MorgansBoss

I just read another news article on this memo and what gets me is they always mention the accusation it's an attempt to bury charges of Russian attempts to fix the election, yet it seems what it's about is exposing certain American attempts to fix the election. I realize I'm a little different, but to me, THE issue is that SOMEONE tried to fix the election! It's already been exposed - and ignored - that the same person or party fixed their own primary. I'm non-partisan. I'm interested in issues not parties. If either or both did wrong, we deserve to know and appropriate action taken. For me though, manipulating the FBI to bury criminal acts by a candidate is 1000X more serious than the Russians flooding facbook with anti-Clinton memes.

Just read an article that FL's stringent restoration of rights for convicted felons was overturned. What I found interesting though was the backstory leading up to this decision. How one party had loosened the criteria, the other re-tightened it. How it was declared a partisan move, etc... I'm not going down the whole "paid their debt..." trail. These are convicted felons, not accused. Guilty or not. Whether the law that was violated is just or not, they were convicted of serious crimes. That can be reconsidered case-by-case, but such penalties should not be viewed with blanket rulings. The simple fact that one party identifies with them, while the other doesn't..., let me put that another way, the simple fact that ONE PARTY IDENTIFIES WITH THEM. Well, that right there is the story. THAT is the issue.

Its sure crossed my mind many times. As the sixth generation of my family here though and so much of my other interests locally, it's unlikely to happen.

I remember checking out a Delta Elite back when they first came out, but with a price tag covering half my paycheck at the time, together with a young family, mortgage, etc... it was just admiration. There was a lot of admiration though! Living as I do in East California (Maryland), a number of years ago when the latest BS laws required to buy a handgun in this state were about to take effect, my son John and I were in a shop where his buddy worked and John pointed out a CZ 75B in the showcase. I'd already decided I was not going to engage in any more of the ridiculous requirements my state legislature places on exercising my civil rights, so the gun was there and it was my last chance. I bought it! I'd admired them since they were still being circuitously imported one at a time from behind the iron curtain in the 80's and John knew it. CZ 75's fit my hand like it was made for me. The "pointability" is incredible for me. As natural and easy as pointing my finger. I have big hands - long, but thin - and most handguns are either too short or too skinny in the grip. My brother has a family heirloom FN Hi-Power. One of those curious war trophies with both nazi proof marks and "Browning's Patent" stamped on the slide. I did the periodic clean-up on it and some other guns for him recently and examined the 75 and the Hi-power it was inspired by side by side. Even next to it's granddaddy, the CZ 75 STILL has some mystical attraction for me. Like I said, it's just as though the danged thing was made specifically for my hands. That pistol is my excalibur! ...but this is about 10mm's. If I ever cave in and decide to jump through the states hoops, or in the unlikely event the Maryland politburo decides to roll them back, a 10mm CZ will be the one I'll be looking for.

What I gather is it is a synopsis written by those who have seen the actual actions by the feds in various things. Don't look for any specific incriminating evidence. It is an accusation not actual evidence. At least that's my understanding. What bothers me is that either party would use the same tactics. Never lose sight of the fact that none of this would be possible without the loosening of domestic spying laws during Bush II's admin. THIS is the sort of can of worms that gets opened when we act out of fear and acquiesce to sacrificing personal freedom for promised protection by the government - you know, like putting restrictions on 2A because some whackjob shoots up innocent people... instead of stabbing, running over or setting them on fire. It's shortsightedness by people who fear the immediate threat instead of the greater evil. The law is the law. We can demand action against those who violate it as long as it remains the law. We cannot (always) control who's views will be represented by "government" though, and that is why the founders, and many after them had the forethought to place certain safeguards on our freedom. Each time we errode the safeguards, we erode our freedom.

Congratulations!!! 10mm is the one caliber I've lusted after since the Bren10 almost came out. I'm envious.

The two rifles that get more use than all others combined at my place were built from two such "sporters" and a non chambered 7mm barrel (I reamed to 7x64), all bought for $100 about 15 years ago from a dealer that specializes in "collectables." He was thrilled to get those atrocities out of his shop. So was I. Jack O'Conner introduced a whole generation to the .270 Win. To that end, as I recall from reading everything he wrote for years, even his mountain rifle was a 7x57! He was a big sheep hunter and I believe it was a lightweight outfit thus, being the attraction for toting on vertical trails. Just about any .470 head size and within 0.10 inch in length from the 8x57 should be a painless adaptation. Shorter cartridges sometimes benefit from mag. blocking, but that's a simple operation. My personal recommendation as your first project is narrow your preferred list, weed out any that may not be an easy conversion (overly large or small head sizes, long lengths and any rimmed round), then shop reamer availability. Gunsmithing is not as much hocus-pocus as many think. 98% is how much patience and mechanical understanding you have. Plan on it taking twice as long as you first expect if you want to be proud of the finished product. Oh, one more bit of advice. If you scrimp now, it will show later. I'm a huge fan of not buying anything I can make, adapt or fix, but how many would make their own car fender from a piece of sheet metal bought at Lowes after hitting a deer.

My vote would be 7x57 if you're dead set on not using 8x57. I haven't bought any ammo for a while, but 7x57 always used to be one of the more common country store-type calibers. My personal favorite rifle is a 7x64, but you did mention easy to find ammo. It's a personal thing, but I have a prejudice against .270Win. as a result of a bad experience with a sweet old guild gun that was rebarreled to it years ago. .270Win. is a pretty high pressure round. Sure a GOOD M98 should handle it easy, but... well, like I said, it's just a personal bias. That said, out to 200 yds. the 7x57 will do just about anything the .270 will. 8x57 ain't no slouch though! Is it simply preference or are the existing barrels trashed? If "easy to find" is the #1 criteria though, you can't go wrong with .30-06 and .308Win. BTW - I think that .270 barrel is still in the shop somewhere. If you're interested I'll make you a deal on it.

So, uh... is powdr still around? What was the problem??? Did you get it figured out? karl bringing this back to the top really has be wondering. Doesn't take much to hang up on that last 1/8 of a turn.

LOL!!! Reminds me of a conversation I overheard a long, long time ago between two 25 year-old fellas. One was a Mennonite, the other wasn't. The Mennonite guy mentioned that he had four children. The other guy said, "Man, you really ought to get a TV."

I guess the time it takes is relevant to how much time you have. Long winter days (and nights!) w/o TV, the internet, etc. only left so many options. I read somewhere recently about archaeologists finding some skull that somehow they determined belonged to a 15-18 year-old girl and even at that age, the teeth were worn in a certain way from chewing hides to soften them. And you thought your job was tough. LOL!!!

Yeah, that whole wall thing is pretty much grandstanding... sort of. While as Manureman says, we need to make our borders defensible, the first step in that equation is making it recognizable. A couple train cars of barbwire and sixteen foot poles would do the same thing. Something like "the wall" may, might maybe be defensible in short high-traffic sections, but the only thing that's going to really work is a whole lot of LE patrolling a clearly marked line in the sand AND taking meaningful action against those who violate it. When getting caught becomes less attractive than the benefits found on the other side, compliance will follow. I'm not opposed to amnesty. Make an application, pass a background check, meet the criteria of other (legal) immigrants begin the path to citizenship. You're good. Good people have taken much worse chances to make life better for their families.

Looks like you're caught up. If a little more might help let me know. Feeling pretty chessy for dropping back in after the bills are paid.

THAT right there is the American story! My sister in-law's dad's story was very similar except he came from Italy in the 20's. Here served in Europe - including southern Europe - in spite of the possibility of execution as a traitor if captured being a 1st gen. Italian immigrant (technically an Italian citizen though he didn't claim it). It's a story similar to MILLIONS of Americans and their ancestors. Immigration isn't our problem. Ignoring the law and being allowed to is. Undocumented entry is an iffy subject I can't personally take a position on, but those who try to assimilate deserve a nod, especially those such as your friend for whom the choice of immigrating was not even his. Those who run away from home and cross the border as teenagers then get the same benefits because they're legally "children" are whole different ball game though!

That'd be awesome. A friend's ridgeback followed me the first time I hunted francolin. In fact he retrieved the first one I shot. Retrieved isn't exactly the right word though. He found it for me in the tall grass. Then he ate it. Luckily, it must have filled him up since he then went home and let me hunt in peace.

LOL!!! There is a story from the beeline march of two frontier brothers entertaining the locals during an overnight stop somewhere up north by one holding a piece of board between his knees and the other shooting it from 50 yds. I have a .45cal. Chambersburg-style rifle built by a late local guy that's more accurate than I can shoot it. Every gun is different, but my experience is accuracy decreases as bore increases. Rifles (and muskets) intended for 18th & 19th cent. military use had other priorities to accuracy. Supposedly most shot low... due to a tendency by soldiers to shoot high. Funny thing about my rifle. The builder was a civilian employee of a PA. military installation in the 70's. To assure hardness of his frizzens he faced them with some "really hard metal" he'd pick up scraps of at work. Never tried a geiger counter on that frizzen, but knowing what I do now, I highly suspect that "really hard metal" just may have been depleted uranium!

That's a great modification! I know this is an OLD thread, but if you're still around, might I ask how you got the barrel off? Was it tough? I experimented with one many years ago. The barrel absolutely refused to budge. I had a couple others, but never tried them so don't know if it was just the action I selected to use (I know they're notorious for barrel removal) or if there is some trick I didn't try.

That would be me. It was a thumper! Whacked me in the forehead with the scope one day. No, not the usual way, it sheared the mounting screws and thew the scope at me! Its been years ago. Don't recall all the details but it ended up feeding very well. I think I did some tweaking to the bolthead, but don't remember details. THE problem was getting the barrel off. I know it's possible, but after several broken tools and weeks of trying every trick I could come up with, I opted for the questionable idea of cutting ahead of the chamber reaming and brazing a new barrel as in building a monbolc for a double or single barrel break action. Considerable care was taken to restrict heat from the receiver. In retrospect, that is probably why the idea failed. Solder flow (yeah it was braze) was incomplete to the breech and eventually the barrel began moving every so slightly. I called it at that point and wrote it off to a failed (and potentially dangerous) experiment. That thing would rock you and I'm not particularly sensitive to big guns and recoil. Configuration of the stock I used was mostly the problem. I cut a stock for it, but it was a standard pattern. Too straight or short maybe. If you screw the barrel out and re-barrel properly however it'd be a fun gun! Personally though, I just can't quite warm up to the Mosins. Kinda like polishing a 36" Ridgid pipe wrench and trying to make it "pretty." They're both utilitarian tools. Excellent for their intended purposes. Not so much as anything else.

Anybody here stil in CA.? Jerry Brown seems determined to push that envelope. Going to be interesting where that whole thing goes. Everyone is up in arms about Russia creating facbook memes to influence how actual American citizens cast legal votes and California (and a few others) are okay with letting non-citizens vote. I don't get it. Secession didn't work so well the last time. That said, ADDING new states could be as effective, maybe more so than thinning out existing ones. Smaller districts making representatives more accessible to constituents and hence more prone to do what they ask than what the party dictates. The problem is the parties - both of em - like it the way it is and change is a threat to their power whether their gang in #1 or #2 at the time, its a threat just the same and THEY control change whether we want to try it or not.

Trump is a weird call. I'm constantly amused by those who describe him in some way as not knowing how the system works. Its been over a year now and they STILL don't grasp that his outsider status more than any other single thing was probably his greatest attraction! The Bush's voted for Clinton! What's that tell you? They are more concerned about the health of the system than the nation. One of Trump's biggest handicaps as an outsider was that he didn't come into office with a pre-ordained cadre of party selected underlings ready to hit the ground running. He's had a tough time filling the slots because he didn't even have the second string or the JV team to choose from. He had to go down to the park and round up a bunch of freewheelers. As might be expected, a lot of them, maybe most of them, aren't up to the challenges of the big game. Poor ole Jeff Sessions. LOL!!! He's a man of another era. He's not going to make it long, but I think Trump realizes now he needs to find someone who can roll with him before he fires any more high profilers unless something happens that he has to. Times have changed. For instance, medical costs. Obamacare wasn't the best, but it was a step in the (sort of) right direction. Health care is now (like everything!) #1 about money. I don't know if patient care even makes #3 at most hospitals and care facilities. Even routine procedures are out of reach w/o insurance, whether private or government funded and private insurance is out of reach for many through no fault of their own. This is going to be one of the determining factors of our period in history. My greatest fear is that when Trump needs some lieutenant to make a recommendation or make a call on such defining issues, that lieutenant isn't going to be up to the task because the candidate pool was so small and others in government are deliberately not helping due to politics instead of doing what's in OUR best interest. I'm just hoping that somewhere in all this somebody realizes we don't care who you are, what color or gender you are, what religion you ascribe to or don't, or who you sleep with. We just want representatives who get the job done like they are supposed to. Representatives whose ONLY goal is doing what is in OUR best interest while doing it within the confines of the constitution even if they KNOW it's going to cost them the next election. The best thing that could happen would be the abolishment of all political parties! Let each representative sink or float on his own personal reputation.

There is a whole lot of post-action info written on the subject of citizen soldiers from every era. Most I've concluded is not much removed from the typical "war story." I don't mean that disrespectfully, merely as an observation by someone who spends waaaay too much time researching history. Of course the citizen soldier, fighting on his own accord has quite a bit to brag about, whether successful or not. You're absolutely right about "foot pounds" et al. Physics is physics! All the ideas on firearm power, bullet design, etc. in the end come down to one thing when the object is killing a living animal. Death comes from depriving the brain of oxygen (or destroying the brain itself!). Wherever you're creating the leak in the plumbing, the faster you lower blood pressure the faster the brain stops working. Big bullets make big holes. Fast, super expanding bullets create wider devastation (usually). In the end though, nothing substitutes for bullet placement and enough penetration to reach the organs you hope to perforate! As for hunters being killed by game. Eh, I'm not so sure it's entirely bad for business. Well, unless your particular company has a reputation for repeated incidents such as this. In a more general nature, "dangerous game" hunting just wouldn't have the attraction it does (or the potential for profit) if it weren't dangerous! Motorcycles, fast cars, dangerous game, and for some, certain kinds of... uh, well, "partners" possess a danger factor that borders on addiction. Some of us just don't seem to learn. Hahaha!

You ever have the chance, read up on Spion Kop. The Boers had the Brits pretty well at their mercy, of which they exhibited very little. By the way, while ele's were shot with various small bores, .275's, .303's, etc. it was market hunting not sport hunting. The goal was to kill as many as possible in as short a time as possible and if any were wounded and lost, it was not such a big deal. The small bore were typically (as I understand) used for heart and lung shots owing to their deep penetration. If the critter died or at least slowed down for a follow up within a mile or ten the vultures would tell where before the ivory spoiled. Yes, small bores were used for such things. They have been used by a few to "prove it can be done" since (before minimum caliber laws we must assume). I recall an neat old article by Finn Aagard about a big stock killing leopard being killed with one by his dad in Kenya when Finn was a boy. They could be perfectly adequate leopard rifles but otherwise definitely are not modern-day dangerous game chamberings no matter what has been done with them. I'm still a sucker for old calibers. Fact is, other than stroger actions that can handle higher pressures, there is little new under the sun when comparing the last quarter century's "new" calibers to those of the 1st quarter of the 20th century.

Speaking of Canadian laws...

It's merely speculation on my part, but.... I see this as yet another threat to the shooting sports as we've known them. First it was "the ammo shortage" with it's corresponding doubling or tripling of prices. Then the scarcity of reloading components as demand outstripped supply. Now we see this short-cut to "affordable" ammo by suppliers. Sure, steel cased ammo has been around forever but always in cases where the spent cases were never expected to be re-used. Military, LE, etc. CCI has been selling Blazer handgun ammo for decades now. We began seeing more and more steel cased stuff when suppliers looked to eastern Europe to fill orders in the last few years. There is a whole new generation of shooters out there. Many are weekend warriors who have no interest (or time) for reloading and banging away for an hour or so with the cheapest fodder they can find is all that matters. That's fine but as "cheap ammo" becomes more accepted, especially steel and aluminum cased stuff, I predict brass ammo will become even more expensive, if only because it will be in greater demand by re-loaders and experienced shooters. I sure hope I'm wrong.

For those of you who've been around this place for a long time, you may have seen a post or two when I built this rifle. It was a gift for my youngest son more than ten years ago. He'll be thirty in August and I'm proud to say he's a hard worker as well as a hard hunter. He goes when he has the time and makes the most of the time he has, weather conditions be damned. That can take a toll on a rifle. A couple months ago he somewhat reluctantly brought me his 30-06 and asked if I could re-blue it. In spite of care, the rifle had considerable (light) rust and the stock finish worn to bare wood in places. I haven't done a lot of gun work lately, but what can a father say. The bore was spotless (thank heavens!), but the outside needed help. Since this was kind of a special gift when I first screwed it together, I used the best I had available at the time. A NOS Herter's stock I think it was. A Gibbs rifle co. barrel when they were still doing milsurp sporters and various other odds and ends. There were a few dents and dings in the stock but nothing my discount store black and decker (clothes) iron couldn't raise. One bad dent in the checkering on the forearm needed to be chased. Most of a week of rusting, boiling carding and repeating, ten coats of tru-oil and a lot of rubbing got the rifle looking new again. I've always been one for "inventive" uses of stuff, but the quality of the original parts shows in this renewal of a hard used rifle I didn't scrimp on. Something to keep in mind.