bbk

I think this is a situation with extenuating circumstances. I didn't live through Katrina, nor was I a first responder in NOLA-- I can't specifically state what went to sh-t is my point. However, this is something more than having the ability to defend one's self with a firearm because shooting at LEOs is NEVER a good idea. I'm not defending the actions of the LEOs involved, as they will face the consequences-- nor would I defend unlawful orders or overt brutality from someone in the military in a region of conflict. Ultimately, this is a situation for a whole different topic of discussion that really has nothing to do with firearms (as firearms were never the heart of the matter-- it was the lack of planning/lack of action [insert pre-9/11 US], and then the aftermath of the initial failure of local, state, and federal decision making). These failures do not equal 'police killing innocent civilians' directly, nor do these failures of the systems pardon any of the officers' actions (nothing ever will). And, really, as much preparation as there is ever made-- no one really is ever prepared for a situation like what had occurred until they have lived through it. (The same is said about military training. Sure, its probably far more miserable and harsh than any real-life encounter. However, someone hasn't lived through the [possible] harrowing experiences until they have.) With that said, there is something to be learned from the CIV perspective... which is don't depend on any local/state/federal resources. In the event of a disaster, don't think the LEO or MIL will be there to give out water and other items (at first)... really, and coming from a MIL perspective, just steer clear of MIL/LEO until the proverbial dust has settled.

Shane, this question is for you, where did you hear the SCAR-H was being made available for the civilian market? I keep seeing old stuff, or stuff related to the SCAR L. I heard the H was never going to be made available for civilian use (I know, I know, "never" is a long time ). I only bring it up because I didn't want to hijack a thread, and this SCAR thread has been pretty substantial already.

Get some noodles and some chicken broth and a little oyster sauce (yes, I'm asian) and you've got some good eats there. Ha, had to bring in the oyster sauce, nice (Asian myself ). At the bare minimum, just give me some sriracha, and I'll be good to go.

Happy birthday, Tim

Ahaha nice. Is that airsoft or pball? (can't tell as I'm checking this from my phone.) good stuff regardless. I've thought about getting into airsoft, but I hardly have a budget for it

Favorite non-real is the mock-up wheel lock from Wanted: Favorite real is the MGL, notably from the upcoming movie 'Inception':

Physical Rating - B Mental Rating - A Experience Rating - B Emotional Rating - F Total Grade - Z+ I don't know if the F is a good or bad thing here.

Thanks for sharing your experiences so far (looking forward to the rest!). I have to admit that I need to wait to hear more about the ACR before I really fall in love with it. Being poor has afforded me the opportunity to NOT buy more AR stuff ( )-- so, instead of getting a middy or SPR, I'm looking at the ACR or SCAR as future investments. Your info will definitely help me come to some conclusion. ETA: What is the weight if you have that available? And the barrel returning to zero is pretty darn awesome.

See, I knew it sounded familiar

SW does have the "Magpul" edition, called the MP15 MOE: http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/ ... rrorView_Y The MSRP is way overpriced though considering you could get all of the Magpul stuff relatively cheap-- but hey, some people see a novelty in something like this (it would need aftermarket work to be NJ compliant). Good luck

A lot of guys here will stand by their Stags (so I'm sure you'll hear about that). I've heard a lot of good things if you're a lefty, and I've heard decent things about model 5... my only advice is to do your homework before buying anything.

I've heard of this, but, like one of the reviews said, I've been turned off by a lot of the novellas/books because they end up pretty off base. The guy gets rave reviews it seems, and for $20~ for the first two-- that isn't too bad for print. Thanks for sharing, I'll look into ordering them and giving it a read.

Perfectly legal

Good [science] fiction is not necessarily on the story, but on the individual's ability to "suspend one's disbelief." Of course it doesn't hurt if the story makes a bit more of sense, but for it to be appreciated is no fault of the story-- but of the audience. As for I am Legend, and any work of fiction, to say that we couldn't imagine it not set in our world is a bit off track. Every bit of fiction, and more apparent in science fiction actually, is merely an imagined realm with very applicable-real-world concepts that we live daily... its in our nature to think this way, and, really, there is no other way it could be imagined (unless an Alien came down here and told us different-- but even then, our minds could only decipher, and ultimately translate, its meaning in to a manner we understand... ie. emotions, language, mathematics, etc). As for Aliens, it falls under the slip stream genre more or less... though, I do agree its a fun movie/saga. [Yes, I took a course on science fiction with a published SF writer :shifty: ]

vampire flick*

I never really understood the point of stockpiling either. I understand being prepared-- but then of course these days, the "American way" dictates you shop at Costco or Sam's Club (and buy in bulk) versus buying locally or even super markets... so, most families do buy for three weeks to a month at a time anyway (from the three S's [sh-t, shower, shave] perspective, not necessarily the three B's [we know these]). As for stock piling for if/when SHTF, what's the point of having a billion rounds of every caliber ever made? Unless you live in a highly secure bunker that nobody (to include the government) knows about, there will never be such a need. If things are so bad you need a million rounds, well-- probably wouldn't get out of that situation alive anyway (at least here in NJ, considering you'd be overrun within the first couple of minutes). I'm not saying its a bad thing either. There are people who take a number of courses per year, and those courses tend to burn through ammunition pretty quickly... and there are other situations of course. But to be paranoid for paranoid's sake is... well, detrimental IMO.

It really is rare to see any type of appreciation in these areas. I remember coming home a few times (via Newark) in BDU/DCU/ACUs, and Class As once, and the most I would get would be a, "I have a [son/daughter/husband/wife/etc] who serves in [insert branch], thank you." The look I would get was mostly apprehensiveness, though, fortunately, never anything negative. As for the vid, I'd agree with bulpup. I would note though, I would NEVER let an old timer vet salute me if I was still AD-- should've been the unis saluting the old timers

The general problem with frankenguns, as Caine mentioned previously, is that, generally speaking, lowers and uppers from differing manufacturers (hence "frankengun") do not mate well together-- and can be the cause for catastrophic failures. Is it a major concern? I wouldn't say so, but its the same reason why a lot of people say to stay away from used frankenguns. Its like buying a used car that was heavily modded.

Depends really, if you want to get right into the action or if you're willing to take the time. I'm not a big fan of used anything-- that's just my preference. Though, I suppose you could get one for a decent price. I would recommend assembling one, piece by piece. Buy an upper for now from BCM or another reputable dealer. Have it sent to a place like ADCO or PK90 to have any compliance work done (shaving the lug, attaching a compliant muzzle device, etc). Then buy a complete or stripped lower, and have those catered to what you want as well. This way you might spend a bit more, but it's over time and it's to your exact liking (and you can get all of the quality parts that you would probably end up buyig anyway to replace stock parts). Good luck.

The responsibility comes down to you, pointing out whether or not its NJ compliant ultimately. Though, your FFL will (should) point it out as well. The ORC model from SW comes NJ compliant (pinned stock, crowned barrel, 10 rd magazines, no bayo lug), so, that's an option. As for SW rifles being solid, its fair to reserve judgment still, as SW hasn't been in this (AR's) business long enough yet. I've heard that they are using the same batches from other "quality" companies (depending on what your definition of quality may be)-- like CMT for example. For that price though, I wouldn't mind giving SW another go (I had an ORC, but traded away the upper-- still using the original SW lower though).

Yea, I agree that a BUIS is a top priority. After that, optics depending on what your budget is for that kind of stuff. And, depending on its use, a mounted light (or two). VFG's are kind of pointless unless you're use to them or need them for their actual application. Oh, magazines.

The reason why I believe that any long term plans to stay in NJ if/when SHTF would be a bad idea is because no matter how rural we think NJ is-- its sandwiched between two major cities. - According to the Census, NYC accounts for roughly 42% of NY's state population. The number itself being around 8-9 million. There are roughly 47 million foreign visitors per year, and 37 million domestic tourists. That averages roughly to 3.9/3 million per month respectively (its a very rough number considering there is obviously a higher amount in the winter holiday months and summer months compared to dreary Spring or Fall/Winter months). These numbers do not account for illegals (to include people who have overstayed their visas), commuters (from NJ, CT, PA), students (generally speaking), or military units (and plenty of other assortments I haven't said). So, that daily 8-9 million can balloon up to 10-12 easily, with a better chance in these summer months. - Philadelphia accounts for roughly 1.5 million, and another 5.8 million in the Philly metro areas. Foreign and domestic numbers are significantly less than NYC, but are still quite substantial. - These numbers do not account for the suburban areas located around these major cities. Take for example, Bergen county has roughly 880-990K residents, Essex around 800K, Hudson around 600K, and Union around 500K. Around Philly, Burlington county has roughly 400+K, Camden has 500K, etc. These numbers add up quickly as you could imagine. So, point being, as many awesome quiet spots we think there might be, when there are 15-20 million people at any time vying for X amount of resources... well, I wouldn't really count on any of the quiet spots being quiet for too long. Of course that number would dwindle within the first weeks, maybe a bit longer or shorter depending on why SHTF-- but, inevitably, states like NJ are just a bad, bad, bad place to hunker down.

It was a Cormac McCarthy* film adaptation... meaning it was beyond depressing . As much as I was looking forward to it, I found it pretty darn boring. It did have an interesting glimpse at what life could be though. The thing though is that in a situation where the balloon goes up, we, living in NJ, are pretty much screwed. The population density added with the accelerated negatives of the urban sprawl, even if we did have long-term plans, they wouldn't mean much in the long run. Say someone manages to responsibly collect enough food (canned food, etc) for ten years; clean water; and a generator of some sort... that person(s) will stick out, and, assuming society doesn't deviate, will be eventually overrun. Even if they have 100+ guns, unless they have a force larger then that of the opposition (and even then, it would still end in a siege-- and it'd be a losing battle of attrition), they wouldn't hold out for long. Sure, there are accounts of sieges lasting forever back during the Middle Ages, though entire estates were under siege, which provided all of the essentials needed (water, food, people, sewage, casualty collection/treatment, etc). The estates (aka forts, castles, and the sort) also provided far superior defenses that most people simply don't have access to in NJ (isolation is not a defense). My point being that as much as I agree with the concept of "bugging in" if/when the balloon goes up, its a slow-form of suicide living in an area like NJ. Of course how can we gauge how bad a situation is if we do not have the means of being able to understand something from the bigger picture? Of course its relatively easy now to understand the big picture when disasters occur now, though most of that is understood in hindsight. Ultimately my argument isn't about defenses (and why that makes NJ a bad place to stay). Instead the reason is because of the mentality of people in this state. A place in Montana wouldn't be any better or more fortified necessarily. Instead the community has more like-minded people (depending on the region of course). People in these other states understand that self defense and self preservation is a deeply intimate issue-- and is my basis of why I agree with the pro-CCW argument. People here in NJ would first rely on the system-- than each other... and ultimately they would become savages, ripping and taking whatever they could because they believed they deserved it more.

Certain subs from certain countries have certain signatures that tend to stick out like a sore thumb. Same goes with cigarette boats. The cartels and runners are finding far less conspicuous ways of getting across the border that doesn't involve buying a million dollar sub + maintenance on said sub

Happy Independence Day! Thanks to all Americans. A 'thank you' to those I served with, and still serve, as well as those who have and will serve. Thanks to all first responders, nurses, doctors, teachers, plumbers, engineers, etc-- to everyone that keeps the gears greased and moving. Without the "good," there would be no standard for the "bad"; and without the "bad," there would be no appreciation for the "good." Stay safe.