Boom stick questions. Point me in the right direction.

Folgers said:

In reply to matthewmcl :

That would be great! Pm me. 

PM sent

barefootcyborg5000 said:

VERY close, and far enough out to give some practice time. I need to remember to keep an eye on that. 

Do you still want to do an Appleseed or are you feeling solid enough?

In reply to matthewmcl :

I'd still love to do one. Scheduling is the biggest issue. Making a free weekend is tough with little kids. 

In reply to barefootcyborg5000 :

It looks like September for the next 2 day one, up my way. How old are your kids, again?

In reply to matthewmcl :

4/6. We may be able to put something together. I'll text you

PSA has stripped lowers for $30 a piece.  Trying really hard to not buy one for each of the kids.  Yeah, they are 9 yr to 4 mos, but it's an investment in their future.  

Went to the range this morning to send some test rounds over the chronograph.  Loaded these up months ago for my 6.5CM, but just never had time when conditions were right.  I shoot my 6.5 with a suppressor, but the first round was very quiet... definitely subsonic, didn't read on the chrono.  Check the bore for obstructions and try another (I had 5 rounds each of 4 different powder charges)... yep, that one was light too.... read 1000fps on the chrono.  I try one of each loading and they were all light.   Dammit... 40+ years of handloading, never had a single squib load and I managed to screw up the entire batch.   I use an old school beam scale, and weighed every charge, and the only thing I can think of is I had the sliding weight on the beam set at the wrong detent and never noticed because I was only dealing with the tenths dial at the end... dumb!

Check your work folks!

In reply to Rodan :

Very glad to hear that your weight wasn't one detent over in the other direction.

In reply to matthewmcl :

Right?!

In reply to Rodan :

Yikes. Never thought about that scenario until now. 

Not quite finished with modding the M1A, but have majority of the work done which includes Blackfeather RS chassis install (painted with Duracoat Coyote desert brown) and modding the CASM EX rail for low scope install. Waiting on enhanced/upgraded gas system and extended bolt release from Smith Enterprise Inc (SEI) to finish it. Already had the SEI match brake previously which replaced stock flash hider. The receiver and barrel is absolutely locked tight into the chassis - absolutely solid in feel like a precision chassis bolt rifle. Really liking how it's turning out, and once get new gas system in and upgraded looking to see how it actually shoots.

UPDATE:

Right after I posted, the parts from SEI came in...so I have the new improved gas system installed now and everything tightened down. Only thing left is replacing stock bolt release lever with the extended one.

jmabarone said:

PSA has stripped lowers for $30 a piece.  Trying really hard to not buy one for each of the kids.  Yeah, they are 9 yr to 4 mos, but it's an investment in their future.  

Or in the future you might be able to print everything except the barrel.  

Who knows...

Noddaz said:

jmabarone said:

PSA has stripped lowers for $30 a piece.  Trying really hard to not buy one for each of the kids.  Yeah, they are 9 yr to 4 mos, but it's an investment in their future.  

Or in the future you might be able to print everything except the barrel.  

Who knows...

Uhh... or like today. Hoffman Tactical Orca just needs a few AR parts: barrel, bolt, FCG and the gas system.  There's a couple design floating around guncad development right now with DIY bolts and homemade barrels like the FGC-9.  Mags and mag springs are easily DIYable these days too. Check your local laws but home built stuff is legal here, just not transferrable without a serial.

Completed M1A pics... build is my take on a DMR'ish rifle.

I have to say the extended bolt release lever is HUGE difference over stock unit, actually works! Highly recommended if you want to just change one thing on an M1A for better function...

Just over 13lbs, so just over 14lbs with loaded mag. Just need to find time to shoot it and see if its any better now.

Interested to hear how it shoots.

I thought a standard M14 was heavy at 9.5lbs!   

Rodan said:

Interested to hear how it shoots.

I thought a standard M14 was heavy at 9.5lbs!   

Well the MDT SCS buttstock and Harris bipod combo is just over 2 3/4 lbs...

Just installed new barrel. Whole thing weighs  5.6lbs empty.

See how it shoot's tomorrow!

In reply to Folgers :

I really dig the cf guard. No frills or fancy design, just function and lightness. Mr Chapman would approve. 

A PSA for those of us that like to build AR variants. I recently had a new upper made for me that had a 13.75" barrel and a 2.5" comp. Simple get it pinned and welded and you should be just over the 16" min to avoid the whole SBR thing.  I got the upper a while back and it has been in my safe. I was planning on going to the range today so I started taking one of my lowers off one of my other rifles. I put the bolt and the charging Handel in the new upper and just before I put the new upper on I decided to check the barrel length. Yup it was at 15.9. So assembly was a hard no go. So instead of going to the range I went to the guy I use to pin and weld things locally and had it re done. Four shims later to re index it out further and re pinning and welding and we are now at 16.1.  Now it is good to go.    

Lesson learned. Always check other people's work. At the end of the day as the gun owner I would be the one in big trouble not the place that put it together and sold it to me.
 

In reply to dean1484 :

It's easy to forget that some of the length of the muzzle device is lost in threading onto the muzzle...

Today was cleaning day... I'm waaay behind in cleaning what I've shot recently.  Got the handguns caught up, now I need to start on the long guns!

In reply to Rodan :

Feeling better about my collection as I think you have more pistols on the table than I have in my safe. LOL.  

Never feel bad or self conscious about the number of guns you own.  What's often called an 'arsenal' or 'stockpile' by the unwashed masses is really just 'a good start'... 

Of course, they're kind of like cars... the larger the fleet, the more care and feeding.  Which is why I'm behind in my cleaning, and my reloading.

And I need another safe...  

Rodan said:

In reply to dean1484 :

It's easy to forget that some of the length of the muzzle device is lost in threading onto the muzzle...

Today was cleaning day... I'm waaay behind in cleaning what I've shot recently.  Got the handguns caught up, now I need to start on the long guns!

Do you carry the M&P with the red dot?  I have a Shield right now for my carry and I'd like to go with something with a bit more capacity and a red dot.

In reply to jmabarone :

The M&P in the pic was my duty gun for the last ~6 years before I retired.  A full-sized M&P is on the big size for CCW.

My recommendation would be a Sig P365X or XL, with a Holosun 507K.  I had a Shield for a while, but after shooting a P365, I bought one, and the Shield went up for sale immediately.  Here's a couple of pics comparing the Shield with a P365XL:

Considering they are really about the same size, the Sig shoots better and has better ergonomics than the Shield, and nearly double the capacity.

A red dot is a game changer on a defensive handgun, but get some training.  Some of the biggest benefits come from doing things that are counterintuitive to a long time iron-sight shooter.  It also takes ~500-1000 rounds to start to break old habits and really dial yourself in with a dot.

Roger that.  I shot my brother's 365 and didn't care for it that much.  Shot fine but just didn't feel right.  Will likely go down the Shield Plus route eventually.