Displaced Texan

Yep. Back in high school I had a 1980 Trans Am. Smokey and the Bandit special. I got pulled over a LOT.

No way I'd be a cop. I have a GREAT deal of respect for them, but it's by and large a thankless job. The public loves the military ( for the most part), but police tend to get a bad rap. Unfortunate. They are the front line. Everyone hates a cop when they get a ticket, but they cry and bitch that they aren't around when they need one. In many cases, it's a no win situation. My hat is always off to them.

Hard to beat a Colt 6920 (OEM 1/2 too) as a first AR, or as a base to customize your own. Has to be made compliant, but most do anyway. Wont be the prettiest girl at the ball, but she will always dance! If you're even the slightest bit handy, you can build your own lower and buy an upper to suit your needs.

Brownells delivered my bolt catch springs today, apparently they come 5 to a pack, so I have spares. I finished the lower. The upper is at my dad's house in Tx, so will have to wait for pics until my next ranch trip. However, it will be very similar to this one. I've got to order a few spare LPK's and put together some emergency kits. Thanks for the tip about the Altoids tin, HE. Great idea!

I have a Trijicon SRS that I really like, but it's a heavy pig. I like the wider FOV. I'd recommend a Trijicon MRO or some flavor of Aimpoint.

Ray Ray is a slut???!!!!

I thought Ray Ray was pregnant with your baby?

'You've lost that loving feeling...woah that loving feeling....'

I usually install springs/detents inside a large clear trash bag. This one I didn't, cause it's an 'easy one'. I won't do THAT twice!! Lol $3 later, Brownells to the rescue .

Building my Mega Arms forged lower today. Almost done...but I launched the f&@$ing bolt catch spring across my basement. Of all the springs to lose, I lose the easy one!!! Off to order one from Brownells. Lol

I've also used the clevis pin trick for awhile. Works great!

Bahahahaha!!

Bahahaha!! Pucker up, buttercup!

I'm a pitcher, not a catcher.

Due to Mrs. Peel's awesome insight, I've gone back and slightly edited my last post. You are absolutely right, an intruder is absolutely capable of killing you bare handed. If someone has broken into your home, armed or not, one has to assume they are there to do you harm.

Mission drives the gear, not the other way around. I now own 4 ACOGs, (the 4th thanks to Zombie..thanks buddy!). They are on my ranch rifles, primarily used for 0-400m...although the 4x dual illumination models COULD be used as a 'red dot' using the Bindon aiming concept. If your PRIMARY purpose for your AR is HD, then a red dot type sight probably will suit you better. Before you buy ANY optic, get proficient with iron sights. Oh, always ask your buddy to try his gear out before you pop open your wallet on anything. I have red dot sights too, Zeke!!!

My dachshund made 'friends' with this little guy yesterday. He was in my neighbors yard. My dog scooped up the little baby bunny in her mouth and immediately spit it out. She gave me a look like, 'that wasn't what I thought it was, dad'. I about hurt myself laughing at her. The bunny, while unharmed, was a little bit annoyed.

Through many years of service to the .mil, and having the requirements for the use of deadly force beaten into my head when I qualified to carry a weapon. Surprisingly, I can still recite the deadly force mantra from memory, after all these years.... Deadly force is the force a person uses, which he/she knows, or should know, presents the risk of causing death or serious bodily harm. Its use is only justified under conditions of extreme circumstance, when all lesser means have failed or cannot reasonably be employed. The Navy had specific conditions where it could be employed, including to prevent death or serious bodily harm to yourself or others, and to protect vital govt property, among other things...after all lesser means failed or could not reasonably be employed, of course. I think the same goes for an individual...to protect your life and the lives of others, when ALL lesser means fail or cannot reasonably be employed. I don't belive protecting property falls under this. No one needs to die for stealing a fucking TV or a Blue Ray player. While I don't know the whole story of this situation...If someone breaks into your home, armed, with a baseball bat, knife, a firearm, or even bare hands, then I have to conclude they are there to hurt me or my family. No time to stop and ask them their intentions, I have a duty to protect myself and my family, so I will stop the threat using the appropriate level of force. Period. Should that mean that the perp gets shot and killed, so be it. Honestly, I look at it like putting down a coyote that is hunting my livestock. Not a particularly pleasant thing to do, but something that must be done. I won't bring the fight to anyone, but if someone brings it to my door, I will use the appropriate force required to protect myself and my family. I think the WORST part would be the investigation afterwards. That I can see losing sleep over. Must be a horrible experience having your actions evicerated, when all you were trying to do was protect your family. Unfortunately NJ law gives the criminal more rights than the victims. HE mentioned the 'euphoria' one experiences after an encounter. I guess it's different for everyone...here is my little sea story, where i had a close call with using deadly force. My submarine was tied to the pier at Chin He, South Korea at the ROK Marine base, this was mid 1990's. I was the topside watch, armed with a .45. There was a pier sentry armed with a shotgun, and a watch in the sail of the boat armed with an M-16. My pier sentry started shouting 'swimmer in the water' and pointing his weapon at a man swimming near the aft end of the boat. I alerted the crew of the swimmer over the 1MC, drew my weapon, and ran towards the stern shouting at this guy to get out of the water. He climbed up on the boat near the stern planes and onto the hull. He had a big knife and some gear on his waistband, and his hands up. He had no idea what I was saying, but my yelling at him and a .45 pointed at his head got the message across loud and clear. My weapon was hammer back with the safety off, and pointed at this guys head from like 10 feet. The duty officer and the onboard crew rushed up behind me, then put him face down and restrained him until the ROK Marines showed up and took him away. I understand they used some pretty aggressive methods to find out why he was there. Turns out he was an oyster diver who decided it would be a good idea to fish near the Marine base. Turned out NOT to be such a good idea for him. After the incident, all 3 of us were relieved of the watch, and we were all interviewed/counseled about the incident by the Weapons Officer (he was the duty officer that day), and the XO. The pier sentry was pretty worked up, and nearly dropped his weapon in the water as he pointed it at the swimmer. He was pretty shaken up having to point his weapon at someone. I remember being forceful, but totally in control and aware of myself and what was going on around me. I was hoarse after yelling. A little surreal. I was not 'eager' to hurt this guy, but I would have used deadly force on this guy had the situation required it. I remember reciting the mantra in my head while my weapon was drawn. Weird. We had divers down all the rest of the day checking every inch of the hull for a device he may have planted. Explosive, tracking, whatever. It was an 'interesting' day to say the least.

Oddly enough, I HAVE eaten opossum before.... Lemon butter doesn't cover the taste of that. Yuck.

I'm all ears buddy!!

My slings are the Tactical Link 1/2 point convertable slings used with their Z360 mounts. I prefer the 2 point configuration, and very rarely use them in single point mode. When walk hunting, I like the accessibility of the weapon in 2 point mode. Single point does come in handy (for me) slung over my right side and hanging free when I climb a ladder into a deer blind, other than that, I am a 2 point user. Personally, I think 3 point slings are a waste. Use what works best for you, but I think 2 point will be of the most use.

I personally regard firearms as 'tools' for the most part. My 'tools' are to do specific jobs, and I try to have the best tool I can for that specific job. While I DO own multiple AR's, for example, with the exception of one, they all serve a specific purpose. My primary ranch utility/HD AR (and its identical twin as a backup). A .308 AR specific for medium sized game hunting. A 20" A4 for long range shooting. A 14.5" M4 carry handle clone...just because I have a soft spot for M4's with iron sights. I may re-prioritize AR's a bit, as Mrs. DT insisted I build one to leave out at the ranch. Working on that one now. I have a few handguns, which are specific to HD for my wife and I. My shotgun, a bird gun, Browning Citori 20 gauge was a gift from my dad. Also, an old Remington 700 in .243 which was my moms deer rifle I inherited after she passed. I love that little rifle, and still hunt with it from time to time. Always makes me think of mom whenever I see it.

I've done that too. Horrible. One bunny escaped the mower with only the tops of his ears lopped off. We saw him around here as an adult for nearly a year. He always gave me an evil look.... I think the hawks eventually got him.

My wife and I were going to hang by the fire pit this evening, and relax and have a glass of wine or three. We were looking forward to a nice evening together. I had stacked wood in the pit about a week ago, in anticipation of this evening. When I lit it off tonight, I heard a high pitched squealing....to my horror, I saw a rabbit had built a nest in my kindling, and had 3 babies. I reached in the fire and pulled them all out. Looks like 2 survived, but one didn't make it. Never imagined a rabbit would have been able to get into my fire pit, much less have a litter in it. I'm an outdoorsman, and a hunter, and while I've killed my share of game in my life, I would never purposely kill any animal like that. Horrible way to die. Check your fire pits before you light them, ladies and gentlemen.

Oh yeah??! Well, WE had sparklers...