Happy New Year, Goofy World!

My buddy Tim has fired up his blog mojo. Check him out at http://scarecroweyesonyou.blogspot.com

Apparently, he is focusing (for now) on what we screw around with down at the shop.

:-)

Oh, yeah- my very first Saiga-12 is on the way! 20 rounds of 12 gauge slug is SURE to callous up the old shoulders....thank you, Mike D!

I gotta write General Kalashnikov a thank-you letter, too.

Coolest Nerdy Toy...

...from the coolest Christmas movie, EVAH!
Lots of folks wax poetic about "A Christmas Story," this time every year, and the Leg Lamp; some lean more towards the Chevy Chase classic Griswold Christmas; some traditionalists gotta have their Charlie Brown. As for me, though, it ain't Christmastime in the US without a bit of Bruno.

THIS TOY has got to be the coolest thing, ever. I want one for a tree topper.
"Now I have a machinegun- HO HO HO."

CMP M14 Petition

The referenced petition is an oldie, but a goody- so go read it - NOW.
You know you still want to dream it's possible...

...and why the previous post, you ask?

I wish there were no basis for any of it, or any need for it.

Where do I Start?

Every since the primaries, I have had more people approach me asking where to begin their education on preparedness than I have for all of time prior to the primaries.

While prepearedness should be a way of life for our generation, as it was for our grandparents and great-grandparents, unfortunately, in many cases it is not. The thought processes that go along with "the mindset" are often overwhelming to many newbies, and they tend to panic and lean towards the "what guns do I get!?!" mentality.

Firearms are a tool. I would rather see a newbie get a reliable .22 and several thousand rounds of ammo for a few hundred dollars, and make other preps, than see someone run out and buy a top-of-the line HK, AR or FAL and 200 rounds of ammo.

Along those lines, people should be charitable before, during and after a crisis, and you simply cannot do that if you cannot take care of you and yours FIRST.

With that in mind, an excellent place to start on the internet is http://www.survivalblog.com/.

If you are still convinced that you MUST learn everything about guns, begin with Boston's Gun Bible. While it cannot cover everything, and it has a lot of opinion in it, it is a good read and quite logical in many areas.

Good Luck, and don't let the Bastards grind you down.

Missing My Moonbat Side...

We will be accepting no new orders in June...

lol politician - Chicago Edition

English to Gunsmith dictionary

Anybody know where I can find one to hand out to folks BEFORE I take in work?

Today's example:

(In English) "Can you clean my shotgun for me?"

(Gunsmith SHOULD hear) "I've kept this buried in my back yard for 2 years, and hadn't cleaned it for at least 10 years before that. I think the freeze/thaw cycle might have left a mark on the bluing; mechanical parts X, Y and Z also stick sometimes- can you make it look brand new, clean it, test it, and only bill me for 30 minutes of work?"

I'm just saying.

Perhaps $150 Mossbergs wouldn't become $20 Mossbergs (requiring $200 of work & parts!) if they had been fortunate enough to have been born Benellis- but somehow, I doubt it.

Having a truck gun is one thing-full of dirt & lint & kept in a soft case in your trunk for 3 weeks during first snow, well, not so hot.

Hey, on a n up note, check out the newish hat at the NRASTORE.

2 more degrees on the frog boiler, please

Pentagon to Detail Troops to Bolster Domestic Security

Boy, I feel safer already.

Lon Horiuchi Surfaces- IN A GUN PRODUCT ENDORSEMENT!

For discussion, go HERE:
or HERE:
To HELL with H-S Precision.
I hope the NRA revokes their membership.
Take action, of some sort. This is quite disappointing.
(CLICK on PIC to ZOOM.)

Cook County Illinois Gun Ban Vote

I almost missed this; busy busy busy!
Go HERE and do what Xavier says.

Ars sine panem circenses est

(Art without bread is circuses)

Foreign Aid Money Spent on $23 Million Art Ceiling at U.N. Human Rights Council

SCREW THE U.N.!

These thieving dunderheads need to be immediately and forcefully evicted from United States soil.

I say the building in NY be turned into a damn massive homeless shelter, or better yet, VA Hospital. Let them move their happy asses to Gitmo- it will be empty soon, anyway.

Disgusting.

Remember the Holiday Tomorrow!

Go getcher 100 rounds plus.
(While you still can.)

Veteran's Day 2008

Back during WWII, a young man in the US Marine Corps, Bill, was one of thousands tasked with taking the island of Iwo Jima. Operation Detachment, as the battle for Iwo Jima was called, was the only recorded USMC land battle of WWII where American casualties exceeded those of the Japanese. During one round of particularly heavy fighting, Bill had to use his empty .45 Colt (not an 1911A1, but a reissued and arsenal refinished M1911 from WWI) as a club, cracking the grips over some unfortunate Japanese fellow's noggin. Obviously, this M1911 had signifigant sentimental value for Bill.

None of this mattered to the thieves a few years ago that cleaned out his home of his .45 and his medals, amongst other valuables.

Being the cool old-fashioned guy he is, Sgt. Bill, even at age 82, tends to draw people close to him that are of similar morals and character. So it was not too surprising (to me, anyway) when one of his younger coworkers acquired a "bring-back" M1911 that had been "fixed up," and wanted it restored to its 1945 appearance (minus the rust that Bill's had from waterloggings during the landing.) The group that formed around this .45 decided to contact me for some input, as it became a small band of coworkers that would kick in on this project.



While not the exact same weapon, participation in this brewing sentimental gesture was too much for me to pass up. The collector's value of this gun was already ruined.

Our guest of honor for this post was born sometime between May and October of 1918.

Initial evaluation and discussion showed that the hideous target sights HAD to go. The pistol had also been "reblued," and while the chemical portion of the blue job was not terrible, the rounded corners and nearly invisible Colt prancing pony were NOT cool. Calling it overpolished is an understatement.



The supplier of the .45 (and friend of Sgt. Bill) included an era-appropriate rear sight with the pistol. How hard could it be to find a front sight that is the right size for a 1911? Enough that I ended up fabricating one.)

Rumour has it that in the 1940s, as the war was ramping up, several 1911s were put back into service after a nice black or gray parkerizing and arsenal refinish. These were issued to Marines, while Army guys recieved new production 1911a1s. Bill's, according to him during some (sneaky!) converstaions with his co-workers, was in fact, black phosphate coated.

So with clear goals in mind, I proceeded to remove the rear Millet-type sight, and the SOLDERED-ON ($^*%#@$#) front target sight. The frame and exposed parts (hammer, trigger, pins etc.) received a nice even sandblasting, and went directly into Mr. Park tank.
The slide got the kid glove treatment around the pony, and masking was destined to leave a shadow around it after inital stripping. Air on the blasting rig was turned down to 40 PSI from the normal 95, and our pretty pony got a couple of light licks. Masking ensued, and then the rest of the slide got blasting#1, followed by an acid bath to try to even up and deepen things a bit.
Blasting # 2 (Colt logo masked again) proceeded without a hitch, and then Mr. Slide took a steam 140 degree black manganese bath as well.



Being of a slightly different steel stock, the controls for the Colt came out a much deeper grey/black than the slide and frame did, which is ok, as I 'm sure that this was the case with many of the originals. the park went very light on the barrel hood, partly due to lockup and partly due to future work that will need done if this gets shot very much.

Where this pistol goes off on a "non-original process" tangent is right here.


I pulled an old (Brtitish?) trick that I read about somehwere here on da intergunwebz a while back (thank you to whomever it was that mentioned this.)

I commenced ta slather the slide and frame with a liberal application of gun grease, and said parts were then gently heated with a torch to open up the "pores' in the finish, allowing said grease to enter. Gradual heating continued until the grease was actually smoking, and evaporating off the surfaces of the parts. the parts darkened noticeably, and the phosphate coating took on a more smooth and even appearance.

The original 1911 that Sgt. Bill would have carried saw time underwater and rusted because of it.
As this is bound to be a piece with sentimental value as well, there is no need for this Colt to EVER see a new bit of rust. As long as someone can manage to oil the barrel and exposed trigger surfaces from time to time, it never will, either. A nice layer of FX7 inside the slide rails and back of the controls saw to the protection of the internals. The newly-fabbed front sight joint was sealed with a couple of small drops of matte black DuraCoat after installation.

Reassembly was followed up with a nice oil rubdown. The shadow around Pony was not as prominent after the grease/smoking, but there is a shadow. the goal was to leave the Pony visible, and it can still be seen. The front sight may not be 100% accurate, but it is darn close, and I did not have time to try and get Colt to install one off of their current 1911 production run (send in the slide. RIGHT.)



This was by FAR my favorite "rush-job," EVER.
I hope the grips that were located for it are similar to what he had, and that the overall feel is and appearance are as they should be.



Thank you, Sgt. Bill, God Bless and keep you, and happy Veteran's Day.

Thanks to the rest of you as well.

Even a short day at the shop...

...beats no shop time at all.



Had to duck out early Saturday due to Ms. Jazzy's birthday, and it was worth every second.
But while there, a 96D Got a dose of FN Green (final coat pending) and a very nice scope got Coyoted up to match the Winchester 70 it is going to live on.



While I skipped the cake (as IF I need it- I look like I ate Michael Moore already!) I did enjoy the post-cake training session for Ms. Jazz:



What a cool family. I am blessed.



First ya practice with the electronic lever action, then you can practice with the Red Ryder (not pictured, but redone in a pink & silver finish that dad did that would give me a run for my money!)

Once you have the Red Ryder down, THEN comes the Crickett.

The targets you can't see are her daddy's deer mounts on the far wall. And the pheasants. And the remote-controlled My Little Pony scooter that mom was driving around.

I bet she's a Riflewoman by age 12.

Rabbits beware.

Obama ready to RULE?

...per Valerie Jarrett on Meet the Depressed:
he is "prepared to really, to take power, and begin to rule day one."
Rule? RULE?

I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.

Happy Birthday USMC!

Thank you all for your service!

November 4th, 2008-

-Skynet becomes self-aware.
One could only hope (or change?)

I would prefer it if we lived in a world where "BHO" only stood for Bolt Hold Open.

This is gonna suck.

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween...

... I know I did. I got to work on a project for November 11 that I may get to share later on. I guess I should research it and see if it was in BOTH world wars.
...and, I got to carve a pumpkin!

BHO ignores MORE relatives living in poverty...

In a Boston slum. Gotta love this guy and his genuine concern for the family members he wrote about in his book, huh?

Slow posting due to VOLUMES of refinish work and a BSOD issue on the home computer that I have not fully tracked down yet.

I am stunned at the number of first time gun-buyers that are looking for advice these days. Anyone else getting that?
:-)

Cocktails for Two

Me & a firearm, of course!

I can't do yummy recipes like Brigid does, but I can make a list.
So here is a PARTIAL list of the chemical goodness that goes around on an average shop day:

1) Simple Green.
Its stinging stinkyness is a refreshing smell that means grease and grime are going on vacation.

2) Kroil, like Simple Green for rust and elderly loc-tite.

3) CLP Breakfree- when you absolutely, positively have to decrudify something leadded and powdered, and don't want to wreck nickel (ammonia BAD on nickel substrates.)

4) Sulfuric acid-to remove that annoying blue color some guns have.

5) phosphoric acid-part of the wonderful Parker family of recipes!

6)Aluminum Oxide- either glued to paper, or @ 125 PSI, it stays crunchy in milk.

7) Acetone- great thinner, hygroscopic, and FLAMMABLE!

8) Xylene and Tolulene- the Wonder Twins! Wanna wreck plastic? Shop here!

9) Campbell Hausfield Compressor Oil- DO NOT MIX with aluminum oxide. Compressors no likey.

10) Mineral spirits- gooey tape residue, you are OUTTA HERE!

11) DuraCoat and hardener (DUH!)

12) Various pigments (adds color!)

13) u-235 ( I have a vaseline glass marble on the counter.)

14) Coffee

15) Arturo Fuente 8-5-8 Maduro smoke (does that count?)

16) "extra" lead

17) brass

18) green or blue loc-tite

19) 2-ton epoxy

20) Flitz! It rocks, and maketh dullness SHINY!

Optional Chemistry (task dependent) may include, but is not limited to:

a) Oil of Santalaum Album

b) lignum vitae resin

c) Outers gun oil

d) various cold blues

e) brass black

f) aluminum black

g) gold

h) nickel

i) silver

Tomorrow will be an easy day. Just need to clean up and ACU an 870 slug barrel for resale, and polish some new S&W lignum vitae grips. Piece'o' carrotcake.

ACU Remington 870 Blast-O-Tron

I had fun on this one. I've done dozens of 870s, but this one was just, well, special.



It got micro-abrasive blasted end to end (the non-parked bits, anyway,) and redone in the most frequent pattern I get any more, that wacky US Army ACU. Topped off the front sight with a blaze orange DuraCoat dot; impossible to miss from the user's perspective, and it was ringed with glow-in-the dark phosphorescent. Kinda tricky on a bead sight, but it works.



The colors will be WAAAAY off from the actual fabric unless you hand mix and adjust them, and for those of you who are foolishly ignoring the DuraCoat Mythbusters and "trying this at home," make sure you use only UV-resistant hardener with your matte clearcoat, so that the colors never fade, and make any final adjustments to color by mixing DROPS (not buckets or spoonfuls) of Coyote or MagPul FDE to your final UV-proof clearcoat.



Air-cure for a couple of days, lube, and fire liberally to taste.



As this was a brand new shotty, I was kinda disappointed that Remington QC did not catch the GIANT burr (about 1/16th of an inch!) that was sticking out of the ejection port, off of the right slide rail. God bless the guy that invented diamond bits and files.
Guess I can't fault Remington too much; the dealer hadn't caught it, and neither had the distributor that got it to the dealer, or the customer that sent it in. Woulda been a nasty skin snag the first time a finger went in the port for anything, and at the very least a partial FTE.

Still, I kinda wanted to keep this one, with the snazzy little 3-rail fore arm. Needs a side-saddle and red dot, though, really, to be mo-funner.

I really need to get a Saiga.

Spam Email of the MONTH!

You know you aren't supposed to click on them, but I have email filtering at work, so I can see the text and the rest is "saf-ti-fied."

How do you NOT read the text when the email is titled:

China Sausage- Delicious Woman.

It was even politely signed:

Sincerely, Mollie Gray.

Of course, they were trying to get me to look at a website with "All Natural School Girls Video,"
whatever the hell that means. Probably nothing to do with organic gardening, I would guess. Still, it had me wondering exactly what "China Sausage" is all about...since the email came out of France.

Sigh. Humanity...

Who do you trust when everyone's a crook?

Blast from the past:

Forgot I had some old Queesnryche loaded in the itunes, and it came on this afternoon....

For a price I'd do about anything
Except pull the trigger
For that I'd need a pretty good cause
Then I heard of Dr. X
The man with the cure
Just watch the television
Yeah, you'll see there's something going on

Got no love for politicians
Or that crazy scene in D.C.
It's just a power mad town
But the time is ripe for changes
There's a growing feeling
That taking a chance on a new kind of vision is due

I used to trust the media
To tell me the truth, tell us the truth
But now I've seen the payoffs
Everywhere I look
Who do you trust when everyone's a crook?

Revolution calling
Revolution calling
Revolution calling you
[There's a] Revolution calling
Revolution calling
Gotta make a change
Gotta push, gotta push it on through

I'm tired of all this bull$hit
They keep selling me on T.V.
About the communist plan
And all the shady preachers
Begging for my cash
Swiss bank accounts while giving their
Secretaries the slam

They're all in Penthouse now
Or Playboy magazine, million dollar stories to tell
I guess Warhol wasn't wrong
Fame fifteen minutes long
Everyone's using everybody, making the sale

I used to think
That only America's way, way was right
But now the holy dollar rules everybody's lives
Gotta make a million doesn't matter who dies

Revolution calling
Revolution calling
Revolution calling you
[There's a] Revolution calling
Revolution calling
Gotta make a change
Gotta push, gotta push it on through

I used to trust the media
To tell me the truth, tell us the truth
But now I've seen the payoffs
Everywhere I look
Who do you trust when everyone's a crook?

Revolution calling
Revolution calling
Revolution calling you
[There's a] Revolution calling
Revolution calling
Gotta make a change
Gotta push, gotta push it on through  

Civilian Pardon...

Know that for today, the following Senators  have my admiration for DOING THEIR JOB-that is, voting AGAINST fiscally raping our nation's children and grandchildren (to the 10Th generation.)

llard (R)
Barasso  (R)
Brownback  (R)
Bunning (R)
Cantwell (D)
Cochran (R)
Crapo (R)
DeMint (R)
Dole (R)
Dorgan (D)
Enzi (R)
Feingold (D) 
Inhofe (R)
Johnson (D)
Landrieu (D)
Nelson (FL) (D)
Roberts (R)
Sanders (I)
Sessions (R)
Shelby (R)
Stabenow (D)
Tester (D)
Vitter (R)
Wicker (R)
Wyden (D)

The rest of you Senate BASTARDS need to be held accountable for letting it come to this, and then accelerating its awfulness.

Personally, I'd like to see each of you KELO'd, for a start- and living in cardboard boxes under bridges, pension less.

Sonsabitches. Burn in hell. 

Apparently, only 25% of the Senate is worth redeeming, and the rest want to counterfeit for a living. 

Washington DC would be a nice place, if it wasn't for all the freaking vampires.

US DOJ / BATFE Response to my li'l letter

HERE is my original reaction to their 8-15-08 Brouhaha, er, Ruling:
And below, the response:

DA ROOF! DA ROOF!

...DA ROOF IS ON FIRE!
We Don't need no bailout, let the mother BURN!

I reckon now is as good a time as any to buy up any leftover gardening seed, huh?
Gonna need a victory garden when the politicos get around to declaring a
"War on Wall Street," or "War on Recesion," or whatever alternative asinine proposals come out of this freaking mess.

Remington Suspends Ammunition Sales

...had ya going, didn't I?

Well its not true - but THIS IS.

US Mint suspends sale of 24-karat gold coins

guess ya better stock up on TP and .22 for barter before those go into short supply, eh?

Fantastic Tips On Cold Blue Touch Up-

-Personally, I hate using it on anything more than a hammer or other control unless it is the only option, and would rather parkerize & clear-coat a part, or park &  oil-soak it, then smoke off the grease or oil.

However, if you have to use the stuff, Brigid is right on the money.

Stupid Poll.

Is Palin ready to be VP?
Well, was Mondale or Carter ready to be Pres? Sheesh.
Go here.

Thanks to Kim.

Suck it, Ike.

For days now, I have been trying to decide if I would post this or not, as I have no excessive cash (I abhor using credit) nor excessive time to spare, but here goes:

For the balance of 2008, anyone who sends me a rusty, muddy, crudded up gun that was damaged by flooding from either Gustav or Ike will get a hell of a deal.

(If you tell anyone I'm nice, I will make you suffer.)

Your cost for an oxide blasting (de-rusting) and single color (either matte black or gun blue) DuraCoat  refinish/salvage job on any handgun or long gun will be $20. The weapon will need to be from a flood victim, not just some pawnshop/truck gun. I cannot and will not attempt to salvage a damaged bore or chamber, and if you have let the springs get so bad that they are unserviceable, I will not replace them without charging for it. I may even opt to send it back tagged "unsafe to fire," (and I take and keep photos.) I am not a wood guy, but will do what I can, or can skip it.

If you had no insurance on your guns, or you have one that you are not willing to turn in to insurance for replacement, or if your insurance people are just a nightmare to deal with, then shoot me an email. I rarely answer the phone, but will return messages left in voicemail.

Keep in mind it is cheaper for me to receive and return a handgun from another FFL than it is a non-licensee. You will pay me $20 to cover materials, and you will pay the actual return shipping. (A $20 bill is acceptable, so is one ounce of silver, in lieu of US Federal Play Money.)

If you no longer have a physical address for a firearm to come FROM, find a dealer to ship it from, so I can ship it back when done.

(FFLS-Enclose a copy, and you get one back when the item is returned.)

As long as your firearm is still serviceable when I get it, the action will be clean and mostly waterproof when you get it back, and oiled or greased where it is not.

I reserve the right to cut this offer off at any point, especially if I get overwhelmed.  Existing customers will come first, as will any that pay the bills, and I reserve the right (at this price) to turn these around as I see fit. (I have a life, too.)

This is NOT charity, screw you if you would consider it such. 

Each weapon will be returned with a stack of business cards that I expect to be handed out.

I do you a solid; you do me a solid. That's how it works. 

Send referrals, folks, or "real" work once your life is back in order and you want fun stuff done.

Anyone trying to pull a fast one and take advantage will find their name and contact information posted everywhere online I can post it, so scammers beware. I may offer other options on a case-by-case basis, as I see/handle each item. If you have other metal gear that needs help, like stacks of magazines, ask me.

This topic is not open to comment. 

New Metallica - Death Magnetic

Wow!  Unlike the last 3 albums (or 4, I quit caring, listening and buying after toad, re-toad, and craptastic, or whatever they were called,) Death Magnetic is NOT, I repat, NOT made out of 100% pure donkey suck.

 

I won't say I'm impressed, but at least I can say I'm not displeased, and can now stop pretending that they all perished in a fiery plane crash in 1991, after the Black album came out.

(That really screwed with my little demented fantasyland when Newsted was on RockStar SuperNova, which by the way, Storm Large SO should have won. The is no justice sometimes.)

Anyhow, I won't recommend anyone go BUY it yet, but it really isn't awful, overall. Unforgiven III takes soemthing away from the overall feel... take it back to Creeping Death and Blackened, Fellas.

CZ 24 .380 Rescue

Parts missing, rust, and 71 years of dirt & crud.





























Aluminum oxide microblasting, black park, and a serious application of oil smoked off of it,
and...voila!

Secret Project Part 2

1/3rd finished!

Matt Damon is a Raging A$$hat...

... I just wanted to say it.

I used to like this chump's acting, way back when, but the more he runs his gaping piehole, the less I care to ever see anything he does. I have never watched, and never will pay to watch a Bourne flick. or anything else of his.

To hell with "Myyyatt Dyaaaamun!"

Ya know what's absurd, Matt? That anyone even asks you what you think.
For crying out loud, Jimmy Carter had the nuke codes, and he WAS a disaster. So was Nixon; so was Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. What would change?

Invented by Accident!

...and apparently, reported on by accident, too.

Who woulda thunk that my favorite hobby revolves around charcoal, sulfur and "Saltpepper?"
Gotta love that spellcheck and/or crappy dictation.

Jeebus. Spellcheck, but don't factcheck. For heaven's sake, don't proofread, either.

I suspect it was compressed IN the bamboo tube, and did not compress the tube.

Perhaps the caption was written by a depressed boob, and was not really about a compressed tube?

Maybe a repressed newb?

Or a regressed dude?

Perplexed frood?

Convex Ood?

Complex food- that must be it. Or undressed nude (commonly found in bathtubs and showers.)

Does anybody here REALLY keep saltpeter in their kitchens these days? Or did the captioner SERIOUSLY need to mention that salt & pepper are commonly found in kitchens?
I guess I should let it go now... the person that put that up COULD be working in a Judicial system or at some DMV office I would need to deal with daily...
at least the cold war is back on, and prospects of a fire and brimstone cleaning of the gene pool is back on the table...

oh crap. I clicked the next link.
I had no idea that engineers developed bellybuttons. How cool.

I love the media.

2 Weeks and Counting...

Letter was mailed priority, delivery confirmation 16 days ago.

And...

"Your item was delivered at 10:12 AM on August 25, 2008 in MARTINSBURG, WV 25405. "

So at least, there's that.

Oh, and a personal response from one of the 5 original folks CC'd, and not someone from Iowa.

Heheheh...let the games begin.

Question...

Q: What's the difference between Dick Cheney & Sarah Palin?

A: When Sarah Palin shoots a lawyer he stays down.

I liked it.

Blaze and Hawk

No, these are not 2 superheroes. Well, maybe they are somewhere, but not here.

I had someone ask what the 2 oddest requests so far were; here they are.

Example A was for a Blaze Orange DuraCoated Remington 870. Trick is, there was no such thing as Blaze Orange DuraCoat, until I mixed it up. It is absolute hell to photograph properly- digital cameras do NOT like that color.
It eventually ended up with a green and black branch/leaf camo pattern, t tone it down some, and a UV reflective matte clear topcoat. I probably should have hit it with some glow-in-the dark clear for good measure, but there IS such a thing as overkill.

Luckily, the leftover Blaze orange kicks some serious ass on front sights. you CANNOT miss the sight blade, period.

Example B was when another dealer requested a new AR be redone in his favorite college teams colors- so now I needed a gold that was more gold than stock "gold" DuraCoat; I had to mix that one up too. So it got new gold, black, white and canary yellow, with a multilayer glossy clearcoat.

I dig projects like this. The John Deere Green & Yellow break action was kind of odd, too, but I did not get pictures of it assembled, as the wood was jobbed out elsewhere.

Secret Project #1

Any guesses how it will end up?

Snakeskin basecoat texture....

Before & After #2 - Parkerizing

Creepification...

It has been bugging me for a few weeks now, where I had seen Mrs. "O" before...

Until I realized that it was preaching in front of an audience that included Jake and Elwood blues.

Hurricane Gustav -

Why the hell doesn't Obama just fly down to Nawlins and tell the wind and the rain to "BE STILL?"
Worked the last time, right?

is it an OMEN?

...or just coincidence?Apparently, when you mail 2 personal letters, 3 letters to politicians and one each to GOA an NRA, your postage comes out to $6.66.
Hmmm.
I'll take Spartan pics tomorrow night; I'm full of burgers and stout right now.

HOME RUN.

I am not now, and never have been a McCain fan. too much questionable, weasely stuff in the past.
But choosing Alaska Governor Sarah Palin-well, just brilliant.
Now I have think everything over, again.

Smith & Wesson 1911 Stainless Tac Rail .45 - Before and After

This is a pretty common DuraCoat refinish request-

Take this "X" colored pistol and make it "Y."

In some cases, it is because the original finish is worn beyond belief; sometimes, because it is stainless steel and too shiny for the new owner.

In this particular example, it was both.

This is a fairly "young" S&W 1911 .45, The stainless slide & frame tactical rail model, with blued controls.

Well, they WERE blue when they left the factory. After only a very short time in a duty holster (weeks, not months) they became less than 50% blue.



My impressions of this .45 are very favorable. It runs like buttah, and if I had one I was keeping, about all I would do would be to polish out some of the cosmetic machining marks left on the controls, specifically the Ambi safety (which I suspect is an option or an aftermarket installed by the owner.) Here is the "After," and this is matte Black DuraCoat with a 3-layer matte clearcoat on top, after 5 micron aluminum oxide blastification:


Note that the "Retard Warning" and the logo overkill were removed from the left side of the slide & frame by request.

Impressions:
It goes together very tightly; an Insight M3 Light seats just peachy on the rail.
My only personal gripe is the slide release, but I gripe about that on most any 1911.
I would prefer something other than the aftermarket Hogue grips if it were mine, but then again, I put sandalwood grips on my S&W M&P .38, so you know I'm odd already. The original wood would have been OK by me.

Nice gun. I'm sold on the Smith 1911; I'm NOT sold on the price (for me- I'd rather build my own.) But I can see the appeal, and I would not hesitate to recommend it if someone were after a pricey .45 instead of a pure all-weather duty gun, like a Glock or a Springfield XD.

Based on this gun's controls, though, I just wouldn't recommend a BLUED one.
There are stainless, scandium, and melonite models available.
At $1100-ish MSRP, this is not over-the-top out- of-line too fancy to buy and use.
And no stupid integral lock anywhere in sight.
Bottom line: Me likey.

Remington Spartan Gunworks SPR 100 Nickel .410 Review

When it comes to the Remington SPR 100 Nickel youth model, "Spartan" is an accurate description.

To be fair, I have not and likely will not shoot either of these 2 .410s that I just got in. .410 is just nothing exciting to me at all.

Introduced in 2005-2006, and imported under the Remington "Spartan Gun Works" name, these guns are basically Russian Baikal IZH-18M-Ms with a nickle-plated receiver and a vent rib attached. These 24" barrel single-shot .410s are currently priced at under $180 each.

The 2 examples I received in yesterday were noticeably different from each other, even though they are identical in model number ( a customer ordered 2.)




The 2 barrel assemblies were identical, with the exception of one barrel being laser-engraved under the chamber with "Read Manual Before Use." This could prove to be a real trick in itself, as the manual consists of paperwork folded up similar to a road map, and then stapled together. It seems that is should unfold so you can read it, but the pesky staples are in the way of opening it up all the way.

These guns are a hammerless design, with an opening lever behind the trigger guard and an action that cocks on closing. The safety is a cross-bolt design, and while ads say the trigger is titanium coated, they both look like that were hot salts blues to about a straw color- probably because of the rough finish prior to plating (or whatever was done to them.)The cocking indicator is a piece of off-white plastic "nub" that sticks up from the top of the receiver. (Red would have been better.)
One gun came with a nifty trigger lock assembly, a strange little plastic "dome" type doohickey that locks over the entire trigger assembly with a key that looks like a mini barrel busing wrench. I'm not sure why no such device was included with the second gun.

Both boxes had "Youth Handgun Safety Notices" included, which struck me as kind of odd. Perhaps the distributor adds them to all shipments.

Gun "A" has a blued trigger guard, really fat, with edges sharp enough to cut steak, and a crisp and decent opening lever at the rear of the guard.

Gun "B" has a plastic trigger guard, and the opening lever at the back of it looks like it was made from a leftover 10-speed bicycle brake part.


Back to the barrels: the finish is good on the barrels on both guns. The bluing is really nice-where there is bluing. The strangest thing to me about these little .410s is how nice the bluing is on the barrels, and how the muzzle end looks like it was terminated with a CHOP SAW. There is 0% Blue on the muzzle end of the barrel of either gun. Very odd; it is all I can do to restrain myself from hitting both muzzles with cold blue before delivering these.



The wood on both guns is very nice, I'd say about an 8 on a scale of 1-10 (for what these guns are.) The forearms, I like- the stock, specifically the grip section, pisses me off. It is so thick that a kid or a petite lady would likely have a hard time keeping a secure hold of this shotgun. I do not have massive hands myself, but can handle a full sized 10mm Glock with no problems- yet holding this .410 feels kinda like holding on to a 2x4.

Weight on this gun is excessive; I'm guessing because of the wood, and the extra beefy receiver (guessing the same as the 12 gauge receivers on other Baikal single-shots.) The actions on both guns are very stiff right out of the box; many kids would have problems getting these opened OR closed. There is an ejector "override" switch on the bottom of the receiver, which is kind of unique.

The packing was secure; but you would think that Remington or Baikal would bother to inspect the nickel for plating "spots" and actually remove the machining gunk, oil, and debris from the assembled actions prior to packaging (apparently not.)

Final thoughts:
If I was Remington, I would want some serious improvements on the QC on these before my name was attached to them- at the VERY least, in the arena of cleanup prior to shipping.

Will this gun shoot? Most certainly. After all, they are single-shot .410s, and as they are brand new, ok acquisitions if you can get them for under $200. Given my druthers, though, I would hunt pawnshops for a 60 year old plus American single-shot .410, and get by with paying $100 or less on something that can be refinished the way I want it, and easily repaired by any 'smith with some common sense. Overall, I'm very "John Kerry" ambiguous on this one-I can take or leave the SPR100.