Dusty44

Greece has effectively defaulted on their debt this week. That will be affirmed by the referendum vote. By fall of 2012 France, Italy, Spain will have economically collapsed. Germany will be the effective survivor and leader but will be in serious financial trouble. Collateral damage will take down the US banks also by November 2012. On December 21, 2012 a new world monetary system will be announced along with final agreement about a new world coalition government for most of Europe and the US and Canada following guidelines of the laws that have proven effective in Canada for providing economic and social stability there. Now excuse me, I have to see about the hole where my tongue drilled through my cheek and the places where I nearly bit off my tongue.

Just arrived, last few days: I described the knife already. Bought some "used wood ammo boxes" from Sportsman's Guide. The advertising sounded like they might hold a ream of printer paper. I intended to buy one for factory ammo and another for reloads. Managed somehow to buy 4. They turned out to be about twice as big as I expected. I bought some wood stain and urethane spar varnish to give them a finish and seal the wood surfaces. I intend as little effort on the finish as I can manage. Might try some Tung Oil finish also if I run out of stain/spar varnish. Solid storage for ammo and gun parts. Pictures of the ammo boxes at Sportsman's Guide. I have not ever been able to upload any pictures to AR308 with the software in my computer. Sometimes I can create Email with photos. Sometimes not.

Because of my health problems this knife is just for a collection. For a hunter, the blades only cost $15 plus or minus a dollar or two for a hundred. It would be easy to buy two or three boxes of blades and never run out. Apparently one of the prime users of this knife is taxidermists. The manufacturer also seems to have many other product lines which would indicate being able to stay in business indefinitely. My own take is that this knife handle will last as long or longer with or without a lot of extra blades as any other knife I have bought that is in its price range. My own record for a 'working' knife is nearly 8 years. That one came in a bubble pak from Wal-Mart, about $7; a folder with a 3 1/4" blade that I used at work for scraping/slicing/peeling sticky stuff off of machine surfaces and for stripping electrical wire (yes, I know. I learned to do it without damaging the wire. It worked a lot better and faster than the pathetic quality strippers we were supposed to use.) along with a lot of other minor tasks that needed either a sharp edge or a thin pry blade or a hard point to do what was needed. I sharpened that edge on 400 (Emery) and 1500(Crocus Cloth) emery paper every few days and it was a prime tool. It just vanished one day. I think it got left in the pocket of an old pair of jeans and the jeans were put into the trash. "Academy" sells a similar knife with the same name (Winchester) but the new ones need a file to round a sharp corner on the back of the blade and some breaking-in to get the thing to open and close properly. $14 in a bubble pak with sheath and $12 if there happens to be a version without the sheath. I bought two on each of two occasions. The first of these was taken away from me when I was suddenly incarcerated for extended hospital stay last year. That one was always difficult to open and close. The second one, second purchase because I forgot where I had stored the spare, has functioned better after the little bit with the file. It is still a long way from the blade being reshaped for easy sharpening, however. Of course it does not get much use, unlike that very first one. That said, I think that the Havalon Knife is just entirely too sharp to casually carry in a pocket. The Havalon is a specialty item for where clean precision cuts are needed. Like skinning game or preparing skins in a taxidermy procedure or perhaps as an emergency kit item for field or medical use.

A new knife arrived today. I was reading in "Predator Xtreme" and the author of an article about hunting bears said that he could skin a bear carcass in half the time with his Havalon Grizzly that it would take with any other knife. OK. I called up "Havalon Knife" on the Internet, looked over their web site, decided the price was not out of reach, and ordered one on-line. About that quick. I bought the basic black-handled knife (the "Grizzly" seems to be shiny silver metal with an engraved picture of a bear); comes with a dozen "#60XT" blades; also bought a dozen "#22XT" blades and the standard sheath. I ordered the knife on 10/21 somewhere a little after Midnight ("AM" of the 21st) according to my notes; UPS Ground left it on my doorstep midday today (10/27). This thing is rather like a folding Exacto tool with 'supersized' blades. It would be easy for a qualified person to do surgery with this knife. When a blade gets dull the user will use his Multi-tool pliers to slip the old blade off the handle and put a new ("crazy") sharp blade into place. Emphasis on using the pliers/"forceps" and remembering at all times that this blade is ridiculously sharp and dangerous. The sheath has a second pocket for extra blades. Mine accepted 6 blades easily with the sterile foil envelopes in place. The advertising says 12 blades, if I remember correctly. I do some leather work for my own use and think it would be nice to create a leather sheath modeled after the nylon one Havalon offers. Maybe someday. Cost of my full order, delivered, was three 'Jacksons' less a few coins.

Please let us know. It might take considerable time or the chemistry of Kroil might not do well with the chemistry of hot gas & high pressure deposits on the gun.

Maybe Kano Laboratories "Kroil." I buy mine locally at a gun shop by the pint. I think MidwayUSA sells it in half-pint cans. Put a drop of Kroil on the parts and let it soak for a while. I have had/seen results in time frames ranging from minutes to weeks. The long time frame was a big item at work that was rusted solid. Kroil is a penetrating oil that never gives up. Kroil is good for getting leading and copper deposits out of barrels, too. Just give it time to do its thing.

For dirigoboy: So far so good. In my house robbery the first thing taken was my computers. Beyond that, since computers became popular, I have had three computers suffer sufficient failure that most or all of the data on the hard drives were lost. Two were stolen in that robbery which counts as one incident; two others came to grief several years apart. My take is that if data is really important it needs to be on paper in a safe location. Alternatively, use an independent separate hard drive for backup and hope the thief or other disaster leaves the backup drive behind or usable. Not to even mention about update schedules and how long it was since the last update when the backup is all there is left.

Soft recoil? I put a Limbsaver butt pad on my 24 inch stainless DPMS. Limbsaver makes one of their 4 standard pads that fits real well if not perfectly. I am not a bit worried about the little bit of not quite perfect. The pad needed a new hole drilled for the bottom screw, a mod for that breather in the upper screw (Forstner bits in the drill motor for the soft pad; a wood bit for the plastic backplate to shave it to clear metal parts), and my DPMS 308 has NO felt recoil. Replacing the original solid plastic pad covered over that compartment in the stock (does anybody actually use that space for anything?) and added a 1/2 inch to length of pull which made the rifle feel a lot more comfortable. Is there any reason why it would not work also on the 5.56 caliber rifles?

You might check out the 'Vortex' line of spotting scopes. I bought a 'Vortex Nomad' a couple of years ago from Trophy Tools at the Dallas Safari Club convention (20 minute drive from home). I had a very nice conversation with Lon Krieger at his exhibition booth. Lon has written a number of articles for the publications of The Dallas Safari Club and it was from reading one of these articles that I felt the need to make a specific personal visit to the convention and to the 'Trophy Tools' booth. I bought a Vortex 20 - 60 x 60 spotting scope and a 'Scope Clamp.' I bought the industrial strength version of the 'Scope Clamp' because I break things real often and do not want to have to cope with broken gear at a critical moment? Try TrophyTools.com and/or 512-618-8880. Within the web site is a collection of 17 articles about optics used in hunting and about optical devices in general that are worth some time reading. I have used the the 'Scope Clamp' with my SLR camera and it was useful and did well. The spotting scope got put "somewhere safe" and I just found it again recently. I am impressed with the image clarity of of this scope but have not used it for its intended purpose yet.

Most recoil can be eliminated quickly and easily. Limbsaver recoil butt pad. Limbsaver makes four standard shapes/sizes; these are intended for shotguns? I now have one on every rifle except the 10/22. Most felt recoil has gone away. My DPMS uses a Limbsaver that had a new screw hole drilled at the bottom for that screw. At the top a large hole was drilled through the rubber foam with a Forstner bit to allow the vent to breathe and the hole in the plastic base of the Limbsaver was enlarged to fit the screw. It would have been better if the top screwhole was tapered some with a countersink, but I could not manage that. My countersinks have too short a shank. I also had to remove some plastic from the Limbsaver base to fit the end of the buffer tube assembly. I think I used a wood bit. This plastic removal needs be done before enlarging the screw hole. The Limbsaver pad on this rifle is not quite a perfect fit, but it takes a close look to realize that. There is NO felt recoil even when wearing only a T-shirt (most of my shooting). This rifle has the fixed stock with the compartment door in the butt plate. I lost access to the compartment (do not have a use for that space anyway) and picked up a half-inch length-of-pull which makes the rifle feel better to me. Do not remember the price of the Limbsaver, maybe about $25; under $30 even including the price of a new Forstner bit. O

Sometimes my reloading is more fun and more relaxing than shooting. Also, I can reload on cold or rainy days or in the middle of the night. It just don't get no better! Now: I started with a Lee Loader. My first couple of thousand rounds of reloaded ammo were 357 Mag done with a Lee Loader. I used the measure cup and a 'moderate' powder. I was always nervous about that ammo, but the revolver was gracious enough to hold together. Know the weight of your powder charges!! Currently I have a Lee Loader for each caliber I shoot if only because they are cheap. I do not have a place to set up a real loading press nor do I shoot enough rounds in any given caliber/loading to justify the expense (I am continually experimenting with powders and bullets). All my priming is done with the Lee Loader. It is slow and I am thinking about buying a priming tool, but I like the satisfaction of the full involvement with seating the primers properly and the associated 100% inspection of each primer and case as I go through the process. I use a Lee hand press with Lee and other dies and the loaders in an uneven mix depending on the caliber and sometimes on the bullet being loaded. I have two beam scales but prefer the little Lee and weigh every powder charge to a hundredth of a grain. I load 308 Win (for a DPMS and two bolt guns), 7MM RM, 44 RM (for a lever gun and a revolver), 357 Mag (for two revolvers). I have the capability for 45 ACP and 9 MM Luger but do not shoot enough of those to be worth the trouble and lose most of the cases in the gun range environment anyway. I will add 223/5.56 NATO if and when I buy (a?) rifle(s) that use that cartridge (an AR style rifle and the Mossberg that uses the NATO mags?). I am wondering about 416 Rigby or else 416 Ruger and will load that ammo if and when. (I found an article/commentary that said the Ruger 416 cartridge works very well with Reloder 15! How can anybody possibly resist trying it?). The equipment I use for reloading is simple and basic but the ammo is as good as it gets for the majority of us. Somewhere in this forum is extensive coverage of the equipment that members have used and/or prefer for reloading, techniques, problems solved, and almost everything else. Enjoy the time reading! The real problem, after a while, is figuring out if you are shooting so you can reload the empties or if you are reloading the fired cases so you can shoot? And then you find yourself buying new guns in other calibers just so you can try shooting that caliber/kind of ammo/kind of gun so you can reload that ammo. . . .

Very glad it wasn't serious!! If you disconnect the battery to clear the codes, and if you haven't already, oil the terminals and exposed metal and wires with either a few drops of full synthetic motor oil or use moisture displacing gun oil to stop or slow corrosion. Keep in mind that the white powdery corrosion is lead salts and is THE most toxic form of lead.

When you go by Autozone, if you have not already done so, take a pencil and paper. The readout will be a bunch of numbers. Crosscheck the numbers against the repair manual list. Or post the numbers and we will try to give you a best guess. One of the main things that shows up is a loose gas tank cap. The numbers for that are many and the diagnosis is usually very vague. Be sure the tank cap is tight, reset the computer, see if it comes back. Sometimes the guy at Autozone will reset the computer for you. There are laws/rules about him pressing that button in some places. Please tell us what you got out of all this anyway? I have had a Camry since 1997; just bought my third one. The 2ND one broke its timing belt; the dealership found a short laundry list of things that needed repair and the cost was about equal to the value of the car. I found a buyer who took the 2000 Camry off my hands 'as is' with the result that I came out even as an equivalent to a passable trade and am now making payments on my third (a 2011) Camry. I am always interested in how maintenance and repair go on any and all Toyotas. My daughter's 2003 Corolla developed a light and a code for the oxygen sensor. She was trying to decide how to collect enough money and time to get it fixed; several weeks went by. Then the light went out by itself and a month later the car passed state inspection. I can only guess that it was dirt or oil on the sensor that burned off. ???

I am going to check out "Lansky Sharpeners.' One of the dealers is only a few blocks away, a business in one of the store fronts in an industrial park with an interesting name that needs a visit just to see what they have.

I have read a lot of conflicting ideas about breaking in a new barrel. The one I liked best was at least a year ago. I think it was in a column in a gun magazine. After discussing various shoot/clean/shoot/clean regimens with varying numbers of shots between cleanings, ad nauseum, there was a quote from a major gun manufacturer's tech who said that almost all contemporary new guns are so well made with such good metallurgy that 'breaking in' is unnecessary. However, he said, the groundswell of opinion and belief is so strong that his company developed a 'recommended' break-in regimen that is sufficiently rigorous to keep the majority of buyers happy. Not needed, beyond commonsense keeping the guns clean and in good operating condition, but just to keep the guys that are convinced of the need for 'breaking in' of new barrels satisfied. My brand new DPMS AR308 got about ten rounds through it, wiped clean with solvent, forgot the intent to wipe every ten rounds, fired about 35 more rounds with several factory and handload bullets and bullet weights, remembered to clean it again when I got home. During this shooting I was also firing several other rifles in rotation and none of them ever got really hot. This AR rifle still has a bad habit of making holes in the target that are usually one or two inches higher with factory ammo than my (conservative) handloads, all on centerline (within an inch or maybe two) depending on whether I am using a sandbag rest for the rifle or holding it up with my arm on the sandbags. Scope settings are a factor, and a scope that is coming apart inside does not help (I have had two of those, factory replaced them). I am not a bit happy with the performance of any of my guns. There is only supposed to be one little hole in the exact center of the target, regardless of how many shots and how many rifles. I do not know yet if it is the guns or the ammo!!

All my guns, my tools, everything metal in my house gets coated with Mobil One Full Synthetic. I let it soak in for as long as can be managed, days if possible, at least hours, rarely minutes, and wipe dry with paper towel. Everything works smoothly forever and rust is almost forgotten. After that initial soaking, just lightly wipe with paper towel dampened with the oil after using/shooting and then wipe dry with other paper towel. Outdoors, the gate hardware for the fence has lasted a decade with two wipedowns with this oil, the hinges still look good and do not squeak. Without the Mobil 1 synthetic they would be junk in less than a year. Take the battery terminals on your car apart and wipe all the metal surfaces with a drop or two of this oil. No more battery corrosion. I have found that when I shoot, it is best to fire two to five 'warm up' shots to clear the barrel. The lube is so slippery that the first few rounds do not get enough friction to reach full velocity. After the 'warm up' shots, all is well and consistent. Clean up after is always just a few minutes. That oil is right there in the pores and structure of the steel. I use an undersize bronze brush wrapped in paper towel to a tight fit and soaked in powder solvent. The bore is clean in just a few wipes. That includes my AR, bolt guns, .22 rifle, 50 cal black powder and handguns. More Mobil 1 before putting the guns back into storage. I use a little oil can (Harbor Freight) and mix my Mobil 1 full synthetic with 25% to 35% Kroil (local gunshop, MidwayUSA), but the Kroil is overkill.

Be careful 'tweaking' that CB radio. I was into all that way back when, pushing an 18 wheeler down the highways. The last I heard, CB is back where it was long before the "convoy" era: FCC watches closely, fines are heavy, proper radio procedures/protocols need be adhered to, there are not a lot of users so FCC can and will find you if they want to. I have lost track, but are there some easy Ham operator classifications now that might be interesting? Maybe even allow use of the code-less (if that category ever did, or still does, exist) Ham and the CB frequencies? Do your own research on that if it sounds interesting. If this is possible, the Ham equipment suppliers might have radios that will work on some CB frequencies and also on the allowable Ham frequencies. The radios might be sealed; in any case, mess with them only if you have proper certification.

Thank you for these ideas and thoughts. I do not have a bench grinder and no place to set one up. The idea of that system is interesting, with the reservations already expressed. I used a diamond stone that had the glue between the handle and steel plate come apart. Time to try some Gorilla Glue or buy another one. I guess I am hoping for something quicker for the kitchen knives. Maybe pick up a mechanical sharpener like the ones advertised with a wood or plastic holder and and some ceramic 'stones?'

I may be interested in buying a knife sharpener or . . . "sharpening system." :) I am wondering what products are used by all of you that you like. As always, most of my sharp edges are the thin kitchen knives. I also have some thick Chinese knives- - - the ones that look like cleavers, that are mostly expensive chunks of stainless steel. There are a few other knives, the kind that have sheaths, but except for the one or two cheap ones that open a lot of letters, they seldom need any sharpening. It would be nice to have a device to sharpen all of these. Maybe it would be better to have two different devices/systems, one for the thin knives and another for that expensive specialty edged steel? What do you have, and what do you recommend that is available currently?

There is a factor about the length of the throat of the chambers and cartridges. With some specific cartridges (brass) as loaded by the particular manufacturer or with the shape and specific dimensions of the bullet in that load, the 308 Win brass will extend slightly into the barrel throat of a NATO chamber. When the cartridge is fired in that NATO chamber there is no place for the brass to expand to release the bullet and the resulting pressures can reach levels very far beyond any proof tests/standards. This information has been published several times to my own reading/experience/recollection in technical articles and notations in several of the magazines I subscribe to, including "American Rifleman."

There are some dimensional differences between 308 Win and 7.62 Nato. The Nato cartridge will do fine in a 308 chamber for most shooting. It might be a little loose or experience some fire forming, but that is not a concern except for critical match or extreme distance shooting. The fit of the 308 Win cartridge in a Nato chamber can cause serious high pressure conditions. The preferred chambering would be for the 308 Winchester. Or, adjust handloads to compensate. This is a minimal summary. There is a whole lot of technical information and detail out there, easy to find on-line. I find it very interesting that the opposite is true of the 5.56 caliber rifle. There the preferred chambering is the Nato version. The 223 civilian cartridge will do fine in the military dimensioned chamber but the NATO round can develop dangerous pressures in the civilian chamber.

If you do not already, subscribe to MidwayUSA and to Sportsman's Guide. Most of my scopes came from MidwayUSA, two Nikon's and three Simmons. Midway has sales from time to time and offers good prices on scopes. Sportsman's Guide also has offerings that might be good. I bought a Pentax from them that still needs a rifle. Most of the ideas in other, much older posts in this forum are fairly timeless, worth checking out.

The first thing is to have the serial numbers and descriptions of weapons after a loss. I had a house robbery several years back, lost a gun. The only record I had was that the box the gun came in (a revolver) was still available to me. The serial number of the gun was printed on the box. A year and a half later I was notified that another county had recovered the gun during a car search and that I should go there and recover it. So I did get my revolver back. Since then I have a file of serial number and description of every gun tucked away and a duplicate copy/file with another family member in another, distant, place. I have also obtained more secure storage units for my guns. There is nothing quite like a near miss to get one's attention.

I do not know what to think about the delays in getting merchandise from MidwayUSA. I ordered ammo on the 13Th, somewhere in the pre-dawn via computer link. The stuff arrived on my front porch via UPS Ground in the middle of the day today, the 15Th. They have spoiled me for when I really have to wait for merchandise from just about every other vendor. This German made ammo is quite different. My caliper battery is dead so I am unable to measure accurately. I am just eyeballing with a ruler. OAL appears to be at least .100 shorter than the 2.800 OAL HP handloads I am comparing them to, and about .050 shorter than the Hornady factory Superformance rounds. The RWS UNI bullets have a thicker nose section and a less tapered ogive than the others. The point is rounded but not quite like a 'round nose' bullet and is lead back for .012 - .015 from the tip. At about .440 from the tip the jacket has a raised square rim like a SWC, easily visible but raised only a couple of thousandths above the ogive. The raised part continues back to the cannelure at the case rim and appears to be a straight sided cylinder shape. The jacket is nickel plated, bright silver color. The base of the bullet is a cone according to a little picture on the box and if the picture is accurate the cone has a 90 degree point facing out/rearward. This cone is called a 'torpedo shape tail.' The bullet has a dual core, softer forward and harder in the back. MidwayUSA said the cases are reloadable and the information on the boxes seems to indicate Boxer priming. The European terminology is new to me. Noncorrosive/no mercury priming chemistry is specified. A ballistics table on the box for a 23.5 inch barrel says: 2560 fps & 2619 ft.lbs at the muzzle; 2315 fps & 2142 ft.lbs at 100 yds; 2085 fps & 1737 ft.lbs at 200 yds; 1867 fps & 1393 ft.lbs at 300 yds. Point of aim 100 yds, drop 4.5 inches at 200 yds, 17.1 inches at 300 yds. With a point of aim at 176 yds the max rise at 100 yds is 1.6 inches; the drop at 200 yds is 1.4 inches; and the drop at 250 yds is 5.7 inches. A graph shows that this bullet is intended to have its best terminal performance at 176 yards, plus or minus a rather narrow variation that could be perhaps 125 yds out to just beyond 200 yards. Up closer it would be likely to make a neat hole through the target game and out farther might not perform well. It is not a significant consideration for me so long as it makes holes in those paper targets. I hope it feeds well in the DPMS. If not, I have no doubt it will do well in the bolt guns.

Yesterday, MidwayUSA opened a sale on RWS UNI 308 Winchester ammo. 180 gr lead nose, "torpedo tail" -- whatever that is? It says 'reloadable brass.' The list price on this European made ammo is given at $47.+ per box of 20. For the sale, it is $19.99. I am mentioning it in case you do not get a 'flier' in your inbox. (I have already ordered as much as I think I can afford). This message needs be deleted in a few days----- ? Old, outdated by then.