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I have noticed better availability for some common bullets; fortunately, I shoot a lot of cast bullets, and never had a hint of a problem finding those throughout this mess. I'm also fortunate that I normally shoot a lot more target handgun rounds than I do high power rifle. A pound of Bullseye goes a LOT farther than a pound of 4895!

I feel your pain. I've been on a handful of watchlists for two years as well, trying to find an oddball pistol bullet. The wait is made worse knowing that once production starts to catch up, the manufacturers will have to focus on the common calibers first, and until the supply chain is stocked with those, the low-volume calibers still won't be getting cranked out.

It is a hardwood, and a number of web sites say it's fine as a source of firewood, though very difficult to split. The living trees stink (it's also called stinking sumac) and the sap, leaves, and roots contain various toxins and allergens...but apparently that nastiness doesn't carry over into the dried wood. I've not personally used any as firewood. It hasn't invaded our property (yet).

It's unfortunate the Dems are so opposed to threads while being so focussed on seeing us screwed.

Thanks. Our forsythia is just barely budding (nowhere near flowering) as well, but I’ll go ahead and get product down this week; a little rain is expected by Thursday anyway.

How important is soil temperature? I'd always heard that early application of a Halts (pendimethalin) product to control Japanese stilt grass should go down when the surface soil temp had climbed into the 55-60F range, and ideally before a 1/4-1/2" rainfall. That's a little earlier than needed for just crabgrass control. Last year I did apply it a week or two ago, but with the cold spring this year in Morris County, the full-sun part of my lawn is only up to 52F or so, and any place that gets shade is still in the high 40's...so I've been holding off.

They're not too strict on the stance, only that you keep the gun low enough to not use the sights. I think standing upright with the gun held waist high would be just fine. It's a very low-key match.

It was a great time. Good to see Mr. and Mrs Brucin again, and some of the other regulars at the match. I think the organizers ran us through 9 relays, plus the experimental Mossad event for next year, so everyone got in plenty of shooting. @Mrs. Peel They're considering re-naming the Cagney and Lacey trophy for high scoring woman. If we lobby to have it renamed the Emma Peel trophy, will you come to the match next year?

I've not used the Hornady LnL, or the Dillon 750, but I'm a huge fan of my Dillon 550's. Rock solid, and a great warranty. The 750 should really scream in terms of rounds per hour, but caliber conversion kits do get more expensive as you go up in the Dillon line. That's a consideration if you load lots of calibers.

The law is a mess, and enforcement will predictably be inconsistent and erratic, which is bad news for gun owners. The only bright side is that the unfinished lower was cheap, and most everything attached to it is legal to bring in (exceptions would include standard capacity mags, flash suppressor, adjustable stock, and bayonet lug, but those can be addressed before moving). Worst case, lose the 80% lower, buy a finished, serialized lower, and move all of the other parts onto it, grinding the lug and pinning stock and muzzle device if needed. It'll be only a minor economic inconvenience, quickly forgotten once your friend experiences NJ's insanely high property tax, car insurance, tolls, etc. etc. etc.

This one looks like fun. AR-like, claims 1400 BBs per minute (but mags only hold 25) at 430 fps, and many AR parts can be swapped onto the platform. $180. Crossman full auto BB rifle Maybe once I move out of NJ...

I changed the thread title, to make it more inclusive of all things NJ BBQ. I've run the smoker a couple of times recently. I waited for a very cold day to smoke 9 lbs of assorted cheeses. Keeping the smoker below 85F for 4 hours is difficult on a warm day, but if it's cold enough and the fire is limited to three or four charcoal briquets, plus a small lump of smoke wood, it works fine. This turned out great, but it is necessary to wrap newly-smoked cheese in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a month to let the smoke flavor penetrate fully. I also smoked a mixed batch of drumsticks, simply rubbed with jerk seasoning (this is a favorite!) plus a batch of thighs done to competition standards, which involves removing the skin, trimming both thigh and skin into neat rectangles, carefully filleting all of the fat from the underside of the skin, injecting with a liquid seasoning, applying rub, and re-assembling with the trimmed skin, then more rub and finally a custom sauce applied towards the end of the cook. It's a pain in the neck, but the results are pretty. They'd be better still if the Cosco thighs were more uniform in size. Today I smoked two whole chickens, one a beer can chicken rubbed with a paste of dijon mustard, chili powder, garlic, and brown sugar. This was misted during the cook with Coke and a bit of lime juice. For the other, I omitted the beer can (some say it really doesn't keep the chicken more moist) and applied a glaze of harissa paste, honey, and a few spices. The harissa paste is crazy hot if not cut with something sweet but it adds great flavor. The glaze was re-applied a couple of times during the 4 hour smoke, on pecan and a little mesquite wood. Both chickens turned out great. All of these were done on an 18" Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker.

I've seen some nice homebuilt ones, including one Dad made when I was a kid. We dried a lot of fruit and jerky on that thing. I don't have plans for it, but they're out there. Since temps remain low, wood construction works fine. I use a smoker to make jerky--just keep the temperature fairly low, and the product is exceptional...plus you'd have all of the flexibility of a smoker for turning out real BBQ. I use a WSM Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker

If a new shooter is going to only shoot the handgun once every other year, it may be best not to buy a handgun at all. Being safe and proficient requires more of a commitment.

I'll see what I can do; I'll send an email if I'm successful. Maybe we can talk @Mrs. Peel into it? There is a nice Cagney and Lacey trophy for the high scoring woman. Some years it goes unclaimed.

Looking forward to it. Are you bringing your better half Cin this year? My wife will make an occasional trip to the range with me, but I can't talk her into entering anything that sounds like a competition, even one as mellow as this. My nephew, on the other hand, is very much excited about it.

I plan to be there on the 12th. It's a lot of fun. If it goes to the snow date, I may have a conflict. I met @Pizza Bob there a number of years ago. If he showed up with but a tiny fraction of his revolver collection it would be worth the trip.

It gets better. The match organizer plans to use an NRA 5 meter air rifle target for this match. The aiming black (8-9-10 rings) is 3/4 inch, a fair bit smaller than just the 10 ring of a 50' bullseye target. The entire target out to the 1 ring is only 3 inches across. Sounds like fun!

The biathlon events have concluded at the 2022 Winter Olympics. In the Men's 4 x 7.5 km relay, Norway, France, and ROC took the gold, silver, and bronze, respectively. The ESPN website didn't list order of finish for teams outside of the top 8, so I'm not sure where the US team finished. In the Women's 4 x 6 km relay, Sweden, ROC, and Germany, in that order, won the medals. The US team of Reid, Dunklee, Egan, and Irwin finished 11th. In the Men's 15 km mass start event, Johannes Bo from Norway won another gold, Martin Ponsiluoma from Sweden silver, and Vetle Christiansen of Norway, bronze. The US team apparently failed to qualify anyone for the field of 30. In the Women's 12.5 km mass start event, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet from France took gold, Tiril Eckhoff of Norway silver, and Matte Roeisland of Norway bronze. America's Deedra Irwin finished 23rd, not quite 3-1/2 minutes back. Results by country and by athlete are up on the Wikipedia page. TWO Norwegians won 5 medals each in the event, and Norway with 14 medals total doubled the count of second-place France. The US didn't medal; as I noted above, it's never been a strong event for us. Biathlon results Now, it's on to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, and the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina-D'Ampezzo, Italy. I sincerely hope the political bullshit will be significantly dialed back by then. It's been a terrible distraction at these games. The athletes and the fans deserve better.

At this point, for me to participate in summer or winter biathlon, they'd have to introduce a new team event, in which I could do the shooting and my teammate could do the running or skiing.

Nice! The great outdoor humorist Patrick McManus wrote an article titled "Gunrunning" on how best to sneak new guns into the house without spousal disapproval. I can't find it online, but a couple of pages of it can be found here: Gunrunning

Welcome to the forum! As noted above, it all depends on the town. Some seem to call and verify, without stating why they are asking, some reportedly will happily tell the employer that they have an employee who wants to buy a gun...and some never check. In two different towns where I lived for many years before the electronic system was implemented, I would always give my office phone number as the contact point for employment verification. I figured if they called, I might be able to verify my own employment, and if not, I could still forward the call to HR. No one ever called, for any of the applications. I hope you are so lucky.

I know, I know...this is but a pale approximation of what I could learn by spending some time with the Texas BBQ masters. But it's a start!

I've signed up for another class! I'd had my eye on the Mason Dixon BBQ BootCamps in Greencastle, PA, for the last two years, but never was able to get into one. They sell out FAST. BBQ Boot Camps They offer bootcamps for chicken & ribs, brisket, whole hog, and turkey/tailgate. I had my eye on the brisket bootcamp, as that is one of the hardest meats to do well on the smoker. The bootcamp provides everything; meat, smokers, fuel, smoke wood, injections, rubs, mops, and beer. I was monitoring their site fairly closely, and as of two weeks ago, registration for the 2022 bootcamps hadn't opened. I checked today, and 5 of their 10 bootcamps were full. I sent in my registration, and learned they were behind in updating their website; 9 of their 10 bootcamps were full. Fortunately, the one with an opening was a brisket bootcamp. I grabbed it. So, this summer I'm going to learn how to up my brisket game!