W2MC

Ham Radio (the other hams here can already tell that...) Motorcycle - (tho its currently off the road - blown head gasket waiting for me to repair) working to keep this ole house and farm from falling down around us

Just like everywhere else, if you follow the basic rules of firearm safety, hunting is a very safe activity. Treat every firearm like it's loaded-all the time. Always point the firearm in a safe direction - the ground, the air, etc...AWAY from people. Be aware of your target and what's beyond. Add for hunting - confirm your target - NEVER shoot at noise, and no deer/grouse/rabbit/pheasant is worth a man's life. Statistically, you're WAY more likely to die from a heart attack (from overexertion) or a fall from a tree (from falling asleep in a tree-stand) than from being shot while hunting.

Back in college, I remember the comment that one resident had on his door for months - "NUKE the unborn gay whales!" pretty much covers it all.

Well, according to the charge, it was "obstructing an officer". You see, when he got the call, the officer was heading to the local donut shop, and he had to take this BS call to the grade school...therefore this kid obstructed his mid-morning coffee break! I know, the above is nothing but crazy talk...and the donut shop bit is just stereotyping the cops, most of whom who are reading this are either (1) shaking their heads at the stupidity, or (2) wondering what the "rest of the story" is. But it makes as much sense as anything else that has to do with this case.

Shame you can't (easily) go after them to recoup all of that wasted time. THAT would put an end to this sort of nonsense real fast.

Enjoy it - they're like potato chips - you can't have just one...

The L-Frames from S&W (586/686) were VERY new back then; however *I* was considering a Model 19 versus the Peacekeeper. At that time, the L-Frame Smiths were all the rage and much more expensive than the Peacekeeper. As I remember, Colt's King Cobra was more of a competitor of the 686; both were polished stainless steel, with heavy underlug barrels; features not on the peacekeeper. EDIT - Oops - Colt made the King Cobra in blued steel, too.....

I still have the 6" .357 Peacekeeper I bought new in 1986 or 1987. Shoots fine; no problems. Accuracy and function-wise, its the equal of any of the Trooper Mk V's out there, because that's what it is...a Trooper Mk V with a sandblasted/parkerized finish. The story I remember had to do with an extended labor issue at the Colt plant, and eliminating the polish/bluing step allowed them to move the skilled labor from the 'finish' side to the 'fitting' side of production. My personal take on that is was a price/performance move; it allowed Colt to sell the Trooper for a lower production cost in the waning days of the revolver-dominated police market. What sold me is that I found the Colt trigger/action to be smoother than the competing K-Frame S&W at a lower price, so I guess the marketing move worked. It's NOT a "poor man's Python" any more than a Trooper, Diamondback, or King Cobra qualifies for that title...they are all built on the same frame/action, which is different from the Python. Would I buy it again? Hard to say - when I bought it, money was a bit tight, and it felt better in my hand, came with the pachmayer rubber grips I preferred back then, all at a price less expensive than its competitor; a S&W Model 19. Now that I'm older, money's STILL tight, but I've grown to love Colt's fine polish and deep bluing, or the beautiful luster of a nickeled S&W from that era. It gives them a character and soul that the sandblasted/parkerized finish lacks.

Odd....when I was running with the fire service, it was the EMS responsibility to call for helicopter transport; not the FD. The FD supported the operation once the decision was made - but EMS made the call. As for Facebook, I am very active there, but I do NOT identify my employer. I follow a simple rule - if I wouldn't say it, or be proud to show it to my grandmother, I won't post it on Facebook. Too many of the younger set don't realize the internet is FOREVER - stuff I posted on listnet/usenet back in the 1980's is still viewable 'on-line'.

So that's where they are! If its a white high-cube van, it's the state truck inspection folks. A couple months ago they spent a week or three on Route 73 just west of Route 30. I know many drivers avoid them like the plague; not because they're illegal, but because they dont want to sit thru the 30-45 minute inspection.

Wal-Mart money orders - 99 cents!

Yes - 3.5 grains of bullseye under a 158 gr cast semi-wadcutter makes for a nice, comfortable, accurate, and cheap(!) shooting load for my revolvers.

I have already chosen - and the decision was .357 magnum. .44 magnum costs more to buy, costs more to shoot, and are generally chambered only in big, heavy guns. There ARE some advantages to the .44 - if you want to hunt; its a better round for big game. If you're moving to Alaska in the near future, a .44 is better protection from the bigger and nastier critters found up there. But since I'm not moving, and you can't handgun hunt in NJ, I went for the .357.

I found I can hit better with an o/u...When I shoot trap, I'm currently using a Winchester X-Pert 96 (it's a 101 without the embellishments). One thing I just found out is the gun doesn't like the cheap 'gun club' loads. I bought 6 boxes of "handicap" loads (since they were out of the cheap stuff), and shooting back-to back rounds of trap, I found that I was missing the shots with the 'gun club' I was hitting with the 'handicap'. Learn something new every day...

AND the Remington R1's got a great write-up in this month's American Rifleman.

Many reasons. Dan Wesson revolvers are a bit quirky, obsolete/unsupported (the current "Dan Wesson" is actually CZ, not the company that made the revolvers), and very much a 'niche' item-even when they were in production, which they no longer are. The revolvers are out there, as you've found looking at the various auction sites, but parts can be a problem. The overall quality of construction also varied...for example, if the revolver says "Palmer, MA" rather than "Monson, MA" - be very wary, because the quality of the Palmer Dan Wessons varied a lot more than the Monson, MA production. The concept of interchangeable barrels makes it a "Swiss Army Knife" sort of a revolver - you can change it to suit your tastes and whatever course of fire you have chosen, be it service revolver, bullseye competition, or the snubbie category, all with one gun. Once you know how, you can change the barrels faster than you can read these few paragraphs. I like my "Pistol Pack"; a small attache-style case that contains the revolver action, several grips, several front sites, and 4 barrels (2.5, 4, 6, and 8 inches). It lets the revolver be whatever I want it to be that day. More info is available at: http://www.notpurfect.com/main/dwrev.htm While I like it, I am not sure if I would suggest it as someone's "first" or more particularly "only" revolver. That is a decision you have to make.

Join a club - there are several good ones in the area, with cheaper yearly dues and overall, a better class of people...

My 2 cents on revolvers; based upon my experiences: S&W Model 19 - K-frame (mid-sized). The earlier ones (pinned barrel and recessed cylinder) are great guns; newer ones (no pin/no recessed cylinder) almost as good. These are relatively plentiful...I have a nickeled 2.5" barrel and love it, but snubs are NOT for everyone. If I were in the market; I'd buy a 4 or 6 in barrel. For a first/only, probably a 6 over a 4. Stainless version is the M66 Colt Troopers - Mark III's or Mark V's are great guns, and they have that deep, deep bluing that i personally love. Also made the King Cobra (stainless with heavy barrel) and the Peacekeeper (sandblasted/parkerized finished Mk V). I find the actions to be a bit smoother than the K-Frame S&W, but its a matter of taste. Dan Wesson - The interchangeable barrel capability is fascinating all by itself-if you find a pistol pack (3 or 4 barrels plus a frame, pair of grips and several different sight blades) its like getting a swiss-army knife of revolvers. Guns are very accurate-triggers are good; hammer arc is shorter than colts or smiths. Cylinder latch on the yoke is hard to get used to and a dirt collector. Colt Python - freakin amazing revolvers...beautiful finish, great triggers, etc etc etc. Never owned one but I've shot several. Would love to have one, but don't have the $$$, and though they are fantastic, i'm not sure i would pay the current asking prices to own one (but i think i would trade the Dan Wesson pistol pack for one...) Ruger Blackhawk - nice enough, but i am not a big Ruger fan - i would take one of these over their DA revolvers Charter arms - save your money until you can afford a gun...

Best example to use is the Boy Scouts. They start them out as Cubs on BB guns during day camp, them move them up to bolt-action .22s when they are 11-12 during summer camp. My Troop usually has the first-year Boy Scouts (11-12 year olds) shoot a bit for familiarity during that week (and oh yeah....most all of em WANT to shoot). If they are interested, they can go for the rifle merit badge during their second year of summer camp. All the camps I have been to use quality bolt-action, single-shot .22 LR, be they Remingtons, Marlins, or the like. They can also attempt the shotgun merit badge then...but if they are not already acquainted with a shotgun, they will have a tough time completing the merit badge. Most of the camps use Remington 1100's fed singly. The advantage of the Boy Scout program is they are closely supervised and taught to understand what they are dealing with (i.e. this is a REAL gun, with potentially REAL-LIFE consequences). As for the semi-autos, I know my son LOVES my Ruger 10-22 (he thinks its his...and it might be

Hmm...anyone other than me thinking the driver is in a heap o' trouble for excessive force? EDIT - I went thru youtube to see where this happened - it was Venezuela, but this video is a while lot funnier... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJlZJE7ysbM

The road to hell is paved with good intentions....

Hmmmm....Can we really do that?

Um....a couple comments - The "Huge Houses and Country Clubs" should be expanded to include Moorestown and Tavistock The Raritan is WAY too north for the dividing line between north and south. I'd use the northern border of Burlington County. Anyone who believes Trenton is South Jersey is smokin something illegal...

The one i mentioned in the other thread is a Raven .25. It was a promotion years ago when Crossroads in Pennsauken was open - buy a years membership to the range, get a free gun. Another year it was a Norinco JW 15 .22 rifle. Ahh...those were the days... Crossroads is long gone, but anyhow, the little raven lives on. I was pleasantly surprised - I expected erratic shooting and keyholed shots. It didn't do either. It's far from a target pistol, but I found it to be reliable and reasonably accurate. I also think the .25 auto is more reliable than the .22 long rifle, both in feed and ignition.

I can (partially) see his point. NJ has a lot going for it. Areas are very rural, yet you are not too far away from "civilization". From where I am, mid-South Jersey for example, you can jump on a horse and ride all the way to the shore; only touching a paved road twice (206 & the parkway). If you stay away from the McMansions, taxes aren't TOO bad (not cheap, but manageable). The people are still reasonably friendly, too. The problem, as I am beginning to see it, is we have ceased to be the Garden State, and have become the Nanny State. Everyone who's said at one time ore another "There oughtta be a law!" will find themselves right at home, because there already IS a law...so many that we've started naming them after people (as if that somehow makes them more personalized or something). This puts the state rep in a quandary...how to get their name in the paper looking like they are "doing something". (Because, let's face it...this state has been around for longer than the US ...how much is there for them to do, really?). So....they turn to nonsense like "gun control", and "cop killer bullets", and "Saturday Night Specials". Things that don't mean a damn but make it look like they're "doing something" for the uneducated masses. Sadly, this disease isn't confined to Northeast, California, and Washington DC.