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As promised, the first video where @56FordGuy and I take a look at and go over plans for the Scout.

I had one of my bait customers stop by today to pick up a bait order he had placed last week. I have known him about 10 years. I don't consider him a friend but more of an aquaintance and a bait customer. He had a few friends with him and as I was getting his order packed up I was looking at him and his friends and he and one other was printing big time. I handed him his bait package and said hey Chris, just wanted to let you know you and your friend are printing and not very well concealed. They didn't know what to say. Chris has told me to my face in the past that he is totally anti-gun and I have seen him on the news a couple times toting signs saying so in protests in Nashville. Chris turned a pail faced and his friend tried to pull is shirt down more. He paid me and thanked me for the baits and they left. I would not have said a word had it been a friend that I know is pro 2A cause he would know I am Pro 2A and I started not to say anything to Chris but I wanted him to know that he is a liar in a nice way. He talks the anti talk but does not walk the anti walk. I often wonder how many folks like him are out there???? He already knew my view on 2A and his friends knew soon as they walked in and I had a Bersa on my right hip in open carry. I put it on when he called to tell me he was coming to get the baits.

Ok...I know it looks like I'll be very much in the minority here with this comment. I didn't like the P365. I base that on holding the pistol. I just did not like the feel. Yes, that's my first criteria...how it holds and fits in my hand. I'll stick with my Shields. Just my personal opinion. And I didn't like the Glock 19X either. lol

Hi. Maybe something really simple like: "Hey Chris, I didn't mean to put you on the spot when I mentioned you printing, but I thought you'd rather hear it from someone you know than from a stranger." Then go on from there. Just my $0.02. Ed

Sooo, @56FordGuy found a 1965 IH Scout 80 that has spent the last 15 years sitting in a rancher’s field up in Wy-gnome-ing. Well, I bought the damn thing. We are in the planning stages right now for what direction the restoration will go, but he will be documenting its progress on his YouTube channel. (I’ll post a link once the first video goes up.) I’m really excited as I have loved the Scout and wanted one for years. Folks love to go on about the early Bronco, but the Scout came first. Here she is as she sits today.

I recently purchased my second P365 from Arms Fair. It has a born date of June 2018. My first P365 was purchased from Buds, and was born in March 2018. i never told my wife about the first P365, so when she saw the second pistol, see says “that’s more my style, I want a laser on it”. See previously had a Ruger LCR .22 with Crimson Trace laser, and a M&P Shield with a green Crimson Trace laser. I guess I’m in the market for a third P365. Thirteen rounds of 9mm in such a small package is a beautiful thing.

I have been living under a rock apparently. I grew up using tools with a cord and up until about 5 years ago hadn't owned anything else. I bought a 20v DeWalt drill and have nothing but happy with the purchase. A few months ago I started researching impact drivers and impact wrenches as well as comparing different brands through forums and video reviews. I'd never have guessed impact wrenches had come as far as they have, and honestly was skeptical. I narrowed my choices down to DeWalt and Milwaukee as they seemed to be head to head as far as quality and torque. So I picked up a DeWalt 20vMax XR brushless 1/2" impact wrench and a DeWalt 20vMax 1/4" impact driver. They each came with battery/charger as well as carrying cases. Wow, I'm really behind the times, they are both outstanding! I got them both at Lowe's and was able to add 2 years of warranty through Lowe's to extend the 3 year warranty that DeWalt offers. Milwaukee has a 5 year warranty but I couldn't find both in stock anywhere and wanted to buy local in case I had any issues. I'd honestly have been happy with either brand but now all 3 of my tools can interchange batteries. I'm probably the last man on earth that has waited this long but if you haven't tried them, give them a shot.

I recently heard my friend, Kevin Brown, speak at a executive level event. I've heard Kevin speak before, but this time he perfectly described my hero, the man who saved my life. As a motivational speaker, Kevin teaches about the Hero Effect. We have been told and lied to our entire lives; that heroes are simply ordinary people who do extraordinary things. If that statement is true, Michael Jordan is regular guy like me who just so happens to show up when he hits the basketball court. Consider the talent pool on this forum, we can achieve things that Michael Jordan and the Bulls never imagined. If you tell the same lie, it becomes reality. Stop thinking you are ordinary! I believe we are all extraordinary, we are created in the image of God. If you don't subscribe to my perspective, think about the biological science of pro-creation; you beat out about 100,000,000 other candidates for the job of being you. World view of God view, we are all extraordinary and can choose to be a hero. Who are your Heroes? When you look in the mirror, I hope they are the people who got you were are and we're you are going. They should be the people who made you or make you better today than you were yesterday. Note, "were you are / were you are going" If you look in the mirror and say, "I've arrived," don't forget to add, "and ready to be left behind." Remember, in order to arrive, you had to get off the train that got you there and once you get off, that train is not stopping. As an acronym, Heroes: Help others with no strings attached. No strings attached is hard; we live in a society where negotiation is normal. We negotiate with clients, co workers, spouses, partners, and kids. We expect something in return, for salespeople, where is the WIIFM? Every encounter is an exceptional experience, Heroes encourage, empower, enlighten, and encourage. They take responsibility and treat others with respect, they recognize they people the encounter as just as extraordinary as they are. Heroes are optimistic, the understand probabilities, but see possibilities to take us to a better place. The attributes of a Hero also describe great leaders. Leaders show up and when they show up, they are willing and able to help. They take the time to positively impact the individuals around them to make them better. The hope and optimism that surrounds great leaders and heroes comes from the possibility that one interaction can positively affect hundrsds and thousands. That's why it's called the Hero Effect and we can all do it. But what if we don't? An organization, team, family, or friendship will break up and be devalued if folks stop showing up, when leadership is someone else's job.. Each of us can choose to show up every day. Whether you are serving or being served, you can apply it to your professional and personal life. It is independent of title or official position. Start each day with the mantra, "I am extraordinary, I can achieve extraordinary things and make a difference in the lives of the people I meet today.

This is the main thing. It's a Sig. They will fix the rough spots just like Glock always has to do. If you like the gun, you're good to go.

Good point. I don't mean to rain on his parade. I think it's a great design and I'm glad it's working for those here on TGO. I'm going to keep waiting on updates.

Eh, I got interrupted earlier and had to submit my last post before I was really done with it. I'll finish my thoughts here... I wanted to add that nothing sucks worse than getting a new gun that you're proud of and then having everyone pile on the "Nope Train". Links, I hope you have nothing but reliable service out of yours. SIG seems intent on making any faulty pistols whole again, so even should you have problems I am sure they'll take care of you. If the new M&P M2.0 Compact 3.6-inch model doesn't do it for her, my wife may be on the hunt again for another small 9mm to carry and the P365 could very well be in her sights.

I have to take MAC with more than a grain of salt. He's the same guy that faulted the HK VP9 because it didn't survive being thrown hard against a tree. That said, it's still worth noting that a lot of folks are having trouble with their P365 strikers and trigger springs breaking. I really wish SIG would get their crap together because they used to have a fantastic reputation.

That's a Downy woodpecker. Never seen that before.

I have a shield and love it. I replaced my shield with a P365 about 6 weeks ago. 700 rounds later, no going back.

At least they were carrying, maybe their minds are changing slowly.

Typical liberal attitude. Laws are for you, not me.

I guess your probably right greg. I bet he does not order any more baits from me. I have learned if there is anything a Lib hates more than a 2A person is a 2A person catching them in a clear bare faced lie....JMHO

Liberals are hypocrites. Heck, at some point, most of us are hypocrites. Most libs I know assume they are much smarter than every other human. Sounds like your customer shares this line of thinking.

Ayn Rand in Atlas Shrugged wrote some prophetic words regarding selectively enforced and interpreted law. Simply a mechanism to make law breakers because .gov doesn't have power over the Innocent.

Well, I've had a few DeWalt and Bosch battery drills and give the Bosch a bit of an edge. No trouble with either until my garage was flooded in '13. Chargers and batteries for both were badly damaged and not repairable according to service techs from DeWalt center locally. I did get a smaller Bosch and it meets my few needs these days. I have been hearing and seeing so much about the Battery-powered trimmers, and have been interested. While walking thru Home Destroyer with the wife earlier this week, I found myself looking at the Ryobi products. Found one of the 40 volt trimmers at 119. Being the impulusive guy that I am...it came home with us. I haven't tried it yet. Not allowed to at this time. Still on restrictions from hernia surgery. I'll comment on it when I do get to try it out. I do agree with rugerla1 on the Shindaiwia . Total brutes. But for one reason or another, I gave mine to a family member and never replaced them. Until this spring, I'd been using a gas Echo. Liteweight, but did most everything I needed.

To each their own, DeWalt, Porter Cable, Milwaukee, Ridged are all good tools. I have owned all at one time or another. Ridged had battery issues, DeWalt had battery as well as charger issues. Porter Cable had trigger and charger issues. I am on the Milwaukee kick now, trigger issues for a bit but covered by warr at a local repair shop. What gets me is how far battery tech has come in the past few years. Still have to and for the life of your battery you need to fully charge and fully discharge the battery to have them work for years. So far I have not needed to replace a Milwaukee battery in 5 years.

I have been using DeWalt cordless tools over 5 years for my job as well as at home. Haven't had a battery of charger go bad yet. The brands I used previously would fail after 2-3 years.

My ideas on this subject run pretty deep. I have lived in the black community as the "white boy". Had to listen to white boy jokes when I was the only one late for a manager's meeting (I laughed louder than the joker). And, spent lots of time discussing the issues between the black and white communities. At the time, I was in a new town (Nashville), and didn't know any white folks. Not complaining, mind you. It was a great experience. With that all said, everybody is welcome in my eyes. And, I will do my best to drag ANYBODY into shooting... black, white, gay, female, all of the above. The tone of this thread is that we may all be fundamentally a little racist. In reality, most of my black friends aren't shooters. Hell, most of my white friends aren't either. I live around city slickers. That's not because I haven't been inclusive. It's because it's the way it is. In my humble opinion, taking any action because of someone's skin color can be wrong. I try to treat everybody equally. Recruiting brown people kinda goes against that in my eyes.

I'm going to offer a few thoughts for perspective. Have you ever been somewhere where you just felt like you didn't belong? Maybe there was nothing obvious. Likely nothing was said. But, you just felt like you didn't fit in. Many of us have never had that experience - or would need to really stretch our thinking to do it. Looking for a church is a perhaps a good analogy. If you've ever left home and felt compelled to find a church in a new town - it can be daunting. I recently had a family member move to Murfreesboro. For a couple of years they tried probably a dozen churches. They were at one of the bigger ones for about 6 months because their kids went to school with a lot of the kids at that church. They really put in the work, but still ended up leaving. When I was talking to my family member about it, she said, "there are some really great people there - but after 6 months I've got people still introducing themselves like I'm a visitor multiple times - and I don't really know that we're wealthy enough to afford to be able to go to church here." There's a lot in that statement that breaks my heart - but there's a lot of truth, too. There's nothing obviously wrong with that church - they're serving a lot of people - but maybe there's more that they could be doing. -- When it comes to the 2A community - maybe more than one thing can be true at the same time. I'm going to explore that a little bit in this post. 1. The NRA as it exists today is doing just fine - Its membership is as large as it's ever been. It raises more money than it ever has. It has a string of legislative and judicial wins at the local, state, and federal level. As an organization, it is feared by it's opponents, and may be the most effective lobbying group that's ever been. When many of us go to the conventions - we see a floor packed with guns and gear. We hear people speak that are talking about things that we care about. It's probably the furthest thing from most of our minds that most everyone there looks like us. And, that's fine on the surface. The NRA is doing great. Why change something that is doing fine? If people don't feel welcome, that's their problem, not mine. I'm welcoming and affirming and tired of people telling me that I'm the problem. All of the above can be true, and this likely is pretty accurate for most of us. But, something else can be true, too. 2. The NRA as it exists today isn't going to be enough to see us through the fight that is coming - The conditions on the ground are changing. I'm convinced that we're going to see gun regulation be a more dominant force in our political arena in the next few years than it's ever been. Opponents are mobilized, growing, and increasingly well funded. The NRA (as a proxy for all of us) is not ready for this coming fight. We need as many allies as we can get - and what's worked so far - being a culture that's predominantly included white, middle class, generally "conservative" males - isn't going to get us where we need to go. We're going to need a bigger team. -- I think a lot of us read stuff about diversity and inclusion - and we're made to feel like we're somehow the problem. We're tired of being made out to be the problem. I'd love to redirect our focus a bit. We all view things through a lens of our experience. We can't change that. But, occasionally something comes along to put a scratch on that lens and make us think. Let's go back to that church hunting analogy a bit. Many of you who've gone through this process would likely echo feeling something like this. My family member did wind up at a church where they're happy and engaged. When talking to her about it, she mentioned that the first Sunday that they were there people went out of their way to make them feel included. People didn't just introduce themselves, the pastoral staff met them and learned about them. Other kids introduced themselves and showed their kids where to go. People invited them to lunch after church. They made sure they knew about small groups. All of this could seem overwhelming - unless you're looking for a community to get engaged in. Then, you see it through a perspective of people going out of their way to make you feel welcome. That church was fine before this family got there - but when they showed up they went out of their way to make them feel welcome. And now, they're all better for it. If I were to extend that out to the NRA (again as a proxy for all of us) what does that look like? Let's say I'm a young Hispanic man here in Nashville, or a single black mother in Memphis who has bought a gun to defend her family, or maybe I'm a dad in government housing who can here gunshots weekly from my stoop as my kids play in the yard. Let's say I've joined the NRA to learn more about guns because that wasn't a part of my upbringing. I get a copy of American Rifleman or American Hunter in the mail every month. How do those publications speak to me? What would those publications look like if they included stuff that was important to the non-white, non-suburban, non middle class male reader? Off the top of my head: Let's talk Philando Castile - here was a young (black) man who did everything you're supposed to do as a permit holder when engaging with law enforcement. He notified them of his permit, was respectful, and didn't go anywhere near his gun - and still wound up shot. That's terrifying - and the NRA was silent on it. Let's talk firearm security when a $1000 safe may not be an option Let's talk firearm safety and handling in an environment where people aren't going to look at you crossways just because you're there Let's talk cultural issues where your family and your community may look at you crossways because the only people they know with guns are thugs Let's really open up some channels with law enforcement, and be an advocate, and have some hard conversations about interactions with our members who are terrified that they're going to get shot for something stupid. A lot of things can be true at the same time in life. As I look at our community of gun owners at large right now - we're as strong as we've ever been. But, that likely isn't strong enough to get us where we need to go next. America is getting browner. That is something that many of us welcome and celebrate. The 2A community of the future can't look like the one of today if we're going to remain as strong in future generations as we have in this past generation. Maybe the point of this thread isn't necessarily to call us out on doing something wrong - rather it's to start a conversation about how we can be more welcoming - even if at times we go out of our way to do it. How much stronger would the 2A community be if it were in fact a leader when it comes to inclusion? That's the thing. Leaders don't just show up one day with a group that is like, "yeah, I guess we'll follow you." No. Leaders create a space that people want to be involved in - and know that in doing so everyone is better.

I think outside perspective, and if you come in with a chip on your shoulder, reality can be a bit skewed. I can walk into most ANY range, gun store, or just about anyplace and not be "monitored". But I also don't take immediate offense when someone walks up to me and asks if they can help me look for something. I've witnessed incidents of people being approached and making a scene or just get that defensive attitude, and also have seen some come in and just look suspicious as all get out so even I keep an eye on them. Let's face it, we all profile, it's just the nature of the beast. When I grew up in Denver, I got extra looks sometimes, no scratch that, MOST times, but I fit the profile of the ones responsible for all the crimes committed there so it came with the territory. Attitude can make it a good experience or a bad one, you come into a place like you belong there and don't act like you're up to something and for the most part you will be accepted.

Small local or regional banks have a true stake in their local economy. Banking Whores like BOA or Wachovia are only out there to control your money to expand their control of the banking system.

How white are we? I do not know, nor care what the ethnic makeup of this forum is. I do not recall checking a box to indicate my race when I joined either. Is this something you feel we should apologize for or be ashamed of? I don't think much about another member's skin color unless he or she brought it up in a post. I think that if we ever get serious about getting past racism, that would be the correct mindset. I'm often wrong, however.

I just wrote a check to uncle Sam big enough to support a large illegal family in perpetuity. I thought this thread would be about the IRS.

"My. That's a big one."