GRIZ

I grew up in Elizabeth and one of the reasons I joined the Army in 1967 was to go places. The Army, being what it is, sent me to Fort Dix for the first 5 months. I never knew there was so much sand that wasn't on a beach until I walked all over Fort Dix in basic. The Drill Corporal we had told us during bayonet training that if the bayonet should stick in an enemy soldier we should fire a round (M14s at this time) to let the recoil help pull the bayonet out. He then asked if there were any questions. I asked "what am I using a bayonet for if I still have rounds in my rifle". Some guys in my platoon thought it funny but not the Corporal. I went on to redeem myself however by breaking 2 stocks during bayonet training and winning the company pugil stick competition. 3 schools and 8 months after basic I wound up in Vietnam. On my return, I spent 6 months at Fort Jackson and got to go to Germany for the last 8 months. I eventually wound up in the National Guard and Reserves. Fast forward to 1981 when I went to OCS. We had a woman TAC officer who was a PITA. No insult to women soldiers as I have met many women I rather go into combat with than some men. This was after we were there for a while and most of the TACs were familiar with our backgrounds. There was one other Vietnam Vet in my class who also happened to be a LEO as I was. The woman TAC comes up to me and wants my M16. The SOP said we were to surrender our weapon to a TAC on request. She takes my M16 and starts dancing around whining, "I got a rifle, I got a rifle". Another TAC comes over and says to me "well what are you going to do?". I say "ask for it back", I do so and she refuses to give it to me. The other TAC then says "well what are you going to do now?". "I guess I'll just have to take it back", I respond in serious tones and my war face on. The other TAC takes the rifle from her, hands it back to me and tells me to get out of here. I did some interesting things in the National Guard and Reserves and got to go to some more places. No regrets although I would have made a few diffrent choices knowing what I know now. 42 years and a few months after I went in I retired as a LTC.

It would be easier for me to respond with what guns I only have one in that caliber. I realized long ago that having "one of each caliber" is interesting to collect but a logistical nightmare to feed. I figured out what calibers do what I need (or perceive that I need) and bought guns in those calibers. I don't own a 10mm, 40 S&W, 357 SIG, and a whole bunch of others. Doesn't make them bad, just I don't have a need for them. 22 leads my list in handgun calibers and 30-06 for rifles but most of those are Garands.

I picked GP100. S&Ws are nice but the Ruger wins out with me. Colts are over rated and overpriced. Not to my experience. Good customer service but nothing like I got from Ruger. Of course I only had a Ruger break once (magazine catch spring on a P90). Shipped it to AZ on Monday and got it back two days later on Wednesday. That is hard to beat. Lost a grip screw to the same gun and they just mailed me some I got a few days later.

You are correct Bob but also remember J frame size rimfires use heavier springs to compensate for the lack of mass in the hammer and give reliable ignition. Pick a k frame which is heavier but gives you a better trigger vs a j frame which offers the opposite. I disagree Scout. The revolver is the best alternative for someone who "wants a gun around for SD" than a semi auto anything. The manual of arms is much easier for someone who is not accustomed to handling firearms on a regular basis.

Agreed with the old tee-shirts. The best for rags, cleaning, lubing, etc. Another vote for tshirts. They are soft, absorbent and lintless. 5 minutes, a 3X tshirt, and a pair of scissors gives you a couple of hundred patches. After a bit of practice you will get the knack of cutting them to size. Paper towels tear too easy and can be a bit abrasive.

I wouldn't advise a short barrei 22 mag as a SD gun. When you get down to a 4-6" barrel you only gain 100 maybe 150 fps and have to deal with substantial muzzle blast. Muzzle blast usually bothers people more than recoil. If you use a hot 22 load you will get almost 22 mag velocities without the muzzle blast. Ammo for the 22 mag also costs much more than 22 LR. I wouldn't recommend one of those NAA revolvers either. I have one and it is hard to hit with and an unexperienced shooter will find it near impossible. There is also the single action to deal with. If you cock it without firing you have the issue of being very careful to not drop the hammer on an unfired round. Hard enough to do at the range but very dangerous if your heart is pumping hard in a tense situation. The NAA revolvers can be a deadly and a deep, deep concealment weapon but I think they are best as a novelty. I'd look at a 4" 617 or maybe the Taurus 920 (same size). We aren't dealing with concealment issues and the K frame size guns have better actions and reliability than smaller revolvers.

I don't use lube with carbide dies. I guess that might put more wear on them but as some of the carbide dies I have I've used (a lot like 45ACP) are over 30 years old and still working fine. I like the Lee case lube that is water soluble which makes cleaning the brass easy.

I agree 100%. A 4" 357 revolver (I like a GP100 or L frame S&W) is about the best all around handgun. Many will say the DA pull is too hard to learn but think of the millions that have and it really isn't that hard. Plus when you learn to use a DA revolver well everything else is easy. If you choose the semi auto route I'd say a Glock 19 is the best all around 9mm.

This is correct the law says nothing about possession during the commission of a crime. The NJAGs policy has been to use the charge only when connected with another crime. Hit and run is a MV offense not a crime. No sympathy for him. He should have stopped at the accident. This is the first authenicated incident of someone arrested for hollow point ammo only in a long time I've seen. Not sure of policy now but when I was on a PD hit and run was one of the MV offenses where we always arrested the driver.

If sending USPS get a return receipt. By commercial carrier require a delivery signature and print it out via their tracking system online.

When given a choice between the early SA80 and the M16A2, the M16 was far superior. The SA80 was a trash rifle until HK fixed it in 2000 (at least from what I read). Weapons like the FAL/M14/G3 were probably excluded due to their weight (both rifle and ammo)... a weapon like the Aug might've been chosen. As for AKs... thats a good question... maybe familiarity was an issue? Weight? Or even being mistaken for the enemy by friendly forces? I would guess most SAS troopers are more familiar with AKs than most Russian soldiers. The SAS, SEALs, and other Spec Ops troops train with everybody's weapon systems. Doubt it was being mistaken for enemy as they were so far into Iraq there were no friendly troops there. They most likely picked the M16 as the best in all those conditions I stated.

Well, actually, it's illegal even if you happen to have a NJ CCW (ie. retired LEO). Well yes...and no. If you are not a retired LEO and have a NJ CCW permit you would be in violation. A retired LEO carrying under LEOSA can carry hollowpoints which the NJ AG says is a no no. State law cannot contradict Federal law. I doubt you will ever see a test case as that would clear things up.

Its you but maybe the ammo a bit as Maks said. After 30 rds and being a newbie your concentration was stretched a bit. No offense at all, most of us have been through this whether we want to admit it or not. Try starting with your SD ammo and see how you do. If you're ever in a SD scenario you don't have time to warm up.

I highlighted a few select portions of this quote from both usnmars and GRIZ... while I agree that the M16/M4/AR15 platform can be reliable in the right hands and supported with proper cleaning kits, proper education on what parts to clean, and proper intervals of maintenance on both the rifle and magazines themselves, it appears to me that the DoD does not do the greatest job in supporting this weapons system in providing any of those things DA please don't misconsture my statement regarding my use of Dri Slide. I do feel it is a superior lubricant for the M16, much moreso than the LSA that was issued. I suppose the military wouldn't adopt it as if you run your finger inside a M16 properly lubricated with Dri Slide it would rub off black. The military probably could not tolerate that! Other than the Dri Slide, which is a lubricant only, I had the same cleaning gear as everyone else in Vietnam at the time I was there. There were not numbers of rifles failing because others only had LSA. Dri Slide is better as a lube than LSA in my experience. The military doesn't always give you the best. They give you the best at the cost they dictate. I carried a M14 in basic and early in Vietnam. In basic we were told that to get the bore cleaner and done faster to use Hoppe's #9 instead of GI borecleaner. You can get the job done with the GI stuff but Hoppes works better. Just wanted to clarify those points.

I guess I have already clearly declared I am a M16/AR fan. There is another more professional, although small, endorsement of the M16. "Bravo Two Zero" by Andy McNab is his account of leading a group of SAS troopers to locate and destroy SCUD sites in Iraq during Desert Storm (Gulf War I). The SAS are undoubtedly among the best, most experienced special operations troops in the world and the forerunners of about all modern Spec Ops troops since WWII. When they chose a rifle to take with them in the Iraqi desert with all that "moondust" gritty sand, in an area where they had zero fire support, would have to start engaging an enemy at longer ranges, and they chose the M16. They could have chosen anything they wanted AKs, FNs, M14s, G3s, AUGs, etc. AKs may have been considered because they could have used captured ammo and at a distance may have looked like Iraqi troops. But they chose the M16s.

If you like the PT99 I'd stay with it. I have one since 1988. I carried it for about 5 years as a duty gun (had to stop carrying it as the approved list became very small). I probably have 20K+ rounds through it and the only issue I ever had was after about ten years the rear sight leaf broke (have seen this happen with S&W rear sights also). Its still 100% reliable, about the most accurate 9mm I ever owned, and I wouldn't hesitate to use it for a carry gun today.

The guy doesn't even care to present a defense? The when he's convicted: With help of the United States Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force, Reininger was taken into custody by the Galveston County Sheriff’s Department on April 14. Since his return to New Jersey in September he has been held in the county jail without bail. That sure shows what an upstanding citizen he is. No sympathy from me.

A rubber band gun is better than the vietnam M16s. Having used a M16 in Vietnam (1968-69)I would strongly disagree with that statement. seeing as how the soviets looked at the german stg 44 for their concept idea of the AK and it wasnt this amazing gift idea from god yes my point The Soviets didn't copy the sturmgewehr. It was grown out of their tactics which called for large amounts of artillery and a lot of lead thrown thown at the enemy at short range which was done with the ppsh. The SKS was the first gun designed for the cartridge which is more than a M1 carbine but less than a Garand or a 7.62x54r. "The germans kicked both the americans and soviets asses and had an assault rifle fielded in 1943, and the americans still didnt wake up and smell the roses untill they got shot at in vietnam by AK47s" The Germans had the best technology in WWII however they did not "kick our asses". Remember we won the war. German tanks were far superior to anything fielded by the allies but once we developed tactics exploiting their weaknesses a Tiger tank had no chance against the dozen Shermans we threw at it. AR has range and accuracy AK has reliability and power I'd basically agree but since 1968 I took care of my M16/AR and found it totally reliable. Perhaps if the military used Dri Slide as I did in Vietnam a lot of these m16 unreliability stories would be gone. When used at normal combat ranges (<200 meters) never saw a enemy soldier who ignored a torso hit. If we want to pick stories to prove a point COL Roger Donlon (1st Vietnam MOH winner) was shot through the gut by most likely a 7.62x39 round, stuffed the entry and exit wound with a piece of T Shirt and kept fighting. I wouldn't describe the power of the 5.56 as "incredible" but it always seemed to work when I witnessed it used. As far as long range goes, the fact is most soldiers can't hit a target over 200 meters if they had an M16, AK, M14, or an M40 for that matter. If we had the AK in vietnam (which I realise wasnt an option due to political climates) there would be alot more vietnam vets around... Yes there were problems with the M16 when first fielded but your atatement is misleading. One American soldier or Marine dead because of equipment failure is too many but to say "a lot more" is false. And the AK47s out there being scooped up by our troops that are beat to hell with 1950's receivers arent fired alot or beaten? Please show me where this happened. I have never seen American troops "scoop up" AKs because they were better. Never saw it in Vietnam. I know of guys in transportation units in Iraq and Afghanistan "acquire" one or more as they were used for a NY reload in case of ambush. Fact of the matter is ARs are more reliable than most people give them credit for, and AKs are more accurate than most people give them credit for. AKs fail, and having an AR doesn't make you an instant sharpshooter. Best single statement in this thread. I carried a M16 in the field in the butthole of the earth and NEVER found it to be reliable(recently in Afghan and Iraq and other places not Vietnam). It is underpowered and requires high maintenance..... I carried a 14 whenever possible and there is a reason they are pulling 14's out of the armories and issuing them now. There is a reason an AR WILL NEVER BE IN MY COLLECTION usnmars I respect your opinion but my experience has differed. A day on the road during the dry season in Vietnam would put an enormous amount of crud on and in a rifle. The same goes for the American Southwest where I carried a M16 almost daily. Never had any serious issues. Everyone needs to realize that the AK is just an example of Russian design technology which goes by "perfection is the enemy of good enough". This is evident in all their military technology and even in consumer goods. When the Lada (Fiat 124 copy) car was first sold there were complaints of the cheap Russian steel rusting through quickly. The answer? Not galvanizing or other rustproofing measures they just made the steel thicker so it took longer to rust through.

I keep telling my granddaughter that we had no toys and played with rocks and sticks Okay we had toys but also played with rocks and sticks. I grew up in the city and our wilderness were the "train lots", lots adjacent to the the right of way. I remember the horse drawn wagon of the rag man. My mother dragged out a bag of rags that broke the guys scale when he tried to weigh it. He gave her 50 cents. There was also a horse drawn wagon that sold produce. I also remember the guy who would bring the pony around and charge 50 cents or a dollar to have your photo taken on it. Cheapest I remember gas was about 24.9 at the no name station and filling the tank of my 58 Buick with "Super Shell" or "Sunoco 260" cost me about $7. There was no uhf TV but living in Elizabeth but we had 2,4,5,7,9,11, and 13. When I went in the Army and talked to guys from all over the country they wouldn't believe I had 7 TV channels growing up. Where can you ever get 7 channels? Ross' and Solomon's were the two places you could buy a gun in Elizabeth. 2 Guys used to have barrels filled with Enfields for 11.95 and you could get a Carcano for 6.95. I guess I am somewhat of a dinosaur next to a lot of people here.

Lots of suggestions but what do you think she would like? Art, fine dining, shopping, etc?

I'd contact NJSP and do what they say. If something after that involves the local PD and they question why you did what you did I'd tell them NJSP told me. Best way to stay out of any trobule.

Midwest, there are other things on that Google search NJ Carry Permit that indicate its phony baloney. There's no place for the SBI # and its signed by the Sec of State who has nothing to do with carry permits.

How do intend to carry it field, concealed, competition, etc?

Shooting and turning it into a "range" are different things and different rules would apply. It sounds like the idea is the cc would have a private range.

okay put me in