AR Upgrades

Dick and I got in a little trigger time this past Friday. I shot my AR, Saiga .308, and Puma .357. The Saiga and Puma both gave me feeding problems. The Saiga exhibited the same tendency to stovepipe that it always has. The Puma was tending to let the nose of the rounds come up too far and jam against the upper edge of the chamber. It was jamming about every third round.

Afterward, we installed the YHM AR-15 free-float handguard that I've had ever since I bought the AR parts kit from Del-Ton. It was actually significantly easier to install than I imagined. The most difficult part was breaking loose first the flash hider and then the barrel nut. I'm really pleased with the handguard so far.

I went ahead and pre-ordered the Burris AR-332. After doing a little more research, it appears that SWFA are scheduled to get these in around February 11. I'll do a review once I get it in and get a chance to shoot with it (the latter of which may take a while since I can't seem to get rifle time in too often lately)

I've decided to scrap the idea I had for suppressing the Puma since it's obviously not as reliable as I'd like for enjoyable plinking and the work to get it both reliable and set up for the suppressor would be extensive and expensive. Now I'm toying with the idea of suppressing my AR. The AR is already threaded and can be suppressed by either threading directly onto the barrel or by using a quick-detachable flash hider. Right now I'm leaning toward the YHM Stainless Phantom. It's rated for full-auto fire as well as being made from stainless steel which should make it more durable as well as being easier to clean. It looks like it retails for about $460 for direct barrel mounting or $535 for the QD flash hider mount option. And, of course, the $200 government-mandated extortion fee NFA tax stamp.

Anyone have suggestions for which mounting option to use? I doubt I'll be using the rifle for hunting, which is the only reason I can think of for removing the suppressor. But it might be nice to be able to take the suppressor off without resorting to using an upper receiver vise.

An Update AND a Rant, All In One!

These last few weeks have been crazy. Between getting Christmas shopping done, visiting relatives, visiting friends, and planning more visits with relatives, I haven't managed to get anything constructive done around the house that I was planning to do. Which really isn't a big price to pay at all for spending time with loved ones at Christmas.

What I have managed to do is to catch up on laundry, get my Para LTC (that was beginning to rust - more on that later) traded out for a Glock 20, get new tires on my truck (Along with a new tie rod end and a front end alignment), and get traps and poison set out for the uninvited guest I mentioned previously.

Now, what's the deal with Para-Ordnance? I've had two Para pistols, both of which have exhibited a disturbing tendency to rust. The first was a P12-45 that rusted underneath the Hogue grips that I installed. After oiling it to make sure that exact problem wouldn't happen. The LTC began rusting at the hammer, the guide rod plug, and the slide rails. The former two are blued parts, so I'm not really all that surprised given my track record with bluing. But come on! The freaking slide rails?

Now, I realize that Para uses some kind of polymer coating for the OD Green finish. But I also own several CZ firearms and I've never had issues with the pieces that receive the polycoat finish rusting. The safety, slide stop, and hammer, yes (blued parts, see above) but not the polycoated parts. So, I don't have anything against "painted-on" finishes, as some have dubbed them. I think I just have something against the particular finish Para uses. Or maybe used. Both of the pistols I had were older firearms. It's possible Para has switched to something different by now.

On to the new Glock. The 20 will be getting the same treatment as my model 21. I've ordered a 3.5# trigger bar to install, two extended slide stops (one for each pistol), and a set of XS 24/7 Big Dot sights. Those sights on my 21 have sold me on the concept of express sights on a pistol. They are accurate enough for social use and fast to boot. Right now, I'm thinking the 21 will be doing nightstand duty and the 20 will be my main carry piece. This is, of course, assuming that the 20 passes function testing with the new parts I've ordered.

Well, that about does it for me. I'm off to get my hair cut and deposit my paycheck that I thought was a direct deposit receipt when I received it last week.

Half Asleep

I'm sitting here half asleep and trying to figure out what I want to post. I know there're things I want to put up here but I'm not so sure I can do so coherently at this point. I apologize in advance if I write something that leaves you scratching your head trying to figure it out.

I've had a pretty Thanksgiving holiday. Got to see mom and dad, my grandparents, aunt and uncle, cousins, and an uncle who I hadn't seen in a couple of years at least. Bro and his better half made it in as well, as did little sis, if only for Thanksgiving day.

Dad's been trying to get sick pretty much all day today. It's made him a little grumpy but he realized it and tried his best to moderate himself. Did a pretty good job, too.

He and I had mom try out several pistols that I brought with me this time. Dad had asked me to bring some so that she could get a feel for which one fit her hand the best. She ended up really liking the Star BM. I offered to give it to them but dad insisted on paying me for it. I showed dad how to field strip it but I'm hoping that mom will take some time with me in the near future to learn how to operate and care for it. It's in need of a re-finish right now as most of it is gone off the front and backstrap but I did have a couple of extra magazines for it. I plan on checking at Gander the next time I'm in LR to see how much they'll charge to either re-blue or parkerize a pistol. If it's close to reasonable, I'll probably take it back with me over Christmas to have that done.

I'm quite impressed by the amount of light that the tritium vials in the XS Sights Big Dot put out. I've noticed the past couple of nights that there's enough that there's a small patch of light washing around the rear sight. I plan on stopping by D, R, and T's tomorrow on the way home. I hope that I'll have the opportunity to try the new sights out while I'm there.

Tastes Like Chicken

I'm gonna have to eat a little crow here. After my Double Action Friendly I Ain't post, I went and bought a used Glock 21. Well, I say I bought it but actually TM was the one to talk the guy down to $350. TM then set me up with a new 3.5# trigger bar, grip plug, 13 round magazine (the original was only a 10), and a new slide stop as the old one was missing the vast majority of its finish. And I gotta say, I'm quite satisfied with the trigger. It's kinda like a soft two-stage trigger on a rifle with a really long first stage. And I hit with it just as well or better than with my Witness.

Think I'll keep it.

Also, TM let me know that CDNN is running a sale on G21 (non-SF frame) 13 round mags for $14.99 each. (In looking the link up, I noticed that they're now $16.99 and out of stock to boot! Gee, I wonder what brought that on? < /sarcasm >) They're marked "Law Enforcement Use Only" but they're perfectly legal for those of us in states that are still (relatively) free. I picked up two and a holster while I was at it.

The Saints Are BACK!

Brian has just let me know that All Saints Day, the sequel to The Boondock Saints, has officially begun filming.

'Scuse me while I do my happy dance.

Trouble at THR

It seems that there's been a bit of a row between Derek Zeanah and Oleg Volk over at TheHighRoad.org with several of the mods taking sides in the matter. As nearly as I've been able to determine, the issue concerned fundraising for the site via a certain commercial contract or putting up ads. It seems to have been perking for a few weeks and finally blew sometime yesterday with Derek disabling the board and kicking out Oleg and the majority of his supporters. Oleg has now decided that legal action is his best recourse and is requesting donations. Only now an update on Xavier's site has stated that Oleg once again has his admin priviliges.

I personally don't have a dog in this fight. I have enjoyed The High Road immensely for several years but my interest in the site has waned quite a bit recently with the Rifle Country forum being about the only one I visit any more. I do hope that this can be resolved amicably and THR can continue fighting the good fight and bringing newbies into the fold with open arms. And I do feel badly for those folks who may end up displaced due to this.

Whatever the outcome, I want to thank the creaters, staff, and admin of THR who made my stay there enjoyable and informative. You've all given me more than I could possibly begin to repay.

"Kindle"ing My Desire

Thanks to Brian, I now have an itch for the Amazon Kindle.

This does not bode well for my bank balance...

Getting Randy

My apologies for the title. I just couldn't help myself.

Dick and I made a trip up to Rogers this past weekend to help Randy with his move down to Cabot. Charlie made an appearance dancing the Foxtrot but we managed to get Randy moved and settled. It's good to have him within casual visiting distance again.

We are so gonna have to get a road-trip planned now.

Gone Shootin'

Went to visit Dick today and get a little trigger time in at T's place. Dick broke out his new camera for the occasion. I tested out my Witness-P after polishing the feed ramp and swapping the recoil spring to the Wolff 18lb from the 20lb. Nasty tooling marks on the feed ramp. I was getting stoppages about 2-3 times per 15 round mag before working on it. The work seems to have paid off as I didn't have a single stoppage and Dick only had the last spent casing stovepipe. If that's the worst I see, then I can live with it. Recoil is brisk as always, even with the watered-down standard Remington 180 grain FMJ rounds. I'm still going to need to order another case of Winchester Silvertip and use the last 4 boxes I have from the old case for reliability testing before I can trust it. Here's a shot of it coming back into battery with a case caught in mid-flight. Also note the tactical blink being performed by that smooth operator behind the pistol. Yeah, I know, gotta work on that.

I also broke out the AR, more for a photo op than any real desire to shoot. We were at T's little pistol range and the AR would make Swiss cheese of the spinner target he's got out there (not that it matters too terribly much as Dick managed to hit the spinner frame and break it where it had been previously welded). The pic here shows the bolt in the full recoil position with the spent casing having just been ejected.

After returning to Dick's apartment, we spent a little while working on a lightbox for his new camera. He took a couple more pics of my gear that I haven't seen yet. He's going to email it to me as soon as he gets it cleaned up. He's also got a few pics of him shooting and his gear that I may show later with his permission. In all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.

Puma .357 Lever Action

So, Dick and I went to the local FFL storefront looking to purchase an H&R .357 single-shot carbine for myself. Unfortunately, it seems that this particular rifle is either more popular than H&R expected or wasn't made in large quantities to begin with as it is backordered (Davidson's). The proprietor was kind enough to print up a list of .357 carbines that were in stock with pricing and quoted me a price of $60 over the list. So, I ended up having him order a Puma .357 carbine with a 16" barrel. It should be in tomorrow.

After all was said and done, I ended up plunking down a little over $500 for the rifle. It was really just a bit more than I was prepared to spend on a rifle that is essentially a fun gun. But I honestly think I'll be happier with this than with the H&R which is the only gun under the price point I was hoping for.

Now my only worry is that I didn't really do any research into the Puma before ordering and I have no idea what kind of issues it might have. Ah, well, impulse buying is my specialty. I should be used to it by now.

Dark Knight Rocks!

Friday afternoon Dick, his brother Drew, and I went to the Imax on Chenal in Little Rock to watch "The Dark Knight". I was fully prepared to hate this movie. Frankly, looking at the previews, I expected Heath Ledger to have butchered the part of the Joker. It looked like he was taking the role too far on the straight psychotic side, not having the fun that the Joker would with his sadism.

The very first scene where we actually got a good look at him proved me completely wrong.

Ledger did an amazing job. His Joker was vicious, cruel, and, above all, revelled in his sadistic nature. He was the perfect foil for Bale's Batman, another acting choice that I misjudged at first. As a matter of fact, I have only one gripe about the whole thing: Two-Face.

Maybe I missed some of the conversation between him and the Joker. It's possible I suppose. But frankly, I think that the script kinda fell flat with providing him with the motivation to take the actions that he did. I don't have any problem with the dark turn he took. He had plenty of motivation for that. Even the beginning few targets for his rage made sense. But when he turned on one of the main characters, I was completely lost. It was almost like the script writers needed a way to push him over the edge from simple revenge-driven killing to lashing out at innocents so that the audience would no longer be sympathetic to him but they had no idea how to go about doing it. So they just said, "Okay, let's have him turn on his allies for no reason."

But overall, I loved the film. I give it a 4.5 out of 5. And I recommend you go watch it at the theaters. You'll be glad you did.

Well, All Righty Then!

The latest slap to my ego was delivered today by Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield. I had applied for health/life insurance with them through the NRA. I received a letter (in an envelope that had never been sealed) stating that as much as they wished they could cover everyone, I was just outta luck. It seems my height/weight ratio didn't meet with their approval.

Fair enough. I'm fat, I'll be the first to admit it. I don't really mind being fat. And, yes, I know all about the medical issues that go along with it. I hear enough from family alone to fill a medical dictionary.

But as I don't make near enough to cover the medical bills that could result from even non-weight-induced problems, I need insurance. Ergo, I'm gonna have to lose some weight.

I've decided to try out using this blog as a tool to help me reach my goal. "What goal in particular?" you might ask. To which I answer: 100 pounds.

The last time I checked, I weighed in at 350 pounds. I'm 6'2" with a large frame but that still puts me way past the obesity line. (Which seems to be moved further and further back each year. But I digress.) When I was at my healthiest, I weighed in at around 235 pounds. I still looked like I weighed more than that due to the excess skin. But I got to that weight by a combination of calorie control and exercise that I wasn't able to keep up as I got busy with school and work. I figure 250 would put me into the range where I'm healthy enough to get past the height/weight ratio requirements for insurance purposes and would be maintainable with my current schedule (which is quite a bit more relaxed than the ones I had during school).

So, what's my plan? Well, I intend to do it exactly the same way as last time. I will drop my caloric intake to approximately 2000/day. When the weight loss begins to plateau at that level, I will drop it to 1700/day. When I hit plateau at that level, I will then drop it to 1500/day. Once I plateau at that weight, I intend to bring the calorie level back up to 1700 and combine it with about 30 minutes of aerobic exercise each day and 30 minutes of weights three days out of the week. I figure that a step-down style plan is the best strategy for me.

At this point, I'm not sure what form the aerobic exercise will take. When I was in college, I used the stationary bikes that were provided at the university gym. They were very nice pieces of equipment with adjustable length for the legs, programmable resistance, and displays for calories burned/time spent pedaling. I doubt that I'll be able to afford to buy one of these for my own use. I don't really want to get a gym membership either as I tend to purchase things and then not use them. (It's a character flaw, I know.) Suggestions for this would be welcome. I'm thinking this might be a good excuse do some juggling/replacing with my living room furniture to get my Wii up and running.

Lastly, I'll be logging my caloric intake each day on this blog. I figure if I can get some help from my few regulars to keep it up, I'll be far more likely to get and keep the weight off. We'll see.

And just so I have a starting point...

Today's calories were approximately: 2735.

I need to drop this by about 750 calories. I intend to keep the day's total in a side bar that I will put up after posting this. I'm asking my regular readers (all two of you) to do me a favor and keep half an eye on it. Call me on it if I forget to post or post a number that's really too high, eh? Thanks, I appreciate it.

I Finished 1984 Today

Sweet merciful crap that was a depressing book.

Happy now, Dick?

...Steak?

So I was shanghaied into buying some steaks this afternoon. I ended up with 8 ribeyes, 8 boneless strips and 8 fillet of sirloin (bacon-wrapped). I have absolutely no idea how to go about cooking steak.

With that in mind, I'm going to suggest (Richard) that we get the same crowd together that were at the barbeque last time for an encore or, failing that, talk the Mintons into having a get-together. I'll donate these steaks to the cause as long as I'm not required to cook. I'm thinking weekend after this one as I know you have the MSF course to attend this weekend.

What say you?

Habeas Corpus Upheld by SCOTUS

Well, score one for habeas corpus. Richard sent me this link along with this comment:

"Honestly, I thought Justice Thomas was a bit more of a Constitutional scholar than that. I'm thoroughly disappointed.
At least the majority understands."

To which a mutual friend (who will remain anonymous until he gives permission to use his name on my blog) replied:

"those *expletive* repubs in the supreme court don't give a *expletive* about the constitution.

Live to regret the day when tyranny was defeated? I doubt it."

He is referring to Justice Scalia's comment that "Today the Court warps our Constitution ... The Nation will live to regret what the Court has done today."

The sad thing is that I do not think that this is a defeat for the dissenting Justices. I think that they view this as a minor set-back. We have to remember that people such as these do not think of themselves as tyrannical oppressors. They honestly believe that methods such as the suspension of habeas corpus in question are necessary to the continued well-being of this nation.

They think that they are heroes for pushing such measures. They think it's for our own good.

This line of thinking has made me recall the words of C. S. Lewis: "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."

(As an aside, I found a quote site when looking for this particular Lewis quote. It has a random quote generator that I'm going to add to the sidebar. Let me know what you think.)

Spreading the Love

It seems that I really am a bad influence.

Junyor contacted me a few days ago via Yahoo Messenger to ask about motorcycles. Seems he'd picked up the itch from me. (Or maybe it's just the insane gas prices. I'm gonna claim credit regardless.) I began by asking him a few questions about what his intended uses were gonna be. Seems he had been looking around already and was eyeing a couple of 250cc bikes already.

As with Richard, I just had to point out that a 250cc bike will get excellent gas mileage - but there's a trade-off. Junyor was intending to ride his new bike back and forth to work (approximately a 40 mi. round trip). While the gas mileage would rock on trips like this, I pointed out that the downside would be a lighter bike that is easily pushed around by wind, both natural and that generated by larger, passing vehicles, and a bike that would be pushing its power limits on Dallas' bypass-like tollways.

We ended the conversation with Junyor looking seriously at a Honda Shadow VT750c2. It should provide him with enough power to keep him interested (and safe) for a good while, enough weight to stabilize him on blustery/high-traffic days, a seat low enough to fit him comfortably, and still get good gas mileage.

Now we just need to get Richard fixed up with a bike.

As an aside, I was finally able to get a decent idea of the gas mileage my bike is capable of. I had to switch to reserve tank yesterday on my way to work. I filled up on my way home and calculated the mileage as 32.25mpg. Not bad, considering that better than half of the driving was done just 2-3 miles per trip.

Post #100

Well. My 100th post. I should do something special, something big, something meaningful...



...I've got nothin'.


Actually, I'll be going to a barbecue tomorrow afternoon at the new house of some friends from church that I helped move a while back. I'm planning to take my bike but I'm not sure how to take along a lawn chair. I may have to head out to Target tomorrow afternoon to pick up one of those collapsible chairs that have a carry bag.

I passed this past weekend on a planned trip up to Osage Beach in Missouri with my parents and sister. I later found out that they intend to head to Branson Saturday night. Today I got an email from Ron Paul's campaign advertising a rally in Branson tomorrow night. Now I'm wishing I could have gotten the time off to go.

Oh well. You win some, you lose some. I'll probably buy some saddlebags and a mesh jacket for my bike instead.

On a side note, I've ordered a High Noon pancake holster for my Para. UPS' website shows that they've received the billing info but haven't received the package. I'm eager to get it and my earlier order of belt and holster for my CZ 97B. That order will probably be delayed until July, though, due to the made-to-order nature of their belts.

I've also finally ordered a replacement for my dearly departed ergo-keyboard. It has shipped and is sitting in a UPS facility in California at the moment.


Well, what do you know. Not a bad 100th post after all. Managed to get most of the things that I love or consider important stuffed in without too much effort.

Newest Addition to the Armory

Richard and I were doing a bit of window shopping weekend before last. We hit some of the local motorcycle dealerships as he is seriously considering a purchase. We also made a stop by Fort Thompson in Little Rock to look for a new holster for my Browning.

We didn't find a holster but did find a Para Ordnance widebody LTC for a very tempting price. After sleeping on it, I decided to ask Terry if he wanted to purchase my Browning. He and Richard have been bugging me consistently about selling it to one of them so that they can convert it to 9mm. Apparently, they have some idea of making the most durable 9mm ever. Whatever his reasons, we agreed on a price and it gave me the funds to pick up the LTC.

This pistol is sweet. A 4.25" barrel, 14-round capacity, stainless construction with an OD Green finish on frame and slide and black controls. My only complaint is the plastic mainspring housing (solved when I replaced the flat, plastic one with an arched, steel housing) and full-length guide rod. I've got the parts saved at MidwayUSA to solve the latter issue. The trigger is sweet and it feeds without a hitch.

Now I just need a good holster...

This Delay Brought to You by Technical Incompetency.

Whose you ask? Why, mine, of course.

Egad.

All I wanted was to hook my new 26” Sony Bravia to my computer. Apparently, that was too much to ask. First, I had to get a new wireless router since my old one bit the dirt back in Fayetteville and I never bothered to replace it. Then I realized I had removed my wireless card at the same time to make more room around my GeForce video card so that it could have sufficient ventilation. So, I had to have a wireless transceiver (got a USB version). I then decided that I might as well go truly wireless and bought a wireless keyboard and mouse combo pack.

Now here's where the problems reared their ugly heads. The wireless network was most definitely not plug-and-play. After realizing I was in over my head (again), I called tech support (also known as Jason – but tech support sounds much cooler). Between the two of us, we managed to get my network communicating. Kinda. It turns out that the wireless keyboard and mouse I bought were the kind that use a radio signal as opposed to infrared and it managed to interfere with my wireless network. Wonderful.

So, I kicked the new keyboard to the curb and went back to my old keyboard. Who apparently managed to give up the ghost when I disconnected it the last time. At that point I could just hear the new keyboard chuckling. “I knew you'd be back.” I hooked it up just long enough to get the computer back to it's old video settings and just called it quits.

That was on April 31.

I finally threw up the white flag and have resumed using my flat- and wide-screen LCD monitor. The sacrifices we make.

And while typing this, I realize that my wireless keyboard simply isn't going to work. It's cramped and not nearly as sensitive as my old ergo-keyboard. I've decided that wireless simply isn't for me. I've looked up a nice new ergo-keyboard with USB connection for about $35 online. I'll be ordering it soon.

Again With The Allergies?

You know, ever since Spring has sprung around here, I've had the absolute worst allergy attacks of my life. This past weekend is an excellent example. I had a stuffy nose and a headache Friday morning. By Friday evening, I had a fever and sapped energy to go along with it. I'm pretty sure I was a moderately crappy host (sorry Dick).

I bought some Claratin that night and it seemed to help. Then I decided Saturday that the yard absolutely had to be mowed and the oil changed in my bike. That was a mistake. I didn't get the oil changed. After mowing, I was wiped out. I couldn't go to sleep last night for the life of me. I was still awake at almost 1 in the morning after getting into bed at 10. I woke to my alarm this morning at 7. The next time I looked at the clock, it was 10 after 8. Guess I'd fallen back asleep but I don't remember it.

When I'm feeling better, I'll try to write a review of the movies that Dick and I watched Friday night: AVP: Requiem and ... Holy crap, I can't even remember the second movie. How messed up is that?