8uck5nort

Good luck and I am right there with ya! Three weeks to go before opening day of urban bow season here in Indiana. Wahooooo! I have a 2 year running fued with an 8 pointer at my cousins place who has managed to elude me. I got a shot off last year and sailed it over his back in of my famous "fire, ready, aim" moves. Hopefully he did not get gunned down during firearms and if he is gracious enough to offer a third sighting it might be a charm. I bargain shop cause I have too and just learn to adapt what I have and make it work. Practice, practice, practice is the key.

Hardest part is getting the proper paperwork which you have to request from ATF (The numbers up top are a good place to start). Then fill it out and pay your 30 dollars (good for three years) and wait for your approval and return paperwork. That is pretty much it. Make copies of your return aperwork and use them for transfers of C&R eligble firearms and from what I understand a lot of the places like Brownells and Midway give you addtional discounts if you send them a copy. You will have to provide a copy of the application to your Chief Local Enforcement Officer (in my case the county sherriff) to inform him/her of your intentions of applying for the FFL. I am purely assuming here, but if you are legal to own a gun you can apply for the C&R FFL.

I found this website with more good contact information. You can call directly to check on your approval status and find out when your paperwork was sent. The young lady who was helping me said it was shipped out on Friday! http://www.atf.gov/firearms/fflc/about.htm Excerpt from website Our Standards You have a right to expect quality customer service from all branch staff. This service will be professional and courteous and will actively respond to your needs. We strive to offer you the best possible service. To assist us in this effort, we will develop specific performance standards in order to meet this commitment to our customers. WE WILL BE COURTEOUS, PROFESSIONAL AND PROTECT CUSTOMER CONFIDENTIALITY. All of our customers will be treated with fairness and respect. Each of the Licensing Center staff members is prepared to offer a full range of services and attention. Our Availability Our offices are open to assist you during regular business hours, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The Federal Firearms Licensing Center address is: 244 Needy Road Martinsburg, WV 25405 We may be reached by phone during regular business hours at: 1-866-662-2750 (Toll Free) Our fax number is: 1-866-257-2749 (Toll Free) Our e-mail address is: nlc@atf.gov "My FFL is here, now I'm somebody!"

Agreed. If it is an all matching serial numbers gun in original stock and it is in good shape it is probably worth a small mint to a collector. If it is not import marked and you have bona fide GI capture papers it could be worth even more. If not, like previously stated, go for it. Enjoy. Careful it is an addicting hobby as I am finding out.

That is way cool. Single shot bolt action 44 mag! Talk about some acurate knock down power at under 200 yards. Great looking gun. Love the contrast in the stock.

Quick update 2: Got the board installed and it tries to print. Another step forward. We are almost to the goal line. It functions mechanically and electronically. However, after running some test cardstock it only burns intermittently. Sighhh, soooo close. I pulled the covers from the optics (mirrors and lense). cleaned with special re-agent grade isopro alcohol and phot grade acetone and it improved the engraving slightly. Cleaned the first mirror and upon inspection of swab discovered flaking. The optical coating is coming off on both deflecting mirrors. I'm no optics expert, but know enough that this can't be good. I have contacted the respective manufacturers of the mirrors and lense for warranty status and replacement. Everthing else appears to work now, this should be the last piece of the puzzle. Then I will need to "practice"...

Quick update: Got a call from Epilog today around 5pm my time. They are sending a replacement controller board. I should have it Thursday. Should be back on track shortly.

Got out Sunday afternoon with one of my sons and spent a few hours at the 100 yard range. Meet up with Rivitr at the range and between the three of us burned up a few hundred rounds of ammo in various calibers. I was on a mission to zero in the scope on my LaCoruna mauser using my handloads. Unfortunately, I suck, or the gun sucks, or both. (Probably the later) I could not get it to print reliably on the paper at 100 yards to save my life and I was constantly adjusting the scope no matter which load I was using. It was frustrating. The best grouping all day was a 2" group at 100 yards with my open sight CVA Wolf muzzleloader... Go figure. Rivitr shot my German BCD 41 mauser and the forend piece separated about an 1/8th of an inch from the stock??? Not a big deal. I can fix that easy enough, but it is so much more accurate than the LaCoruna and easier to adjust. Once I get the stock repaired maybe I'll use that for yotes this upcoming season. At least I can hit something with that. As for the Spanish mauser, after another poor showing at the range, I made up my mind. I am going to spin the barrel and replace it with a 7x57. I have the German in 8mm mauser. So adding another caliber in the mauser family makes sense. When I re-barrel the LaCoruna I am going to go ahead and tap and drill the action for a scope. I think the majority of the problems with my accracy are stemming from the "drop-in" scope kit that replaces the rear leaf sights. It seems solid, but the constant playing with L-R and elevation just does not add up. Anyway, any day at the range is better than a good day at the office!

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Now for my vent. Making progress of sorts now. Took some time off yesterday to get this resolved once and for all. To summerize the events: Original problem before sending parts off to Epilog = no lasering when job left print queue on PC. Original diagnosis = bad parallel printer port on laser engraver. My Dad arranged via phone to send the parts back for "confirmation and repair". Sent parts off and then recieved them back. Reassembled engraver and hooked back up PC. Fought through some initial issues such as a dirty contacts on a table limit switch. Cleaned up with some contact cleaner and on got that working. Engraver now POSTS correctly. New problem w/old PC = no lasering when job left print queue on PC. Hmmmm, back to square one. Hmmmmm, maybe parallel port on PC is bad... Replaced PC w/ another one after tracking down Windows98 and any other archaic software needed. New problem w/"new" PC = no lasering when job left print queue on PC. Hmmmmm, can't be the PC. Hmmmmmm, IEEE 1284 cables. Replaced. No change in symtpoms. Took half day off work yesterday, got ahold of one of the techs that has been around for a while and went through the system with a fine tooth comb. Still comes back to.... Can you guess, a bad parallel port on the laser engraver. The tech says, "Let me get ahold of the guy who did the testing and repair". About 10 minutes later he gets back to me and says, "Uhhhh, the guy said all he did was confirm that the port was bad and everything else worked. There was no other instructions with the boards so he packed them back up and shipped em back". <Sigh> So I have been troubleshooting the same problem for over a week now that was supposed to be fixed when we sent the boards out in the first place... Grrrrr! <In my best Yoda> Patience young apprentice, patience.... Called Dad, he is now going to call Epilog to get this clarified/rectified. It will probably be two more weeks til I get something going on this. <Whew> I feel better now.

I know I'm the newbie, and I have yet to headspace chack anything, but here is the first thing that came to my mind. When I was looking at Forester 8mm head space guages they said on there website that there are two different kinds based on a pre 1940's shoulder angle which I bleieve was supposed to be 19 degrees and then a post 1940's shoulder angle of 20 degrees. Could that have somehting to do with it? They said if you had a late model guage with a early model muaser you could possibly get incorrect readings. With the Turks being part built at the armory who knows? I am also not sure what type of guages you are using?

Ok, Moved this topic cause it just is not ready to do any woodworking yet. I have replaced the boards recieved from Epilog and it still does not engrave... I have replaced the PC that came with the engraver after tracking down a working older PC and a legite copy of Windows98SE (yes Windows 98) which works fine for this application. Still does not work. I Replaced all the IEE 1284 parallel print cables and it still does not work. I have been in e-mail and after hours phone contact with Epilog tech support who have been excellent, but have limited staffing hours. I am down to the point now of taking a day off work and calling during normal workday hours and hashing it out with their support. I know I am really close to getting this thing to work, but it is just maddening...

This is the website I used for internet ordering and it had a direct number to talk to someone to order forms. I believe it is the first one at the top. (301) 583-4696 http://www.atf.gov/dcof/index.htm This site gives a great tutorial on how to fill out this vauge and confusing form. Good Luck! http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting2005/h...ffl03/index.asp

I could not find a place to download or just print them off. I had to go to BATF website and request, then I actually called them when it was taking a very looooong time to get my interet requests. They mailed the appropriate forms whcih are color coded. Green for C&R. I also got the Class 1 FFL paperwork by mistake and those forms were yellow. Not sure if the means anything. That is what I had to do to get them. I am currently awaiting my return approval and FFL. I mailed everything off on the July 20th. Waiting...

Ok, I have the laser engraver. Brought it home last night. I am getting a server set up for it and will post some pics when I get it installed in my basement. I have to figure out how to vent the smoke out of my basement without cutting any additional holes in the house. Wife said... It will take about a month or two before I'll have some samples to show what this thing can do. I'll cut some 2x4 and/or 2x6 into rough gunstocks blanks for show and tell. Then I will actually do a checker job and some image engraving on a milsurp stock and post pics of that before actually doing one for real.

LOL! Not sure how accurate all the rants were, but it was entertaining. Here is food for thought. In order for any form of comedy to work especially satire and parody, and be funny at the same time, it has to have elements of truth.

John Smith started the day early having set his alarm clock (MADE IN JAPAN ) for 6 am. While his coffeepot (MADE IN CHINA ) was perking, he shaved with his electric razor. (MADE IN HONG KONG ) He put on a dress shirt (MADE IN SRI LANKA ), designer jeans (MADE IN SINGAPORE ) and tennis shoes. (MADE IN KOREA ) After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet (MADE IN INDIA ) he sat down with his calculator (MADE IN MEXICO ) to see how much he could spend today. After setting his watch (MADE IN TAIWAN ) to the radio (MADE IN INDIA ) he got in his car (MADE IN GERMANY ) filled it with GAS (from Saudi Arabia ) and continued his search for a good paying AMERICAN JOB. At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day checking his Computer (made in MALAYSIA ), John decided to relax for a while. He put on his sandals (MADE IN BRAZIL ), poured himself a glass of wine (MADE IN FRANCE ) and turned on his TV (MADE IN INDONESIA ), and then wondered why he can't find a good paying job in AMERICA. AND NOW HE'S HOPING HE CAN GET HELP FROM A PRESIDENT MADE IN KENYA.

Here is my game plan granting approval from my wife of course. Wyoming is where I am looking at to retire (25 years to go)... Just thinking ahead here. Least populated state. Largest City comes in at around 60,000 people (Casper). Land mass ranks in the top 15 so it has one of the lowest population densities in the lower 48. Liberal gun laws and cheap plentiful land, they got elk, deer and other tastey critters. Sounds like heaven to me. Plop down on a 100 acres in the middle of nowhere. Setup a small house, shop, rifle range and get a small RV for visiting friends when I want company. Karlunity, just got back last weekend from NY visiting wifes relatives (Italian) who all have Brooklyn accent. Yes, pizza is good and bar notne the best cannolis in the country, but that is all you will be able to do is sit and eat them cause the tax man cometh and take whatever else you got. Not worth it in my opinion. I'll just mail order in good pizza and cannolis on dry ice. Cost less by that time anyway once the liberals get done spending all our money, our childrens money, and their childrens money...

That is what I kinda figured. The laser engraving will look precise and good, but will lack a certain quality that only a skilled carver can give you. The other drawback is a cookie cutter template on a couple of thousand stocks and everyone looks the same. So much for the "custom" look. On the plus side the turn around time will be a lot faster... Granting we get the thing working when the parts get here.

Long story short. My Dad had a laser engraving business in the Late 90's and early 00's. He had a Epilouge engraver that got stroked by lightining about 4 years ago and has not worked since. Shortly after the Epilouge got zapped my Dad was diagnosed with cancer. Fast forward to today and Dad has no desire to start up the business after two rounds of full blown CHOP. Just wants to spend what time he has left while he is feeling good riding his motorcycle. He contacted company he originally bought engraver from and they had us send in the motherboard and controller. They contacted us and said it is fixed and are sending back the parts. Should have them later this week and will be determining Saturday if the engraver can be resurrected. If the engraver is a go Dad is going to let me have it and I was wanting to engrave gunstocks. Anyone know of, or have heard of laser engraving for this purpose? I believe if I can get it to print on a laser printer the engraver uses that as emulation and can reproduce on just about any surface. How about checkering? Difficult to do by hand, but has anyone heard of it being done with a laser engraver? Not sure of where this will take me, but I may start up my own engraving business on the side. Netowrk engineer by trade, but business just like everywhere else has been scary slow. What do you guys think?

LOL! You are to report to your proper re-education camp comrade as soon as this thread concludes! Change is good especially if it is your change and not mine!

Very nice looking rifles! It is an addicting hobby is it not?

Thanks for the reply. Ok, I understand. I will leave the action alone until I get the bolt situation clarified and heat treated. I will take a look at the parkerizing and gun-kote. Is parkerizing is still a DIY project or something that you really need to have someone do it for you? Darin

The question train continues! Would you bead/sand blast an action before you send it to the heat treaters or wait til it is heat treated then blast the action? My thought is do the bead blast before heat treat because the metal is relatively softer and you will get a better finish because the surface is more malluable. That is my reasoning anyway. In either case I am assuming the finish (Gun-Kote, blueing, etc...) will be done after the heat treating. Again, I am assuming here so, if wrong, please correct me. Darin

LMAO! My wife did not think that was so funny, but I sure did!

As promised or threatened depending on how your looking at it... Pics of progress.