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All actions taken by the government in the week before the inauguration, the quick pivot of the Biden / Harris administration from duplicitous cries for "unity" toward the narrative that the window of opportunity for the GOP to "work with us" was closing, and the continued presence of miles of barbed wire-topped fences and armed troops manning them in Washington DC has told me all I needed to know about where this was headed. Biden and Harris and the Democrats entrenched in places of power want us disarmed. Period. NOW. Conservatives are now all racist, White Supremacist, radical Far-Right, separatist, secessionist, militia thugs with Weapons of War and the blood of children on our hands. We must be disarmed immediately for the safety of society, and they are gearing up to use force to do it. The reality is that they don't give two ####s about the children, otherwise the lives of unborn children would matter to them. The reason they want your guns is because of the reason that our founding fathers thought you SHOULD have them. Any of you who have sat on your hands and not written, called, emailed or visited your representatives at the State and Federal level need to get off your asses and do it. Contact the Democrats and the Republicans. They BOTH represent you if you live in their district. I think people often forget that and only contact the party they vote for, which is just dumb. Engage both of them. The time for this option is what's coming quickly to a close. Once the Federal Government passes legislation and sends troops or police who are just "following the law" to come seize your property from you, it's going to be too late to call that politician. Do it. Now.

We do our absolute best on TGO to put the best face forward, welcome all manner of diversity in our members, preach that the 2A is for everyone, bequeath the love of responsible firearms use and ownership to the next generation and motivate folks to do their individual yet massively impactful "small part" by voting for Pro-2A legislation and legislators. For years the number of us who are willing to do what @TripleGGG described and write and call and email and petition the lawmakers to preserve the Second Amendment has been an abysmally low percentage compared to the overall tally of people who have bought guns during the same period of time. People prefer the convenience of writing a check or keying credit card numbers into a website to send the NRA, GOA, 2AF, JPFO, TFA and FPC off to represent them. While TGO's population may be very different and out of the norm, I know in my gut that most gun owners, at large, want to outsource the work because it takes too much time to make phone calls, send emails, write letters, and visit politicians in person to ask them to represent us according to our wishes, our values and our interests. But these same people will spend countless hours on the Internet scouring the buy/sell/trade pages for a new gun or stand in line, in the rain, for an hour before a big-box retailer opens just for the slight chance they might get to buy some ammo. Gun owners will spend HOURS on the Internet arguing with each other over terminal ballistics, whether a shoot they saw in the news was "good" or not, or whether open carry is a good or bad idea, but they won't spend a half hour sending emails or making phone calls. We, the supposed 2A Community, have obsessed over the wrong damned things year after year. We've voted for representatives from the political party that is not only renowned for pushing gun control but makes it a speaking point for their platform and openly TELLS us what they want to do to the Second Amendment, because "Orange Man bad". We've voted for independent candidates who didn't have a chance in hell of getting elected, splintering the vote for the candidate who could've, and rejoiced in taking the moral high ground while just a little further downhill the ground we bought was eroding out from under us. As a whole, the 2A Community sucks at defending the cause we supposedly care about. We suck at making it mainstream because it's more fun and edgy to strap a rifle across our chests and scare the soccer moms watching a gun rights rally from the sidelines. We suck at making it inclusive because we don't want to welcome the gays or the blacks or the browns or the atheists or the Muslims to our table. We've forgot that welcoming isn't just an adjective but also a damned VERB. And so, we've lost ground. Countless times we've lost battles in this war to preserve an essential Civil Right because we can't agree on the specifics and don't understand that a good-enough plan executed NOW is better than a perfect plan executed NEVER. We are so independent and libertarian in our thinking that we've become near-sighted and unable to see past what's good for us as individuals and see what's good for our community. We haven't made the Second Amendment palatable, let alone relevant, to the undecided centrist voter because we don't consider that they are more likely to vote against a cause that isn't important to them if pop-culture tells them it's evil, bad and scary and they don't have anything else to go on. We've pissed away opportunity after opportunity to educate, inform, evangelize and expand the 2A Community. We've even pissed away chances to defend it, ourselves, by just making phone calls or pulling the correct lever at the polling booth even if it felt a little like being a "single issue voter" at the time. I really hope we've still got a chance to save the Second Amendment. I think we do. But it's time for the bull#### to stop. We've got to be more present, more polite, more professional, more compelling and absolutely light up the phone lines and email inboxes of not just the politicians we've voted for but also the ones we've voted against. If we live in their district, they represent us - like it or not. We need to remind them, without threats or bravado, that they work for us and this is what we, their constituents, expand and demand from them: NO MORE GUN LAWS. DEFEND THIS CIVIL RIGHT. If we can't do this... we've asked for it and it isn't going to just blow over. They're going to come for your guns and if you refuse to comply, you will be forced into poverty from the fines levied, be sent to prison, or worse. The game isn't over, but it's absolutely underway. Get in it.

Now that we have several inches of snow on the ground and no cars moving around the neighborhood I think going to put my new toy to use today. I have some great Duluth Trading cold weather gear so I should be pretty comfortable.

Hey y’all, keep the focus directly on the 2A. To that end, we all need to keep the pressure on all of our Congress critters and ensure they know that any action against the 2A will result in electoral consequences. Don’t threaten to vote for their opponent in the general. Even in TN most seats are safe due to gerrymandering. Threaten to find and support a primary challenger who supports the 2A. As an example, a Republican Rep will never beat Steve Cohen in Memphis, but a pro 2A democrat might strip him of his seat in the primary which is the real election for that seat. Time to get smart and get to work.

I have well over 100 emails and untold phone calls, etc just since the election. If you are sitting on your hands doing nothing then you have no right to complain or act surprised. Kinda like the ammo situation. And if you think playing nice, being reasonable or any decent thought processes are going to work then you've already lost. We've been at war for a long time. Many just don't want to a accept that fact. If you think Trump is who was hated you've not been paying attention. This group hates me and any other 2A defending, conservative, patriotic citizen. And I'm not talking just about the Democrat party.

Those were her exact words. I’m making up for thirty four years of spending everything on children. I’m having my second childhood. Now I’ve got to get some of those cool items you have.

I recall being told by TGO prognosticators that we that believed he would immediately start pursuing gun control were in a bubble and he had more important matters, healer in chief, children back to school, whoop covids ass, and gun control issues wouldn't come until the mid terms. Sounds to me like he wants it NOW

I don't have a problem with anyone buying ammo at whatever price they are willing to pay if they need it. Personally, I stocked up when it was cheap and replaced what I shoot as I went. Now it's sky high in price and I don't buy any until the price comes down (who knows when that will be). In the meantime I haven't been shooting much and when I do it's .22 long rifle because I have plenty.

Perpendicular would be normal. Just because I'm the nerdy engineer type, I'd put some blocking between the joists about 4ft from the wall at a minimum. I put cross braces with 4x4's on concrete bases under my aquarium. A water bed has a footprint at least 4x bigger than a typical safe. That makes a big difference.

All you have to do is look at the past year. When Antifa and BLM were rioting, burning, looting and even murdering people, the Democrats turned a blind eye or even encouraged it. But when protesters came knocking at their door, they're bound and determined to find and punish every last one of them. They only care about there own butts. That's what gun control is really all about. More power for them and no power for the citizens.

Thanks much!!! I had forgot, save myself

Their brains were in "DVR mode" not in "self preservation mode". That is what happens when you experience something you never thought you'd see or never thought was even possible. You stand there taking in the scenery recording info instead of doing something. As I say in class all the time...the FIRST time you see it should not be when it is for real. You need a page in your mental rolodex for that so if it happens you will have at least considered it in advance and have at least a vague plan to deal with it. Novelty will cause hesitation or even disbelief. But if you have seen someone pull a gun and use it (even if it is an airsoft or sims gun in training) you will be more likely to do something than if the real thing is your first time seeing it in real time. Your brain cannot distinguish between training and reality. It just records info. But if you have already seen this before you are able to recognize this show and do something other than stand there gawking.

Depends on which way the joists run, what kind of joists they are, how they're attached, and how much the safes weigh.

I'm good ...

You know, those of you that keep buying literally anything you can find, are just making this worse. Until folks stop buying every box on the shelf this won't stop. Why not hold off for a little while and let things settle down?

Keep a watch on the trees around you if the ice starts to build up. Maybe reconsider where you normally park your vehicles if they are in the path of falling tree branches. Unless you hate your vehicle. In that case just leave it under the tree. Be safe out there guys.

They are practically giving those things away at every gun store in the knoxville area..... PMAGS are everywhere here. Not to get off topic but if you need some ill buy them for you and send them your way if you like.

Elections have no consequences when you cheat to get there. And continue cheating to quiet the people.

Palmetto State Armory $12.30 Each Magpul PMAG 30 Rnd Magazine 5.56x45mm | Palmetto State Armory

After about 20 hours of head scratching, welding, machining and alot of space drifting on just how this non conventional action functions, I finally got this in shooting condition. Its a GB "parts" gun i bought recently but some guy got my top dollar in the final tally of just over 3 bones. A bit much for a gun that was missing the ejector assembly and cylinder pin, cracked grips and with rough bore but it was one of those oldie challenges I'v never had in front of me before. The good part is the 38 Long Colt uses a 357 bullet and to my surprise, 38 spl brass chambered right up. So thats off to a good start. These guns are know as the Billy the Kid guns since he was killed with the 41 cal version of this frame as his own EDC. The DA action is a unique design but a some really bad design work is what gives these guns a bad rep in the reliability category. It all revolves around a cylinder lock up lug that engages the cylinders at the chambers face rather than the out side barrel of the cylinder. This rather stupid location puts the frame lock up lug side by side with the cylinder ratchet hand. And the hand is one of the weakest designs I'v ever seen, more akin to a early H&R DA...if that. The hand spring is a delicate little leaf along with the DA hammer link spring that rides sandwich style inside the trigger. Its no wonder a little ware and tear will take place sooner rather than latter with the internals so weakly sprung. In this particular case, the original springs were still in the gun except for the trigger rebound leaf. It was some ones creation that cracked after about 30 or so cyclings. I made up a new one and added a second spring wire into the frame to help out the cylinder lock up lug. The cylinder had about .010 too much end shake so I welded up the front spindle and recut it to fix that issue and made a new cylinder pin. The hand also needed a dot of weld to get the cylinder up in time. The bore looked pretty bad. So I did my ultimate clean up job by wrapping a bristle brush with course steel wool and scrubbed the hell out of it. That action actually put the lands back into view by scrapping the rust off their surface's. The grooves were still frosted dark but no serious pits. I figured I had a 50/50 of key holes out of this pipe. The CCI aluminum cased 158g LRN rounds I have needed to have about 1/8th" of lead ground off the tip so they would comfortably fit the chambers. The CCI rounds are a bit hot for this 1904 made gun, but with a little less lead, that helped it along. I was pleasantly surprised to print this 2" group off a rest at 12 yards! And the bore didn't have any visible lead captured! Getting this action to time on both single and double action movements was alot of fun since being a parts gun, they wern't even close. . A really good learn on these historic guns. The second shot is a size comparo with the big 44 and a Uberti Stallion. Oddly, the Stallion is a near perfect frame size replica of the Lightning.

Yes sir. I’ve worn it for years. If you move too much you will get hot and have to open the side vents. Just got in from my ride. It’s ten degrees and I didn’t feel anything.

If a piano, or back in the day, a waterbed wasn’t a problem, you’re good methinks.

Howdy, always pleased to have another lady join our ranks. We need a woman's point of view around here. Feel free to jump right in.

There are span calculators available on-line. Here's one: https://www.awc.org/codes-standards/calculators-software/reversecalc An 11.5' span is relatively short, but it depends on the size of the joists and the loaded (dead) weight of the safes. A 2x12 will support more dead weight than a 2x8. If you find that you're pushing the limits of the joists under your house, you can add some 4x4 posts on concrete piers midway between the safes to effectively reduce the span. You can also add a couple of extra joists if you think you need them.

I haven’t.

Stuff like this is the reason the pro 2-A lobbies need our help more than ever. They may be the only thing standing between us and losing our freedoms. Our last hope would be SCOTUS but I'm not really sure about them.

I don’t think many folks on the THO are buying up the $1.00/round or more ammo off gunbroker. And when you can only get 2-3 boxes of 50 from Academy Sports, it takes a few trips to get any quantity.

Isn't it amazing what a year will do to prices. My pastor bought a case of 9mm at Smoky Mountain Knife works in 2019 for $179 and his wife asked him "do you really need all that ammo" to which his reply was that is a good price and I like to shoot. And nowadays I see a case going for $1,000. I told him to remind his wife what a good shopper he was!

Bring it by if your in Crossville some day and I'll let you pop a few rounds threw mine. Smokeless rnds are fine in reduced loads. The CCI Blazers are not top loads to begin with but still too stout for any continued use. I dont have my dillion put together yet to load so I'll cut the nose off the 158g & make wad cutters out of a few. Taking a 158g down to like 110 should take a notable percentage of chamber pressure down. The hand/ lock spring in mine were not holding spring very well. I heated that dual leaf up untill purple and quick quenched. That helped alot but not enough for the lock lug. So I milled out some extra space and put in the second spring and bingo, works pretty snappy now. Other wise, the cylinders flew right past the lock up nearly every DA pull. PS, a bit more on the loads. The original 38LC BP load was a 150g stepping out at about 700 fps. The CCI's are 158g at 755 fps. Now the big difference is in how pressure is built between BP and nitro cellulose powders. Modern powder "makes" oxygen when it burns so its pressure gradient spikes very quickly while BP builds pressure much slower over the length of bore. Thats why nickle steel was introduced as a smokeless steel since its tensile strength so to speak could with hold the greater shock impulse of smokeless. That said, its written pre 1900 made colts should be kept to BP to be on the safe side of pressures but mine is a 1904 model. Also, the post 1890 38LC has a groove diameter in the range of .370 + (mine measures at about .367) for use of 357 diameter hollow base slugs that blow into the larger groove diam. So here again, a solid lead 357 diam bullet in a 367 grooved bore is certainly not going to give max pressures from the git go.

I’ll take y’all’s word for whatever condition they’re in. I’m fortunate that I shouldn’t need to go anywhere.

Texas AG...

I personally don't think they would attempt to confiscate. That would take house to house door kickers. I don't think they are that delusional to believe we the people will allow it. They will just wait, you'll get a traffic ticket and it will escalate into a felony, even your close friends won't help. It will be a slow crawl until We The People are no longer strong enough to resist. Hope you can all follow this abbreviated version.

I am, indeed, a " prognostigator ", i freely admit it. Im also old enough to remember the Gun Control Act of 1968... I wuz 22 years old. The 1968 act was passed as the result of the shooting of the prez, an attorney general, and a beloved civil rights leader.. It wuz a " knee jerk " reaction. The congressional makeup wuz 2 to 1 democrat in both houses. That wuz then. Fast forward to today. There have been no " political assinations (.. Except Steve Scalece, and he is " The Enemy "..) ", and the congress is deadlocked 50/ 50. More than that, there are 200 million gun owners, and all of em aint republican. Folks are buying guns n ammunition at historic rates. People are edgy, afraid, concerned, and perplexed. They dont trust strangers, neighbors, protesters, nor the gubt. There is almost no chance of getting any legislature thru congress in this atmosphere. Everybody is watchin eachother, and nobody trusts anybody. Im thinkin Biden is doin the usual windbag thing throwin some red meat to the usual bunches... Its the usual anti gun red meat to the children of lower estate that back the dems. My guess is that it is simply windbaggery. He will give them the usual answer: " We tried; but the redneck whitey republicans wouldnt let us do it. Does it need to be watched..? YOU BET. Do we need to keep the political pressure on the usual suspects..? YOU BET. At the end of the day, im thinkin the " sensible gun control " thing is goin nowhere. I hope im right and your mileage may vary. Thus endeth the political soloquey... TGO prognosticatin leroy... Amateur political commentator.

I could have used them ice cleats about 6:30 this morning when I went to feed and water the chickens. The gravel walkway was an icy death trap. I pussy footed it back to get better boots and got the ice melt off of the porch plus my walking stick. I don't need my old bones to take a break a hip fall.

Funny you mentioned a waterbed because back in the day I had a sizeable safe and a waterbed in the same room. I can't recall ever giving a thought to the structural integrity of the house

Shouldn't be a problem.

Welcome! And ditto what @xtriggerman said. Refugee from (Western) New Yawk as well.... its a wonderful part of the country here. Lotsa EastTN folks here, you'll find lots of good advice and thoughtful opinions (and a few jackholes, but I try not to comment too much ).

Why not, I will tell you why. Whenever a gun guy sees a box of ammo, his first thought is I MUST have this. Takes it home and trys to find a place to put it, because his ammo stash needs a separate Zipcode. Granted it sounds good to let things settle down, but most folks don't have the willpower.

Yesterday I went to get dog food, as I knew the weather would get worse this week. Roads were good but doors on one side of truck were frozen. Started both generators and ran them for a few minutes. There is no way I'd be on the road today. I broke my ankle on the ice a few years ago. I'm too old to go thru a repeat of that. It's a good time to open the safes, clean guns, inventory ammo.

https://congresslookup.com/ Simple tool to look up the info to contact your Rep and our senators. Here's a copy/paste (please edit it so they see different messages) that you can use as a base if you'd like: Hello Senator, I am writing to you today to inform you that I stand with the Firearms Policy Coalition and hundreds of millions of gun owners across the country in firm opposition to President Biden’s statement on February 14th calling for an egregious violation of our constitutional rights and civil liberties in the arbitrary banning of firearms and firearm accessories. It is a disgusting violation of the U.S. Constitution and an infringement on my and millions of other’s fundamental right to keep and bear arms. It puts bureaucratic officials in charge of whether we can exercise our inalienable rights and I strongly encourage you to oppose any such measures. I am also incredibly offended and alarmed by the language in HR 127 Sabika Sheikh Firearm Licensing Act and believe that to be another incredible overreach of government that will directly put at harm hundreds of millions of law-abiding citizens across the country and violate the protections offered by the U.S. Constitution. I would like to know if you have heard of this act and what your thoughts are, as well as let you know that I expect you as my Congressional representative to actively stand out against this act in order to earn my vote, or else I will be looking for another candidate to support in the next Primary. Sincerely,

You’re probably right, and that’s by design. His seat is safe because it’s designed to be that way. It’s why the primary is the real election there. I only use that as an example a way to let our critters know that we know how the game is played. That’s how you exert pressure. By making it clear you understand how the game works because you’ve been paying attention, and will continue to pay attention.

Both our Senators and my Representative are pro-gun. I have no control over any of the others. But I do speak up to mine when needed to remind them of what's what. Chuck, I'm afraid Cohen is a lifer. He'll hold his seat for as long as he wants and nobody will ever take it. There was a chance last year when he was challenged by a local black minister. But he got kicked out of the Democratic Party for being anti-abortion. The fix is in for Cohen. The Dems will never let anybody worthwhile oppose him.

So you didnt go the VA?

At least the last statement makes sense. We have to act to maintain our rights, they are all under attack. We should not be surprised the Jomalla would campaign on caskets. He has been a two faced liar during the last election, he was a two faced liar in the 1988 election campaign. It's proven he cheated and plagerized his way to the bottom group of college. She has made her way up the ladder on her knees.

Nope-Nada-Nill-Nyet-

It'll depend on road conditions. Employers are very cautious about sending a fleet of vehicles out on dangerous roads. Shutting down for the day is cheaper than paying for damaged vehicles, injured people and lawsuits.

At least till next week you can buy a gun. But good "ol Uncle Sam will tell you what you can have, what it looks like, and how many rounds it can hold. Oh yea, if you can't hunt with it, it's not allowed. In some places the steel poppers we use in USPSA are not allowed to have tops on them. The poppers look like people and the little ones look like children. Keep up the good work dems. It won't be long until there will be no middle class, and we'll all be on our knees begging to Uncle Sam. FIX THE FRAUD IN THE VOTING SYSTEM NOW!

I just feel bad for the new gun owners in our fold, and I'm sure there are folks logging on here at TGO that have recently embraced our culture. I'm GTG, but I've been at this for a bit now (35 years of reloading etc). I have a friend that I helped get started a few years back. But he and his wife are not "Gun people" like we are. He just purchased a Glock 44 for farm/varmint use and had very little .22 ammo. I gave him a decent supply. He said he regrets not having purchased more when it was readily available... but he didn't know what he didn't know. Most new gun owners don't have the frame of reference we old timers have. Even when we tell them, or post the warnings here, many have not yet learned the concept of the ups and downs of the gun/ammo/component supply cycles. I appreciate folks linking deals they find, even if it's not "deals" to all of us. No disrespect intended to anyone here. We have the potential in this current political climate for this to get much worse before they get better...if they even get better. Time will tell. Just my $0.02 worth...