, they ain't makin any more of it. And that ain't no joke.

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