An hour and a-half with Ken in his west pasture embarrassed me.
It was time to sight in a couple of freshly scoped .22s and shoot the cob webs out of a decrepit Mossberg semi which I don't recall ever firing. The Mossberg -- a cheap pawn shop buy three or four years ago -- ran like a champ.
The name brands sucked. With the Ruger 10-22 it was a magazine problem, and I had no spare with me. The Winchester 74 jammed every third or fourth shot -- stovepipes, failures to feed, failures to eject. I honestly didn't think its innards were that cruddy.
Shame kept me in the shop all evening, nearly full disassembly and scrubba dub dub on the Winchester. Fixed the Ruger mag and, since I was already smelling nicely of Hoppes No. 9, cleaned heck out of it, too. Both are again combat-ready if a few rounds into the Armorer's Log* in the loading room are any guide.
I cleaned the Mossy too, but that was merely a gesture of gratitude.
---
*I spent my early life looking for a Philosopher's Stone, then finally wised up and settled for an Armorer's Log.
Sep 7, 2011
Sep 6, 2011
Hey, for a little extra we'll make your new pistol work...
Trying to separate you from your last dollar is not an ambition exclusive to government, and ToddG bench strips one of the private-enterprise schemes
The gist is that a $700+ handgun (the Sig Classic) ought to work fine right out of the shipping carton, without need for a $200 "action enhancement package" by the same company that sold it to you in the first place. But you should read the whole thing.
---
The comments include a bit about a personal tic, ramp polishing. I routinely do it to virtually every semi I acquire. Sometimes it's unnecessary, but sometimes it improves feed reliability. It isn't something you need to pay a gunsmith for if you're adept enough to strip the pistol and self-disciplined enough to live by the Two Great Rules.
(1) Remove metal by the depth of only one atom and (2) changing any angle by more than one-fiftieth of one degree is an official screwup.
The goal is to smooth the cartridge/weapon bearing surfaces, not to second-guess the engineer who designed it. We're not fixing a design flaw. We're rectifying manufacturing processes dictated by company accountants.
I use an appropriately sized dowel and crocus cloth or a felt wheel chucked in a Dremel and loaded with jewler's rouge. (Dremel grinding wheels and coarse abrasives should be locked away until the job is done.)
H/T Tam
The gist is that a $700+ handgun (the Sig Classic) ought to work fine right out of the shipping carton, without need for a $200 "action enhancement package" by the same company that sold it to you in the first place. But you should read the whole thing.
---
The comments include a bit about a personal tic, ramp polishing. I routinely do it to virtually every semi I acquire. Sometimes it's unnecessary, but sometimes it improves feed reliability. It isn't something you need to pay a gunsmith for if you're adept enough to strip the pistol and self-disciplined enough to live by the Two Great Rules.
(1) Remove metal by the depth of only one atom and (2) changing any angle by more than one-fiftieth of one degree is an official screwup.
The goal is to smooth the cartridge/weapon bearing surfaces, not to second-guess the engineer who designed it. We're not fixing a design flaw. We're rectifying manufacturing processes dictated by company accountants.
I use an appropriately sized dowel and crocus cloth or a felt wheel chucked in a Dremel and loaded with jewler's rouge. (Dremel grinding wheels and coarse abrasives should be locked away until the job is done.)
H/T Tam
Sep 5, 2011
Quote of the Year, 1866; The Preacher's Gun
(or: What the Hell? Firepower is firepower.)
Chaplain David White was with a motley detachment of 34 soldiers and civilians trying to make it from Fort Reno to Fort Phil Kearny on July 20, 1866. Red Cloud of the Oglalla contested the passage at Crazy Woman Creek on the Bozeman Trail.
It was a running fight until the outnumbered white guys (with three women and two children) finally dug in on a knoll, still pestered by Sioux fire.
The Reverend Mr. White was slightly wounded -- more pissed off than hurt. He grabbed his pepperbox and charged down the hill with one Private Fuller. Gunfire ensued, then quieted. Fuller and the padre returned to the perimeter shouting they got "two of them devils."
Dee Brown reports:
"All seven charges in his pepperbox had gone off at once, killing one Indian and frightening the others into flight ."
.
Chaplain David White was with a motley detachment of 34 soldiers and civilians trying to make it from Fort Reno to Fort Phil Kearny on July 20, 1866. Red Cloud of the Oglalla contested the passage at Crazy Woman Creek on the Bozeman Trail.
It was a running fight until the outnumbered white guys (with three women and two children) finally dug in on a knoll, still pestered by Sioux fire.
The Reverend Mr. White was slightly wounded -- more pissed off than hurt. He grabbed his pepperbox and charged down the hill with one Private Fuller. Gunfire ensued, then quieted. Fuller and the padre returned to the perimeter shouting they got "two of them devils."
Dee Brown reports:
"All seven charges in his pepperbox had gone off at once, killing one Indian and frightening the others into flight ."
.
Sep 4, 2011
The village flea market
This is the last big weekend for fleecing tourists and the traditional time for a big flea market not far away..
I conferred with one of the flea dealers. We had a frank and cordial exchange of views about his table full of reloading stuff.
I have more gear than I need, but a fellow can always use components, can't he? Like about 750 Hornady and Sierra bullets, .223-.257-308 in a variety of weights and shapes. I fear I would have overpaid at $45 except for getting the 600 primers as langiappe.
Why, yes, now that you ask. That probably is a smug expression on my face.
I conferred with one of the flea dealers. We had a frank and cordial exchange of views about his table full of reloading stuff.
I have more gear than I need, but a fellow can always use components, can't he? Like about 750 Hornady and Sierra bullets, .223-.257-308 in a variety of weights and shapes. I fear I would have overpaid at $45 except for getting the 600 primers as langiappe.
Why, yes, now that you ask. That probably is a smug expression on my face.
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