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I do want to clarify; The person in question actually wasn't advertising something without being a Benefactor, but it absolutely looked like it at surface level. When that happens, without being privy to all of the details, a moderator has to make an on-the-field judgment call. Most of the time they're right. Sometimes, in rare occasions, we find out that the post was benign. When that happens, it's usually very easily cleared up via a private message between parties. The way to clear it up isn't to launch an assault on the moderator or send me an ultimatum. I'm pretty intolerant of people who try to add stress to my life.

Having spent many years in retail followed by my years as a truck driver, I can attest to this being 100% on point. As far as the situation at hand goes, I greatly value the folks who support this place by helping keep the lights on and will protect the privileges they hold from those who try to get a free ride. Sometimes it makes folks mad. They can be mad.

Publicly I just want to say that I really appreciate everyhting you do for TGO. Your record is above reproach as far as I'm concerned.

Most warnings on TGO are just that - sort of a timeout to cool down a bit. They’re temporary because the vast majority of people are able to check themselves in a setting that doesn’t lend itself well to nuanced expressions. The actions taken on the original thread were appropriate. It looked like a questionable sales ad - or a vendor trying to skirt the rules. The OP kind of lost it and made his demands regarding our staffing, board rules, etc. David said no. We moved on - until the thread this morning. We make decisions on moderators based on folks we think add to the community - and who are level headed. @Chucktshoes is such a benefit to this community. He is beyond tolerant of such diversity of opinions . He’s on a ton. He closed the thread - and like he said, all of this could have been avoided with a simple PM. Our mods do this out of the goodness of their hearts and their love of this community. Were in such crazy times. It’s a marathon not a sprint right now. Take a good deep breath. We don’t need anyone puking all over their shoes a couple months from now.

I used to be an electrician working on custom homes. The main reason it costs more is you will pick out materials that will last 20-50 years where as “builder grade” materials that go into “spec homes” are basically as cheap as you can get and it still look good to sell. Example, 15-25 year shingles instead of 45-50 year ones, cheapest hardwood that’s still hardwood instead of what you really want, off the shelf cabinets for $5-10k vs $40-50k+ for full custom cabinets, cheap carpet that looks 20 years old in 3 years, vinyl flooring instead of tile in laundry room, the most basic ceramic tile in bathrooms. List goes on. 9 ft ceilings instead of 8 ft cost difference is more than you think, even more for 10 ft ceilings plus cathedral ceilings in great room, 12 ft in dining, trey ceiling in master bedroom. Having everything laid out exactly how you want is worth a lot for quality of life, instead of you conforming to the house you found. Building a custom home is NOT worth it if you won’t stay there 10-15+ years. If you have a career where there is a likelihood you may have to relocate, don’t do it, you will lose money. You won’t spend $500k on a $350k house, it will appraise for what you have in it unless you do something crazy. You’ll spend $500k on a house that to the uninformed looks just like the $350k house next door or down the road, but it’s built better with higher quality materials and finishes. And it’s your dream home. Might sound dumb/crazy, but I got a lot of enjoyment helping people realize/achieve their dream home.

Proof that we have become far too well fed and ill advised as a nation. I remember seeing a guy catch a 2 foot long shark when we were deep sea fishing. He pulled it up to the deck, cut off its fins and threw it and fins back in the water. Even as a kid I just thought how stupid that was. He made some comment about it not eating up all the fish he wanted to catch. Idiot. I hear shark is decent eating, though I have never had a chance to try it. We never had Gar anywhere we fished. Even if we caught something like knotties or carp that we were not after, we just tossed them back. We only did catch and release or catch and eat in my family. Then again, we come from a poor background and wasting anything was frowned upon.

This story wasn't ignored because of media bias. Most murders don't make national news. The ones that do are typically mass murders or are murders committed by our governments. There isn't a ton of a story here. The boy was killed by a man that they had in custody within hours of the shooting. The stories that gain national media attention, at least recently are murders by cops where it takes a big push to even get the cop placed on administrative leave.

Honestly it blows my mind that anyone within the 55-75 age bracket can rationalize acting so damned immature when it comes to things like this. Dealing with the publc in some capacity my entire adult life has made it impossible to get behind the idea that only millennials are snowflakes. There are too many grown-assed adults who expect special treatment and stick their bottom lips out like they're trying to provide a perch for a bird to sit on.

Honestly you bring up a good point, albeit maybe not entirely intentionally: Why aren't there threads every week on TGO and other social media outlets demanding justice for the black kids killed in Chicago? We should be pissed as hell about those tragedies also. Maybe even moreso, since they are almost always tied in some way to being a victim of gang violence, and said gang violence is one of the primary causes of the high number of gun deaths in the US each year and a primary fuel for gun control advovcates.

He's mad that ChuckTShoes moderated something he posted that looked every bit like non-Benefactor advertising on the surface. He then sent me a private message telling me how unhappy he was about it, and how it had changed his mind about becoming a Benefactor himself. Rather, he wanted me to know that he was leaving and that he wouldn't be supporting the TGO community that he's used since the year 2010 and made nearly 600 posts on. Basically, he's being a toddler. I don't delete accounts, but I don't have a problem banning them.

That's kind of my point though: This little kid got national coverage (at least on CNN's main page, for multiple days) but the black kids in Chicago are only part of the tally, if that's even reported. All the talk about how the mainstream media seek to portray white people in a bad light while glossing over the faults of non-white people is kind of overblown, in my opinion. Yes, there absolutely are biases, bit we all have them and I really don't think there's a concerted push from the mainstream media to make white people look bad.

My only problem with Chuck is that he recently bought out all the recent offerings from GT...laugh. Clearly(I hope) I'm joking but I feel like all of us here share a common bond that's slowly disintegrating and for those that I've personally interacted with and those that I haven't I appreciate it for whatever it's worth.

I'm currently working on getting a couple blanks laser cut (basic shape) which will cut the man hours down considerably and in turn cut cost. If it works out I'll let you all know. The blanks will still need to be ground, sanded and finished but the time saved would be worth it.

Wow! That sure brings back memories of fun times! lol Maybe we could get a thread for all the great issues that lead to banishment. That would make for some very entertaining reading during the long days and nights of the Covid era.

Sorry. That’s not how this works.

World and US events over the past few months have manipulated the firearms industry like nothing I have seen before. If you were with us inside the gun community during the Obama years, you undoubtedly remember 2012-2013 and the crazy run on ammo, mags, and any rifle that wasn't a bolt-action brown wood hunter. 2020 has, no pun intended, blown all of that away. If you doubt the accuracy of that statement, ask yourself when the last time was that you saw a new Glock 19 going for $700+ and buyers barely hesitating to pay those prices. You are doing lucky if you find one in the $600 range at the gun shop, and they rarely last long at that price if you're lucky to see one. And remember just eight months ago big online retailers like Brownells were running daily deals offering percentage-based discount codes in order to entice buyers to open their wallets? Those days are long gone. The egregious environmental protection restrictions placed on ammunition manufacturers under Obama shoved a lot of ammo production overseas, only to then have the door slammed on importation by politically motivated tariffs. Domestic production slowed even further as inventory ramped up for the GWOT and to catch up on demand from the Obama era and then began to stagnate in warehouses due to public dissinterest. If there was ever an industry that could use some seriously talented demand planners, it's the ammunition industry for sure. Where you used to be able to buy all of the 5.56 ammo you wanted, by the case-load, you now see cases of ammo being parted out and sold in baggies at premium prices by retailers acting like street hustlers slinging meth. So, what's next? My prediction is that standard capacity magazines will soon become very scarce -- once again -- thanks to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals finally making the commonsense ruling that California's ban on magazines with capacities over 10-rounds is unconstitutional. Any Californian who didn't act during the previous window of opportunity surely will be doing so now. Supply will dry up quickly and it will take several months for it to catch up. The November election certainly won't help ease pressure on the sale of mags, ammo or guns either. If you're reading this and thinking "Geez, I need to hurry up and buy some mags", I wouldn't dilly dally around. Act while they are in stock with your preferred retailer. The price couldn't possibly go down, and I suspect that availability will become scarce at least until January 2021.

You ain't even scratched the surface! Wait until you've been around long enough to see more of GT's work. But don't buy one...you won't buy just one!

Howdy folks - I just discovered the forum, having followed a link from the CZ forum. I am hoping to keep up with more local happenings and events. Thanks

Welcome from NE TN. East TN seems to be a big area. Welcome to TGO.

Hello and welcome from the west side

Regardless of how it happened, a little understanding goes along way. Also, to note, a 1 year Benefactor membership only gets you access to Benefactor perks. It’s not a get out of jail free card. Everyone (members, benefactors, lifetime benefactors, moderators, and admin) follows the same code of conduct.

Welcome.

Welcome aboard.

REI just put their brand new HQ that they spent the last two years building on the market. They never even used it. They’ve determined that they don’t need to keep folks in the office like they thought they did.

Welcome!

I'm hoping one of the changes to the "norm" is the permanent shift of companies to remote work were possible. Before the virus, some companies wouldn't entertain the idea on most of their jobs, but were forced to and saw that it actually worked better than expected. The reduced traffic load has been truly nice. It's reduced my 50 minute one way commute down to 40, and mental frustration is less. Unfortunately my job doesn't afford remote work, I'll take the side benefit and still enjoy it.

Possibly. But it isn't always mentioned if they do. Regardless, admin leave isn't enough when innocent people die.

Maybe a "greatest hits" edition?

Welcome from another East TN member

My wife , me and our little girl went riding around and ended up at Reelfoot Lake. We walked through the Cypress trees on the baord walk. We saw a bunch of Gar. One was solid black and very thick . They were rolling around all over the water. Then we went across a low bridge that people fish off of. I swear there were easily 15 gar fish where people caught them and just threw them onto the asphalt to rot. What a waste.

Gun cycles tend to have very high peaks, and very low valleys, but there is a cycle if you can pick it out afford to be patient with your purchases. This too shall pass, but I get the nerves given all things happening at once. Really anything other than equipping yourself with the core three (pistol, rifle, shotgun) and enough SD ammo are luxuries you can wait for a good price point to present itself on. While I would love to have a nice PDW, it's not something I feel that I need before I keep funding my way to a down payment on a home, so I don't have one. For your standard AR shooter, get ten mags (aluminum or polymer) and you'll be set for 10 years if you don't abuse them. It's ammo I'm way more worried about long term. David pointed out some very good macroeconomic conditions in play, and those are things to keep a watch on. Since it's very much an expendable item, price can move like, well, precious metals on a financial market (irony), so you really need to understand the dollar cost average of how much you shoot, and learn when to buy even though your inventory tells you otherwise to keep it from rising if you're on a budget. That's not to say I endorse panic buying, I certainly don't. But I tend to look at my ammo like an emergency fund. While you try to shoot from an expendable pile you rotate around, you need to keep a certain level, and anything more isn't a bad thing if you worry about the future. On the flip side, times like these should reinforce how ammo is for a serious purpose first and foremost, so while piling up brass at the range is fun, it could come with a cost.

Had a young punk behind the counter at a gun shop tell me the NRA has been disbanded. I told him that was funny, because I'm a life member and they still send me the magazine and the letters in the mail wanting more money. I signed up for a life membership years ago, but I don't send them any extra money. There is no doubt that they have some serious upper management problems, but I still think it's worth it to be a member. Those huge membership numbers do have an effect on swaying politicians, if nothing else.

Must be a Starbucks thing.

Personally, I think anyone who kills a child of any color should have an expedited trip out back to be summarily executed in the most painful way,

I'm sorry, there is nothing except a negligent discharge (and that would still tick me off) that would change how I feel about this. There is no reason to target a child, of any color, that is just riding a bike. If he had a beef with one of the parents, then it should have been taken up with them, not the child.

Extras. Spares. Greedy. Selfish. Whatever. When I bought my first auto loader, way back in the dark ages; it had 2 mags with it. First range trip...I saw the light. More time loading than shooting. This was not going to work for me. I set a precedent then and there for myself. It wasn't going to be like that again. The number I decided on isn't important. The decision to always buy and have that number on hand was. Only in rare or circumstances where it just isn't cost effective for my thinking, I have always followed that decision. Some have laughed. But I got mags. Do you?

If AT&T ever gets a nickel out of me, it’ll only be because I wasn’t aware of it.

Exactly. If you own a firearm and live in a free state then why in the hell do you not already have a reasonable amount of clips.

That Eagle was just giving an invader a lesson in how America should be treating all invaders into America. Swift justice and then booted out of country. Authorities need to take lessons from the Eagle and symbol of our nation when it comes to protecting our country like it was protecting it's territory.....JMHO

I could never find Cherry Bombs or M-80's as I was growing up. I use to spend hours cutting open countless Black Cats with an X-acto knife in order to fill empty Tester paint bottles, used smoke bombs, and even the bottom a plastic Easter Egg with powder. In retrospect, I am damned glad that I was smart enough to bury the Tester bottles deep enough that I was never hit by the glass shrapnel. I stuffed the upper half of the egg with fuses to fill the void. After putting in a waterproof fuse, I then wrapped it up with several layers of Duct Tape, and took it down to the private lake where the community had a large 4th celebration going on. After I lit it and threw it into the cove it made a huge explosion amplified by the hillside on the other side of the cove. It scared the crap out of everyone at the gathering! Even though they couldn't pin anything on me, I had a reputation with the police after that!

I have N95 masks that I use for sanding so when I go shopping, I wear it. When I return, I go through this protocol Unload shopping cart and return it. Get in van. Use hand sanitizer. Carefully remove mask using only the strings. Lay it on the dash in the sun. Not much UV gets through the windshield, but some does. That plus the 140 degree heat will kill COVID in a few minutes. My goals with the mask are twofold. Avoid getting infected. Reduce the amount of virus if I do get infected. The fewer particles you are exposed to, the greater chance that your own immune system can fight it off.

It pays to be a boy scout. I'm only surprised by a general lack of situational awareness.

I get that same look even after all the years!

I love seeing our heritage passed on to the younger generation. I went to the range for a little while Thursday afternoon. The only other people on the handgun line was a father and his daughter who I guess was about 12 or so shooting .22 pistols. The girl was really enjoying herself.

Thanks guys, for all of the posts. I've been off of here for a while. I did find a stainless convertible, like new, in the box and took it home with me. Due to COVID, I haven't been able to get out and shoot it. I don't mean I had COVID. I'm an old dude, with a couple of underlying medical conditions, so I haven't gone to OK Corral since this mess started. I can't wait to shoot it. I found a real old one too, and brought it home...sweet trigger, with flat loading gate. I feel like I hit the mother lode!

I think I have tried most every SD round out there for 380 Caliber and I finally settled on Hornady 90 gr. FTX Critical Defense and that is what is in all my 380's and the back up mags with them.

Seen this posted on another site, so some of the points have not been checked out by me, but I do not feel it is wrong.

I have a blued version with a 5.5" barrel. To me that's the best length for the frame size. Looks like a very natural length at least to me. I've had mine for 40 years and just use it for general plinking. It's a great shooter.