Jimro

I've used them, but will not again. They make BUIS impossible to use and force you to use only 1 inch scopes, which really isn't an issue unless you swap out scopes of different diameter a lot. But for the price a set of Weaver bases and rings give you quick detach capability and variable scope tube diameter. But as far as the quality of the Talley rings/bases, they are top notch, I had no issues with the fit and finish and the folks at Talley were a joy to work with. If a buddy of mine wanted them on his rifle I would have no problem installing them, they are hella stout and do the job they are intended to do just fine. I did make a mistake in mounting, I mounted the rear piece a wee bit too far back and had to remove some material so the bolt could cycle. An easy fix with a file and a few minutes. Jimro

I think this might be what you are looking for, http://www272.pair.com/stevewag/turk/turkbed1.html http://www272.pair.com/stevewag/turk/turkbed2.html http://www272.pair.com/stevewag/turk/turkbed2a.html Jimro

If I had to get a 9mm the Star Model B would be in the top three. The one I got to handle felt really good in my hand. And you can probably get 200 bucks out of it if you want to sell it, so it sounds like a winner to me.. Jimro

Yes, all the MASH units will be Reservists..and eventually they will be CSH's. It is just restructuring, Combat Support Hospital's are smaller and quicker to deploy, with basically the same surgical capabilities. Smaller lighter quicker, it's the name of the game. Jimro

Welcome aboard. I'm James, a stubborn Norwegian/Scot mix, from Washington, 4 years active Army, mostly in Texas, 4 years reserve in WA, getting my OCS packet together as I type. My dad is a machinist, which makes sporterizing possible for me. Dad and I saw a distinct improvement in our relationship after I spent a couple years in the Army, don't know if I grew up or he mellowed out (both are distinct possibilities). Jimro

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_depolymerization Basically you put in anything from lawn clippings to plastic bottles, sewage to slaughterhouse waste and get oil. Just think about all the plastic going into our landfills being turned back into oil...that would be a pretty good way to free up landfill space and use that foreign oil twice. Jimro

You know I like the 30-30 AI, but realistically it is like all the Ackley Improvements, it really doesn't offer too much over the original. Dead is dead, and the 30-30 has taken a helluva lotta deer. If I wanted more oomph out of a lever gun I'd take the above advice and get a different levergun. An 1895 in 30-06 would be a winner if he can afford it. Jimro

250 Savage gets my vote. The 257 Roberts is a good round, but the common availability of +P ammo would make me VERY leary of using a 91 action. If someone didn't know and used it, it could spell disaster. The 250 Savage is a good deer cartrige and there really isn't any need for more on that action. Jimro

I just check the XS sights prices, I think making one would be a bit smarter, any instructions? Jimro

Howdy, Well the project is a 416 Taylor for a friend, he wants a black synthetic stock and either M16A2 style sights or Mossberg 590 "Ghost ring" style sights. He really wants a distinct rifle....and this will be one. I told him that M16 style sights would be tough, but that ghost ring would be easy enough. I know some folks put the ghost ring on the rear bridge, some put it on the bolt sleeve. I know ghost ring sights have been gaining popularity amongst pro hunters in Africa, so I might not have to make my own, somebody must be making them... Any info/input is greatly appreciated. Jimro

Well, it's not going to be a "match chamber" right? If so you are ok since it won't close on a "no go", however, as the rifle "ages" be sure to check headspace every couple hundred rounds. Some milsurps will swallow a field guage and fire just fine....The extractor claw holds the brass tight enough against the boltface to allow proper ignition, but that doesn't mean it's safe, so check every once in a while. Jimro

Cat's don't seem to learn, had this happen to a cat twice when I was a kid, the first time it was a vet visit, the second time was fatal... Jimro

Karl, Mil Scifi, such a guilty pleasure... I'm sure you've read David Weber and Steve White if you are now discovering John Ringo... "Fire on the Border" by Kevin O'Donnell is good too. As is Orson Scott Card's Ender series, including the Shadow companion series. Enjoy your guilty pleasure, I do. Jimro

The 7mm RUM is a 404 Jeffrey necked down to 7mm...it'll go in one side of a deer and blow out the other with a helluva lotta meat damage. If you want a screamer in 6.5 mm, check out the 6.5-284. The benchrest crowd loves it, burns barrels really quick. Of course you could neck down the 7mm RUM to 6.5, but I don't know how much extra performance you could wring out of it... Jimro

Clayton, if all you want is a "Long Range Deer Rifle" then there is no need for a massively over bore wildcat. I think you could achieve the results you are looking for with a 300 Win mag. If you want a wildcat just to have a wildcat, look into necking down the 376 Steyr or 9.3x64 Brenneke to 30 cal. But they probably won't perform any better than a 7.62 Lazzeroni or 300 Weatherby Magnum. There is no point in wildcatting cartriges anymore, there is a standardized cartrige out there for every purpose. Jimro

Well the Air Force officer recruiter gave me the skinny on my odds of becoming an Air Force officer, less than one in ten. Unless I want to be a lab jockey chemist. Which is ironic since my degree is in chemistry, but I don't want to spend the next fifteen years in a lab. There is nearly a 100% chance the AF would take me as a chemist, it is a "Technical" field, where a 2.5 gpa is all that is required. The last OTS board only had three applicants for the "Technical" (science and engineering) fields, they are so hurting for electrical engineers that they don't even have a grade requirement. My grades were around the 2.8 range, but since I want a "Non-Technical" job then the recommended GPA for the OTS Board is 3.2 or higher, and the records show that they prefer MUCH higher. However, I could still enlist in the AF, directly into the field I want to be working, combat controller. However, the chances of earning a commission are still about the same, but I would have until 34 to earn a commission. Which means that the Army becomes a better alternative. Much easier for me to get into OCS, practically assured. Practically assured that I'll get the field of my choice as well. Or I could reup and stay enlisted, maybe apply for an OCS slot before I hit 29. I have no idea what the Marine Corps offers, and I have no interest in being in the Navy. I loved my job on Active duty, but after spending time with a hospital unit in the Reserves left a bad taste in my mouth. I was looking for a different taste of BS in the Air Force. I want to serve, but I also want to take care of my wife, and start a family. My only real option for an officer career is the Army, the AF looks like it is enlisted only for me at this time. Even in a time of war the AF gets more OTS applications than it needs, by a factor of 8. So pray for me and my family, God has a way of putting us where he wants us, but I'd like to come to a decision point and act on it soon. It is weighing heavily on my mind, how to spend the next fifteen years of my life. Jimro

Karl, Nice shooting, sometimes I'll load one round in a revolver and spin the cylander so that I don't know which chamber it's in, that way I get a surprise when the gun goes off, but I may have pulled the trigger 4 times by then... Good way to fire at a target and only get one hole, and find out if you are flinching or not. Jimro

I haven't used it, but it's all the rage on the tactical forums, places like HD rifles and GA Precision use it, so it can't be bad. but I'll stick with Krylon, it's cheap and easy. Doesn't last forever, but it gets the job done. Jimro

Flaco, Give up harping on the "Mission Accomplished" flag, GW announced the end of "Major Combat Operations", not the end of the mission. Anyone familiar with military operations considers this a non-issue. If you haven't noticed the majority of the insurgency is made up of non-Iraqi's. Anti-Americinism is strong enough to send Iranians, Jordanians, Syrians, etc, to oppose anything associated with the US. US casualties in the Iraq war have been incredibly light, we are not "losing" this conflict, we are winning from all accounts. How long did it take to stabilize Croatia? Oh yeah, troops are still there... I don't care how the international community feels about Bush, the truth is that only their combined military and economic might is a threat to US dominance, and enough level heads understand that the US is in the right in the case of Iraq. What truth is buried in Anti-American sentiment is that we don't care a whole lot about culture, we are an inherently modern society, we are voracious consumers, and our lifestyle is being exported because it is an attractive alternative to a thick history book and cold soup. Jimro

It isn't surprising that some NCO swords were wrapped for a better grip, painted aluminum isn't the best non slip surface. Tsuba is the "guard", it should have the same serial number as the blade. The serial number on the blade is the proof that the blade is machine made, and therefore not worth more than you paid for it, and more likely to be "authentic". If you want a good practice sword, Paul Chen's Practical Katana line lives up to it's name. I have one and really like it, it's a traditional style blade that won't break my heart if I screw up in practice. One of these days I'd love to get a WWII Japanese "Manchurian Rail Steel" sword, as they are great cutters. Jimro

You know Clark, we've been considering the .531 inch base diameter of a magnum cartrige, but that is the diameter of the belt, the diameter of the body of the case just in front of the rim should be closer to .506 (I just measured a random 7mm Rem Mag shell) , which would change calculations slightly. After all, commercial double cut C ring actions do not support the left side of the case head at all, instead relying on the gas handling ability of the m98 action to save the shooter in case of total case failure, just like that MarkX that I saw. So the more I think about it, the more reasonable a Turk magnum seems. Except that I am still a recoil wimp. Jimro

In theory yes, you could open up a K.Kale turk to large shank dimensions safely, and it would be darn near identical to other standard m98's except for the different steel, very tough but not very hard. Jimro

Well, let us sit back and do a "thought experiment". Imagine a 300 Win Mag chamber in a Turk action, and the stresses caused by powder ignition. Physics and chemistry tell us that the pressure inside the brass is equal at every surface, but that the strength of those surfaces is different depending on the thickness of the brass. The brass is thickest where the steel would be thinnest, but let us consider the scenario of total case failure. Will, 0.200 inches of steel hold back 60,000 psi? Or would it expand slightly and gain strength from the reciever ring? I am not an engineer so I do not have the skill set to solve such a problem, but I'm sure several folks here can and will solve it. Anyways, I've seen what happened to a MarkX 7mm Rem Mag after it was loaded with a 308 Win cartrige. I'm amazed that it fired, but it seems to me that a total case failure would probably resemble the aftermath of such an explosion. The stock was completely shattered down it's length, but the rifle saved the life and eyes of the shooter. My guess, just sitting here and visualizing the process in my head, is that a Turk would handle a catastrophic event with the same aplomb as a regular large ring action, and be just as wrecked as a regular large ring. If the stresses of repeated firiring did cause the chamber to expand slightly in some area then the chamber would just be slightly larger, which means a little more work for full length resizing. Since there is less steel this would happen quicker on a small shank barrel than a large shank barrel, but it would still happen on the large shank barrel. So all in all it seems to me that if you went ahead and got the action gas carbeurized to prevent lug setback, and rethreaded a barrel for small ring, that you could have a serviceable magnum rifle that would give you a lifetime of shooting. Now, would I do it? Probably not, I'm not much of a fan of high pressure magnums, they have their place, but they don't offer enough advantage to really make it worth it for me. I am a recoil wimp. Jimro

Karl, I plan on teaching after I retire from the military, since income wouldn't be a problem it would be a way to sort of pay back the good math and science teachers I had in high school. Just need to find a nice rural school in the middle of nowhere, kinda like I went to. It may be a pie in the sky dream to see kids excited about math, I know it was difficult for me to wrap my head around at the time, but it paid off big in real world applications. Jimro

I've done more research, and it appears that authentic NCO swords had no wrapping over the aluminum. The aluminum tsuka was cast with a wrapping that was painted to imitate real wrapping. Anyways, there shouldn't be a mark next to the arsenal mark, the only marks should be the arsenal mark and the serial number stamped into the blade. There should also be a serial number stamped into the tsuba which should match the blade. So it seems from the description that the sword you have is not a WWII era NCO sword, unless I'm not reading your description correctly and meant that the paint had been worn away when you said the "wrapping is off the handle". Anyways, there have been stranger things than really nice blades being mounted in WWII gunto hardware, so you really should consult an expert. Jimro