Emul8

LOL, FC! Yes, I remember the commercials for Wheel-O...didn't they make that look like the ultimate toy? Those kids in the commercials were just having WAY too much fun with a magnetized disk and a simple wire framework! I remember driving my Mother crazy by demanding a Wheel-O everytime I was in the toy section of any store! The thing is, I must have gone through at least 10 of the things, but I don't recall what I ever did with them! Oh, and yo-yos were another favorite of mine...gyroscopes too...I still have a gyroscope that I got years ago...I was just playing with it a couple of weeks back! If I can find a good-sized cardboard box now, my playset would be complete! LOL!

Oh my goodness! Thanks, FC for the information, I had no idea. Well, I certainly hope that Shooter Tom gets his computer up and running very soon! I miss seeing him here!

Hey my friend, where did you go? I keep finding things too civil in the "Them's Fightin' Words" forum. I know you couldn't have run out of insults and slams, you were just beginning to hit your stride!

Ghost Dog -- Good question! I think that I am more accurate with my Beretta...and so far, it's been 100% reliable no matter the ammo I feed it, or the magazines I use in it. The snubby is as well (barring magazines, of course), but up close and personal, I think I would probably feel better using the Beretta. Well, that made my decision easier! Thanks!

I still think a cardboard box is one of the best toys ever for kids. A cardboard box was anything and everything in an imaginative kid's world! But if I had to buy a toy, I would buy a Wheel-O! That used to be my favorite!

I don't have a Romanian, as the prices have gone through the roof on these locally, when you can find them, but I do have a Yugoslavian M59 (without the launcher) and an Albanian SKS. I like them both. Sphingta is correct in that the Yugoslavian SKSs don't have chromed bores...now some people will tell you that it's a problem, but honestly I don't see it...a great number of the guns that I shoot don't have chromed bores and there's no accuracy problems that I've found. Then again, I am not a prize-winning shot either. Some people theorize that the chromed bores are a detriment to accuracy, in that they reduce the bore diameter enough to affect accuracy, but I think that's hogwash! Basically, all a chromed bore really does is make cleaning the bore easier...particularly if you shoot corrosive ammunition and don't get around to cleaning the bore as quickly as you should. My Albanian has a chromed bore, but I wouldn't say that it's my best SKS...I do think that the Yugoslavian is a bit more accurate. For the decision you face in choosing between the Romanian and the Yugoslavian SKS, I would choose the Romanian, because they are getting harder to acquire, the quality of these particular SKSs is excellent as well, some would say that the Romanian SKS is better than it's Russian counterpart. I think that like the Russian SKSs, the Romanians have chromed bores, if that makes a difference to you. The Yugoslavian SKSs are everywhere, and while I am sure that the supply won't last forever, it should hold out long enough for you to shoot your Romanian SKS and decide whether you actually like the style/accuracy/nature of the SKS before you jump in feet first. The Romanian, if you like it, is a great SKS to start with and if you don't like it, has excellent resale value, comparatively speaking. I hope that helps!

Robert357 -- Finally! Someone who has presented the only good reason to have children! LOL!

I don't carry a gun yet, but that's because I reside in CA where it's next to impossible to get a CCW permit. All that will change for me when I relocate to NM next year...so I will be able to consider which carry gun I will use. It's a toss up right now, between my Beretta .380 semi-auto and my S&W .38 Special snubby...though, I am leaning more toward the S&W. More powerful cartridge, but fewer shots.... However, if I decide to advance to a 9mm, .40 caliber or even a .45, that will throw another set of considerations into the works...I still don't know. I guess I should be glad that I have some time to think it over! Whichever I decide on, I want to make sure it's comfortable for me to carry -- not being "too much gun" -- as I don't want that old saying to apply that the ".22 in your pocket is better than the .45 in your car". I know that .22s can do some damage, but I don't think I want to chance it in a stress situation!

Horsefly -- I STILL prefer buffalo meat to that of beef...it's just better...really. Back when my tribe was imprisoned at Ft. Sill, OK in the late 1800s, the soldiers gave the tribe a steer to slaughter and boy, were those Indians unhappy! Every single one of them found beef to be completely unsatisfying...it was stringy, flavorless and generally pathetic. However, in all these years since my tribe has adapted and nowadays, beef rules at all family reunions and pow-wow campsites! A few years ago, I went to a family reunion dinner and everyone brought a dish, potluck style (not unusual as Indians invented the potluck dinner!). There was a large table where everyone placed their foil-covered platters, dishes, etc., until it was time to eat, and everything was uncovered. Guess what? Every dish on that table was some variation of beef. Hamburger patties, grilled entrails, boiled beef, fried beef and some "specialties" of my tribe that are pretty nasty, but they involve the use of beef! There wasn't a vegetable to be found within 50 yards...well, except for the corn growing in the field nearby! Everyone gathered around the table just started laughing! But we all wolfed down the beef too! When I became a vegetarian in my late teens, my Indian relatives said they were going to disown me...this is how strong the red meat thing is for Indians, there are people I know named for meat...we love our meat! So now, aside from certain meat items that I am forbidden from eating on religious and cultural grounds, I will still at least try many types of animal flesh, ostriches being one of them. Sure the flesh of ostriches is expensive, but when it's a nice, savory piece of meat, one doesn't really need much of it to feel satisfied...at least, that's how it works for me. And, I would love to try emu too, if I could find it somewhere...though, in all honesty, I haven't really looked for it. The emus I have come across have been somewhat cranky birds, and not altogether cute, I might add...but there's just got to be something else about them that makes even the idea of consuming them unappealing...maybe it is the name.

FC -- First off, your sponsorship of the needy boy in Albania is a very human thing to do, and it is a startling contrast to a church trying to put an unnecessary squeeze on it's congregation at $31.00 per week. I too think that you did the right thing by stepping up and writing to the church leadership to voice your concerns around it, even if it appears to have fallen on deaf ears. What you are doing by seeking to join another congregation is affirming your own beliefs, and that's as it should be. Back when I lived in Oklahoma, my Uncle was a deacon in a SBC church, and they did something very similar to what your church is doing...they squeezed everyone for every cent they could get, guilted the youth groups into foregoing their yearly ski-trips and instead contributing the money to the church coffers, and expanded the church. A year later the church had to move to another location because it was still getting too large for it's initial location. A much smaller congregation took over the old location, and they got a heck of a deal on a newly refitted property, while my Uncle's church had to get everyone to cough up more and more dough in order to get a huge property intended to accommodate them for years. My Uncle's daughters are still attending that church, and are still plugging away as volunteers to the cause of the unending funding of their church's relocation. Where's my Uncle? Attending his very large church in Colorado.... There is definitely something wrong here....

fritz -- Your crates are beautiful! I admire the work you put into them...they're very tidy too...and you know how a woman loves something tidy! LOL! I was just thinking that if I ever get to pick up some ammo crates again, I will disassemble them, clean up the wood a bit, and reassemble them to put them back into play! I was going to purchase some crates from Ammunitionstore.com at one point, as they were cheap, cheap, cheap...but like fritz said, the shipping costs on crates is what kills you! I usually repack my opened cases of ammo into ammo cans, for portability and storage...and the cans stack nicely. My biggest problem is having more ammo than my smallish collection of ammo cans will accommodate...I am forever picking up a few ammo cans at a time at gun shows. When I finally move, I hope to be able to solve the ammo storage problem in a more permanent way.

montea6b -- Thanks for the suggestion, however, I detest coffee! I guess that's why I never gave percol8 much thought...however, I will add it to my list, just in case I run out of ideas, and/or develop a fondness for coffee! Ringo338 -- Ixlr8 won't work for me because it's not an "L8" word! A few years back I thought I would be able to use it until I looked at it more closely...actually, the variation I was going to use was Accelr8...but still no "L8"! Also, I don't care all that much for hot rods, and I'm not a man! But, you still get an "A" for effort! LOL!! I haven't eaten emu flesh yet, I remember the emu farming thing some years back, but I had no idea why it didn't seem to get off the ground. However, I have eaten ostrich...and ostrich is very like ultra tender beef. A health food store that I used to frequent carried a brand of ostrich meat sticks called "Ostrim", and they were excellent! I don't know why Americans don't catch on to the qualities of these food animals and start demanding them. Maybe there's a sense of strangeness to the idea of people eating animals that we see in zoos? Like eating a zebra or a tapir, it just seems wrong somehow. I know that I would find it really weird to eat something like kangaroo, but Australians do it, and kangaroo leather is some of the best leather in the world. Australians even eat the wild camels that are breeding throughout the outback...I love camels, I wouldn't want to eat one though. I had to laugh at manureman's post...that's just such a hunter thing to do...kill this big ol' bird and toss it on the grill to find out whether or not it's edible!

The story behind my handle completely PALES in comparison to the emu stories and speculation going on here. Whenever I find I need a new handle I have only to hit one mark...the characters "L8" must be in the handle somewhere. This relates to my real first name and that it means the numeral eight in Latin or Greek...as in octopus, octagon, octave and so on. The characters "L8" therefore represent "Latin eight". Some of you all know me from a couple of years back when my handle was "IdoL8r"...that got me into more trouble than you'd think. I lot of people thought that I was being sacreligious, or that I was making some comment on them via my name choice. Some people thought that I was a consummate procrastinator.... When I finally found myself visiting more than one or two of the ezboard forums, I decided that I would change my name to a global version rather than the usual local versions, and that's when I decided on Emul8. Since selecting that handle I have gone back and forth trying to decide if I really like it that much, as it's such a transitory word. Emulate what? Just emulate? Why emulate at all? But I use it anyway even though there are many other possibilities with "L8" in them.... See, horsefly, in this case, fiction is far stranger than truth! FC, was the woman you allegedly offended suggesting that the name Farting Chicken was a solemn and sacred thing, or was she referring to the process of giving an Indian name? Because the name Farting Chicken is obviously a joke originally made up by the patient you spoke of who nicknamed himself. But naming ceremonies in Indian culture are in fact solemn and sacred occasions...even in Sioux traditions...heck, maybe even MORE in Sioux traditions...those Sioux can be radical Indians! A lot of those "Hollywood" Indian names have become a great source of entertainment for Indians in general...names like "Running Deer" and "Soaring Eagle" are usually not terribly creative or knowledgable figments of a screenwriter's own imagination. So a lot of Indians just play with the whole idea...I know that I do! Sometimes I tell people that my Indian name is "Stands in a Snit", or something similar. I do have an actual Indian name, but it's unpronouncable to most people, and it's translation is long...it's far from what Hollywood would have people believe about Indian names. I like reading about everyone's nicknames here...it's pretty interesting to see where they came from, or what motivated someone choosing a particular name. Lots of creativity too!

Don't apologize, tinkerfive! Be proud that you were able to get 'em all without a lick of "training"...I'm impressed!

Actually, Model70, lead-cored bullets are allowed at CA ranges...the steel-cored bullets are not...sparking hazards at outdoor ranges. I live here in the southern CA desert, so fires in the areas of at least two local outdoor ranges are a very real possibility...that's why the prohibition around steel-cored ammo. I handload a lot of my pistol ammo with lead bullets, and started replacing my 8mm and my 7.62 X 54R mil-surp, steel-cored bullets with lead-cored bullets so I can shoot them at a range I frequent, it's inconvenient and makes the milsurp ammo much less a bargain than it would be without the prohibitions, but if I want to shoot I have to do it this way. Yep, the price you mention for the 8mm Yugoslav ammo is good...but the last thing I need to do is acquire a whole lot more bulky stuff to move! So please stop tempting me!

About ammo crates and/or cases.... A couple of years ago I was at J&G Sales in AZ and I saw a big stack of wooden ammo crates outside the store, so while I was inside making my purchases, I asked how much the crates were, and the woman told me that they were $.50 without the lids and $1.00 with lids. Being a big spender, I bought 4 crates with lids. Each of the crates had the zinc liners inside, and none of the crates was what I would call lovely...they all had nicks, gouges, chips and dents...but I figured that I could use them for something once I got them home. Maybe storing ammo? Nah, that would have been a little weird. I got the crates home and had them stacked in my garage awaiting a time when I could decide on what to do with them...months went by and I needed to clean up my garage and sort out the stuff I didn't need and the crates were starting to seem more like something I didn't need at that point. A friend came by as I was working in the garage and she spied the crates and I gave them to her on the spot. She immediately "saw" something in them and she sat down on the floor of my garage, begging tools off of me as she needed them, and proceeded to make a pair of tables out of the crates. Functional "rustic" looking tables that ROLLED no less! The whole process took about 20 minutes! The tables aren't really my taste, but I did find her ingenuity pretty cool! As for the ammo by mail thing...it is wonderful, but I already have a few cases of ammo stored that I can't shoot here at ranges in CA, and I have to move the stuff when I relocate next year, so I have forbidden myself to order any more until I have another place to store it! I guess it's fortunate for me that I haven't found any great gotta-have-it sales on ammo recently...otherwise, I might not be able to resist!

I can't get anything past you, karlunity! I so LOVE that!!

It's been a while since I filled out my census forms, but as I recall, I wasn't all that happy with some of the questions for maybe the same reasons that FC mentions. The questions are invasive, require responses that are too in-depth for census purposes and are offensive to privacy-minded folks to boot! While my own replies on the census forms were not remotely as funny as karlunity's (plus, I am not MALE), I did take a few liberties with my responses...and though I didn't lie outright, I sure as shootin' didn't help them find stuff on me by volunteering too much. I remember checking my form for bar codes, or codes of ANY sort, and if I found suspicious markings or anything I perceived as traceable, I struck through it with a Sharpie pen...being careful to completely obliterate the offending information. I have always been suspicious of censuses, censi...whatever, because, being and growing up around American Indians, we tend to believe that a census is a way of determining just how many more of us there are to kill off! LOL! So, even though I will continue to aid American Indian programs and statistical counts by disclosing the facts, I will always "encode" these counts in a fashion that hopefully doesn't lead back to me directly. If that ultimately means that my information isn't counted, so be it...I am not about to open myself up to the next weird thing that the government can conjure up!

Hey Gothmog! This is one I haven't seen before! I like it very much.... I suppose that in some ways I too have had a "drug" problem. And, after reading this, I guess I am the better for it! I just wanted to SHARE that with you all!

RGRWJB -- Man, that's a great deal for those rifles...they look really nice! And, if I am not mistaken, the versions you have acquired are in good demand, often at higher prices! Congratulations! They look pretty clean from the photo...I hope they shoot as good as they look!!

Sailormilan2 -- I think that for a while Century Arms was offering a "California Legal" version of the Yugoslavian 59/66 SKS through an 01 FFL only...they may still be offering this version. Century's approach is/was similar to yours, in that they put on muzzle brakes to prevent the exposed threads problem left after the rifles are disfigured...oops, I mean after they are made compliant with CA law. A couple of years ago I was at J&G Sales in Prescott, AZ and the staff there said that lots of folks from CA purchase the Yugo SKSs from them, and they will generally unscrew the launcher, or will place a sleeve over it. But like you said, the CA-DOJ seems to find the sleeved approach questionable. I can't imagine why the CA-DOJ acted surprised by the information on certain companies selling "CA Legal" modified SKSs...I know that I had a discussion with a Steven Teeters in the Firearms Division just before the website updated about them...I know a couple of other people who have inquired as well. I guess this just proves what we've said all along about how the CA-DOJ doesn't seem to be able to keep anything straight. At least maybe you can find some consolation in that you have the skills and knowledge to do some modifications for compliance on your own. That's being a little ahead in the game!

swamp thing -- Happy belated birthday to you! That's what I get for not checking in here earlier...I missed out on the ice cream and cake! Dang, I hate that! 50 isn't bad (I say that because I am in my early 40s now and I need time to convince myself!)...actually, what am I saying...anything you can celebrate is GOOD!! I too want to wish you many, many more -- birthdays, happy days, rifles, range trips and well-shot targets!

I got them all right! However, I had an unfair advantage as serial killers are sort of a "hobby" for me...I study them when I can. However, at times like these, my nickname does NOT apply!

Sailormilan2 -- Forgive me if I am incorrect on some of the finer points here, but as I recall, SOG was specifically named in a lawsuit about 3 or 4 years back that involved their sales of C&R pistols directly to C&R licensees here in CA. Of course, that was illegal, so SOG stopped doing it. Since that time I have noticed that SOG has chosen to err on the side of caution in regard to ANY weapons sales to residents of CA, and they won't do it in some cases even with guns that are considered legal by even CA's absurd standards. I would find that reading the SOG flyer every month is an exercise in futility for CA residents...it certainly is for me! There is almost no gun listed in the flyer that doesn't have the words "Not for sale in CA" next to it...it's depressing. Around the time that the lawsuit involving SOG was settled, I was trying to place an order with them for something relatively benign, and absolutely legal (anywhere else), but was declined due to the company's heightened fear of liability. Since then, I have been very judicious around what I will attempt to order from them, and I guess I just have to bide my time until I move away and can freely acquire the weapons that I want. The FN 49 thing IS ludicrous however, contrasted to the M1A...but then again, I suppose that we can attribute the broad and sweeping enforcement of firearms laws against law-abiding citizens in this state to the somewhat liberal and definitely restrictive policies of our esteemed Attorney General, Bill Lockyer. If you choose to fight the CA-DOJ for your right to own an FN 49, I applaud your efforts, but be sure to get anything you can in writing...which, the CA-DOJ is notoriously reticent to do...probably because they contradict themselves constantly! Good luck!

Yeah, I have purchased some grips from Shawn...they were for a CZ 50, and are purple...but such a dark purple that they appear black. The grips required a bit of fitting, but it was easy to do, and a little smoothing here and there is probably typical of most, if not all aftermarket grips anyway, so it's hardly worth mentioning, but I felt that I needed to mention it anyway. Here's Shawn's email address: geospacesr@hotmail.com Also, you can find wood grips for the CZ 52 at Makarov.com...and virtually anything else you might need on a somewhat specialized level! Makarov.com I hope that helps!