Matt.Cross

I always got the impression (based on feedback) that the SCAR was an expensive piece of junk, makes me wonder if we simply needed a more affordable piece of junk, and why?

You gotta see this! https://youtu.be/r2ZcMuRc9IM?si=FU-WMHLhq6KfnYja

Thanks for the added photos Randy, those are great!

Ok, this post will be edited for detail on an ongoing basis but here's the outline: No sleep after coming home from work Tuesday night, have to pack and assemble gear, lighten the Pelican case and include the O/U shotgun in the mix. Early Wednesday, head to the airport, arrive at 4am. Wait forever for the gate agents in a line of about 80 people, finally get the toys checked in, no TSA fun, straight to the plane for luggage & me, we're off on the right foot! Arrive in Phoenix and picked up at the airport by the shadiest looking group of folks I've ever seen in my life, know as Matt, Mike, and Eric to the rest of you. Stop in at Scheel's for ammo supplies, and off to the Casa de Ruchong to behold the wonder of the world's most densely populated reloading room. Meet Rex and newcomer son-of-Rex aka Randy, hang out shooting the breeze, getting acquainted, prepping gear, and getting used to all this being vastly different from prior years. Get settled in for the night in the camper, this is going to be home away from home at the SDTF, and it's going great so far. Thursday, up and at 'em bright and early. Join the fellas for a light breakfast and start loading gear up for transport. Final prep and gear and transportation checks are completed and we roll towards the SDTF, arriving around noon and getting camp set up in short order. Most of the near distance targets get set up and the firing line put in place, gear unloaded and staged in/near the firing line. A bit of shooting and settling into camp rounds out the day. Doc and Susan fed us excellent smoked pulled pork for supper, we hung out, ate like kings and watched the sun set. Friday brings the distance shooting into play, the 1 mile is shot with boring regularity by the usual suspects, but Joy and myself also get in on the fun by shooting the mile with our personal 6.5 Creedmore rifles. Thanks to Mike's excellent spotting skills, I got my hit on my 7th shot. The Tikka has shot and hit the mile now, so I'm thinking taking on the bolt gun experiment was worth it. Then the mile target gets moved to 2k, just to make it interesting, and pretty much everyone except me gets hits on it. I still blame my spotter, but I'm not going to say anything, 'cause he's a great host and an overall nice guy. Friday night Tom and company prepared us a delicious SDTF Thanksgiving supper, and as can always be expected of Tom's culinary handiwork, it both met and exceeded course standards. Turkey, dressing, potatoes & gravy, cranberry sauce, all the good stuff was there and was absolutely delicious. Food paralysis followed shortly thereafter, with records being set for early bedtimes on a Fall Shoot. We're getting old, no doubt about it. Saturday brought a new distance challenge, meet or exceed the 2200 yard mark to validate the theme of Doc's coozies: "Fall Shoot 2024, 2200 yards or bust" - So Matt moved a target out from the 2000 yard mark out to 2280. Five of us hiked up the ridge to the shooting platform, and all five scored hits at 2280 for the first time. Congratulations to Joy, Matt, Mike,Eric, and myself for validating the coozies. 2k got busted with surprising ease. Saturday night was Kelly's turn to cook, and we had some of the best tacos I've ever eaten in my life, followed by easily the best cheesecake I ever had in my life. Everyone hung out by the fire and enjoyed the full moon well into the night, and we got a surprise visit from Jen, KJ, and their friends Christiana and Andrea, which was absolutely a highlight of the trip. Sunday morning we had breakfast, wrapped up the shooting, cleaned up camp, and said our goodbyes. Then we hit the road back to Casa de Ruchong, unloaded the gear, and spent some time breaking clays together with Matt at the impressive Ben Avery facilities. Back to the Casa to dine on steak and salad, and then off to the airport for a redeye home!

In short, a reduction in the rate of wear imparted by friction to your upper receiver. You've got an aluminum upper and a steel BCG, in terms of hardness and surface finish alone, those two are vastly different and the aluminum will be the one that 'gives' first and foremost. Anything that can be done metallurgically to reduce the friction component will drastically reduce the wear factor for your receiver, which will in turn mean better accuracy and reliability.

... and then perforate the taint! Enjoy.

You're welcome. Share what you come up with, it'll be interesting for aure.

Not buffer springs specifically, but I found this: https://www.engineersedge.com/spring_menu.shtml

Pneumatics were a big comic theme for the weekend, but there were several off the cuff comments that got me rolling laughing too. The Eye Doc and his rapier wit were sorely missed. Nobody can crack me up quicker than the Doc!

🤣

One of my favorite moments from the weekend: *Me with a wink behind Tom's back* "Hey, I just thought of a great idea for a bipod!" *Eric, grinning...* "Oh yeah, what's that?" *Me* " A pneumatic bipod, with remote adjustment valves." *some troll discussion follows, edited for brevity* *Tom* "WHY DO YOU WANT TO COMPLICATE SHIT WITH COMPLICATED SHIT?!!! WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU BLOW A SEAL?!!!" *Me* "You get a mouthful of seal cum...." ... and Eric and I proceed to laugh ourselves sick.

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Dear Diary: I wanna go home, the food here is awful! That is all. Matt

Done.

I've never seen Tom so happy, he was swinging his pickaxe and singing something about born a coal miner's daughter. It was a beautiful sight to behold. 😂

#metoo

Jokes on you. I look nothing like that guy. 😉

Oh, I freely admit that you occasionally give really useful and succinct feedback, gems like: "You missed. Try harder!" *laughing* or "You scared him!" or "Go half a hectare left and up by .100 fathoms."

"Hillbilly, make sure the hole in the pointy end faces THAT direction."

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my fine brethren here!

I liked it too. That was some hellacious wind that day...

In my experience, the combination of consistency and good accuracy is the result of finding the loads or commercial ammo that your barrel uniquely prefers. So we're on the same page in terms of definition, here's how I break down consistency and accuracy: Consistency = whether or not my group centered around my POA every time, Accuracy = How tightly spaced that group can be expected to be when I have done everything correctly. Reputable barrels are almost never inconsistent nor inaccurate by virtue of design or manufacture, but even reputable barrels are subject to be preferential when it comes to the particular load or factory ammunition that will perform to the same standard as the shooter.

Are you familiar with the now infamous "Waterboarding Threads" here on the forum? I'm assuming you have, but you know how assuming works, or doesn't...

Then by all means go check out Ballistic Advantage as well, they make superb barrels.