flaco

Just for the sake of discussion, let's be empirical. Certainly there are enough military on the board... and military travels. What were your personal experiences in Europe? Did it appear Europeans hated you? Personally, I lived in Paris for three months, 1974-1975. My girlfriend was getting an advanced degree at the Sorbonne. It didn't appear the Parisians hated her, or me. In fact we hitch hiked from Paris to Austria. In Switzerland a couple took us into their home for the night. Like I said, you've got your textbooks--academics--and then real life. Feel free to feed your paranoia, Gentlemen, but--and especially prior to the invasion of Iraq--the Europeans didn't, and don't, hate us. flaco

Karl- Let me apologize publicly for making my post personal. I regret that. Still, I don't hate President Bush. I just think he's about as good a President as he was a student at Yale, that he only got into Harvard Business School because his father pulled strings, that he was a failure as a Texas oil man--pretty tough, huh, given what he inherited?--and that he wasn't especially good as the owner of a baseball team. Did you even notice you were posting a two year-old essay? What do you make of the fact that the "European commentators" predicted "the prospect of American forces being bogged down in a long and difficult engagement..."? Do you think Bush and his advisors foresaw that? The long-forgotten intellectual sources Professor Caesar cites are just that, long forgotten. Despite the lack of gratitude I referenced, for decades most Europeans have admired America, and emulated Americans. You, Sir, are... the conservative Professor Caesar--your own source, Karl--refers to when he writes "...But it is also important for Americans not to fall into the error of using anti-Americanism as an excuse to ignore all criticisms made of their country. This temptation is to be found far more among conservative intellectuals than among liberals...." He's at least correct on this important point. flaco

Well, Karl- I think this is an academic paper, and pretty representative of the dangers of trivial thinking that academic papers are heir to. To begin with, though, I'm not certain you parse the paper correctly when you mention jealousy. I don't think that's Professor Caeser's point. I'll just generalize a little: The French are concerned only with the French, to the point of absurdity. This is a standing joke, and has been for ages. (It's ironic to remember that the best literary characterization of America and Americans was by Alexis de Tocqueville. "Democracy in America," 1835.) The Heidegger references are among the few in the paper that aren't trivial. (Most of the names Caeser cites have long been lost in history. As have been their thoughts. And rightly so.) Still, Heidegger was a Nazi, and so we'll all agree to a large part discredited. I'm not certain whether you noticed, Karl, but your subhead reads "Archived Issue, Summer 2003." In other words, the paper was written two years ago. As Caeser leads into his second paragraph, "Time will tell." It seems to me that gleeful or not, the European commentators Caeser cites had more foresight than the Bush Administration "...the prospect of American forces being bogged down in a long and difficult engagement." No, Karl, while every historical citation may be correct, Caeser's thesis is incorrect. Foreigners don't like America because they distrust the Bush Administration. They are afraid of more ill-judged unilateral actions. They are afraid of a nation that pays scant notice to long and successful alliances. They are afraid of a nation that ignores international law, the Canadian softwood tariffs, for example. They're not impressed by a culture that exports violent movies, McDonald's, and Starbucks. They don't know what to make of a nation that pays much more for healthcare than they do, and that healthcare is limited to the affluent few. They don't think much of our cars, and apparently, neither do we. Writing this gives me no pleasure, Karl. I am an American. And while Caeser's sources may have forgotten it, America brought the concept of Freedom to much of the world. And whether their grateful or not, the Marshall Plan made possible any economic success that is contemporary Europe. America's generosity. I wonder if, had George W. Bush not been so lacking in foresight, he would have made the acclaimed "Mission Accomplished" carrier landing? How is it that those European commentators cited in the first paragraph--"the prospect of American forces being bogged down in a long and difficult engagement," again--had a better understanding of history and global forces--read a little Tolstoy, please, to try and understand the historical continuum--than all the vaunted NeoConservative politicians. Sorry, Karl. You asked. flaco Addendum- To give credit where credit is due, despite all Caeser's failings, his summation is correct: "But it is also important for Americans not to fall into the error of using anti-Americanism as an excuse to ignore all criticisms made of their country. This temptation is to be found far more among conservative intellectuals than among liberals, who have traditionally paid great respect to the arguments of anti-American thinkers. Much recent conservative commentary has been too quick to dismiss challenges to current American strategic thinking and immediately to attribute them, without sufficient analysis, to the worst elements found in the historical sack of anti-Americanism, from anti-technologism to anti-Semitism. It would be more than ironic - it would be tragic -- if in combating anti-Americanism, we were to embrace an ideology of anti-Europeanism."

Happy New Year Jimro--and EVERYONE ELSE--and congratulations on that degree. flaco And STAY DRY! LOL.

Trout- Try lapping it on with a little abrasive--Clover, etc.--compound on the threads. flaco

Glad I stopped in here, DT. Your project looks great. Magnificent wood. My only experience in building black powder was a pistol kit. I enjoyed the building, but made the mistake of taking it to a Halloween party as mandatory for my pirate outfit. I loaded a bunch of black powder, and stuffed it with newspaper as wadding. When I shot it off across the lawn, the newspaper was trailed by still burning powder. This was not uniformly viewed as a really wonderful thing to do. I sort of liked it though. Oh well. flaco Wasn't youth grand?

When in doubt, read the instructions. If worse comes to worst, follow them. flaco

Do we all know that sinking feeling when a screw won't torque down? Threads stripped? Oh momma. After a generous invitation from the retailer who sold me the scope for Project #2, I had him mount the scope. I saw quite clearly that he couldn't get one of the screws to tighten up. Out comes the locktite. Just enough range time confirmed that this rifle could shoot, but then... it couldn't even find paper. Mounts loose. As it turns out, I've been lucky enough to spend time every day last week with a Trinidad trained gunsmith who has a name in the target circuit. He's a great guy, patient enough to explain each technique, and generous with his time. I took the barreled action in, and, after a cursory examination, here's what he did. The front mount--Leupold standard on an '09--mounted well with a spare set of screws I had. Perhaps they were a little longer than the screws that came with the Leupold mounts. (As an aside, I suspect Leupold supplies screws short enough that they'll fit every Mauser action, and perhaps not as long as might be appropriate in some applications.) It was pretty obvious that the shallow area of the bridge mount threads were stripped. Once again suggesting that the screws could have been longer. I would have counterbored the mounts for the 8-40s, redrilled and tapped, and thought nothing of it. The professional approach was to re-drill and tap the receiver--of course--but then, instead of counterboring the mounts, turn down the 8-40 screw heads on the lathe. In addition, instead of shortening the screws to fit, he shortened the screw heads (underside) on the lathe. The has the effect of making the screws look like they were designed for the mounts--obviously they weren't--and assuring they went all the way through the receiver, but cleared the bolt. Once fit, the screws were cleaned with a shot of spray brake cleaner--seems like a valuable addition to the shop, he gets it at the $1 store--and then dropped in a plastic medicine bottle of cold blue. (Sorry, forgot to ask which one. Probably Brownell's.) Wish me luck. I hope to get this puppy sighted-in in time to put some holes in a target for the next Postal Match. flaco Also, he had advice on torque: "Tight is right, too tight it broke." LOL.

Glad to hear you had a good hunt, Jerry. Sounds like the best ever. flaco N.B. What's up with your friend? Is he young? I'm at the age when I try not to let opportunities pass buy. For me, this means mainly buying actions and wood whether I can afford them or not. Sometimes being rational will get to you. Oh dear. Those bittersweet regrets.

Up until now, I've been using the range sand bags... which some club member was nice enough to put together, apparently decades ago. A few weeks back two broke spontaneously on me. The toe of my buttstock was enough for those old bags. Anyway, I've replaced the sand bags with rice bags of my own devising. I cut the legs off of some old Levis--I've got lots--and turned them inside out and hemmed one end. Then I filled Glad gallon freezer bags with rice, inserted them, and hemmed the other end of the pants legs. Voila! In particular, I took care not to fill the rice bags too full. I like to be able to nest the rifle in the bags, and if they're too tightly filled, it's a pain. The rice wasn't my idea, but I think it's a big improvement. flaco

Well Done, Gentlemen- I had hoped to submit targets--I'm very enthusiastic!!--but circumstances beyond my control prevented it. I look forward to seeing the 100 yard scores. flaco

Clark- Not to steal Monty's thunder, but where'd you find the scout mount? Mfr? Easy to install? I'm looking for a friend who wants a Swede, but doesn't want to drill and tap. Thanks, flaco

BradD- Just a few weeks back, I went to the range with my cousin, who is a retired Captain from our (small) local PD. On the way back, he was telling about a friend, whom he had given an action to . The friend cleaned the action up, and removed the s/n. My cousin turned the action in for disposal. I could tell he was wistful about it. Sad at the waste. If I read you right, all the guy had to do was have the old s/n stamped or engraved somewhere on the action. Actually, the topic came up again about a week ago with a top-end stockmaker. I was talking actions, and mentioned the Mark X. As I'm certain you know, these play to mixed reviews. Although the old ones are generally considered superior to the more contemporary Charles Dalys, they don't perhaps get the recognition due a modern Mauser action made with good steel and using machines obtained from FN. Apparently I was dismissive of the Mark Xs, and the stockmaker suggested that he had client for whom he had stocked three. All top-of-the-line work. Subsequently, the metal guy removed all Mark X markings, and moved the s/n from the right hand side to the left. Being careful to engrave the new one in before removing the old. Then the actions were off to the engraver, for the full nine yards. The stockmaker seemed impressed. He seemed to favor the Mark X over the '09 I'm working on right now. Anyway, I'd like to welcome you to MFRC. I know I'm not the only one grateful for your posts. You've made some important contributions. flaco

I agree with z1r on this one. It's way too easy to be seduced by "New" or "Improved". 7x57 is a Classic, in every sense of the word. And it's been tested over ten decades. flaco Some things you can't improve on.

I have one of the "London Guns" pads waiting for installation. The post by MorgansBoss made me paranoid: I had to go see if it was "garish" pink. It's not. It may not be exactly brick red, but it's close enough. LOL. Anyway, it has a black spacer with a little teat on it, like the Niedner plates. flaco Actually, I considered sending it back, as this rifle won't need a pad. And one sees few of these Mauser style stocks with recoil pads. But I think it will look good. Stubborn, or what?

Okay. It sounds like this is a monumentally tough area to hunt, but there's big bucks there: Three bucks from The Strip. And yes, BEJ, St. George is in southern Utah, just above AZ. flaco

AzRednek- Look, this is all a little hazy, as I ran into him outside the café before I had my coffee. And he's the real thing: Far as I can tell he's spent better than two decades running the trap and skeet ranges every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. He's also one of our best rifle shots. Not to mention he has a Jarrett 300. Which is to say he owns and appreciates custom rifles. Anyway, this place is just below St. George, and of about 11,000 hunters, 60 or so tags are drawn? He called it a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I believe him. He pulled out a snapshot--who wouldn't?--and this buck had a humungous rack. I got the impression that anywhere else, this would be more than a trophy buck. But he was a little disappointed. flaco N.B. I'd like to add... that around here, most all those I've met who are involved in the shooting sports are as friendly and supportive as you could imagine. How sweet is that?

Just ran into the rangemaster for the trap range at the club. Boy, did he have a picture of a really nice buck he took at someplace called "The Strip" in AZ. I like those big mulies. flaco

So. Let me waste a little time here. How, swamp_thing, do you think the mayor of NO would be able to hush up a story that big? Bribes? Threats? Have you not noticed that the media are in general sharks, and the blurb you posted has enough vulnerable thrashing and blood to attract a school of sharks? Do you not think that the Feds would be more than happy to prosecute the Mayor of NO, and thus take pressure off FEMA's totally incompetent response to the tragedy? If a prosecutor can go, for instance, into the office of the Vice President's Chief of Staff, don't you think they can also go into the office of the Mayor of New Orleans? If, for instance, the President's number one advisor, Karl Rove, can be subpoenaed to testify before a Federal Grand Jury--four times!!!--the same would not happen for the Mayor of New Orleans? If there were any truth to this story at all, it would be flying headlines on your morning daily, and leading the national TV news. It's just too juicy a story to hide. Nope. Look, swamp_thing. This is just the kind of story Fox News loves. Were there any truth to it, it would still be playing. It's a free country, swamp_thing. Believe what you will. But this is clearly Faith Based current affairs. flaco You can lead a whore to culture, but you can't make her think.

Let me get this right, swamp_thing. You're eager to believe a monumental scandal that (apparently) goes unreported in US media, and appears on a Russian site? flaco

swamp_thing- Since I'm about to embark on Project #3, I've been thinking about this. I've decided I'm gonna go with one of the products the consistency of putty. The star of this show is Devcon Putty. Shrinkage is minimal, and it's very strong. You can get it reinforced with aluminum, stainless steel, whatever your pleasure. A little expensive though. Next is a product called Marine Tex. Also very strong, and with minimal shrinkage. Both of these come very well reviewed on rifle sites, and I believe there are big advantages to using the putty stuff. Not runny, and you don't have to worry about putting too much in, because it will squeeze out, and can be easily cleaned up. I had a few small voids on my last two projects, and I hate that. flaco The down side is that neither of these products is brown. This won't make a difference to me, but might to others. I don't intend to let the bedding show.

Oh boy, what a bunch of whiners. Me too. It costs over $100 for me to replace the ink cartridges in my printer. I vote we use this target. I don't know about you guys, but our range is NRA sanctioned, and this is the target--only three on the paper, vertical--that they use. So it would be easy for me. But even if you have to order some, $9.00 plus shipping for 100. Who can't swing that? And... thanks for the effort, MorgansBoss. I'm certain that once we get the details sorted out, everyone's gonna love this. flaco

I'm impressed, sonic- A very clean--and innovative--installation. What will you do for sights? flaco

"Tease" is right, Terry- You're shameless. I'm not certain I've ever seen an '09 action that clean. Is the magazine/triggerguard commercial, or just the straddle plate? This is "TC1," right? Good to see you posting here, Terry. flaco N.B. Please register and join the fun!

What is the spirit of the bayonet? flaco