Yes we did… Now we need to do it one more time in 2012…
Nuff said…
Getting my M-1 back together… 🙂
Here is a picture of the throat ( now I DID clean it before the pic) but effectively no wear at all!
My gunsmith called me this morning to say he’d completed the reassembly, so I decided to take a couple of hours off to celebrate my ability to actually shoot a gun!
(I know what I don’t know how to do, and getting all the ‘fiddley bits’ back together without screwing it up and/or screwing up either the wood or something else pointed me to my gunsmith to do it.)
Here is a picture of the rifle as originally received from CMP… It was clean and 99% on the metal, but the stock had been beaten around over the years in armories. It shot good (2 MOA at 100 yards) and I decided it deserved to have a good looking stock to go with the original metal. After a number of calls/recommendations/back and forth, I went with Phillip McFerrin the Gun Stock Doc down in Alabama. All I can say is WOW!!! He did a super job on the furniture, and didn’t touch the cartouches at all!
OBTW, you DO get funny looks when you show up at the range in a coat and tie to shoot… And I had no spotting scope, so I shot 5 shots cold (with the 3 o’clock flyer called) offhand then walked down and took a look. I was high, so went back and reset and then shot the next five and got them all in the black.
Of note- no sling, off hand, so this is NOT a reflection of how well the rifle shoots, but how badly I shot it…
But enough about that, look at that stock! It is beautiful, and it IS the original stock! No more dings, dents, paint… 🙂 And my gunsmith told me I’ll probably be accused of putting a ‘fake’ stock on the rifle!!! I told him I’ll just send them to him as a reference 🙂
Here is a closer pic of the butt stock! Smooth as a baby’s butt 🙂
Here’s a picture of the action and you can see how good the metal and parkerizing is!
Here is a picture of the action from the side- almost NO damage to the action/parkerizing!
Here is a picture of the throat ( now I DID clean it before the pic) but effectively no wear at all!
The only dings are on the front sight, barrel end from where it was stacked in the rack(s) in various armories, but still… and look at the wood on that fore stock!
And finally a picture of the pieces/parts I’ve picked up thanks to friends looking for ‘stuff’ for me! The bayonet is a correct 1951 bayonet in the original sheath, and the web belt is a pre-war clip pouch belt with 1911 mag pouch and correct first aid kit. Without the folks in the shooting community who freely gave of their time and expertise, I would have never been able to enjoy this rifle nor put these pieces together to pass down to my grandson!
Thanks Folks!
An oldie but a goody and pretty damn appropriate again… No idea who wrote this back in 2008, but they were prescient.
‘Twas the night before elections
And all through the town
Tempers were flaring
Emotions all up and down!
I, in my bathrobe
With a cat in my lap
Had cut off the TV
Tired of political crap.
When all of a sudden
There arose such a noise
I peered out of my window
Saw Obama and his boys
They had come for my wallet
They wanted my pay
To give to the others
Who had not worked a day!
He snatched up my money
And quick as a wink
Jumped back on his bandwagon
As I gagged from the stink
He then rallied his henchmen
Who were pulling his cart
I could tell they were out
To tear my country apart!
” On Fannie, on Freddie, On Biden and Ayers!
On Acorn, On Pelosi”
He screamed at the pairs!
They took off for his cause
And as he flew out of sight
I heard him laugh at the nation
Who wouldn’t stand up and fight!
So I leave you to think
On this one final note-
IF YOU DON’T WANT SOCIALISM GET OUT AND VOTE!!!!
It is now November, I hope you’ve REMEBERED IN NOVEMBER!!!
I really don’t care whom you vote for, but PLEASE VOTE! It’s important for you, me and all of us… We need to show the powers that be that WE THE PEOPLE do care and want control of our government back.
At least a couple of the new acquisitions made it today… 🙂
FN-45 Tactical (full ‘kit’) so to speak…
FN .45 Tactical- The pistol…
Winchester Model 70 Featherweight 30-06 with Leupold 3-9X40 up.
And no damn time to go to the range… sigh…
Howdy folks, it’s everyone’s favorite holiday season. No doubts you’re looking forward to Trick’r’Treat, maybe a costume party, or ritualistic sacrifice to the Dark Ones! But always remember, safety comes first! Now, here’s some very simple rules that should make your Halloween a fun and safe holiday for everyone!
1. If someone tells you that you are the Chosen One and must save whoever or whatever, kill them and change your name.
2. Same bloody well goes for any harbinger of any “prophesy”. If possible, resurrect them and kill them a second time.
3. If a mysterious and beautiful woman appears out of nowhere and is interested in you, run.
4. If you see a lone young child in the middle of nowhere and is uncommonly cheerful and/or giggling, run like you heard banjos.
5. Black cats, not so bad. Black dog that watches you without ever blinking? Don’t run. Slowly back away.
6. Attics? Tell one of your buddies that you hid the beer up there.
7. Cellars? Tell your buddy that you forgot you moved the beer down to the cellar. That’s the point of buddies, they’re gullable.
8. Bullets may or may not work. Either way, shoot the evil entity. A lot.
9. Fire always makes a situation better. Or more entertaining, and that’s the truly important thing.
10. If mysterious folk with foreign or ancient accents pop on any suspicious date (full moon, ides of march, etc), pretend to not understand them.
11. If you can’t outrun the evil entity, well, you only have to outrun the more cliche characters.
12. For the love of the gods, if you are driving at night, fill the tank when you’re between a quarter and half tank.
13. Fix-A-Flat. Cheaper than being hung up on a rusty meat hook.
14. Hawt chicks are like canaries. Always keep a few around when you visit Bad Place. They’ll die first.
15. Little known fact, vampires are allergic to magnesium. When ignited and shoved down their throat.
16. If you have reason to believe you are being stalked by an evil entity, someone might want to stay awake when everyone else sleeps.
17. If one member of your party starts hearing voices, party over, time to leave.
18. If a disembodied voice tells you to get out, follow the advice.
19. Vacations to run down shacks in the middle of nowhere never work out well.
20. Vacations to Eastern Europe can end with you dismembered. But they have very attractive women. Definitely worth the risk.
21. If anyone says “But Whatever Bad Entity doesn’t exist”, kneecap them and leave them while the rest of you wait to see if he or she is right.
22. A flamethrower is always appropriate.
23. When various members of your party mysteriously start missing, don’t individually go looking for them.
24. There’s no such thing as overkill. Only “Not enough” and “Needs more”. Remember this when you think the evil critter is finally dead.
25. When you find the sacred/cursed/ancient artifact, don’t screw with it. Just put it on eBay and let the feedback answer your curiosity.
26. If some random weirdo offers you unsolicited food, drugs or drink, politely decline.
27. If the innkeeper is way too happy to see you, leave. They probably want to sacrifice you. Or they have termites.
28. If someone gives you a quest to find something oddly obscure that happens to be bloody far away with implausibly complicated directions, go on a vacation instead.
29. If you really HAVE to go, dial Blackwater’s Rent-A-Friend program then rent a helicopter to take you and friends to said obscure location.
30. If you manage to escape the werewolves, undead, aliens, or whatever long enough to get to the phone, don’t try to explain the situation. Just call the National Guard and tell them al-Qaeda is planning to poison the nation’s beer supplies and they’re currently at such and such an address. You’ll have all the Blackhawks and Apache gunships you’d want in about ten minutes.
That’s it! Remember these rules, and you’ll have a safe and happy Halloween!
2862 miles, 12 days, 11 states; no incidents, accidents, tickets or problems (other than a flat ass from all the driving)…
Got to see old friends, new friends, family, shoot things (golf and hogs), and see a real piece of history!
This rifle was built sometime between 1810 and 1815 by Jacob Young (born on 18 May 1774 in , Essex, Virginia. He died in 1842 in , Robertson, Tennessee). Ironically, when he originally moved to what is now Tennessee, it was called North Carolina! This particular gun was a working gun, bought by Isaac White, who brought it to Arkansas some time after 1825. He settled on 160 acres near Murfreesboro, AR (home of the Arkansas Diamonds) and among other things, farmed, was a justice of the peace and later judge in Pike Co, AR. The gun is still owned by his descendants, and was (according to the family) still fire-able, and was shot as late as the 1930s/40s according to the current custodian. It was delivered to a gunsmith friend of mine, who has reassembled it using the original components.
This gun was a working gun, originally a flintlock Kentucky Rifle, and later converted (guessing in the 1840s) to a cap and ball by cutting the original butt of the barrel off (appx 2 inches). It appears to be roughly a .50 cal rifle and it is STILL a LONG barrel! It has a sliding wooden cover over patch box (just below my right hand), and had a rudimentary cheek piece on the left side of the stock.
Here is a picture of the lock work and double triggers (note the forward ‘set’ trigger). You can see from this pic the amount of corrosion caused by the poor quality gun powder available during the life of the rifle.
Not a great picture, but here is a closer look at the trigger set…
Here is a closer look at the lock work and the corrosive powder effects…
And the business end of the rifle, appx 50 cal and there actually is still some rifling in the barrel…
Note: The estimate of two inches being cut off the barrel is based on the length of the ramrod, which is the ORIGINAL one!!! The silver bump on top of the barrel is an inset blade front sight!
Two of Jacob Young’s presentation rifles HERE, and apparently one more has been located somewhere in New Orleans.
I truly hope this fine weapon ends up in an appropriate museum, with due credit to the family and a lot better documentation than what little I have here…
Score yesterday was not a single hog… sigh…
Up at 0400 out the door to drive 1/2 hour to the landing, only to be greeted by ground fog on the river. We motored down by GPS to about 1 mile above the spit, then trolling motor to within probably 10 yards of the spit, couldn’t see much past the front of the boat. We could hear the hogs, but couldn’t risk a shot… Tried to close, they smelled us and away they went.
Came back about 1800, set up on the levee near where we got the ones last night, and here came the rain AND the thunder and lightning. Sat in the trucks for a while, lightning hit about 1/4 mile away and we gave it up as a bad deal.
The ONLY positive, I got to look at and photograph a restored 190 year old Kentucky Long Rifle! I’ll post on that in the next couple of days.
Stopped by a little old gun shop in East Texas this morning and saw THIS on the counter! It’s a Henry .22 Eagle Scout Tribute. I will tell you, this is a beautiful little rifle, and the engraving and presentation is OUTSTANDING! If it hadn’t already been sold, I’d have bought it! Sorry for the lousy pics, but all I had handy was a cell phone.
The right side of the receiver was also beautifully engraved…
This is the right side of the forestock-
And this is the medallion on the right side of the stock…
My how things change…
This is where we used to duck hunt 30 years ago, and this was basically a grassy area, not so much anymore… sigh…
On the hog front, got 2 1/2 this evening with three shots, shot a big ass Water Moccasin about 10 times as I backed up the levee (after I damn near stepped on him) about a mile from where this was taken!
More hog hunting tomorrow, we may try early from the boat to get them on a spit where they go to the river to water…
Sorry for the light blogging, been on (and STILL on) vacation.
So far, driven 1600 miles, VA to SC to TX; checked on my place in SC, got in two rounds of golf with friends down there (sucked); dinner at Snigs house in GA(damn good thing I’m not married to her, I’d weigh 400 lbs).
Saw family in GA, met UJ, Dixie and the little one from GBC for lunch (truly good people and she makes a MEAN sauce), scared the crap (damn near literally) out of myself in Mississippi.
Saw family in LA (good times and MORE food), stopped by Clark’s Custom Shop in Bossier City (drooled), finally got where I’m supposed to be to shoot some hogs.
Spent part of today at the range sighting in the M4gery-
This is MILSURP 855 62gr Green Tip (Lake City MFG) 20 rounds at 100x. Note the spread, which is typical for 855…
This is five rounds of Fusion ammo also 62gr- Note the ‘lack’ of spread! The 5th round (upper left) was a called flyer. I’m ready for the hogs now (under 200lbs; bigger than that, it’s the Model 70 in 30GOVT06)! 🙂
Tomorrow is scouting and getting permissions to shoot on the property where we spot hogs, and checking firing lanes/angles/backstops since we’re going to be potentially shooting out of boats.
Sorry if I haven’t been commenting on your blogs, I’m having too much fun in the real world 🙂
This one from Australia, and its pretty funny…
The Aussies don’t take them selves seriously, or at least not as badly as most American commercials!
I’m actually taking a few days off, so blogging is going to be light…