Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.

Topics - drck1000

Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5 ... 17
41
Some light hearted reading.  Reminded me of "Superman vs Mighty Mouse" from Stand By Me.   ;D

Quote
Two days before the release of 2021’s most highly anticipated grudge match, Godzilla vs. King Kong, there’s a much smaller battle taking place across my screen. Nathaniel J. Dominy and Ryan Calsbeek share much in common—they’re colleagues, scientists, Dartmouth professors—but their areas of expertise weren’t an existential threat to their friendship until recently. One of them (Nathaniel) studies primates, the other (Ryan) reptiles and amphibians.


In 2019 over coffee, the two professors forged a bond when they realized they could write a paper examining Godzilla’s evolutionary growth in cinema dating back to the 1954 original. They each grew up with the original versions of the characters. Ryan watched the black-and-white Godzilla movies as a kid on Saturdays, while Nathaniel saw them as a teenager while watching Mystery Science Theater 3000. But there’s a difference between collaborating on a piece solely about Godzilla and weighing in on a battle royale between lizards and apes. So when the two logged onto Zoom, a conversation ostensibly about using science to settle a decades-long debate quickly became a way for each to hash out their relationships with the iconic monsters.

Nathaniel and Ryan looked at three main areas that would impact a fight between Godzilla and Kong: anatomy, geography, and intelligence. (Previous matchups between the two titans were used as evidence since the latest movie wasn’t yet released during the time of the interview.) We’ll try our best to avoid spoilers, at least until the end.

https://www.theringer.com/movies/2021/4/5/22367270/godzilla-vs-kong-scientists-paleontologists?utm_source=pocket-newtab

42
Reloading / My 9 mm Reloading Thread (and eventually .357 and .41 Mag)
« on: April 06, 2021, 09:44:13 AM »
Gearing up for starting to reload for 9 mm, so consolidating my thoughts, experiences, and questions. 

My goal is primarily for reliable functioning in my guns.  Preferably as close to 115 gr factory ammo since that is what I typically shoot for training, competition, etc.  But not a need.  I'm thinking that I will likely need to keep things a little lower at first, which is fine.  I have a chronograph that I think can be used for handguns, but I wasn't really planning on it.  How have you gone about trying to replicate a specific loading?  Not looking to get "poof poof" ammo.

Will be using a Dillon setup that one of my buddies who has been reloading handgun for years has.  His handgun reloading needs are similar to mine, so that will help.  I think he said he typically finds a load that functions and is a certain percentage (I don't remember how much lower) lower than the max published load data.  That sounds good to me, but I am down to do some testing to get closer to factory load. 
43
Political Discussion / Huntah Biden :facepalm:
« on: April 05, 2021, 02:00:41 PM »
Hunter Biden admits he used to smoke parmesan cheese because it resembled crack

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hunter-biden-smoke-parmesan-cheese-resembled-crack

Hunter Biden says he probably smoked ‘parmesan cheese’ digging for crack in carpets

https://nypost.com/2021/04/04/hunter-biden-says-he-used-to-look-for-crack-in-carpets/
44
Starting an "Eh, you get extra" thread to facilitate members sharing and paying it forward with other members in need. 

A bunch of us have bins/boxes with spare parts, mostly take offs, or gear that we don't use.  I know I have quite a bit. 

I've been blessed to have gotten to know many on here who have supported my renewed shooting interests, so I want to give back.  Taking an opportunity to share some stuff that I have that I think could help other 2a folks.  No rules or strings attached, just sharing some "2aHawaii Aloha".  I just ask that folks participate and support where they can. 

I'll start with:
1) Rem 700 Hogue stock and other parts.  Everything from a Rem 700 SPS except for the action and barrel.  I have the trigger, but won't offer that up since it was part of the Remington trigger recall.
2) AR15 take off parts.  I'll have to check what I have, but stuff like A2 flash hiders, grips, charging handle, etc.
3) AR15 cleaning kit.  Someone gave it to me when I bought my first AR, but never used it.  I would have to check what's even in the kit.

I'll post more eventually, but just wanted to list some things to get it started.   :shaka:

MODs - Please move if you think this should be in the Classifieds instead.
45
Dan Crenshaw and Henry Cuellar introduced The ATF Accountability Act of 2021 to create a transparent appeals process within the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).  Saw it on a number of SM pages of "gun guys".  MAC and others.  Nothing on other searches. . .
46
Reloading / Forster Co-Ax Press - Anyone have/use?
« on: February 02, 2021, 08:20:57 AM »
Anyone use the Forster Co-Ax press?  That's the leader (at least right now) for a press for reloading for precision rifle.

At my buddy's shop, he already has a Dillon (I think 550, but maybe one up) that we have been using to reload for rifle, along with an RCBS single stage press.  We can use the Dillon for more high production reloading, like 9 mm, so have that aspect covered.  I considered turret presses, but the Forster seems to add the flexibility while maintaining the "better" alignment for precision rifle.  Don't have personal experience with it, nor any of my shooting friends, so the "better" is in quotes. 

Seems like the Forster is a good all around press.  It will likely be used primarily for sizing and seating boolits.  Most of the other operations will be done on the other presses (decapping, primer seating).  If I ever move the press into my own reloading room, I'll still be able to use it for all of the steps. 
47
Now that I've started down the rabbit hole of reloading for precision rifle, starting a thread to document/share my experiences.  Hopefully more successes than failures, but all good data.  I've found it helps to be able to go back and read experiences at the start of going down a path with shooting (training, LPVO, handgun sights and red dot, etc).  Appreciate help and advice moving forward, as well as hope to just have fun with getting into reloading. 
48
Off Topic / 2a Friendly or Anti Companies
« on: January 08, 2021, 10:11:51 AM »
What are some 2a friendly or anti companies that you patronize or avoid?

I've been seeing a lot more companies be more vocal with their view online.  A few that I've been a customer for years.  My money talks and will walk in a heartbeat.

Some companies catch flak along the way for some leans, but some are blatantly anti 2a.  Trying to keep this mostly based on 2a and gear quality, not really on politics.  Though I understand that may be difficult to keep separate. 
49
Firearms and Accessories / Bolt Action Rifle Update - Sharing Experience
« on: January 07, 2021, 10:41:40 AM »
Getting back to what I truly enjoy and what led me to this forum, which is shooting.  Both enjoying shooting, sharing experience, helping new shooters, and getting to know like minded folks. 

I have recently gotten back into shooting my Rem 700 .308.  I bought this rifle many years ago with the intention of eventually updating.  When I bought the rifle, I envisioned an aftermarket stock and cerakote.  Remington's blued finish is ABSOLUTE CRAP!!!  To the point where I would shoot the gun one afternoon and case it up.  Then when shooting the next day (not even 24 hours later), there would be a sheen of rust.  I mean it was easy to wipe off, but that's crap. 

The original gun is a Remington 700 SPS Tactical AAC-SD with a Vortex Viper PST 4-16.  I chose .308 because it was a popular/common caliber that was readily available commercially.  I had "visions" of eventually getting into reloading.  I enjoy shooting steel in general, so when the steel got taken down at KHSC I lost motivation to shoot the 700, as well as a lull in my shooting in general.  Anyways, I have the bug again and have picked up the update. 

As I've gotten back into shooting the 700 and started reloading, I've received a lot of feedback from folks on the forum and friends, as well as on the internet.  I've found that like many things in life, context is key when receiving feedback.  From folks that hunt, to are interested in stuff like PRS style/level shooting, and F-Class and benchrest folks.  I'm somewhere in the middle.   I mostly just want to improve on the stock gun and goal is better results than commercial match ammo.  Not expecting to get into the 0.25 MOA average level, but of course want to get the best I can out of the gun, ammo, and my shooting ability.

Cutting to the chase, here's where the gun is at now:
- Cerakoted barrel, action, and bolt (with larger bolt knob)
- American Precision Arms Little Bastard brake, turned down to match the barrel OD
- MPA Competition chassis with side folder
- Nightforce ATACR with MIL-XT reticle with Spuhr mount and Seekins base
- Geissele Rem 700 Super trigger (likely going to change out soon)
- Atlas BT65 bipod

When the work was done to cerakote and install the brake was done, since the barrel and action had to be taken apart, I had the gunsmith perform some "cleaning up" of the action, chamber, and crown. 

Pause here. . . why not just go with a custom action and barrel?  Yup, I would have if it wasn't for a few things.  I wasn't expecting to go that far with the updates and I wanted to get the gun back shooting soonest.  The actions I was looking at were pretty long lead times.  Add to that the registration "situation".  Current plan is to shoot this action/barrel a lot and see how the reloading goes and then decide where to go from there. 

I got the gun back end of Dec and was able to fit in a range day to zero the gun and a "fun" range day.  Zeroing on the first range day was pretty quick.  I think I took about 3 rounds to get pretty close.  I have a useful reference point on a building next door that allowed a pretty good boresight at about 125 yards.  Wish I had done that on previous rifles.  I was able to shoot a few 5 shot groups that first range day and was pleased with the results with factory ammo.

Then on the "fun" range day, I was able to get pretty good chrono data for the FGMM.  Good to set a baseline for many things moving forward, both for shooting the gun in longer ranges and reloading.  With the chrono data and ballistic app, I was able to get decent first round hits on steel in the 300 yard to mid 400 yard range, so I was quite happy.  By decent, I mean with help from "a friend" on the wind call, first round hits on steel near the center of the plate.  The group had a laugh when I had the first round hit on the first target and I was like "I hope that wasn't a one hit wonder"  ;D

So now that I'm somewhat comfortable with the gun setup, focus is shifting to reloading.  I have 100 rounds loaded up from my first batch of loading.  I have decided to go a different route with the load development, but it will be interesting to shoot the rounds that I have loaded up. 

It's been a fun process so far.  Learning a lot and have had a few mistakes in ordering components that weren't "quite right".  I think I've gotten past that with the gun, but will likely have more of that with the reloading components.  As I've mention in other threads, I like to try different things and see for myself.  I've gone through the growing pains with handguns and ARs, and starting down that road now with bolt action rifles.  A bit of bad timing as many of the reloading components are tougher to come by. 

Haven't been this excited about shooting in a while.  Just wish we had more diverse ranges to shoot at.  This might make me look into joining SRGC again.  Will see. . .
50
Reloading / 30-06 Reloading - Share Experiences
« on: January 07, 2021, 09:56:42 AM »
I want to eventually start reloading for my 1903 and Garand.  Mostly for the Garand since I have a difficult time finding and acquiring commercial ammo to shoot through it.  I enjoy both rifles that were handed down to me from my dad, so there's that.  I also want to add a little bit more diversity in what I shoot, due to current ammo situation and other likely pending shenanigans, but I digress. . .

I have accumulated some components that I could start loading for 30-06 since much of what I bought for .308 can be used.  I don't have much brass, but I have a bit of commercial ammo to shoot.  I have a bunch of 168 gr heads that I'm already thinking I either won't use for .308 or would be much lower on the list behind other heads.  Powder, I have some. 

I recall reading somewhere that Garands beat up brass.  I thought they were loaded lighter.  I was thinking I'd probably start with shooting in 1903 and start reloading for the 1903 before going to the Garand.  I'm thinking somewhere like 20-40 rounds per range day, so not much. 

Anyways, what are some of your favorite 30-06 loads?  Particularly for Garand. 

Disclaimer coverage: I acknowledge that what works for what folks post is safe in their firearms.  That I need to workup a safe load for myself. 

51
Off Topic / Small Business COVID Casualties
« on: December 30, 2020, 11:15:44 AM »
Saw, or noticed, today a couple of small businesses that I’ve been going to for years are closing down, or have closed recently.

First is Wally Ho’s. Convenient place to get safety check and good lunch spot. Restaurant closes today and garage goes for a little while more.

Second is a seafood shop in Chinatown that I go to every so often, but have been doing so for years. Sign on the awning is still up, but doors chained up and looked like they haven’t been open for a while.

One that closed a while ago was Likelike Drive Inn. Visited there often for brunch on my days off and occasionally after a night of drinking.

I think Char Hun Sut is listed as “closed temporarily”.  Ventured into Chinatown this morning and noticed many open shop space and vendor stalls in the markets.

I think many new small businesses will eventually take their place, but also wondering when folks will take the chance. I think many small businesses were hanging on and almost looking for a reason to call it quits. Recent events put them over the edge.

What are some small businesses that were faves of yours that have closed in the last year?
52
Off Topic / New Years Food Traditions or Faves - Discuss
« on: December 29, 2020, 08:52:13 PM »
Growing up it was all the pupus my mom made since party on New Year’s Day was at our house. I got to sample. Miss those times...

As adults, ozoni on New Year’s Day is still tradition. Just changed who makes it.

Lately, king crab legs and sashimi are the usuals.

What are your New Years food traditions and faves.
53
Reloading / Seating Depth - Discuss
« on: December 12, 2020, 02:19:26 PM »
Have you tested different seating depths?  If yes, what range or starting point did you choose?

This is far off for me, but something that I am considering doing eventually.  My buddy is probably going to start this soon as he is in his final stages of settling on his .308 recipe for powder and weight with bullet.

Understand that the starting point is unique to the gun, but some chambers are more generous than others.  After loading up my first .308 test batches last night, it would be a PITA to vary the seating depth the the dies that he has.  We can get the dies tailored for that application, but just something I observed. 

I've read many folks vary seating depths in the 0.003-0.005" increments.  I'd have to look up my notes, but I think I got the decimal place right.  :facepalm:

54
Off Topic / Knife Sharpening & Maintenance - Stropping - Discuss
« on: December 12, 2020, 10:55:58 AM »
Do you strop your knives to maintain?  Or to finish your sharpening session?

I have been getting into stropping more lately, especially with my EDC knives (which are mostly used for box opening and breaking down).  With the newer supersteels (M390, S30/S35, etc), I've found that stropping can help extend the time between when I sharpen with stones.  Similar with kitchen knives.  It's a fast and convenient way to maintain knives when I am too lazy to break out the Wicked Edge for my folding knives and whetstones for kitchen knives. 
55
Reloading / Why Do You Reload? Different Perspectives
« on: December 09, 2020, 08:13:59 AM »
Why do you reload? 

Cost savings?  Want to be able to make the rounds "just so"?  Want it a specific way for hunting, precision rifle, benchrest?

As I'm going down this road toward reloading, primarily for rifle, I've found that even with my shooting buddies, there are fundamental differences in why some of them reload.  One is all about hunting and lower cost, another is wanting more precision but not willing to invest a lot.  Yet another is interested in more precision, but on the periphery of shooting (doesn't really shoot much). 

All reason are good, but I've found that some folks can be so boxed in what they want or know, that they don't appreciate why others want to chase an aspect of reloading.  I'm sort of in the middle of all of that as I am just getting started.  But funny when say hunter is poopooing on the one chasing more precision for wondering about a 20" to longer barrel or when the bullet goes transonic.  The "hell, I'll never shoot a [insert animal name] further than 200 yards, so you're just over thinking things" or "that gun is way to heavy to be humping around Maui".  I just sit back and listen to their banter.

For pistol, I never even considered reloading for 9 mm.  I'm getting into it now for economics and availability of ammo.  Even when I shot USPSA, I wasn't into getting poof poof ammo.  Even if I likely could have saved some money, I wasn't willing to jump into the reloading mix. 
56
Off Topic / You know you've got "problems" when. . .
« on: December 07, 2020, 09:43:34 AM »
You know you've got "problems" when. . . (finish the statement)

when after I drank my morning coffee and felt the deuce coming on and I remembered that the water is shut off for the next 3 hours.  :o

Meant to be light hearted and entertaining. 

Anyone else? 
57
Reloading / Annealing Rifle Brass - Do you do it? Why?
« on: December 05, 2020, 11:35:45 AM »
Do you anneal your rifle brass?  Why? 

Do you do the annealing every reload?  Have you noticed a difference in performance?

Ren's thread on annealing machine got me wondering who here does annealing.  And what practical benefit do you see. 

I've watched many videos and read a lot of forums.  Like anything on forums, the responses run the spectrum.  I get some of the basic concepts and reasonings for it, but none of the folks locally that I've spoken to anneal their cases.  Whether it's too humbug or not worth it, I haven't really gotten to that level of discussion with most of those folks.  Figured I'd ask here. 
58
Looking to shoot my 1903 more, particularly since 5.56 ammo "issues" as well as jumping into the world of reloading.  Sort of applies to M1 Garand as well, but mostly looking for options on 1903 first.

First one is no tap scope mounting options.  I've seen some that require removal of the rear sight/leaf thing, but I don't really like those options as I want to use a 4-16 scope that is coming off of my Rem 700.  I've seen maybe a couple of mounts on the receiver, but not quite what I was looking for.  I've shot the 1903 "as-is" and while fun, I would really like to shoot it with a scope.  Maybe considered blasphemy, but that's also why I want a no tap mount (no permanent mod). 

Second is what accuracy have you folks seen out of your 1903?  And Garand as well?  Understand that would depend a lot on the grade of gun/barrel.  My dad got these through CMP.  Not sure what grade he bought, but I think he got the Service grade.  We've shot it a few times and it's fun.  I just think it will be more fun with a scope.   ;D
59
Off Topic / Thanksgiving Leftovers - How do you eat/prepare? Discuss
« on: November 24, 2020, 09:21:16 AM »
What is your favorite way to prepare Thanksgiving leftovers?  What are your favorite leftovers?

There are some foods that taste better the next day.  Beef stew, curry, etc.  For me, I really enjoy Thanksgiving leftovers.  I of course like the hot meal Thanksgiving night, but the "next day" prep was almost as much of a tradition growing up.

My mom used to shred the turkey and fry up with bacon and add a little of the stuffing.  Perfect when the outer layer of stuffing cubes were crispy.  Was one of my favorites on a cold Friday after Thanksgiving morning. 
60
Starting a thread for Black Friday deals.  Think many are starting today.  Some have started and will run for a while as well. 

Figured a good way to share what folks are searching for.  I search a bunch of sites regularly and get email updates, most of the times not really what I'm looking for.  I'm sure there are folks who do the same, but on other sites. 

Anyways, what I'm looking for:

Shooting bags (particularly "fatter" rear/stock support bags)
Chronograph
Kestrel
Laser rangefinder
Scope torque wrenches (torque range >50 in-lb)

What are you looking for?

I've seen Black Friday sales for G-Code.  I think 20% off.  I'm sure SKD will be running sales as well.

I've seen some others from Cabelas and larger shops.  Cabelas had free shipping on 9 mm heads. . .  :geekdanc:
Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5 ... 17