raz-0

mark I has no interchangability. mark VII is a bit of a PITA. It really mattered which calibers you were going from/to waht parts you needed to change and if it was possible. Mark XIX was designed to make interchangeability easy. For any given caliber, you need the right bolt, magazine, and barrel. The .357 bolt is different than the bolt shared between the .44 and .50. If you have a .44 or .50, you jsut swap barrels and magazines. Slide is actually shared between all the calibers, as is the frame.

I have an nc22 upper. Runs like dream. Nordic also has the best prices on the 15 round black dog mags, for whatever you go with.

There's enough makers of cz format guns that you can have problems just from slop in where the cuts are. Early baby eagles have dog leg slide stops. Later ones do not. Other than that, they then went on to add the rail.

Hey, if they showed it to police, do you realize what kind of peril that would subject us to? Me neither. My interpretation of events so far is this. State says "it's a secret" Judge says tell me why it's a secret. State says because we don't want anyone to know. Judge goes, do you think I'm stupid, you'll need a compelling reason. State says if the bad guys see it the terrorists have won. judge says I'll be the judge of that, I want the document and I want a detailed compelling reason to not disclose it. State ignores but hands over their homework. Judge says OK, I can't imagine why, but I'm going to give you one last chance, knowing full well I have seen the stupid thing, to tell me what is so critically important to keep secret.

Ok here are some loads from my 4.25" m&p 40 Some are with the stock barrel, some with a storm lake, which is faster. 5.0gr universal clays 1.130 nominal oal 180gr berry's plated 180gr round nose double struck = 921.8fps av/ 165.9 pf at 45f range temp. That was over 10 rounds. Over 20 it was 165.1pf with a sd of 17.7 4.5gr uc was 149pf 4.0 uc was 124pf All same day, same conditions, storm lake barrel 185gr precision moly coated lead over 4.5 gr of titegroup was 925.5fps, 171pf indoors at about 50-60f. Sd=11.9. This was storm lake barrel. 1.33 nominal oal. This next bunch was on the stock barrel at 30f temps. The titegroup will speed up in warmer temps. 180 berry's 3.5gr tg, 1.130 oal. 111.7pf (functions w 13lb recoil spring) 180 berry's 4.0gr tg 1.130 oal. 124.8 pf 180 berry's 4.5gr tg 1.135 oal. 146pf 180 precision delta 4.5gr tg 1.140 oal 144 pf 185 precision moly coated. 4.5 gr tg 1.162 oal 159.1 pf 165gr precision delta. 3.5 gr tg 1.130 oal. 137.5pf. No listed temp. Storm lake barrel. This is a nice minor load. This next bunch was on a 72f day. Berry's 180 plated. 4.4gr tg, 1.130 oal 164.2pf out of storm lake barrel, 163pf out of stock barrel. Precision delta 165gr fmj 1.130 oal. 4.55gr ramshot zip 1.130 oal 126.25 out of stock. 130.35 out of storm lake. These are at 45f storm lake barrel Precision moly coated 170gr 1.14 oal 4.0gr zip 124.9 Precision mc 170gr 1.136 oal 3.0gr zip ~90pf. Doesn't function gun. 170gr precision mc. 1.130 oal 4.1 gr zip 130pf with taper crimp, 126.5 with lee fcd (lee factory crimp die undersizes precision moly coat , with the dillon taper crimp die this was soft shooting and very accurate. I shot a lot of this in production. )

Well for walking on shoveled sidewalks in and out of climate controlled areas, I just like a decent pair of gore-tex lined hikers with some thick socks. I can tell you that the new balance waterproof hikers served me well in that capacity, but quality and durability changes in the span of a few years from any given manufacturer. They were light, and kept the dampness out pretty well. columbia's boots are light, but based on my wife's experience with hers, I wouldn't count on them lasting more than 2 seasons.

Yup, and sometimes when he DOES get to the point, it's not about the subject the video is supposed to be about. Also, I picked up a couple of cheap knives he has done reviews for because I need some cheap knives. Based on my observations of identical product, I'd also conclude the guy isn't a particularly sound judge of some basic objective criteria like sharpness.

At the local level 1 matches, nobody is going to bust your balls about it not being on the approved list. It will get there eventually, so I wouldn't worry about it. For holsters, I recommend the bladetech DOH. Like ssomeone mentioned the IDPA kit is decent to start, but if you go that route, you amy want to pick up the DOH adapter. I've run with both a tek lock and belt slide attachment. I highly reocmmend the belt slide over the tek lock. It's just more solid. The serpa with the button disabled is popular. With the locking button, it is less competitive. It's popular for 3-gun though where retention can be a bigger issue due to more physicality and shooting positions. Like others have said, set aside some money for a decent belt. Generally I recommend against dropping significant money on gear before you shoot much. The two exceptions to that are magazines (cause you cna never have too many), and a decent belt. A good belt makes a crap holster as good as it can get. A bad belt can make the best holster crap. I recommend CR speed if you are just going to shoot uspsa. The double alpha is nice and rigid, but it is a bit thicker and cna have some issues fitting through the loops on some accessories. The bianchi is not nearly as rigid, and IIRC they also put the hook vs. loop on the wrong side and can get scratchy due to the hook side facing you.

Huzzah. I have a bunch of loads I have tried through my full size M&P 40, so they should eb relevant. I'll look them up for you when I get home.

Just one correction for pizza bob's description. I don't know who needs 6 mags for USPSA production. 4 is the minimum (which I did for a few months), and 5 is plenty. I've shot 10 round divisions with 5 mags for about 8 years. I ran out of ammo once, when I was new, had a malfunction AND missed a lot on some steel. Realistically, minimum needed for IDPA you need 1 gun 3 mags 1 belt 1 cover garment 1 holster 1 double or 2 single mag pouches. 1 set of eye protection. 1 set of hearing protection. 1 bag to cart all your stuff to and from the range in. For USPSA you need 1 gun 4-5 mags 1 belt 1 holster 2 double or 4 single mag pouches. 1 set of eye protection. 1 set of hearing protection. 1 bag to cart all your stuff to and from the range in. For both I'd also recommend a hat of some sort regardless of indoors (keep the nasty byproducts of firing ammo out of your hair, and hot brass from getting behind your glasses.) or outdoors (hot brass and the sun). I don't know why people like to pretend that you need a fancy belt for USPSA and don't for IDPA. THey are jsut different. Show up at either with something you bought at wal-mart to hold your pants up and you are using something less than optimal. I started USPSA with a belt fitting that description though. Also if you want to try stuff out without buying lots of gear, ask here before you show up. Lots of us have extra gear we will lend you for a match.

The chanting is because they don't have an audio permit from the city for a PA. They put one up, use a megaphone, or whatever, they can be arrested and booked. So they simply have the audience repeat everything so everyone can hear it. Admittedly it comes off kind of creepy, even if you do know why they do it. ETA: And the exact same situation was faced in NYC tea party gatherings (except they had their audio permit rescinded) with the exact same work around. Was it crazy and cult like then?

I'l disagree with shane and say no. Primarily because when you scale up the BCG and the length of the upper receiver to go with, and the diameter of the barrel, especially at the fat chamber end to deal with the pressures of .308, multiple bad things happen in terms of the all around rifle. First, it's .308. You can chop the3 barrel and get a little more accuracy with velocity loss, but the sweet spot for that stops at about 18". A 16" ar-15 is a real handy rifle. An 18" barreled ar-10 is heavier and longer. Given that out of a 20"+ barrel, the .308 is effective from 0-700 yards across a wide range of bullet choices, It's a bit more cartridge than is needed, and you pay the price in weight and bulk. The FAL looks neat, and FAl jungle carbine even neater, but accurizing them is a PITA and a less than rewarding endeavor from all the accounts I have read. So I went AR-10. Which was HEAVY and unwieldy. Sold it to a forum member, who got armalite to put a shorter, lighter barrel on it. After he did that, I would say it is closer to dealing with a 20" barreled AR with a SPR profile barrel. Still heavy for my taste. A 16" barrel ar-10 in .308 probably gets reasonably close after you give up the extra velocity, as long as you use lighter bullets. It'll still be kind of heavy and kind of bulky though, but closer. The scar-l wasn't liked by the military, but they liked the scar-h. I think in part because it shaves some of the length from the ar-10 design. This conversation has happened all over various shooting forums, and time and again the consensus tends to be that what folks would like is an ar-15/ar-10 like platform wrapped arounf a cartridge longer than 5.56, but shorter than .308, and using a bullet that has a decent BC while being more squat than something like 6.5mm. They usually come up with a 7mmxsomething, or a new caliber bullet. For the 7mm they are usually thinking something like the 120gr bullets that get you a BC in the .4XX range. I agree with vladtepes that you need ot pick what you ant to do and then find what gun that exists does it. I'd argue that if you want something that can do CQB to 700 yards effectively, a 16"-18" .308 AR patter rifle. But that's just on ballistics. You have to accept that to use that range, you need a magnifying optic on it, and you are humping an 11lb gun for whatever you are doing, and your ammo weighs a ton.

Eh, don't feel bad. PRetty much the rifle accurizing gunsmith's response to the general issues of length, fluting, etc. ist o try it, if it doesn't work, toss it and don't do that again. There really aren't that many variables, so trial and error can be pretty effective in reaching a legitimate conclusion.

Jacekted bullets are much mroe tolerant of overcrimping. Heck, when I started, I was loading some 230gr .45 with enough crimp to leve a dent all around a pulled bullet. The accuracy was still pretty good. It was even better when I stopped doing it, but I was surprised it didn't hurt accuracy more. Plated lead through starts as lead wire, gets cut to a length, swaged to shape, and then plated. The lead wire is pretty soft compared to a jacketed projectile or lead alloy used in casting. If you compromise the plating, two things can burn you. One, the plating can start flaking, which can affect how it travels through the barrel, but more importantly can leave you with bits of plating dangling in flight causing uneven drag. You can also open up enough exposed lead to engage the rifling. Since it is soft, it smears and you don't get proper spin. basically, if you crimp it hard, accuracy sucks, and you see lead spirals on your target, or your bulklets are keyholing, you should back off your crimp as one of the first things you try.

Having seen the hornady bulk and the midsouth, I can't really tell you what the blemish is. Having seen blems of the more expensive 100 per box stuff, it is usually some oxidation or very minor pitting vs. a little box of perfect, shiny, identical items. The bulk vs the bulk blems isn't like that. My best guess is that the number of slightly oxidized and/or pitted jackets per thousand is higher than with the first run bulk bullets, but not that different. Best groups I have gotten while working up laods in my copious free time (HA!), have been either 1MOA by 2MOA strung vertically or 2MOA by 1MOA strung horizontally. THat's shooting with a 3 moa red dot, so I suspect I'm at the threshold of my technique and my not so great eyes.

Barrel length vs. accuracy is actually counterintuitive at several points. Mostly because there's a lot more going on at once than you really think about, even when you think you are thinking about it in depth. Dan is partially right and partially wrong. Simply chopping some length off a barrel doesn't necessarily hurt inherent accuracy. About the only thing you can be guaranteed is that it will reduce velocity, and this will reduce the ability of a bullet to be accurate at a given range. Heck, in a vacuum, that might not even be true. But in the real world there's wind, and lower velocity means more time for the wind to push it around inconsistently. Accuracy is all about consistency. But what about at 50 yards? Then, a shorter barrel might be more accurate. It might also be less. Lets say you start with a 20" 3lb barrel. If you make a 12 inch 3lb barrel it is more likely going to be more accurate because it is more rigid due to more mass in the supporting structure of the barrel at every point along the barrel. It'll also take longer to heat soak. Less barrel motion when fired, more accuracy. But WAIT, there's more! Lets say you start with a 3lb 21" barrel, and chop is down to a 2lb 14" barrel. It may STILL be more accurate. Why? When you fire a bullet out of a barrel, you get barrel whip, which is essentially a wave. For given bullet using a given powder to push it down the barrel at a given speed, you impart barrel whip with a given harmonic frequency. If you ensure that your barrel is the right lenght so the muzzle is at a nodal point of that harmonic frequency, it moves around less, and thus is more accurate. SO our theoretical 14" barrel with cartridge A is more accurate than the 21" barrel despite being lighter and shorter. With bullet B however, that can totally change. of course the length of that wave depends on barrel length too, so you can't simply make a logn barrel, fire a round, measure the whip, and cut it down. By cutting it, you moved the nodal points. Which is why when youw ant to increase accuracy using the harmonic frequency of the barrel with a given load, then you use a harmonic dampener or something like the BOSS system (which is a kind of harmonic dampener). The accurized version of the mini-14 uses an adjustable harmonic dampener to great affect. But WAIT, there's more! Ok, lets say your shorter barrel is closer to a point of minimum amplitude than maximum amplitude for your bullet. Then there's the rifling. I've already stated more than once here that I prefer barrels where you get at least two full turns of rifling, as I find them to be easier to get consistent accuracy out of. Well, the reason I say this is that in a given barrel, some loads are like a prius, and some are like hopped up muscle car with crappy suspension. Tell them both to go that way as fast as they can from a stop, and one will do it with a lot more wheel spin than the other. SAme goes for bullets and rifling. In general, the lighter your bullet, the faster the rifling will bite in and get it spinning. Put it through a barrel with too fast a twist and it may fly apart as soon as it leaves the barrel. A little less twist might just make it yaw and suck accuracy wise, a little less twist, and you might still get accuracy, but you might lose a hair of velocity by turning it into angular velocity. With very heavy bullets, you get some skidding before they fully succumb to the suggestions of the rifling. Heck, some combinations it skids the whole way through, but you get enough traction to spin it fast enough to stabilize the bullet and consistently impart that much spin as long as the bullets are consistent. So you chopped down your barrel, the question is do you have enough rifling left to do the job of firing a bullet accurately. For 5.56, you can't really go much faster than 1:7 without narrowing your bullet choice significantly at best, at worst it may jsut not work for anything that you cna fit in a the case and maintain safe chamber pressure. So what about when we push that target out past 50 yards? Well, then velocity matters more and more. Less velocity means more time for wind to affect flight. Lower velocity also means slower spin, which means less stability of the projectile, which means it yaws easier, which means less accuracy the longer it is in flight. I'm no expert on the subject, in fact there are whole university departments out there that focus on ballistics. It's something that has been studied for decades, and STILL occasionally makes subject matter experts go "Hunh, I wasn't expecting that"

It's a blackpowder cannon. They are not AOW. They are even legal in NJ. The question is how to aquire one legally, much like an air rifle. The rest of the country doesn't regulate3 them, so the folks selling them by mail aren't prepared to deal with us folks who have to deal with them in a regulated manner. I think the simplest methos is to convince dixon muzzleloading in PA they need to stock these, and then swing out, buy one, and pick up some yummy dietrich's hotdogs on the way.

Runoff election. I'm tired of voigt, he's running the michael voigt show on our dime and delegating out lots of stuff badly. USPSA is in need of some management to sort out some promblems, and he simply doesn't manage well. The aquisition of the steel challenge was done poorly, and the scholastic steel challenge stuff has been a boondoggle. They've spent WAY, WAY too much on it for what it is, and have been cannibalizing sponsors left and right as well as mangling an already full match schedule. Strader appears to be more interested in managing the organization, and although I won't say I agree with all his ideas or that they are complete, I don't think they will hurt the current situation and probably will help.

Hmm, at elast in edison, I can state that "drag racing with all your lights off on a side street with another cruiser to see who pays for coffee while almost kiling me and eveyrone in my vehicle?" Professional courtesy.

In general, you will have a problem with plated lead and roll crimps. Even if backing it off stopped the crushing, don't be surprised if you have crap accuracy if your crimp is damaging the plating.

Yup, and the midsouth varmint nightmares are hornady blems. They aronly a couple bucks cheaper than the actual hornady bullets, the main difference is that they are sold in quantities that the hronady often isn't. Hornady comes in 250 and 6000. midsouth in 500 and 2000, which I find to be much more useful quantities for my budget.

As long as nobody wants pictures anytime soon, since I don't have a lower to build. For a given barrel weight, a fluted barrel of the same weight is more rigid. So, a 16" HBAR barrel has rgidity X. Flute it, and it is less rigid. However, lets say you have a government-ish profile that is the same weight as the fluted h-bar. The fluted h-bar will be more rigid by a fair amount. IF you managed to get a straight profiled barrel with just a raised ring for the gas block, the fluted h-bar would still be more rigid, but the difference would be not nearly so large. Someone actually took this one to the lab and measured. Thy also tested it's effect on heat soak. Fluting doesn't really increase the surface area enough to offset the loss in heat mass. That being said, the risk with fluting is that it is not done uniformly and symmetrically. This can result in POI drift as the barrel heats. This is why I avoid barrels with the grenade launcher cut. Since I can't own a proper grenade launcher, why take the chance that the square flats aren't perfect. (everything else is radial cuts around the center of the bore. If that's hosed, you bought the wrong barrel). Other than straight flutes: helical (direction of rifling) - theoretically bad as there is the lest metal inthe direction of rotational torque. helical (agianst the rifling) - theoretically good, as the most metal is left opposite of the direction of the force that creates barrel whip. nobody's seriously tested it that I have found. geometrical (hexagonal, octagonal, triangular, etc) - should work like traditional fluting if the math was done right. Should also be cheaper IMO. golf ball - I don't know if this will be as beneficial as traditional fluting for rigidity. It has the potential for greater weight reduction. However, I have seen version sold that don't grasp the uniform and radially symmetrical thing. double helix/ diamond fluting - This is a really complicated and pricey way of getting a narrow diameter barrel. It's pretty much for looks. If you REALLY, REALLY want lightest weight and maximum accuracy, get a carbon fiber wrapped barrel. Last I looked there were exactly 2 sources, both of which have production 100% spoken for by 3 or so gunsmiths. But you can get a bull barrel that weighs between a pencil barrel and a government profile barrel that is more rigid and sheds heat better than a steel bull barrel. You'll need money and patience though.

whose barrel is that?

midsouth shooters supply varmint nightmare bullets are good. You cna buy them buy the 500 or 2000 count. At any given moment the price is the same as montana gold give or take a few bucks. It's what I am currently loading in .223.

OK. Tools you will need. 1) An upper receiver block. Given that it is within $5 of the DPMS one, I'd recommend the PRI one. You can do ar-15 and ar-10 pattern uppers with it. 2) A decent vise. 3) roll pin punches. 4) 1/2 socket wrench. preferably a torque wrench. 5) a hammer appropriate for banging on stuff. Things you will need depending. 1) fore end wrench. a ton of handguards have proprietary nuts now, and often ship with a wrench. Like the troy TRX stuff. 2) castle nut wrench, if you are doing a collapsible stock. 3) Set of hex keys depending on your accessories. Things that you don't need, but are nice to have. 1) roll pin starter punches. Of course you may need some various hand tools in addition to those, like a set of screwdrivers or some pliers AR15.com has a decent visual guide to assembly. The only thing in it that I find to be questionable is their instructions on using pliers to squeeze in the roll pin for the bolt catch. I use one, just not the way they show. I tape up the receiver and slide it along to whack in the pin. Your standard sized vise grips are jsut the right height to line up well and doing it that way require son ly two hands instead of three. As for components. Lowers: Forged, cast, billet, it really doesn't matter. They don't really bear much stress. What will matter is spacing of the holes for a tight fit. There are those with features like the firebird precision lowers with a built in tensioning pin, and an overtravel stop for the trigger to shorten reset. They aren't as cool as they sound. One general thing is high shelf vs. low shelf. If you think you might ever buy a legit lightning link, you need a low shelf. Low shelf is getting to be more common since the ban sunset. Uppers: these are subjected to stress when firing. Forged is stronger than billet. Either way you want 7075-t6 aluminum. PRetty standard with forgings, less so with billet uppers. There are a ton of good forged uppers. For billet I like the ranier arms one. Not much heavier than a forged upper, is made out of 7075-t6, works with a bad lever, is very square and concentric, and not too pricey. Barrels: Don't get a .223 chamber. .223 wylde, 5.56, 5.56 sam-r, noveske match mod whatever, all of them let you fire 5.56 without pressure issues. Stainless is more accurate. Chrome lined is more durable and easier to clean. Double chrome lined is even more durable, and a bit less accurate. Most of them are built to spec rebrands made by someone else, so do research around when you are ready to buy. Triggers: there are tons of good drop ins. If you want ultra light, I'd suggest the AR-gold. If you want nice and reliable, I'd suggest Geissele. I like there superdynamic 3-gun. One to avoid is the JARD adjustable. It's a well intentioned design, but the tolerance are controlled enough form the factory to make it not a crap shoot if you cna adjust yours to where you wnat it and keep it adjusted there. JP, wilson combat, timney, knight's are all good as well. CMC is decent. Stocks: if going collapsible, just makes sure the stock and the tube are the same diameter. Either both commercial spec, or both mil-spec. mixing the two is asking for it to be a PITA, or at least rattle and feel cheap. Gas block: If you want to be able to shoot any cheap POS ammo, don't go adjustable. If going SBR, you may need to go for some form of adjustable because of an extra short gas system. If you are going to use a suppressor, a noveske switch block may be in order. Muzzle device: You could write a novel on the subject. Folks are starting to apply actual science and fluid dynamics to them. What's best is going to change regularly. Your choice may be dictated by using a can than can QD if you go that route. bolt carrier group: I already posted a detailed version elsewhere. Unless you feel like playing a balancing game, just get a decent mil-spec HPT and MPI tested unit. With a SBR you may still have to go through the various weight carbine buffers to find the right one for your gun. If building an SBR on a rifle length buffer setup for whatever reason, you cna just disassemble the buffer and replace the steel weights with chunks of 1/2" aluminum rod to tinker with wieght. Foreend: I prefer free floated, but that's me. If you are going to go full auto, or bump fire a lot, and aren't going with a tube, you will prefer forend furniture with a double heat shield. Outside of that, buy what you like, think looks cool, etc. That's the nutshell version of what matters.