SWshooter

I see your training him properly. One of my favorite quotes from good old Elmer," I believe in letting every man scratch his own fleas his own way."

Fella by the name of Don Gabor, has a shop in Clarendon PA. I've never used him before. He did a trigger job on a friends Hi-Power, and it turned out real nice. Hi-Power's are notorious for being tough to get a good pull on. I bought the gun off Gun Broker and when I shot it with my handloads it was OK. A while later I tried some Double Tap and got some major smiley's. I showed it to Don and he said it had been ramped too much and left the head unsupported. Since it needed a new barrel anyway I figured I might as well go all the way and put a ramped barrel in it.

I was also thinking that mixing the ss pins with some standard media might work as well, and save the trouble of rising and drying the brass. If it would clean the primer pockets it would be worth a little extra trouble.

I'm waiting for a Delta Gold Cup 10mm thats in for a rebuild. It's getting its slide tightened, a new match ramped barrel, Eliason night sights to replace the original Colts, a new hammer, sear, trigger set; and a Bobtail mainspring housing. I'm hoping to receive an email telling me there is a set of Amboyna Burl grips with the Delta logo coming soon also. Merry Christmas to me, Merry Christmas to me...

I am a definite believer in the KISS principle for 2am home defense. I like the point and click method, that is your basic Glock or DA revolver. I keep a rifle handy because I live in a bad part of town, and am often woken by either screams or loud noises in the wee hours of the night, for interior use I keep a Glock 19 with a Lasermax and a tactical light on the shelf above the rifle. I also have an HK-91 and a half dozen loaded mags available, just in case someone in a vehicle becomes critically annoying and requires ballistic persuasion to move along. If you think I'm a little paranoid, there have been 5 persons murdered within 6 blocks of my house in the last 10 years, one by drive by.

I'll give a couple basic rules I've learned the hard way over the years. These are mostly for new shooters who don't have much experience in the field. Sight your rifle in for the longest point blank range possible with the cartridge and sight system your using. Generally this is no more than 3" high at midrange and 3" low at your maximum point blank range. Point blank is the farthest distance you can hit a target with out holding off or adjusting your sights. With the 308 and 223 this is close to a 200 yd zero. This will give about a 250 yd point blank range. When shooting at unknown ranges, don't hold off the target. More people miss high by over estimating range than hit low by under estimating range. When shooting at moving targets, holding on the leading edge will usually put a round somewhere on the target. Once you have established a zero, never adjust your scope in the field. You are better off holding off rather than trying to adjust clicks on your scope, if you lose your zero in the field you are in deep doo doo ( thats a military technical expression). Don't use target turrets in the field unless they have positive locks on them. If you have a BDC, check it often, they have a way of always being set to the wrong range. Ditto focus knobs. Target scopes don't make good field scopes, too often you just don't have time to diddle with a scope when a target presents itself. Most fixed focus hunting scopes have a much greater depth of field than either a target scope or a hunting scope with a parallax adjustment. Always keep your scope on the lowest power. Surprise close range targets need to be engaged as fast as possible, surprise long range targets will usually allow time to make scope adjustments, especially if you see them first. Always move tactically (see them first). How do you know if your moving tactically? If your eyes can't cover the terrain as fast as your moving, you are moving too fast. This rule will kill a lot of deer, most hunters walk way too fast. Those are my basic rules, i'd like to hear from anyone else who has some good rules, or has good reasons for disagreeing with mine.

I was surprised at how much I learned at our local gun club when we started an unofficial IDPA club. I was pretty much the top gun when we started, but within a year there were 6-8 guys who could keep up with me. The level of difficulty of the scenarios keeps getting higher and higher. I had to take a year off after major rotator cuff surgery and I don't think I'll be able to catch up to the younger guys. They run faster and bounce better than I do anymore. One thing I've noticed is the number of equipment failures has decreased enormously. IDPA will soon prove your gun, ammo and holster choice. The bad thing is alot of guys no longer shoot their carry guns. I always shoot one of my carry guns, and I try to use my regular holster if posible, if not I try to use a holster that carries the same. IDPA is a real confidence booster and gives you the practice of shooting under pressure. That's one of the biggest changes i see in new shooters. Their gun handling and reload skills get alot smoother and faster. If you've never fired any kind of combat match I highly recommend it. I wish there was a club running three gun matches around here as I'd like to try that also.

JB it would be nice if you would post your credentials as an introduction. I have basic infantry training courtesy of Ft. Benning, and advanced Armor training at Ft. Knox. After service I worked as a Security Guard at a nuke site and had the standard D.O.E. training that goes with that. I also worked general Armed security as a rent a cop for a while. I am an NRA certified pistol instructor. I teach a couple classes a year to pistol permit applicants and a couple introduction to firearms classes for the local college criminal justice students. I've never been to a civilian shooting school, but I retired this year and have the time to do it now. What kind of instruction would you recommend for me?

I keep a M-4 clone loaded in mag and chamber with the safety on. It has a laser and a tac light and is my house gun. I keep it in the safe that is in my bedroom, only I have the key. I wouldn't keep a loaded firearm anywhere unless it is in a locked container or on my person.

Leupold will make a custom reticle for $70, they will also build a custom BDC though I haven't priced one lately. Just give them the specifics of the load your shooting.

The point of what I posted is to show there are other concerns besides velocity with short barreled rifles. Velocity is probably last on the list of reasons to shorten a barrel. I agree that the 556 is worse than the 762 for muzzle blast. The larger the caliber the less the muzzle blast, generally. I was comparing SBR's to 20" rifles, and I'm sure you will find a 200 fps difference between an 11" barrel and a 20" barrel. If I were making an SBR I would look at a 7.62x39 as a much better cartridge than either a 5.56 or 7.62 NATO. You could build it on the smaller receiver, and the larger bore size would have less flash and blast. The heavier, fatter bullet would be a more effective combat cartridge. Looking at the posted data shows a 343 fps difference between an 11" and 21" barrel, with 175 gr match bullet. That is certainly significant. Generally the heavier bullets are more efficient in short barrels as the slower bullet has a longer barrel time and burns the powder more efficiently. I would certainly not use the governments choice in weapons as any kind of recommendation. The procurement process is more about politics than providing soldiers with good weapons.

What you have are usually referred to as dummy rounds, blanks are live rounds without a bullet, usually used for simulated combat, launching rifle grenades, or ceremonial purposes such as 21 gun salute.

There are a number of factors to think about with barrel length. A 200 fps difference in velocity is significant, bullet energy increases as the square of the velocity. Muzzle blast in a really short barrel can be literally deafening if you have to fire without ear protection, I'm talking permanent hearing loss. Muzzle flash can be blinding in dim light. Loads that are accurate in a long barrel might be unstable in a shorter barrel. SBR's in particular can be dangerous, the short overall length makes it easier to shoot yourself or a buddy, and contact and flash burns are more common because of the closeness of the muzzle to your left hand.

As for static and powder, always use aluminum funnels. I don't use a trickler unless I'm loading for something that will consistently shoot under 1 inch. I am also a fan of RCBS powder measures, will usually throw +/- a tenth. If you have trouble with static and you have carpet on the floor, mix a dilute solution of fabric softener and spray your carpet. If you are new to loading, batch load with about 50 cases a batch until you gain some experience. Check all your load data with at least two sources. Charge every case and place in a load block and then visually inspect every case for the correct charge, any that don't look right, dump and recharge. A squib load is as dangerous as an overload, whenever you experience a misfire, check the barrel for a stuck bullet. Don't get distracted while loading, I never load with company present. Don't drink and load. Don't smoke and load. Get a Hornady Loc-N-Load adapter for your press. Once you set the die and lock it in place a quarter turn will remove it and a quarter turn will replace it without changing the adjustments.Don't have more than one powder or bullet on the bench while loading. Get a kinetic bullet puller, you will want to disassemble rounds more often than you think. If you want to assemble really accurate ammo you will need a good priming tool. Get a notebook of some type and log all your loads. I log both load data and volume loaded by date. Mark all your loads. Box all your ammo, use factory boxes or buy plastic boxes. Factory cardboard boxes last a long time if you cover them with clear packing tape. Empty your powder measure at the end of every session, powder left in a measure will dry out and change burning characteristics. Lee makes good loading dies, their presses suck. RCBS rockchucker is your best bet on a single stage press, Dillon is your best bet on a progressive. Every loader needs a single stage press. Used presses are a great deal, good ones are virtually indestructible. Used loading dies are usually reliable, but you need to inspect them closely, mostly for missing parts and rust damage. Buy good equipment, it will out last you, and is a pleasure to use. I still have and use a Lyman Spartan press I bought when I was 17, I'm 56.

Welcome to the asylum I mean forum, good luck and let us know how the 308 does on elk.

I altered the mag per specs, the hold-open is iffy, not a big deal. I think my jam problem is just crud build up around the extractor. It seems to be dropping the empty before it can be ejected, then the empty gets caught in the action. I'll clean it good and try again. It's not high on my list of priorities either. It's a pita with the piston gun, you have to remove the op rod to use the 22 adapter.

Hope you finally caught up on your sleep!!!

I emailed about the forward assist and they are not available as a component, you have to order a complete adapter to get one. The bolt hold open works but for some reason I seem to be getting more jams, not less with the new charging handle. Anyone else try these yet?

What you really want is the one piece receiver and handguard made by someone out there in AR land. It also allows quick barrel changing.

Not necessarily, the increased area of the bullet base with the larger caliber increases the pressure applied without increasing the pressure of the round. The larger bore volume also lowers pressure faster than the smaller caliber. The same weight bullet can always be accelerated faster in a larger bore, at the same pressure.

The 1911 is undoubtedly the most versatile and refined of any auto, from a 6" long slide to an officers compact. Calibers from 22 lr to 50 GI. However, you wouldn't arm your average security guard with a 1911. If you wanted to arm yourself with a simple to operate, incredibly tough, absolutely reliable handgun the Glock would be my first choice.

Go to Federal's website, they have full ballistic data for all their bullet weights.

I read through the manual and it is pretty good. The only info I question is the "pull through" cleaning method. This will expose the rifling at the crown to wear by the cleaning rod, which is exactly what we're trying to avoid by cleaning from the chamber end of the barrel.

From what I've seen on most barrel suppliers sites, they will supply a headspaced bolt for a reasonable price, or you can send them a bolt and they will headspace to it. That is one of the big pluses for the AR system, changing barrels is a snap, the headspace is built into the barrel-barrel extension assembly, and not dependent on barrel-receiver alignment.

Doc, there are two basic float type handguards. The two piece type, you install the barrel with a threaded barrel nut and then just screw on the float tube until it's tight. The three piece type uses a threaded barrel nut, a jam nut, and the tube itself. You install the barrel with the barrel nut, thread the jam nut on, then screw on the tube itself. When the tube is all the way on then back it off until the rail lines up. I find it easier to use something like a scope mount to span the two rail sections and hold them into alignment. Then tighten the jam nut against the tube to lock it in place. These are basic instructions and I'm sure there are variations, read the instructions is your best bet. Remember that the barrel nut is locked in place by the gas tube passing through it, the jam nut is just for securing the tube in place.