StarWolf

I have had some 308 dot com page(s) bookmarked through a couple computers and somewhere between 6 and 8 years. Some time in between the first and second .308 AR I was building I did a search on receiver set and parts compatibility. 308 dot com had a page that covered a lot of the differences between the Armalite pattern receivers and the DPMS pattern and I seem to recall a page that went into the Mega MATEN in detail. I think a lot of those pages changed as different products changed or went out of production but there's always been some extremely good info on the site. I had occasionally ventured into the forum when a search engine pinged on a thread but other than lurking a bit didn't tend to dig into the forum too much. 98Z5V's avatar and comments were quite prominent on the threads I did check out. Earlier this year the member's only old pharts board I've belonged to for the past couple decades or so appears to have died. A friend was having some issues with his rifle and I ended up checking out threads here for info and decided to finally sign up. Over the past couple of weeks or so yet another gun board I belong to has apparently been dropped by the hosting agency, assuming the owner didn't kick the bucket or miss his payment. It's been marked 'suspended' and I assume it's more of the same libratarded woke blame everyone but the criminal crap but can't be certain. So I'll probably hang around a bit more often and post a lot of firearm related stuff that ranges from 308 ARs, small frame ARs, mil-style/mil-surp, lever actions, 1911s plus other handguns, 22LRs, reloading and whatnot. The other major board I belong to is a bit narrow focused and hides any and all general content behind a pay wall. This place seems to have a better mix of the prime focus of the board plus other firearm content and general non-firearm discussion.

Another option without the mint is upholstery thread. I've used it to hand stitch new straps, made from 1" mil spec web, on pads and new industrial Velcro on the straps for mountain bike leg armor. I've also used it to make new tire tie down straps for bike racks. It holds up forever.

Haven't been listening to Kpop much. Miss A comes to mind though, even if it's a little older. Then there's Night Club Night Club - "She Wants To Play With Fire" (Official Video) Night Club - "Schizophrenic" (Official Video)

Forget the costumes and listen... Something new BAND-MAID / from now on (Official Music Video) Something a bit older BAND-MAID / Thrill (スリル) (Official Music Video) BAND-MAID / DICE (Official Music Video) BAND-MAID / Choose me (Official Music Video)

Good to see 1950s Cowboy music coming back in style...

Looks like I can get barrels from: Lone Wolf (if they come back in stock) ~$135 each, nitride finish for slide length, stainless for extended extra length. KKM Precision stainless only ~$185. Bar Sto (if they'll do a custom length longer than they list on their website) ~$250. Glock, for the 10mm barrel, maybe for a .45 ACP barrel ~$175. No name ebay offers from unknown manufacturers of uncertain quality. I'm leaning toward KKM, especially for the .45 ACP.

I wound up going with the MGW Sight Pro. The Wheeler seems decent but the MGW with a shoe should be a bit less likely to have issues. The MGW without a shoe should be about the same as the Wheeler. So if you have a shoe it's a bonus and if you don't you shouldn't be any worse off. I got the Sight Pro on sale so it wasn't too bad but if you find the Wheeler on sale it can be downright inexpensive. I doubt I'll play 'collect them all' with the shoes since there's about 65 of them or so and at least a couple three are for guns I doubt I'll ever see in the wild much less need to knock sights off or on the gun. ^^^ THIS ^^^ along with my friends and family member's guns. Who knows I might retire to standing behind a bench in a gunshop doing armory type stuff.

I was getting buzz off the boards when I looked into the cartridge that either of those would be a better pressure profile for the barrel than the Yeti. I've already got several big bores: .357 Mag 92 Rossi lever .44 Mag Winchester and Rossi levers .444 Marlin lever .45-70 Winchester and Marlin levers .50 Beowulf (12.7x42) ARs .300 Win Mag BAR. Not exactly a big bore BUT a big thumper. I don't really need a .35 or a .338 rifle. But they might be fun.

If I recall what I've read correctly the CZ-97 and the EAA Witness large frame magazines were designed to be compatible between the two during the design and specification process in an agreement between the two companies. At least initially the CZ-97 mags came with a metal floor plate. The CZ-97 mags were produced by Mec-Gar and were only available through CZ at least initially. The CZ packaging and maybe the mags were clearly marked Mec-Gar. The EAA mags I've seen and the more recent CZ mags have a plastic floorplate. Taurus 92 mags and Beretta 92 mags won't usually exchange as built but the magazine catch notches can be altered to work. Sig P238 mags and Springfield 911 .380 Auto mags are interchangeable.

Good thing I wasn't watching this in early 2019. I've been semi resistant to the caliber of the month club. For years I was a .30-06 Springfield, .30-30 Winchester, 12g, .45 ACP and .22LR guy. Somehow over the years I've wound up with firearms in another 20 cartridge calibers. So far, I've avoided .450 Bushmaster, 6.8 SPC, 458 SOCOM, .350 Legend, 7mm Rem, ALL the Winchester Short Magnums, ALL the Remington Ultra Magnums, .338 Federal, ALL the Weatherby Magnums, .45-70 AUTO, .500 S&W. This would have been tempting but after some research I think I'm resistant. Did any of you guys finish one of these?

I own two. The first one was a Springfield Loaded (Reloaded) with the SS medium barrel and issued without the bayonet lug. It wears a Faijen black on black stock with a Sadlak steel airborn optic mount. The optic is a Nitrex by Weaver 3-15 I think on Burris rings. The second was a very lightly used standard Springfield with a composite stock. It came with the CA legal comp on it. I had a spare walnut one or two and swapped the composite one off the rifle for one of the Walnut ones. Still have the composite. Both of them are much better with 165 grain or 175 grain ammo than mil-spec ball at 145-147 grains.

Aero's mount is super light. It can be a bit of a pain to get adjusted as the clamshell sort of single side fastener around the scope tube lends itself to the scope rotating slightly as the mount is tightened up around the tube. The fiddle factor can be annoying. I don't think they use helicoils for the fastener threads in the mount and I'm not a fan of direct threading into aluminum. I have one or two of them. For a cheap set and forget mount that you are not going to expect to abuse or change the optic out they can work. If you expect it to survive dropping the firearm on it by accident or you plan on switching the optic a few times I'd upgrade. American Defense mounts are pretty solid. Several of them were mil qualified and have NSN numbers. I haven't kept up with them the past few years however. I have a tendency to drop back on Warne QD rings as a balance between weight and cost. I've got them in different heights on everything from Savage bolt guns to small and large frame ARs. They aren't the lightest solution but so far no issues with them and they usually run between $65 and $108 depending on the tube size, ring height and how many folks are mass mounting scopes. On a bolt gun I tend to pair them with a one piece rail from precision reflex or EGW. I picked up one of the new Midwest mounts at the end of last year that I'm looking to use for my next .308 AR build. I haven't lined up the optic yet. The LaRue mount keeps tempting me but I haven't bit on it yet.

It's a Gen 3, all us peon civilians are allowed in CA, at least for now.

Glock accessory, expansion and upgrade parts...

Nerding out... It isn't a striker fired pistol. It's an internal hammer fired pistol. It has a traditional firing pin rather than a spring loaded striker. I love .22 LRs and .22 LR semi handguns in particular. My first MKII looks just like the above in blued steel. It was a 6&7/8ths bull barreled MKII Government Target model with the air gauged barrel. Mine wears a set of Pachmayer grips without the backstrap panel. It was my second pistol and I purchased it at a shop on Buford Hwy in the Atlanta area and had to go to a branch of the store in Tucker to pick it up. Like yours mine has seen countless bricks of ammo. Sportsman's Authority used to sell Remington Vipers cheaper than cheap by the brick. I'd buy a box of 45 ACP for the 1911 Army (my first pistol) and a brick of .22 LR for the MKII Govt. My second MKII was a standard a couple decades later and my third MKII not long after the standard was a Target with the tapered 6&7/8" barrel. The standard is maybe a little picky but both of the Target guns are exceedingly reliable and not at all ammo sensitive. I always wanted one of the stainless slab sided models and I had two friends with them but I haven't been able to acquire one.

I have a friend who bought one in the black cerakote. He seems to like it although I have not shot it and have not been out to the range while he's had the gun with him. His wife did comment 'cowboy guns were SLOW'. I have two single six revolvers. 1 'blued' bought used and it came with the .22 WMR cylinder only. 1 SS purchased new right before the lockdown with both cylinders. I'm pretty sure either would beat that target. I also have a 6" Stoger SS Luger. It is a safe queen as it's never been very reliable. I had a 'smith' look it over and attempt to make it reliable. As near as I can tell he mostly bent the mag feed lips and dremeled the internals to round off most of the edges and without making it any more reliable.

I'd like to have one of the Springfields. I've got a MKIII Practical BHP with Spegel cocobolo grips and a MKII that was chromed by someone and later gifted to me. I rebuilt the action with a cylinder and slide hammer and sear kit, a MKIII ambi safety, a complete Wolff spring kit, Ahrends grips and a Pachmyer slide stop. As I received the gun it had an aftermarket chrome safety and slide stop, a set of rubber scales and if you pulled the trigger while the safety was on and then took the safety off the hammer would fall to half cock. The mag safety was not present when I received it and I have not replaced it.

Any suggestions or preferences for aftermarket Glock barrels? Yeah, I know but I've got a reason, or three...

6.5 Grendel ammo was still $35+ per box of Hornady Black last time I found a couple boxes. They only had two. I did pick them up. I owed a friend: I gave him a barrel and upper in the caliber.

My PA-10 Palmetto pivot and takedown pins were the same diameter and interchangeable with those from DPMS, Matrix and Aero Precision, although the lengths did vary a little. The ends of the PA pins were flush with the receiver instead of sticking out past the receiver a little. That made the PA a bit of a pain to disassemble as it was harder to get them started. Aero uses a extra long mag catch button. IF I recall correctly that button wasn't compatible with one of the other receivers I built. I use that button on most of my .308s. I don't recall if it was the PA-10 or the Mega MATEN that the button didn't work with...

I moved to CA a year or two before they passed the Kali-ban and the mag limitations. CA is the definition of incrementalism or moving the goal posts or death of a thousand cuts or creeping communism or whatever else you want to call it. When the mag ban was passed there was a period before it went into effect. The Fed importation and manufacture ban was already in place but just like when that was voted in everyone bought everything they could get their hands on before it went into effect. You were supposed to be grandfathered. Most folks who couldn't find or afford the guns they wanted just bought the mags. THEN CA decided that unless you owned the gun with the mags as a pre-ban package you weren't allowed to put the high cap mag in the post ban firearm. Apparently this applied to handguns and not non-assault weapon longarms for at least a while. THEN they decided grandfathered or not your property was contraban and subject to seizure by the authorities. They've spent just about 25 years fighting to kill the 2nd amendment in California and when they are told they screwed up there's no consequence so they literally pass the same exact unconstitutional crap over and over and judge shop for the illiterate or dishonest fellow travelers on the bench to confirm their wish lists.

Kimber's got a chunk of my dough as well, but not on double stacks. I've got a Para Ord P14-45 when they changed over from their early limited production tricked out guns to the production ones. I think it was Limited to Signature but mine still had mostly Limited parts before the somewhat more clunky sights. Extended ambi safety, match ramped barrel/fitted bushing, front serrations, BoMar style rear sight, dovetailed front sight, extended beavertail w/speedbump, flat mainspring housing, flared and lowered ejection port, long (plastic) trigger w/ overtravel adjustment. Basically all the stuff that Kimber started doing around the same time and while Springfield was still sending out guns without the extractors tensioned or any real deburring. When Remington was blowing out the Paras I got another P14-45 for my father. I think they were calling them 'Elite' at the time. Decent but not quite as nice as the one I got back in the day. More recently picked up one of the Armscor/Rock Island double stacks that takes the same mags. No bells and whistles but it seems to work. Took a chance on a P12-45 a few years ago and it seems ok although I'm not wild about the Colt reverse plug system. Always sort of wanted to get or to put together a P16-10. I LIKE the flat mainspring housing and the long trigger on a single stack 1911. Works ok on the double stack as well. The large frame Glocks are pushing my limit. The SF short frame helps that but they are still a little thick compared to the Para or even the CZ-97.

Another note on reloading. I heard one of the ammo or reloading companies did a survey of reloaders regarding how many times they would reuse brass. Apparently they assumed folks would keep track and ditch the brass after several reloads. There are a few reloaders who do that but.. there are far more who will reload the brass as many times as they can until and unless it is beyond obvious that the brass is done. We are talking reload it until the case head separates, until the case mount cracks, until a bullet in the case will fall out while trying to load it or until there's a pinhole in the case wall plasma cutting the firearm chamber. IMO there's a LOT of guys out there using those pass through dies to iron out pregnant brass cases. I have found I'm not able to keep track of the number of times a case is fired from a semi auto. I have also found it generally isn't worth it trying to track handgun cycles. I have a few inspection techniques for rifle brass to avoid potential failure. I'm pretty particular about my reloading. I have been avoiding most commercial reloads for decades. Too many impacted bullets, too many light loads, too many beat up rims that barely fit in a magazine and don't fit in a shell holder. After one box of 45 ammo from those guys in FL I pretty much gave up commercial reloads as a bad deal.

My two cents from what I've encountered and read over the years: In an attempt to increase feeding reliability Glock had a more 'agressive' feed ramp into the chamber. Most semi auto handguns have some amount of this and it's one of the reasons why brass cases thicken up toward the base. Glock exaggerated it about as much as they could get away with. The assumption being that the military does NOT use reloaded ammunition. First run brass is therefore more robust and will tend to hold up to the somewhat generous chamber dimensions and ramp cut away of the chamber that Glock chose to use. Essentially Glock optimized for his first contract and had little to no insight as to the American shooting market and especially the reloading market. Glock chambers often result in brass stretching into the feed ramp area. Such brass should not be reused as resizing it does NOT put the strength back into that area although it may iron the bulge out. Fast forward to the 40 S&W, Glock did more or less the same chamber cuts on this high pressure round. About the same time Federal put out some cases that were NOT reinforced as much around the case head. In addition there appears to have been a situation with PMC and maybe other factory ammo where the variation of powder loaded in the cases may have exceeded spec. There was a rash of brass failures from the Fed brass, some factory overloads, and some factory remanufactured ammo was not up to spec in several calibers (in particular a company based in FL that is no longer in operation) and some firearms (and possibly hands) were damaged as a result. Another couple potential factors in some of the KBs are: 1. That the polygonal rifeling use by Glock does not tolerate lead bullets well. There were reports that lead bullets may leave residue in the Glock barrels and that could result in pressure rise rather rapidly. (This can happen in ANY barrel and I've seen customers come in with barrels that were leaded to the point you wonder why they didn't blow up and some that did.) 2. Bullet setback from the bullet nose impacting the feed ramp during the loading cycle or improper neck tension of the brass will also cause a pressure rise. Either of these combined with the less supported chamber could result in brass failure. Glock has supposedly tightened up their chamber specs at least somewhat and don't use quite as open feed ramp as they started out with. They have also become VERY specific about their reload warnings and their lead bullet warnings. Glock has further recommended that factory new ammunition be chambered no more than two times before being fired. IF the same round is loaded and unloaded twice without firing Glock specifies it be discarded. Federal has revamped their 40 brass. PMC has supposedly invested in high speed precision weighing machinery that checks each charge. Most folks recommend that you change out your barrel to an aftermarket one with traditional rifeling if you are going to shoot lead out of it. Some recommend the practice for any reloads. Lee manufactures a 'bulge buster kit' Redding has a similar pass through die. Both of these are designed to return the case to spec dimensions even near the head. There's a lot of reloaders out there using them to iron out the obviously bulged brass that comes from some of the Glock handguns. Trying to save a penny they are courting a case failure and possibly a blown up gun.

I realize this is an old thread. I built my semi AK here in CA using a brand new Polish parts kit, a Nodak Spud's finished receiver and enough 922r parts to be legal regardless of the magazine installed. Went with a ALG AK trigger group. Had the barrel headspaced by the vendor. If I recall correctly: had to press the barrel out, set the trunnion rivets and then press and pin the barrel back in place. The gun was initially assembled as a type I bullet button gun and then later converted to a featureless build with a Monsterman grip when CA started talking about banning the type I buttons. IF I had it to do over again I'd have prepped the receiver to take the rivets a little better. That said the build is solid