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Sometimes when I see these pictures, I am curious about “the rest of the story”. Here is the rest of the story about that Train/Tank collision. http://nrhs1.org/assets/1304_April_Dispatcher.pdf

I am getting ready to do my yearly gun cleaning. It will be a thorough cleaning for the ones I fired and the other safe queens, they will get a oil soaked patch in the barrel and a good wiped down. I am fortunate, that I put in a vapor barrier, under the floor of the house, and a heat rod in my safe a few years ago. Afterwards, I have had no rust problems at all. Seems to have eliminated any moisture in my gun safe. Last year my 15 Y O grandson and I cleaned all 45 of my guns. With his help it only took us part of 2 days. He will be getting his drivers license next week, and I guess I have lost my cleaning partner as his dad has already purchased a truck for him. Several of his friends are already driving so he is not around much. Children grow. I do remember 16 and my first car. That was a good while ago and my first car was a 58 Ford Starliner, with 3 on the column, and an in line 6 cylinder engine. I purchased from my sister for 300.00 in 1964. I was free at last, free at last, I thought! OH, for the good old days! Now I have 3, The Golden Nugget(a Chevy Trail Blazer SUV), a Honda Accord("Pearlie" for the misses), and "Whittie Jr"( 2500 HD Chevy Single wheel Durimax Disel (for pulling a 35' "Wildcat" 5th wheel RV). As you can see our grandkids have named all our rides. Not bragging at all, because I have to keep all them up and pay insurance on them. Well I sure got off the subject of gun cleaning. I guess old men ramble, sometimes. I have given several of my guns to family so I don't have as many to clean. Plan is to give most of them, to my grandkids before I pass. Thinking I need to get started, but will have breakfast first. Got to stick around today because one of my daughters purchased, for me, a new I phone 11 and UPS is supposed/will deliver and make me sign for it today. Guess I will need to learn another phone now. Really looking forward to that. Any ways it will be a good day for gun cleaning. Will clean, and lube the dirty ones first. You guys have a good day.

Got tired of staring at the thing...they are surprisingly easy to shoot without a brace and woo-wee what a fireball...but the triggers suck...tons of phillips screws look dumb, and lets just face it having a brace makes aiming easier...however one huge advantage to these is weight...3.4lbs stock....I still need to weigh it but even with the added kit I think im still at 5lbs or less....I got some other plans for later but im happy with its direction.

$320 (but used Instagram coupon code and paid $272) from Boogeyman Customs! He’s gained quite the following since I had my slide milled so not sure what he is charging now but it’ll be on his website. I got the LLorona Elite cut, RMR optic cut had it Cerakoted MultiCam Black and turned out GREAT. I’ve had at least 4 other friends send their slides to him and everyone has been thrilled. https://www.boogeymancustoms.com

Hipower, that is why I wouldn't want it as a men's cologne. I am afraid it would attract far too many males and few females. It would be worse than having a sign in front of your house that said free BBQ ribs. LOL

That's why you have multiple muskets and train the wife and kids how to reload for you. You can maintain a pretty high rate of fire that way. Muskets as crew served weapons.

On February 24, 1836, in San Antonio, Texas, Colonel William Travis issues a call for help on behalf of the Texan troops defending the Alamo, an old Spanish mission and fortress under attack by the Mexican army. A native of Alabama, Travis moved to the Mexican state of Texas in 1831. He soon became a leader of the growing movement to overthrow the Mexican government and establish an independent Texan republic. When the Texas revolution began in 1835, Travis became a lieutenant-colonel in the revolutionary army and was given command of troops in the recently captured city of San Antonio de Bexar (now San Antonio). On February 23, 1836, a large Mexican force commanded by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana arrived suddenly in San Antonio. Travis and his troops took shelter in the Alamo, where they were soon joined by a volunteer force led by Colonel James Bowie. Though Santa Ana’s 5,000 troops heavily outnumbered the several hundred Texans, Travis and his men determined not to give up. On February 24, they answered Santa Ana’s call for surrender with a bold shot from the Alamo’s cannon. Furious, the Mexican general ordered his forces to launch a siege. Travis immediately recognized his disadvantage and sent out several messages via couriers asking for reinforcements. Addressing one of the pleas to “The People of Texas and All Americans in the World,” Travis signed off with the now-famous phrase “Victory or Death.” Only 32 men from the nearby town of Gonzales responded to Travis’ call for help, and beginning at 5:30 a.m. on March 6, Mexican forces stormed the Alamo through a gap in the fort’s outer wall, killing Travis, Bowie, the legendary Davy Crockett and 190 of their men. Despite the loss of the fort, the Texan troops managed to inflict huge losses on their enemy, killing at least 600 of Santa Ana’s men. The defense of the Alamo became a powerful symbol for the Texas revolution, helping the rebels turn the tide in their favor. At the crucial Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 910 Texan soldiers commanded by Sam Houston defeated Santa Ana’s army of 1,250 men, spurred on by cries of “Remember the Alamo!” The next day, after Texan forces captured Santa Ana himself, the general issued orders for all Mexican troops to pull back behind the Rio Grande River. On May 14, 1836, Texas officially became an independent republic.

Hey Pop Pop, don't apologize for rambling at all. That is good, it means you still remember something to ramble about. LOL I can say that as I am an old fart myself!! Don't get too overly excited by the smell of Hoppe's #9 which I still think would make a good women's perfume odor. There would be every gun guy following her around like a bird dog on a covey of quail. Have fun!!

I've got about 350 rounds downrange with the Masada as of today. Basics: 2 x 17 round magazines, with remarkably stiff springs. Comes with 2 backstraps (small and large), and optic mounting kit with 4 RDS-specific spacer plates and appropriate screws. The optic cut cover and all the mounting plates are plastic. The RDS plates included are for: Deltapoint, RMR, Venom, and Romeo 1. Trigger pull is 4 lbs, about 4.5mm worth of takeup and another 4mm of smooth, non-stacking creep. Ambi mag release and ambi slide release. Steel 3-dot sights. Handling and shooting impressions: Good hand feel for me, I left the large backstrap installed. Trigger has a great pull, but trigger slap does occur on mine. Out of the box, shooting a few mags of mildly hot 9mm earns you a stinging trigger finger. After mounting a RDS, the trigger slap was softened and all but unnoticeable. The Glock-type safety dingus isn't really a problem. I'd put about 100 rounds through it before I installed the Vortex Venom RDS, and the trigger slap was unpleasant enough that I was considering getting rid of the gun. After installing the RDS and putting 250 more rounds through it with considerably tamed trigger slap, I feel like it was built and intended for RDS use exclusively. Sights are very much a "combat hold" setup, where the POI is about where the white dot on the front sight is. I was using a 6'oclock hold at about 10 yards and my group was about 1.5"-2" below the 1" dot that I was resting atop my front sight. Accuracy was about average for your typical $400 polymer combat pistol, about on par with my S&W M&P 1.0s, at least while shooting irons. The rear sight notch is a bit too wide for me, so that likely contributed. With the RDS, accuracy seemed to tighten up to the point I had no complaints. Reloads were not as fast as I'd have liked. The front of the magazine extends up into a "tab" that is prone to catch on the frontstrap side of the mag opening. The mag opening has a pretty good bevel on the rear but not on the sides or front, which are thin; and the recessed area on both sides doesn't do you any favors, either. The mag release button is a bit small and requires me to twist the gun just a bit to hit it reliably, but since this is an ambi mag button, I may just work on hitting it with my trigger finger instead. At least the mags eject briskly. Slide release is large and easy to hit but not big enough to be in the way. The gun doesn't seem all that fat, but the only holster it would fit in is the one for my Steyr M9, which, along with the Beretta APX, has the fattest slide of any gun I own. Fortunately, the Steyr, APX, and Masada all fit very nicely into the same holster, so that what I'll use. Reliability was 100% with my ammo, which are 115 gr coated lead reloads running about 1200 FPS. Summary: An exceptional value at a little over $400. Trigger slap is something to watch out for, maybe it was just my gun, but installing a RDS made that a non-issue. Due to its magwell, mag changes are a little slow. Accuracy and reliability earn an "A" for me. Sights adequate but not optimal.

Recently I have been using Streamlight's TLR-7A compact weapon light. I like it. I am quickly becoming a fan of compact lights even on full size guns. They make for a smaller overall package. As technology improves we will see brighter and longer burn time compact lights. While I do prefer to have as much light as I can get out of my weapon lights, the 500 lumens of the TLR-7A is sufficient.

I have enough to keep them busy as well

6 shot rifle will keep their heads down

The original New York reload. I either read or heard that crew served rifles was developed by riflemen in the Revolutionary War. The best shot would climb the tree. Two other guys would sit at the base of the tree and reload. Loaded rifles were tossed up, empty rifles dropped down.

The lights weren’t flashing. Even with everyone double checking, and a National Guard Officer walking out on the tracks and checking. If the speed/distance they gave in the story is correct they had 37 seconds from the time they saw the train. Apparently not enough time for 3 or the 5 crew members to get out of the tank; they were killed on impact.

Won't work for my sidekick. She absolutely hates the smell of Hoppe's. Makes me shower after cleaning guns. Says I smell up the house.

Meant to add in addition to adding the stock adaptor and brace I also installed the MCarbo Allen Head Black Stainless screw set and most important the MCarbo Aluminum trigger Kit so she now has a crisp 5lb pull without the sponginess of the plastic trigger...it was interesting separating the bottom half down the middle...kind of opposite of how you disassemble an AR. The folding mechanism is the UTG AK Side Folder adaptor...shockingly robust as the reviews were very hit or miss.

I wouldn't be concerned Swang, the Apex trigger doesnt affect the striker energy as you dont change any springs. As long as the new trigger bar is raising the striker block clear (not a known problem with Apex 509 bars), you're golden. Ray, what did you do to it? Did you go full comp springs including the striker spring and change the block to the Apex block? Some of them are on the short side so if you get drag on the striker you can have it. Are you using cheap ammo or the euro stuff (hard primers)? The m&p kits magic is in the trigger return spring, sear geometry and sear spring. You can always go with the original striker spring and it only adds a little. My 2.0 has a 2.5lb trigger and it can light off the hard euro primers.

Thanks for the links regarding the film's historicity; I'll give it a look. While not as historical, but a good example of the fighting in WWI, 1917 is a great movie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=YqNYrYUiMfg

Every step forward helps.

No such thing, honest is as honest does. Am honest person will not steal.

I'll admit that I'm bragging here a bit. But I'm happy about this buy. I've never even bought two guns in the same day, much less three. But I did just that today. It all started with some ads on Armslist. The guy listed each gun individually, but then there was a 4th ad for them as a group. I contacted him, we haggled and I believe I got a great deal. All three are Berettas. a 2016 85FS Cheetah .380, a 2001 3032 Tomcat .32acp and a 950BS Jetfire .25acp. All three are LNIB with original manuals. Not a mark on any of them. I can't seem to find a date for the Jetfire. No date code on the gun that I can find and the serial # doesn't come up on any list. The guy said it was an antique. Can anybody help with that? I'll probably have to contact Beretta. The best part? I gave $1000 for the lot. I'm tickled plumb to pieces!

I edited this to say use Laquer thinner. It makes the process fool proof. It is amazing and the only variable is the amount of powder. I was able to use a lot less than when using acetone and with laquer thinner the coat was much nicer. I decided to try the laquer thinner an it is fool proof. Add a little powder then swirl around to see if you have enough to coat the bullets. Then pour off the excess laquer thinner and pour the bullets out. Wait for them to dry then bake. The powder coat powder does not stick to the plastic bucket and for some reason ONLY sticks to the bullets. I am absolutely amazed at the results. So I have been promising a write up with a few pictures. Here are the items you will need Powder coating powder For the powder I have tried expensive powders and cheap powder. They all seem to work equally well. I initially used Harbor Freight red and it worked well so I order a few other colors from Powder by the Pound. They arrived quickly and they were cheap in 2oz sizes and it is a Tennessee company. I made sure to order the 400 degree powder from PBTP. Acetone Laquer Thinner The acetone laquer thinner is just like you find at any hardware store. Nothing special but I would caution against using nail polish removed that is acetone as they tend to have other ingredients that might affect adhesion. Container For the container I found some small buckets at Walmart for $2 each. They seem to work well with the size batches I am doing. I think any container will work providing the acetone doesn't eat it. Screen I used 1/4" hardware clothe that is available at most home improvement stores. I cut a piece just big enough to fit in the oven then I rolled the edges up to keep the bullets from rolling off. A word of caution. These are generally zinc plated and zinc is bad for you if it gets too hot. At 400 degrees there isn't any fumes but at 425 it was smoking. Toaster oven I bought one at Big Lot for $30 which is about the price for anywhere else. It needs to go to at least 400 degrees to work. Be careful as I have seen some that only went to 300 degrees. I will also caution against buying them used as the thermostat is what generally goes and you end up with a stove you cannot control the temperature on. Mask You need to have a filtered mask. Not a dusk mask but a mask that is designed to filter out fumes. I picked mine up a Harbor Freight for less than $20 and it works great. Eye protection I wear glasses so this is not an issue but I will say after every time I have done this I have spots on my glasses. So without eye protection you will likely get something in your eye. ******************************************************************************************* Now onto the instructions First I start by preheating the oven. I will put it on 400 degrees and set the timer for 15 minutes. It doesn't take 15 minutes to heat up that small oven. I put on my mask and eyeprotection before opening either the acetone or the powder. The powder can be as harmful as the acetone until the powder is baked on so ALWAYS wear your mask. Now I choose the color I want to use and add it to the bucket first. Here is how much powder I put in the bucket for ~100-150 bullets. You definitely want to add enough to coat the bullets. I normally add 2-3 scoops of powder using a 1.9 Lee dipper to measure. This is generally enough to do a batch of 100-150 bullets, depending on the size of the bullets. Next I add the acetone to the powder. This is generally how much acetone I use. There is no scientific measuring method for this but I will say you want too much rather than too little. If you have too much it adds a few minutes to the tumbling and evaporating time but if you add too little the bullets will come out blotchy and dull. At this point I begin to swirl the mixture around. If you have some clumps you can add 5-10 bullets to help break them up before adding the rest of the bullets. After the mixture is nice and uniform I now I add the bullets and begin tumbling by hand. At this point I begin to lightly shake the mixture up. I generally do a back and forth motion with a swirl every 2-3 times around. I will also kind of flip the bullets end over end like you do when flipping a pancake. You want to tumble them just vigorously enough to coat the bullets with the mixture. And you continue to shake, and shake and the bullets will not looked coated at all. They will have a light tinge of color but the silver is definitely shining through. Then finally the acetone begins evaporating and the amount of time is dependent on how much there is as well as the temperature. And it will not evaporate very quickly if you do not tumble. You can actually set the bucket down for 30-45 minutes and they will still need to be tumbled. But tumbling will evaporate the acetone enough within 5 minutes of constant tumbling. And as the acetone evaporates the bullets get more and more color. And when the bullets seem to be holding on to the color this is a critical time. You want to dump the bullets while they are still wet, but not too wet, but definitely do it before they get too dry. If the acetone evaporates too much the bullets will not have a wet look and will actually have a dull, rough finish. It doesn't affect performance from testing but it does look like crap. At this point the bullets should be uniformly covered with color AND still wet to the touch. There should be some of the mixture in the bottom of the bucket and on the bullets that is about the consistency of Testor's paint. It should still run from gravity and if the bulelts have color but the coating is still running in the bottom of the bucket then it is time to dump the bullets. Another big indicator for me is the sound of the tumbling bullets. The sound changes slightly as the bullets are trying to move agains the resistance of the thicker coating. This is how they should look right before dumping them out onto the screen. Uniform in color, still wet to the touch and still shiny. (Sorry for the crappy picture). I do not have a picture but you dump them out onto the screen. Then I give them a quick shake to try to keep some from sitting on top of others. At this point the bullets will dry very quickly and I give them a quick shake every 30 seconds or so until dry. After about 2-3 minutes they will be dry to the touch and not be tacky. When they are I seperate the bullets as best as I can on the screen so none of them are touching while they bake. Then I stick the bullets and screen into the toaster oven which is set to 400 degrees. I set the timer and let the bullets bake for 10-15 minutes depending on the size of the bullets and how they are looking. As they bake they will become a little more shiny than when they were dry. Once they are uniform in how shiny they all look I carefully remove them from the oven. And this is how they will look coming straight out of the oven, shiny. I set them out to cool for 10 minutes or so. The powder coat will be tacky when they first come out and will remain tacky for 3-5 minutes until they have cooled enough to allow the powder coat to harden. After that you can touch the bullets but be careful because they will still be extremely hot. And if you touch them while they are still tacky they can stick to your finger, ask me how I figured that one out. After that you can either shoot them as they are or size them down dependong on your application. Sizing them does not remove the finish at all. The coating seems to add about .002" to the size of the bullets. So if you have bullets that are the same size or .001" over the bore size as cast then they will not need to be sized after they are coated. If the bullets are any larger as cast then you might try sizing them down to .002" over the bore size. I have personally pushed these to over 2,000 fps without any issues. As a matter of fact the bore seems a lot cleaner than with jacketed or cast and lubed. I have read of people pushing them to 2,800 fps without issue. The advantages are that the bore never leads. It is also cleaner. And the biggest advantage is it encapsulates the lead to prevent exposure. This si something I will be doing with all my cast bullets. And I am not 100% positive they need to be baked. Here is a bag on its way back to Caster: And finally, if you have ANY questions feel free to ask.

It's pink.

DID SOMEONE SAY FREE RIBS?!?!

"Original Gangster" kids

In the quiet, sitting there bleeding: "Eddie?" "Yeah Dave?" "I think we picked the wrong house..."