Dan

Thats one helluva commute. I couldn't bear it. I thought about it a few years ago before buying a house. Wear and tear on the car and gas are huge expenses. Plus, you would become a slave to gas prices even more so. If we hit $5 a gallon again, that would be devastating. You could spring for some econo car to help, but still something to think about. You also have to consider your commute time patterns. None of the highways are getting less congested during rush hours these days especially rt 80 and 78. Seems the new "rush hour" is now 6am-8pm Mon-Sat... I'd only do it if I could find work reasonably close within 40 miles max. Best of luck with your decision!

If you were originally looking for a .308, but don't like the prices and ammo price. Have you considered a PSL-54? Similar ballistics to .308, but plenty of cheap 7.62x54R ammo out there to stock up and keep it fed for a long time. 7.62x39 is still cheaper, but just throwing out an option for you... I'm not sure on their availability as of late...

With all the news about morons, psychos, and maniacs, nice to be reminded there are good people out there doing good things. +1

I couldn't believe those things were shrugging off .308 hits at 100 yards. Not even a dent.

This is an embarrassment. What is going on with LE, and how is this acceptable at any level with those involved with taking it this far? I'm all for teaching the kid a lesson for breaking the rules (bringing toy guns to school), but this is just absurd.

There's no doubting the coolness factor when it comes to buying fun guns. Never once was I pissed over the trigger pull. If you sit down on a bench and compare a M1A versus the STG pull, sure you will prefer the M1A's trigger. But then you pick up the STG and bring it in close, and you will love the ergo's and handling for sure. Completely different experience versus regular long guns. pro's and con's to everything. Determine whats more important to you.

Trigger pull on my STG isn't that bad, it breaks very cleanly, but yea the pull is much more than my other rifles. For me doesn't bother me, it is what it is. I wouldn't get one if you are going for precision shooting or anything like that. 70% of my decision was tacticoolness factor, 30% was for its overall size with a 16" barrel. Edit: Take a look at M1A Scout or Socom, and the Sig 556 (try to get a model with a threaded barrel and have a brake pinned, cheaper than getting the SCM and having to thread/pin it afterwards). Just some ideas.

I actually stopped using Newegg for major purchases.

Everything involves risks. But yea, I agree with the other posters.. just get the AR! There's a lot of BS going on in the state around firearms laws, but considering the odds I'd be more concerned over safe handling and storage over being charged for possession of a AW. That being said, always have a plan. If you still feel uncomfortable check out legal insurance... not a bad thing in general to have in Sue Jersey.

Cool, glad you gave it a try. Too bad didn't work out for you. Of course go with your gut. Out of your choices seems you really can't go wrong either way. I like your logic on reloading... save some money over a custom 1911.. and invest in a reloading setup with the leftover. What's nice is once you have the reloading stuff, you are set for whatever guns you get. Would stink to get a nice 1911, but then can't afford to shoot it.

These kinds of stories anger the crap out of me. Destroying history over some bureaucratic BS and $$$.. Hopefully the UN will run out of money to pay off countries...

Thanks for that Shane. I've always been reluctant to head over there due to the stories. I know its silly, but the last thing I want is to make waves ya know. After I grow out of 200 meters, I'll give it a go.

BTW, out of the choices i did vote 1911...

Oh comon', you know i'm far too opinionated for that by now!

Jimmy, Have you used the 300 yard range at CJ yet? Once I get my 5R dialed in , eventually i'd like to mozy over to "the other side". I hear horror stories of benchrest snobs making it very unfriendly over there. Curious to know your experiences.

I read in some other forums that the Russians have stockpiles of C&R rifles, various types, not only Russian. The guy was saying that dealers have seen them, they are real, but the Russians want top dollar. They want to get prices that they see on gunbroker, etc for them right out of the warehouse before going through the myriad of in-betweens they do before we get our grubby hands on them. So they continue to sit on them as a future investment... No proof or anything, but I thought it was an interesting post. I don't remember where I saw it, maybe THR.

Going to get a lot of opinions Tony! I'm going to out of the 1911 and M&P box, and say that personally, I'd consider looking at a Sig 226 or 229 Elite in either .40 or 9mm , whichever round does it for you. Arguable that .45 is the best out of them for "stopping power" but the .40 and 9mm are no slouchers. I don't know anything about competition and which would be best for that... 226 if you want a full size frame, 229 for more compact http://www.sigsauer.com/Products/ShowCatalogProductDetails.aspx?categoryid=8&productid=163 http://www.sigsauer.com/Products/ShowCatalogProductDetails.aspx?categoryid=7&productid=162

Great news. So it was just to appease their reciprocity states.. mostly around revenue. The states that have reciprocity want to make sure they get license $$ instead of their own citizens running out and just getting a Utah.. then calling it a day. Utah rocks, being they re-worded their bill to still enable the rest of us in occupied America the ability to get a non-resident CCW. They really didn't have to do that.

My paperwork has been in since Dec 12th. Hopefully it wasn't all a waste. Looks like the argument is over money between reciprocity states... where people are getting Utah instead of their own state's license. They should stipulate if you reside in a "shall issue" state, then you have to get your own state's before getting a Utah. That would save us.

Yup most local computer boutiques have dried up due to online retailers. There are plenty of niche players out there who will custom build you a PC with select chosen parts, make it nice and neat, and provide excellent support. The thing is you will pay 50% the cost of building it yourself with the same parts. You'll get a custom build, with someone you can call if it goes bad, and a nice neat and clean build job for that markup. Up to you to decide if that's right for you. Here's a good example at a highly rated custom build company : http://www.pugetsystems.com/ Malsua's offer may be the best bet!

I just ordered two from J&G Sales. http://www.jgsales.com/ Getting a Hex receiver and round receiver/laminate stock model. Lots of great reviews on the condition of the rifles coming from J&G.

I agree, the 1st gen SSD's were utter crap, and the OS wasn't designed for them either. Saw a poster said that his failed, thats a bummer, but could happen with any drive. I had a 2 month old 1TB Samsung HD completely sink on me. Backups are always important for your critical files! As for 300-400$, noway. You can get an Agility 2 120GB (same as my boot/app drive I have in my main pc) for $185 after rebatie and free shipping from newegg. 120GB is plenty big enough for Windows and your basic desktop productivity apps. Once you start going to 160GB, thats when things hit the $300 mark. I'm all about quiet PC's now. After years of dealing with screaming fans and jet engine WD velociraptor RAIDed drives... I've gone a complete 180. SSD, FDB 120mm fans, all on adjustable fan controllers for the case, power supply with temp/speed sensitive fan, and importantly a CPU heatsink with a PWM adjustable fan connected to the mobo (all of the good ones support PWM fan speed control now). My PC now has a nice slight whirr. When playing games or doing intensive computing... she'll wake up and the CPU and GPU come to life full speed to pull heat away. She'll get noisy then, but what are you going to do... needs to get that heat pulled out.

Link isn't working. But here is an hilarious Theonion on "steelhawk hollow point bullets"

Great article on US made Mosins Here enjoy!

I hear ya. Everything has potential for failure, and its a big misconception that SSD's are out there failing all over the place to the point that its not worth buying. They just aren't. That being said, I back up all of my important things both locally and online using Mozy. Backups have saved my a** plenty of times, just too many things can go wrong with digital storage to not back up.