Boom stick questions. Point me in the right direction.

In reply to lotusseven7 (Forum Supporter) :

I'm only really looking for brass basically. My Blackhawk is a woods defence gun so it's always loaded with super heavy stuff

In reply to lotusseven7 (Forum Supporter) :

I'd be super concerned with premature expansion and under penetration with those.

Brett_Murphy (Ex-Patrón) said:

Between not having my own space to practice on and the indoor ranges being mostly berkeleyed because of COVID, I've got some ammo reserves and nowhere to use them. My family has land I could use to practice on... 850 miles away, of course. 

I think the indoor pistol range closest to me is open off and on again, I'm going to have to investigate more because marksmanship is a perishable skill. 

I also have to set up my reloading equipment- it's packed up in a box in the garage, victim of a reorganization project that stalled. 

I mean if you need to offload some .45acp I know a guy.

I don't have any .45, sorry.

Brett_Murphy (Ex-Patrón) said:

I don't have any .45, sorry.

and you're admitting this in public...?  

In reply to stroker :

I'm a .22lr, 5.56, .308, 9mm and 12 gauge kind of guy. I have a bit of some oddball stuff, too.

If I make it through round 2 of the CMP 1911 stuff, I'll eventually have to get some .45

stroker said:

Brett_Murphy (Ex-Patrón) said:

I don't have any .45, sorry.

and you're admitting this in public...?  

 

It's OK. Not everyone can handle the soul stealing capacity of the .45ACP. Being a soulless ginger it's the perfect round for me. The only reason I have .38spl is because of a 21st bday present that I lost in a boating accident. Otherwise it.s .45/.223/12ga/.22

OH! I was *wrong*

I have one round of hollow point .45- it was in the center console Terrible Truck when I bought it.

I actually found it moving some stuff around on my desk tonight.

I hit the jackpot this morning at local shop and scored 100 rounds of 45 acp.  After a few outings recently I was critically low.  Have to get over to dads and get the 500 rounds of the 185gr semi wadcutter match bullet loaded up.

They had about 200 boxes of 40sw available at the semi local store.

I have one 40 and I don't shoot it though

The Plano .30 cal ammo box is $7.23 at Zoro. Free shipping if you spend $75, but shipping for 6 was only $5.

https://www.zoro.com/plano-molding-s...00/i/G6198814/

I've got a dozen+ of these things, used to catch them on sale for ~$5 at Academy or Amazon, but I haven't seen them under $10 in stock anywhere else in at least a year.

I've fondled the Harbor Freight version in the store, they'd probably alright, but for only $1.24 I'd rather have the Planos.

Brett_Murphy (Ex-Patrón) said:

OH! I was *wrong*

I have one round of hollow point .45- it was in the center console Terrible Truck when I bought it.

I actually found it moving some stuff around on my desk tonight.

At today's prices that may be enough to retire on. 

The verdict is in. The A2 front sight is invisible at 4x. And since that's as low as this scope goes, it's now a complete non issue. 
 

Question regarding scope mounting. Picatinny(?) mounts seem rather spendy for what they are. There are a few cheap options out there but I'm wondering what the drawbacks are? Less stability? Less durability? I paid the Waldens $31 for this:

and I really hope it's up to the task. As most of the usual sellers want twice that much and I'm a cheap bastard. Forecast says rain this weekend. I'll see about next week to really stretch it out. 

barefootskater (Shaun) said:

The verdict is in. The A2 front sight is invisible at 4x. And since that's as low as this scope goes, it's now a complete non issue. 
 

Question regarding scope mounting. Picatinny(?) mounts seem rather spendy for what they are. There are a few cheap options out there but I'm wondering what the drawbacks are? Less stability? Less durability? I paid the Waldens $31 for this:

 

and I really hope it's up to the task. As most of the usual sellers want twice that much and I'm a cheap bastard. Forecast says rain this weekend. I'll see about next week to really stretch it out. 

Today's cheap optics and mounts are what high dollar optics and mounts were 25 years ago. If the mount is square to the rifle and the optic holds zero after a 100 rounds, you'll be fine. Getting the mount and optic mounted properly probably mean more than anything else. There are tons of tutorials that detail how to get things lined up right online.

It was mentioned before, but I'll say it again: Snobbery is rampant in many hobbies, and firearms are no different. Budget options work well for many people. 

Just make sure your scope is level as Brett_Murphy is alluding to. Torque the little Allen screws on the scope mount side of things to around 20 in-lbs. Don't recall off the top of my head what the torque spec is on the rail side of the mount; I typically just go good and tight. Some low strength Loctite is not a bad thing on any of the screws; at the same time, a lot of scope mounts already have thread sealant stuff on them, typically it is blue.

I have two Vortex red dots and a 3x magnifier, can't complain about any of it. For not much more than entry level / bargain bin prices, you get significantly better quality and a great warranty.

The scope mount is on backwards. It cantalevers forward to have a ring forward of the forward receiver end. The rear of the scope should be no further back than the peep of the rear sight had been. When you are properly holding the rifle your nose should be on the charging handle or just shy of it.

The scope mount you have is Picatiny. As stated above, unless it falls off it is fine.

In reply to matthewmcl (Forum Supporter) :

That far up? Scope Says 4" eye relief. I'm holding it wrong then. Trouble is, I don't trust most of the guys online saying "this is how you do it," so I haven't looked much at tutorials. YouTube is full of garbage. A bunch of the pictures I saw (almost all of them actually) had things set up just like I did. 
 

* oops. I apparently don't know what I saw, as a quick googly shows folks with the rear lense just above the charge handle like you described. 

I've got far more 2 piece rings than one piece scope mounts. 

Sticking with something name brand, I've really never had any major issues.  I was almost exclusively using Weaver's 4 or 6 hole rings for everything picatinny for a real long time.  I believe I've put a set or two of their Sure Grip rings on something too.  I've got some of Vortex's hunter line of rings on things and Leupold rings on other things.  I've got Win Model 70 specific Leupold rings on my Model 70, I've got a DNZ Game Reaper 1-piece on a Savage A17, and a few of Primary Arms' cantilever 1-piece mounts various evil black rifles.  I've got some rimfires with who knows what, dovetail rings, probably whatever was cheapest at Walmart, Weavers maybe?  I'm not super brand loyal, whatever works, and while I appreciate a good product, I have never found a rational reason to spend hundreds of dollars on a scope mount.

I've got all the tools, in-lb torque driver, scope levels, bore sighter, and even a lapping and alignment set.

I've mounted WAY more scopes by eyeballing it, to make sure the reticle is level with the gun, and tightening everything by feel, than using any of the proper tools.  The only time I've ever had any issues with a scope mount was the original Simmons scope and your-guess-is-as-good-as-mine, rings that attached it to my .270 they came attached to when Walmart sold it to me, coming loose.

After I got more tools, knowledge, skills, and abilities, I tried to be a little more serious with my scope mounting, making sure rings are aligned, lapping them in until they are near perfect, and pretend I'm some kind of precision marksman.  I've lapped in half a dozen rings, and only had one set that really maybe needed it a little.

If you'd told the 13 year old Lee all of those steps for mounting a scope, he'd have thought you were nuts, as he went on his way sniping squirrels with his dad's Winchester 190 and K-mart, 4X Tasco he attached to it before he ever knew what an inch pound was, or that scope levels existed.

So that's a long winded way of saying, like most things, you can really get off into the weeds, and spend A LOT of time and money, but it's not absolutely necessary.

And yes that scope mount is turned around backwards of its intended use, but some folks like it like that.  If you want to keep it that way, I'd move the mount forward a good bit, or you'll likely wind up getting bit by that scope.

Y'all have any grassroots unique or innovative ideas for magazine storage?

I guess it's a good problem to have, but my collection of AR, AK, FAL, Glock-ish, 10/22 and various other mags is getting out of hand.

I've got ammo boxes, but I'd rather put ammo in them than magazines.

There's all kinds of under shelf, over shelf, magnetic, safe door hangers, etc. anyone have any glowing recommendations for a particular style? Any we should avoid? Anyone found a particular Rubbermaid style container that lends itself well to mag storage?

I don't necessarily need instant, or even fast access to all of them, but would like to have them sorted and relatively easy to access. Anything has to be better than stacks on/in the safe that are always falling over, and/or cardboard boxes.

I got a door mount one for AR mags for christmas. If I didn't have something else hanging there I'd hang it up. Not sure where it's going yet but it holds ten mags horizontally

In reply to bigdaddylee82 :

I use one of these to hold reloading components, ammo, and mags. It holds most of my stuff and will do all if I move my brass to ammo cans. 

In reply to bigdaddylee82 :

My rifle bag has 5 magazine pockets on the side. That's more than I have so it works for me. The bag was $25. My Ruger is still in the box, dummy mag in the weapon, and the only real magazine in the nice little plastic clamshell it came in. 
Related gripe: more mags cost x, but the whole thing was only 4x. Ridiculous. 
One of these days I'm going to make a leather shell holder for the bird gun. 

I'm needing bulk storage.  I've generally got 6-10 mags for everything, AR, AK, CETME are each 20+, then there's parts.

Something like Matthewmcl's tool chest would be great, but I don't really have the room for it.  I thought about stacking a pair of HF tool box end cabinets next to the safe.

I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to sticking some of the door organizers on the outside of the safe or in a closet, I don't have any little ones around, and already have an "accessories" closet that's dead bolted.

I was hoping one of you geniuses had found a cheap shoe rack or something at Target or Bed Bath & Beyond that would work well.

A less expensive approach than what I did would have been welcome, but I need a lockable solution that still gives good access, because we deal with Foster kids and being able to lock things up is important.

HD has some good half-height storage bins that are still sturdy. That keeps you from having to dig to the bottom of a full size bin. Either stack two where a full size bin would go or slide them under a bed. Can you use a pretty chest or similar as a coffee table?

Any thoughts on Ruger's PC9 carbine?   I like the idea of limiting my ammo requirements.  I've got a few more things to try on the Magnum Research rifle and if those don't work Im thinking of trying to sell it.