lunker

They are OK for the range. I wouldn't trust them with my life or in a steel match. With my mooncliptool.com loader, I can load a steel clipabout as fast as the plastic. Unloading takes longer though.

Dicks has great sales pricing, but stupid corporate policies in NJ (CYA at its finest, hard to blame them though). You may pay a little more, but patronize a local shop that come up with rules that make owning and using a firearm in New Jersey more difficult than it already is. If you want to buy bulk, do it from online. CopesDistibuting usually has great deals on shotgun ammo.

I owned a Colt Gold Cup. Excellent, accurate 1911. Beautiful bluing. I am not a fan of Kimbers (go to either of the major 1911 forums and do a search why they have their detractors). You may also want to look at the Dan Wesson Pointman series.

Same here. Mine was issued last year.

Good call. Another reason I said to start with 22 is that you can't get too wiped out by non-member pricing on ammo (Shore Shot's is pretty brutal). It is a reason to become a member if you think shooting is something you will be doing more of.

My advice would be to start by renting and shooting a 22 pistol at Shore Shot. The have semi-autos and revolvers. You may decide you like one type over another, and you won't develop a flinch due to unexpected recoil or noise. It will cheaply get you to focus on fundamentals of shooting. Once you have basic fundamentals down, you can move on to larger calibers. Once you move up in caliber, don't fall into the trap of picking a small gun because you are smaller than most men. More weight = more recoil reduction. Most of the easiest guns to shoot are on the heavier side. I would suggest you try finding the biggest framed/gripped gun that is comfortable for you. From there you can work down in size and continue seeing what is comfortable for you. I would suggest trying a Beretta 92 (if the grip is not too large), a CZ 75/85 (nice because their grip is smaller but the gun is fairly heavy because it is steel), any single stack Sig Sauers. For all I know, you may end up being a recoil junkie and want a subcompact Glock. To begin with though, take baby steps so you don't get intimidated along the way.

Also, choose one that is a full time agent. When I sold my place, the buyer had an agent that was part time real estate, part time something else. She was rarely available, hard to contact, slow shuffling papers to and from lawyers and her client, and generally made the entire process far more difficult than it needed to be. You can't control the other person and their agent, but you can at least choose your agent well.

Run, don't walk away from an agent who doesn't have time for you or pawns you off on her husband. I don't have an agent to recommend. I do recommend you stop dealing with her. I don't know where you are looking, but I do know that in my neighborhood that there is a lot of dead wood real estate that's been on the market a long time. The good homes get listed and often are under contract in a few days. You need a realtor who can be reached on a cellphone, and will turn on a dime to show you the place that just got listed so that you can make an offer if it is the house you want. Cut your existing agent loose.

Linda, for that I recommend Shore Shot. They have a wall full of rental guns in different calibers. They let you switch between any and all of the guns in one caliber for free (i.e. for one rental, I can try all of their 9mm pistols). I have also found that the rental fees get waived if you purchase from them. If you need to order a gun that is not in inventory, you do not have to pay until it comes in. If you know exactly what you want, then this forum has a good number of vendors that can get it for you at a good price.

I wouldn't hesitate to take a class at Brick Armory. The only thing I would recommend is, should you decide to buy a gun from them, DO NOT buy it unless it is in stock. There are many reports of them taking deposits on orders and people waiting for guns that never seem to come in without much pestering of ownership.

Even with the small backstrap, the grip is big. Think of it as the arched and flat mainspring on a 1911.

The FNP45 is another gun that is NOT for someone with small hands. It is a good sized grip with some of the most aggressive checkering I have seen on a pistol. I like mine very much. Good SA trigger for a plastic gun. Really long and heavy DA trigger. That doesn't have to be a problem though because you can carry cocked-and-locked and never use DA.

Rik, Think of the NJ FID as permit to purchase new long arms and ammo in New Jersey. More importantly though, it is effectively a "carry permit" that allows you to have the long arm in your possession outside the exemptions you speak of (to and from home and range, etc). Getting a Firearms ID gives you much more freedom of mobility, for example keeping the rifle in your trunk so you can go shooting after work. Without it, stick to traveling directly to and from ranges, and you will be OK. You are basically in the same boat as someone who moved here from another state with guns they legally bought there. They are not illegal, just "restricted" according to our asinine laws here. As for the tin foil hat guys, I suspect this is just an influx of older shooters looking to rekindle their interest in our great hobby and wanting to weave their way through our maze of gun laws.

Thanks

You learn something new every day. I reload jacketed bullets and use a wet tumbling system, so this is doubly not an issue for me. I don't know that I wouldn't be able to stop worrying about dry tumbling loaded rounds with soft Federal primers. Eek!

We had a few at Range 14. I don't know if they let you do that any more.

Do a destination wedding. Let me tell you why... 1) Nearly everywhere else in the country is cheaper than NJ and New York. 2) You can distill the wedding guests to the people you want. When folks have to travel, the ones that don't want to come (which corresponds 90% with the people you don't really want there) will find a reason why they can't make it. You can pretend like you want them there, and they can pretend like they want to be there. Everyone is happy, and there are no family squabbles about who didn't get invited. The only downside is having to financially assist the one or two guests who you want there that could not afford to come on their own. 3) When the ceremony is over, you will be somewhere nice. And not in New Jersey, hungover and scrambling to get on a plane for your honeymoon. Even if the location is not your honeymoon destination, a day or two to relax in a nice setting before jaunting off somewhere will be nice and relaxing. I got married down in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Could never conceive of doing it locally. My wife used to get pissed at me every time I cheered a "Can't make it" reply for the wedding, but secretly she was cheering on the inside.

Colt is the only 1911 maker I know of that advertises both flavors. I believe that Series 70 just indicates the lack of a firing pin safety. Dan Wessons all come this way. I believe that Kimber has their own type of fps (Schwartz?) that is equivalent, but not exactly the same as, a standard series 80 fps. I think any of the semi-customs (i.e. Les Baer, Wilson, etc) all lack an fps. I don't know that any of the nice, higher end 1911's even have it as an option. Most people seem to spend the extra money to not have it on their gun.

First of all, relying on others opinions has resulted in many a sold/traded gun by me. You need to trust your gut on this one. Unless the people recommending one over the other have concrete reasons that are verifiable (i.e. bad quality control on Sig's newer guns vs older West German QC, durability of stamped vs milled slide, known flaws with a certain model, mim parts in one and not the other, etc), go with the one you shoot well. There will always be fanboys advocating something or another.

CZ 75/85 may be your ticket. Great feeling grip. The slide in frame design makes for a very accurate gun.

I have a Remington 870 Police that I want to have as a backup trap gun/loaner for friends without a gun, etc. I can get the 870 Wingmaster Trap barrel for it, but am at a bit of a loss how to proceed with the stock. I like the Remington monte carlo stock on the 1100 and 870 trap guns, but am not interested in paying $100+ for one. Is there a device (for lack of a better word) that I could use on my stock to raise the comb? I am thinking something like what they used on the scoped Garand sniper guns.

Thanks. He is right around the corner.

If I had to guess, I would think that the Politics section is closed to non-paying members because sub-forums like that tend to draw the wackos, trolls, racists, etc that make all gun owners look bad. Having stuff like that show up on a Google search would not be doing any of us any favors, and the time spent moderating political forums to excise the noxious comments would be more effort than it is worth and bring up claims of censorship (which it is). Those that pay the $3 per month to support this site (frankly I can't understand why a gun owner in this state would not cough up a pittance for this valuable resource) get to post there. Everyone else is really just a visitor.

There is almost never a reason to wait. The gun you want is out there on an internet site, and probably for cheaper than your FFL was going to get it.

Commonality of caliber. Do you already have a rifle in either caliber? 30 '06 has more case capacity, but you can't really take advantage of it in a vintage rifle like the Garand due to the higher pressures. From that standpoint, the calibers are equal. I have read that 308 is an inherently more accurate caliber, but I don't recall the source and can't see it mattering much in a service rifle. At the moment, surplus 30 '06 seems a little cheaper than 308. That may not last as it gets used up. Sorry I don't have a definite answer. Just trying to throw out facts for you to make a decision.