JimB1

Slowly putting my reloading bench together. Two days ago they had the Hornady Lock and Load Ultrasonic 2L for a crazy low price of $19 ($119 regularly) so I grabbed one. It's back ordered until the end of January but what the heck, for that price I can wait a bit. Along with it I ordered a digital scale and a few other things so I got free shipping too! Today they have a $20 off a $100 purchase plus free shipping so I ordered a Lee Classic Turret Press and the Lee 4 piece die set in 45 acp plus a few things for my wife for x-mas and the press came out to $96. Their price on the dies was a little high but free shipping made up for it. I found them cheaper elsewhere but when taking shipping into account they actually came out more expensive to order from the cheaper place. I figure I am going to use it similar to a single press for a little bit anyway so I can look for deals on the auto powder adapter and I may just keep using the hand primer tool for now. Should be way better ( and quieter ) then the Lee Loader I am using now. There are some good deals to be had out there if you have patience -Jim

Just used mine to get some reloading gear and a couple of x-mas presents for the wife. Good deal when used for stuff already on sale. -Jim

Thanks guys. I need to check out some of the Black Friday deals. My wife has been bugging me about a safe for a while now, she wants a Henry rifle Tractor supply is looking pretty good, they have Winchester and Cannon safes that look pretty nice. Dicks is kind of a pain because they never seem to have the safes in stock so you end up paying for shipping. I have a full size pickup and can get a couple of friends to help if needed so to save $150 -175 delivery fee I have no problem picking up the safe myself... I should have got the safe last year when Lowes and HD both were carrying Liberty, would have been easier... Hindsight is 20/20 I guess. -Jim

I'm looking for a reasonable price locally on a Liberty Revolution 12 or maybe 18 or similar to put in a tight location so I can't get anything too big but I want to get as big as possible to fit in the spot I have picked out. I'd prefer to pick it up in NJ rather then having to drive out of state for it. Trying to keep the cost down and Cabelas charges $175 delivery because of the weight which is too much to spend on a 4-500 safe. if I can buy in NJ there's no sales tax on safes. I am also thinking about the winchester 10 gun from Tractor Supply but it seems fairly cheaply made compared to the Liberty and the next size up they have is the 24 and it's too big for the location. The 10 gun would Probably stop a casual thief. Where I am putting it may help some because there won't be much space for a bad guy to get leverage to try and open it or move it and it will be bolted into concrete on the floor and wall studs on the back or side but I'd still like to go as sturdy as possible in a smaller size. Any suggestions of where to find a safe in NJ to meet my needs? Thanks -Jim

I asked at Heritage Guild in Rahway last year and they said they do not do layaway. Maybe their policy has changed... -Jim

+1 lots of partial quotes floating around too. Context is everything when looking for the truth. -Jim

Well, I think this quote by George Mason regarding what a militia is pretty much kills the anti argument and if anyone would know what they meant by a militia he would be the guy... "That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil authority" Basically Mason was opposed to a large standing army for fear that it would be used against the states and instead wanted a small core army with the militia able to be called up at need. Other delegates were opposed to giving the federal government the power to regulate the militia feeling it would give them too much power. The 2a we have now is a compromise stating that militias should be "well regulated" but to allay the fears of some states they left it open as to who was to regulate the militia. Since the authority was not given to the federal government, it falls to some other body. Which to me means it's either a state or individual right. Many states have a 2a equivalent in their state constitutions so that means they have at some point determined that the militia should be regulated by the people since that's the only group left that the constitution assigns rights or obligations to. In states that do not have a 2a equivalent like NJ but don't specifically state that they will regulate their militia, I think that still means it's regulated by the people since the people have not given the state the authority do so. This is the original wording by Madison: "The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; a well armed and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country; but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service in person." The Federalist and anti-federalist papers should be required reading for everyone. Things would be so much clearer for a lot of people... The issue now comes from the fact that we have a very large standing army which was not the original thought when Madison and Mason created the second amendment. Obviously from Madison's writings he recognized a large standing army as a possible threat and many now say that was a factor Mason and Madison foresaw when writing the 2a. ... And on top of this there is article 1 section 8 which states that congress has authority over militias: "To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;" In recent years the federal government has acted such that the militia is actually the national guard in respect to article 1 section 8. Just a few thoughts on it... Sorry it's a long post... -Jim

Had my knee done a couple of years ago. Torn meniscus, Easy surgery. Packed it in ice for a day and used a crutch for two days then I was good. It's been pretty good since then. A little achy if I overwork it some days but the doc said that because I was compensating for it for so long it hyper extended one of the tendons connecting the kneecap so it may just be that. Might get that fixed if it gets too annoying but it's no big deal right now. Not a lot of pain from the surgery though, didn't even need Tylenol or anything. The ice pack for the first day is the trick. Good luck with it. -Jim

I don't keep a massive amount around but after the fiasco with Sandy I keep a couple of 5 gallon containers on hand and the generator is full. A shot of stabil in the generator then rotate a 5 gal every couple of months into the car/lawn mower/snow blower and refill. Just keep the cans marked so you remember which you last rotated out. I figure that'll give me a decent emergency supply for a few days, maybe a week with judicious use of the generator. I generally start the generator and let it run for a bit every 3 months or so. Gas that's in there has been good for the last couple of test runs so if it starts to smoke or misfire or I just think it's been in there too long, I'll just drain it and replace with fresh. -Jim

Yes, the Sig boards are full of people who put money down and didn't get their stuff from this guy over the last year or so. Until I hear he's fulfilling his obligations again I wouldn't put any money down on his stuff. But that's just me... -Jim

As frivolous and stupid as even having a discussion on slingshots being illegal is, I'm a little more disturbed that some unknown person in NJ can give out exemptions to a law like that. Far as I know the law once passed is the law. The Governor can pardon someone from breaking the law after the fact but an exemption to the law would need to pass the state senate since far as I know there's nothing in the law saying some other body in NJ can. Either repeal the law (which should never have been made IMHO) or apply it (dumb as it is), but arbitrary exemptions to the laws just confuse people. OK off the soapbox now still think the whole slingshot thing is one of the dumbest laws ever and NJ is known for dumb laws... -Jim

+1 not into crossbows but they seemed to have a good selection last time I was there...

Purchased my new Para Expert SS from Jack last weekend. Great price and got a quick lesson on field stripping a 1911 as well. Great guns, great prices and great service what else could you ask for? Highly recommend!!! -Jim

I'm probably going to stop by tomorrow afternoon just to check it out but there are still spots open if anyone wants to compete.. Here's the signup: http://www.njpistol.com/signup/match_cal.asp?date=10-19-2013#myevent Here's the match bulletin: http://www.njpistol.com/find_a_match/bulletins_pdf/LakeIslandBulletin2013.pdf -Jim

I do but it comes and goes (or maybe I just don't notice it sometimes). Had it long before I started shooting though, probably from many years of motorcycle riding before I started using earplugs when I ride. It got a little worse after I had my wisdom teeth removed a few years back. Haven't found anything that stops it but doesn't really bother me too much either. I guess like a lot of things you just get used to it... -Jim

Sad that someone felt things were so bad that they had to take their own life. A couple of days ago a 15 year old near where I live decided to kill himself by stealing his father's car at 2AM and doing 100 mph into oncoming traffic. He killed himself and two other people in the car he hit. People that are going to kill themselves either don't think about or don't care about the consequences of their actions on others. I will say that I have rented guns by myself at HG when I didn't have one and it was helpful in choosing what I wanted (or didn't want) . Unfortunately as with a lot of things in the last decade or two a few bad incidents will ruin a good thing for the 99.999% us that are just there to practice and have fun. -Jim

Got to stop by Lake Island on Sunday and met John Fox. Nice guy who seems to really know his stuff. Got to shoot a bit with some of the prospective members who were there to get tested to see how they shot. I didn't do bad, 30 rounds at 25 yds got 8 in the black, 3 outside the 5 ring but on the B-8 paper and the rest in scoring rings mainly 8 and 7 with a few in 5 and 6. Pretty happy I didn't miss the paper for any of the shots, first time shooting at that distance. Was using CCI standard velocity in my Sig P220 Classic 22 which is far better then most people give it credit for being and not nearly as picky on ammo as most web chatter would suggest. My Wife's Ruger Mark III competition is more immediately accurate and a bit easier for me to aim with the long site radius but the Sig is more comfortable to me and still a decent shooter. Had someone that was shooting a Mark II there come over and comment that he thought the sig was working really well for me. He was hitting maybe 6 out of 10 in the black but he was a more experienced shooter with a dedicated target 22 so I'll take my 26% in the black for a first time at that distance as a decent start. I'll probably apply to be a member there at the next monthly meeting, it's only about 15 minutes from my house and the price is very affordable. Also, end of this month they are getting a new ventilation system put in which is great. Still going to stop by to check out the 2700 match in a couple of weeks and see how a real match works and maybe talk to a few players... Thanks again for the info -Jim

Thanks for the info. I see there is a 2700 match coming up at Lake Island on Oct 19 and 20th. I wanted to check them out anyway since they are only around 15 minutes away for me....

Unfortunately I am on the second 90 days of a pistol permit that I need to use by the end of Oct so I don't have much save up time so $500 - $600 is going to be about it My wife has a Ruger Mark III competition which is pretty darn accurate so I think she's good to go. I was thinking about the Mark III Target but figured I'd check into other options... What do you think of the 1911 conversions? I could do a lower end 1911 now (Auto Ordinance GI or maybe a Para Expert, something like that) and get a Advantage arms or Marvel 22 kit for it in a few months, maybe into the new year. Some people swear by their 1911's but it seems like 1911s can be a money pit. The few times I've tried 1911's I have pretty much sucked with them so I think there is a learning curve there to deal with as well... I was also thinking about something like a CZ-75 with a cadet kit or an EAA Witness (Tanfoglio) with the 22lr kit. The CZ design seems to be on par with the 1911 design far as being able to get competition accuracy out of them goes according to many and there are a few places that specialize in setting up CZs and Tanfoglios for competition. Anyone with experience with these options? Thanks

oops, looks like it added the rest of the line to the link, I think I fixed that now. Thanks for the other link, hadn't seen njpistol.com before...

Still a newbie at shooting but I was watching this video from the US Army Reserve Shooting Team and thought it explained why Bullseye is a good place to start very well. Currently my wife and I have just been making holes in paper sort of randomly just for the sake of putting holes in paper which is fun but I thought it might be interesting to try putting hole into paper for a reason instead. I have been reading a few things online and I think for now I would only be thinking about the 22lr round. So basically I guess I have a few questions: 1) where around central NJ can I start? 2) reasonably priced pistol? Say up to $500? Something in a basic version that can get modified later with things like sights, trigger jobs, grips, etc is fine. 3) What other equipment is realistically required to get started? I've been checking this site http://www.bullseyepistol.com/ and they give a decent list of stuff but is all that really required or can I just show up and shoot with just a pistol and some ammo and get stuff as I go along? If so, any particular order of usefulness I should try and get stuff? 4) Are there any training classes or clubs that help with this stuff around? Feel free to offer any other info that I didn't think to ask about that might be useful... Thanks -Jim

A few months ago my wife and I got our NJFIDs, took the NRA First Steps Pistol course and got our first handguns. Since then we've been having a lot of fun going to the range together, putting holes in paper and chatting with other folks doing the same thing. We've been talking about it off and on over the last few years and made a new year's resolution that it was going to happen this year regardless of the current political craziness going on. My wife's been talking about taking a shotgun class and trying out skeet or trap shooting for a while now. It looks like a good way to spend an afternoon to me. I've been checking out some of the other sport/competition things like NRA Bullseye, IDPA, 3-gun, etc. and seems like there's something for everyone out there. Looking forward to learning how to shoot better and having fun. Hope to talk to you all soon. -Jim