MorgansBoss

"...But, really...we cannot have the news reported in such a way that is designed to please each and every special interest group around...else nothing would ever be reported..." Folks I'm pressed for time so I haven't read all of every posts in the thread. If I'm saying something that's already been said I apologize. Now, speaking for myself only, all I want to know from "NEWS" reporters is the pertinent and actual facts relating to the event being reported. Now if that means reporting something I'd rather not hear or even something blatantly offensive to me personally... Well, if its true and it's part of the what happened, that is to say actually connected to the event rather than something that may or may not be as in the above referenced guns, then by all means it should be reported. To hell with my feelings! However, when reporters add things that may not be related to the event, or otherwise interject something that makes interesting reading by way of a controversal thing/person/place, etc... This is NOT reporting the news and should not be presented or protected as such. THAT is what every newspaper has an Op-Ed page for!

I think the correct course of action for the reporter would have been to simply mention that Other guns were removed from the home by police... It is already known that none of these guns were used in the crime, so their relevance to the event being reported is nil. For this same reason I would have to question why the police saw fit to confiscate the firearms in the first place. However, the question asked by notalbert was HOW it should have been reported so I'll just stop here.

While I prefer a checkered and blued steel butt plate on light rifles some of the heavier recoiling ones make rubber welcome. In those instances its usually the brick red ones for me, but I once built a rifle for a friend returning from a six year stint in Ireland in the classic old British style, with the nostalgic (and a little garish) pink pad typical of such guns. I bought a package of three on close-out at a local shop one day. They were imported from China back when not much else was and what typically came from there was of low quality. The pads were of soft rubber but lacked a hard base. I think there's still one in the drawer in case you want a P---- Pink pad.

This discussion reminds me of a line from an old "In The Heat Of The Night" episode (the TV show with Carrol O'Connor not the movie with Rod Stiger) when during the search of a suspects house Virgil Tibbs - the detective from "up north" - commented to Chief Gillespie that the suspect "had thirty guns, who needs thirty guns?" To which the chief calmly replied "a gun nut." Well boys and girls, my secret is out. The title was once a term of endearment among... well, other gun nuts and I am still proud to be counted among them!

Targets are beginning to come in. Got some nice scores so far but its still wide open. Better get out to the range folks. Please remember to include Caliber of rifle used. While we are shooting for score, I will use spread as a tie breaker if needed. BTW - I will not disclose any scores until the match has ended, you're just gonna have to wait.

I'm not one for identifying obscure variants - I ain't no military collector - but I'm going out on a limb and guessing this is a French Berthier. The condition makes it hard to tell. Some parts may be bent out of place. Some are certainly missing but the bolt handle and the trigger group are real clues. One thing is sure - it ain't no Mauser! I live in the midst of a huge war between the states area - on the edge of the Antietam Battlefield if that rings a bell for anyone. "Dug-up" items used to be common around here, now they're typically sold as soon as the dirt is cleaned off. My first house was across the street from an old house that had been a field hospital, while digging a fence post once I dug up what I took to be a golf ball. Wiped off most of the dirt and threw it on the drive way. Instead of bouncing it just went "clunk" and rolled a little. Further cleaning revealed an iron cannon grape-shot. I have a number of 1862 era rifle parts - locks, barrels, etc. found in an attic of another house. The former owner (a family friend) had an extensive collection of guns and swords picked up after the battle by her father - most notably a beautiful paper cartridge Sharps carbine I idolized from about eight-years of age until I watched it being carried away from the estate sale thirty years later. In fact I've recently been considering using an old Springfield Barrel & lock to build a "Sporterized Springfield." Wouldn't THAT drive the "destruction of military history" types nuts!

Whew! Never thought they'd be that hard to find! Clemson beat me to it but after searching Proto, S-K, Snap-on, Craftsman, and a few more obscure brands - nothing! I have an old 1/2" drive set that goes to 1", I was going to offer to loan the 7/8" if you couldn't find anything but you can likely get a new one as cheap and faster than shipping mine back and forth across the country. BTW - my set is marked "Powercraft". Google turned up a bunch of tools with the powercraft name but nothing close to my old socket set. It came from an estate sale years ago.

Boys, don't anybody get the wrong impression from my last post. I was at work and in a hurry. The simple fact is that I've recently come into several "issues" that must be dealt with and just don't have the time or patience to mediate this controversy as well - priorities you know. Please feel free to debate whatever everyone here wants to do. My only contribution to the discussion is that I've never liked the idea of "shooting for group" without that group being closest to the obvious aiming point. I think it was z1r who made reference to only having shot game, and that the point is HITTING WHAT YOU AIM AT. If my rifle and I are accurate but my sights print three inches high and six inches left, I may shoot a perfect "group" but the rifle is useless for its intended purpose! I vote for shooting for score NOT group.

FC, PM sent - HELP! If anyone else can tell me how I can post a file (jpeg or PDF) please do ASAP! The only other solution I know of is emailing the target individually to eveyone interested.

Not wanting to delay any longer I'm announcing our first match. The rules are simple. Save and print the target posted here full size (it is 8.5x11). Five shots per target - all shots must be identifiable no matter how many you shoot through the same hole! Fill in all information on the target EXCEPT official score, I'll do that! Shoot as many as you like but submit only ONE per category. Categories are Scoped and Open Sights. Any caliber, any rifle, bench or off-hand, its your choice. Shots will be scored on the "best edge," so the bigger the holes the better! Distance for THIS match will be 50 yards. Targets must be received by Nov. 30. Target is here; http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c398/Mor.../MFRCtarget.jpg I'm looking forward to hearing from ya'll.

I'm sure there will be other "surprises" coming out as New Orleans is scrutinized in the rebuilding process, after all corruption is part of L.A politics isn't it? Of course none of this will stop the pouring of billions of dollars into re-building homes and businesses in places they should have never been. To do so would be racist!

Very informative article Sonic. As much for the insight into what shooters in another country must go through just to shoot as it is for the technical info. Hope everyone who reads it takes note.

Perhaps the single most refreshing thing about my first trip to Africa was the simplicity of life. Not "simplicity" in the literal sense - it's actually much more difficult - but there is no 24 hour WalMart to go get whatever you want when you want it. You actually have to make plans to go to the store and if you forget some necessity it can be a long wait until the next trip. While there was electric, phone, and even internet service, evenings spent sitting around talking were much more pleasant then sitting around the TV with it's limited reception. On my last trip it was a disappointment to find virtually everyone carries a cell phone. People walk along the road without shoes... talking on the phone. Once while I waited behind with the trackers while my wife and PH stalked an animal, the trackers each hand-rolled a cigarette then got their phones out. Satellite TV is in most bush homes and families that even recently spent evenings entertaining each other, now sit as hypnotized by pointless trash in the middle of nowhere as we do here at home. On the other hand, if it weren't for all this technology I wouldn't know you folks!

OK guys, I stuck my neck out and volunteered to do this. The one criteria I put on it before making that decision was to keep it simple so I don't have to spend hours tabulating scores. Also, what I had in mind was just friendly interaction, not "competition" proper. You've made valid points though and I concede to separating scopes from open sights. Make it much more complicated though and the "fun factor" begins to diminish. What do you say?

Here in Maryland the DNR wants the deer killed to make the insurance companies happy. Hunting license costs $24.50 for residents, $130 for non-residents. Bow season starts Sept. 15 and runs till Jan. 31, M/L season is a week & a half in Oct. and two weeks in Dec. Rifle season is two weeks starting the Sat. after Thanksgiving. Except in the two most western counties the limit is two bucks and ten does per season - that's THIRTY-SIX! The problem is that there are so danged many city people buying up land and building houses and not allowing hunting that the deer are out of control near them. Of course where you can hunt, the population gets hammered while the real problem (where the houses are) just keeps getting worse.

If I remember correctly the blank was squared on one side and a rip-fence type guide was used to keep the router aligned. You're right though, as with dermel type tools, it don't take long to ruin something with a router.

Sometimes I think technology is making our lives too easy. My son doesn't hunt much, he enjoys it but lives a busy life . We made arrangements earlier this week to go squirrel hunting together Saturday so I just bought his license for him... sitting right here in this chair! Its the same place I do most of my shopping anymore. Now that I think of it I do a whole lot of socializing here as well - RIGHT HERE at MFRC! Adds a whole new meaning to the old saying - "you need to get out more."

Now... Anybody interested in a postal match? If there is interest, being the glutton for punishment I am, I'm volunteering to run it. Nothing fancy or complicated, no real prize, very few rules, just plain old fun. If you think it'd be fun to see how your rifle stacks up against everybody else's post up. If there is interest I'll follow up with rules, an "official" target and instructions. I'll need an email address to contact you, so you'll have to be a site member! I've put together some simple rules I will send anyone who asks. Basically its "anything goes" / scopes actual score / open sights get +5 points (as long as there is a scope in the match) / shoot as many targets as you want but submit only one per match / five shots per target / the rest is pretty much about submission rules & time frame, honesty, etc... I'm volunteering so it only costs a postage stamp and your ammo to enter. Results will be posted here. I miss anything? We got four so far including myself. That's enough for me to schedule the first match! I'll put together the date and send the rules & targets in the next 24hours. If you've expressed interest, watch your email for details!

I tend to listen intently to the opinions of people with actual experience in the subject at hand. "I carry a .22 mag. mini-revolver." - from a man who has probably seen the effects of more gunshot wounds than anyone else here. Nuff said!

I just have to interject a few points here fella's. #1 Before 9mm semi-autos became popular with drug dealers in the mid-eighties, more people were killed annually in the U.S. with .22's than all other firearms combined! No it's not something I'd WANT to be armed with in a gunfight, but then few CCW situations will ever actually BE a gunfight. Read on for explanation... #2 In the vast majority of situations where a firearm is successfully used to defend ones self or others, no shots are ever fired. Most social predators are cowards who will either run or comply at the sight of ANY gun unexpectedly produced by what they expected to be an easy mark. #3 If the gun is ever actually fired in a defensive situation, again, most thieves, rapists and robbers are cowards and not likely to stick around after ANY wound however non-life threatening it is. #4 There are exceptions to every rule! Its a personal decision based on weighing the odds and taking a calculated risk whether you have enough gun or surplus ammo - ever.

Jim, You did say 597 didn't you, aint that an auto? Probably not a good candidate for hummerization. Don't know anybody who's actually tried it but I've read several cautions AGAINST it. Reasoning is that rimfire's (or any blow-back) semi-auto is engineered for the specific physics of power,bullet weight, etc. of the intended round. There's a big difference between the 40gr. .22WMR bullet and the 17gr.HMR. It'd likely either not function properly or else beat itself to death... or just maybe work like a charm.

Now it's certain that not everyone will be able to make any single event - for instance, Uncle Sam ain't likely to let Reverend Recoil fly back for a hog hunt or something. (sorry Rev.) The issue is on the floor for discussion. These and a whole bunch more are the things we need to discuss before moving ahead with the idea folks. Let's hear everyone's thoughts.

GREAT discussion! Horsefly, you really need to give us some more information. As said before, I'm assuming your brother is a typical "casual hunter." The kind of guy who don't reload and buys his ammo at WalMart. If that's the case, choices are much more limited. If he's a bit more "adventurous" like his brother, the possibilities covers a lot more ground.

"I wish we could have a gunboard class reunion so I could shake everyones hand" I cut the above quote from another post by Horsefly. I'm sure all the regulars here have had a similar thought at least once, I know I'd love to see most of ya face to face someday. Of course the fact that we're scattered all over the map don't make it to likely... unless... Is there any interest in maybe setting up a hunting trip somewhere for 2006? Now (waaay in advance so the details can be worked out before tags need to be applied for if necessary) would be the time to start talking about it. I know this is kind of a far fetched idea but like anything, it'll never happen if its not suggested! How bout it, any interest? Any suggestions or ideas? Of course most of us fit the cheap-skate mold so it'd have to be a bargain hunt, preferably somewhere rather centrally located. Somewhere and sometime with a place and warm enough weather for us to sit around the fire half the night debating calibers, actions, tools, liquor and all the other usual stuff.

You been busy Beau! Nice guns. The barrel swap will be a fitting compliment to the guild gun. My youngest son's 270 was built on a receiver I "rescued" from a old friend's collection of parts in a stripped and rusted condition. It was stamped 9.3 on the bottom but he had his heart set on a .270... oh the sacrifices we make for our kids! BTW - the only part on that receiver was a DS trigger kick-off. I don't like set triggers but with your penchant for classic Mausers you're welcome to it for an address to send it to... if I can still find it anyway, my parts bin is beginning to get as bad as where I found the receiver!