Viracnis

Shucks.I sold all my guns in private sales. I know I've got that paperwork around here somewhere...

I'm really looking forward to following this thread. GREAT stuff. I mentioned this in the other thread but thought it warranted repeating here since you mentioned the railroad rail anvils: Turning them up on end to hammer on the cut end is dramatically better than hammering on the top of the rail or the base plate. More mass under the anvil = more efficient anvil and that means less shoulder pain! Teaches good hammer control too

[quote name='Broomhead' timestamp='1354572930' post='854421'] Viracnis, what belt grinder do you use? Springhill is fairly close to Nashville, right? We should start a meet on this side of the state along with the classes that Spots does. [/quote] A cheap one! I honestly don't know that it has a brand anywhere on it. I got it at a swap meet about 12 years ago in Nashville. This weekend when I was googling the numbers on the broken parts some were coming back Craftsman replacement parts, others were harbor freight. Over the years as it has broken, I've either bought or made replacement parts to keep it running. Which makes me sound WAY more technical than I actually am - it's a very simple design that is easy to work on as long as the 1/2 HP motor keeps turning. Chews up drive belts, though. It looks like this one: [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Bandslijpmachine_hobbykwaliteit_(Westfalia).jpg/220px-Bandslijpmachine_hobbykwaliteit_(Westfalia).jpg[/img] I'd love to meet up with some fellow hammer slingers! I'm straight south of Nashville right off I-65 - I used to work off White Bridge in Nashville and it took me about 40 minutes to get in to work. If I'm remembering right, the Kentucky line is about 70 miles north of Spring Hill. Any ideas on where we'd meet up? My current setup isn't big enough for one (the front half of my wife's side of the garage!) much less getting a crew of us in there. I used to have a building in Thompson Station with a coal forge and a 850lb slab anvil. If any of that is still standing, and the property owner is still willing to let me work there I could spend a few weekends (and some quality time with a weed eater) getting it fixed up for a possible meet there at some point. But those are some big *IF* and Thompson Station would be quite a haul for UncleJak to find out my diggs aren't nearly as swanky as what I've seen of Spots.

Tongs like these: http://anvilfire.com/iForge/tutor/gc_tongs/top_index.htm Can go a long way, too.

Awesome stuff! You guys got me wanting to fire up the old forge! There was a SCA blacksmith that used a "dirt forge" like this exclusively - got himself a decent bellows and just used it side draft. He said you had to be careful what rock you use - some can explode! I used to use some sandstone bricks to shape my charcoal fire (had to make it deeper to weld with charcoal) and they'd spall pretty dramatically sometimes. He always sat cross-legged on the ground with his anvil (a sledgehammer head set into a stump. Really low-tech) by his feet to work. It was crazy, but he made some beautiful stuff out of it. As far as the air coming from the bottom: Bottom draft forges are an american thing as I understand it. The books I've read seem to allude to the fact that English smiths used side draft and I read in one of the stack of books on my shelf that in Asia the smiths used to have people fan the fire with big fans - no tuyere at all! For the coal forge at the shop (which is sadly probably rusted away after 10 years of neglect) we just got creative with some heavy iron hot water pipe from Home Depot and a $5 hair dryer. Don't use galvanized! Even used a T joint to give it an ash dump! Whole thing couldn't have cost more than a few packages of Ramen, as we built it in college. I'll look for pictures. If you're using RR track for an anvil, set it up on end. Much smaller hammering surface but WAY more efficient. Your anvil face only needs to be wider than your hammer - the rest is just extra space. But more mass UNDER your hammer means more efficient and WAY less "springy". It also rings considerably less. I found that a big magnet does wonders to kill the ring (which is deafening). The piece I have (but rarely use) has holes drilled through it. I bolted two 2x4s through the holes and that helped deaden it even more. Eventually I bought myself a block of steel from Clark Iron and Steel in M'boro and haven't wanted or needed more. It's about the size of a shoe box set on end and I think I paid $60 for it. I spent about an hour with a belt sander smoothing out the face and now it's just as good as any Peter Wright I've used. I just toss my "hardy" tools in the vice. Broomhead speaks truth about the tongs! If you let them get hot, they'll start to get loose. I actually quench my tongs as part of my "ritual" of putting the hot metal back in the fire. Hammer goes handle-up on the "stump", iron goes in the heat, tongs go in the water, gatoraide goes down the gullet. Fire maintenance, then the hammering resumes. I took a class from a guy at Dollywood years ago and he said not to do that when you're welding - let the jaws heat up a bit so they don't steal heat from the metal during the weld. I don't weld and I don't like my fingers getting burned by the tongs that are supposed to be protecting them, so I dance my tong quench dance! Thanks to threads like this one, I've spent the last 3 weekends getting the garage back in working order to fire up the forge. Hopefully this weekend I'll whip out some pictures half as cool as yours, UnkleJak. Got the post vice mounted and the replacement switch for my belt grinder shipped today. Maybe a spike knife is in my future - I've still got a barrel full of the ones stamped HC. I like the way you reversed the head on that one.

So today at lunch my dad and I went to the local gun store to look at Mosins and pocket knives - you know, guy time? - and he dropped this into my hand on the way back to work: [center][img]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8139611/Knife2.jpg[/img][/center] It was my Uncle's knife when he was in the Army in the 70's. When he got home, he gave the knife to my Grandfather to use. Dad found it when he was up there settling my Grandmother's estate. Dad gave it to me to carry, told me to think of my Uncle and Grandfather whenever I use it. But I don't know that I will. Too much family history already in this old knife. I'd be devastated if I lost it. It'll go to my son one day, when he's old enough to appreciate what it is. It's not damascus or benchmade or custom. But I really do think this is my new favorite knife, and I wanted to show it off.

My father's going to be in town this weekend for 3 days, and my nephew is really excited to see his "Poppy". This morning I got an urgent call from the 8-year-old expressing his delight that "we're going fishing with Poppy!". This is news to me! I've never really been successful at fishing this late in the year, is anything even still biting? I usually head up to Marrow Bone Lake to fish in the spring and summer - but that's a bit of a hike from Spring Hill TN to keep an 8 year old's interest. Any suggestions a little "closer to home" for some bank fishing?

I put a shoulder stock with a pistol grip on my Maverick 88 12-gauge and threw a cheap heat spreader on it (for the ghost ring sights) and I couldn't ask for more out of it. The stock I have (ATS I think?) has a rubber recoil pad and with the short home defense rounds I bought, the recoil is VERY manageable. Even my wife shoots it comfortably, and she's a recoil crybaby. A good friend had (it was stolen) the same Maverick in 20-gauge and I really liked it but can never find one at a decent price. I paid less than $200 for my Maverick new at Academy and about $40 for the stock and ghost ring sights at the Bill Goodman show.

I looked and didn't see any signs, so I carried while I voted.

Nope, no Glocks or H&Ks here - though some of my "shooting buddies" do have H&Ks. That makes it more likely that I'll cast my own - no more ammo mooching! Thank you for the answers, folks. I think a Lee single-stage might be in my future.

+1 to everyone that's saying Redtail. There was a pair of them about twice that size in the little stand of trees behind my house for a few years. One night I was coming home from work (I live right off the highway) and a little rabbit was crossing the offramp from the highway in front of me. I slowed to let him cross and just as he hit the grass on the other side the hawk hit him. Hawk tried to haul him off but he was bucking so much the bird dropped him.... right onto the hood of my car. Scared the beejeesus out of me. Awesome birds. Hope mine come back some day. Plenty of rabbits around those trees for them.

Over the past few weeks I've been progressively more wince-prone whenever I walk through the ammo aisle at my local Walmart. When they've got .45acp food for my 1911, the price causes heart palpitations With my wife's calibre of choice quickly becoming the .380 I'm not sure my heart (or wallet) can take it much longer. So when I started talking to my shooting buddies about an inexpensive winter hobby to replace shooting every weekend, Rich The Enabler suggested reloading. It's genius really, two birds with one stone - a winter hobby that I can do regardless of the outside weather that will save me money! Brilliant! This idea grew on me the more I read on this forum about it. Especially several posts by Dolomite detailing the equipment needed ($240 for all the tools is too cheap for words) and Caster planting the lead bug in my brain. I've got a propane knifemaker's forge along with various torches and metal working tools already setup in the garage so I'm reasonably comfortable working with the hot metal. What I'm really concerned about is the posts I've seen hinting at replacing the gun barrel before shooting lead. Is that something I need to worry about on my Rock Island .45acp 1911? What about on a Bersa .380 or HiPoint 9mm carbine? It would steal a lot of the benefit of casting if I had to replace all those barrels. I'm not even sure HOW to replace the barrel on the Bersa or where to buy one for the Rock and HiPoint. Is this just something I should take into consideration in my starting cost? I was trying to keep everything (including the beginning cases, powder, primers and pre-made bullets for practice before casting my own) under $300. Is that feasible or am I missing something dramatic? Everything else I think I can manage on that budget but new barrels... - V

I'll have to take a look at that Grizzly in the future. I had something similar back in college that got left at the Forge by some folks that came up one weekend. I wondered where they got it - and I still wonder to this day where it went! haha! I bought the Lansky system and haven't looked back, though. I've even used it to sharpen my straight razor. I couldn't get an edge on a knife to save my life before - now I actually enjoy it. Good system - thanks for the recommendations all! - V

All that fun legal stuff aside there are much more important questions to be answered: How'd it shoot?! - V

Yeah, if this is still ongoing my wife and I are just getting started in "The Prepping" as she calls it. We'd be keen to meet some like-minded folks. Especially if it happens over off Owl Hollow. We're there every Saturday morning anyway - why not Sunday too? - V

If I had seen someone shooting that at the range, I never would have known it was a Garand. It just looks like an absurd tacti-cool clip-loaded gun that serves no purpose than to make noise at the gun range. Knowing it is a Garand makes me cringe - just at the waste of money. If you just MUST make a Tacti-cool range toy, there are cheaper options that don't result in bastardizing a piece of history. But, as others have said, it's their gun - have fun but I'd sure want to ask the shooter why they'd made the "upgrades". And what's wrong with 5.11 pants? They're comfy!

I looked around and didn't see this anywhere on here. Hopefully I'm not duplicating another post. http://artofmanliness.com/2012/09/26/guide-to-concealed-carry/ I got a kick out of reading this, and thought others might as well. Some good tips - if anyone knows a tailor in middle TN that is "friendly" I'm going to be expanding the wardrobe after the first of the year. - V

My father rarely carries at all. His argument is "I don't go places that I'd ever need it" - and that logic scares me. Of course we don't go anywhere we think we'd need a gun to get out of - we'd be stupid to do that. That isn't why we got the permit. But I don't have any control over my environment - and threats don't limit themselves to specific areas. I don't drive anywhere that I think I'd wreck my car, but I still wear my seat belt because I can't control the actions of the other drivers. I don't drive through many construction sites or down any unpaved roads but I still keep a spare tire in the trunk because I can't control what others may leave on the road. I don't go into a place if I think there's a chance I'll have to shoot my way out but I carry my gun because I can't be sure of the intentions of those around me. All of that to say - I carry every day when I'm not at work.

That's one of the things I love about my Maverick 88 over the Mossbergs that I've handled - you can work the safety with a pistol grip on. With the Mavericks it is on the trigger guard, with the Mossberg's I've had hands on, they're on top to make it easier to switch with your thumb on a standard shoulder stock which makes it impossible to work without taking your hand off the trigger when you're running a pistol grip. Good lookin' upgrades. Hope you never have to use it for HD!

During my carry class the young lady behind the counter rented one of the other students a .40 for the class - but sold him 9mm ammo. He couldn't figure out why the rented handgun wasn't cycling and the recoil "felt weird". The gentleman running the class started to give him a hard time about squib loads and limp-wristing the gun. The instructor stood over him while he shot the next set, tapping and racking every time just like he'd been taught. After a 16-round magazine he reached into his range bag to pull out the ammo he'd bought from the instructor's wife and all became very clear. Egg, meet face. But as others have said, there was no real disaster. Just a handgun that wouldn't cycle, a really embarrassed small business owner and a whole class full of shooters that will likely never go back to that gun store / range.

Sign I'll OBEY on a "Posted" business: Any assertion that I can't enter armed. Anything from a Gunbuster (as stated by the law) to a "For insurance purposes, no guns, cell phones or pets allowed" sign. "No Firearms", "No Weapons", "No Guns". As others said, if the property owner makes his intent clear, I respect his rights by exercising mine elsewhere. Sign I PREFER on a "Posted" business: "Going out of Business Sale! Everything must go!" In seriousness, the only sign I've seen that I really respected as truely "proper" sign was a white aluminum plaque about 18" by 24" with a gunbuster, a knife buster, a leaf (which I assume was intended to be a pot leaf) buster and the full text from the law and the information about the punishment for carrying past the sign. This was at eye level and clearly visible driving past the front door. It was an elementary school in Williamson County - which I didn't think had to be "posted" to be illegal to carry there. If all businesses that "posted" did so as thoroughly, we wouldn't need to be having this conversation and if a business wants me to take their "rules" seriously and respect their rights they need to do the same for mine - which means researching them enough to post proper signage if they're going to limit them. That is my PREFERENCE - my PRACTICE is above. I know your rules say not to talk about the law, but I'm going to break that rule. I think the verbiage in the law should be changed to state EXACTLY what the sign must say (not merely "substantially similar to:" ) including the size and color of the sign and where it must be posted in relation to each door (not just "at" the door, but on the right side 36" from the bottom threshold") to prevent the types of confusion that can result in my losing my Constitutional Rights because a business owner put their own interpretation of the law into effect and a Judge agreed because of a vaguely written law.

When I was in college I got it into my head I was going to be a famous knifemaker and started making my own knives. Some came out really great, and those I'd have my "leather guy" make some decent leather made up for it to showcase my work. Those "good ones" I'd wear everywhere - even in my Sunday best. I got the fewest weird looks when the knife was more fully contained in the leather (maybe just a few inches of the handle actually uncovered) hanging horizontally at about 4 o'clock on my strong side. I always *felt* classier when the leather on the knife matched the leather of my belt, too. I haven't made a knife in ages and I prefer to carry a folder now for the same reasons that I prefer to conceal my handgun when I carry it, but I do occasionally carry one of my more fancy handled ones to parties.

"Oh man, I've been shoot and K'Raven's dead! We gotta get some waffles." Pillars of the community.

Thanks for the replies, all. Based on the recommendations here I'm going to swing by Academy and pick up either the Stack-On or the GunVault that they have. I'm thinking I'll bolt it under one of the seats. Harder for me to get access to means harder for someone to walk away with. Thanks for this! I'll pick up a tube of Epoxy to take care of most of the holes I'm seeing in the video. Not much I can do about the cheap key lock, I guess. Maybe epoxy that shut too and rely on the combination? My biggest concern is someone walking away with the safe - I don't think any lock is going to stop someone that has the time to devote to getting into it.

I'm sure this has been posted on here before, but I wasn't able to find it with a quick search so I'll start a new one! Does anyone have any recommendations for a decent car safe to secure a handgun in the car when I absolutely must leave it behind? I'm looking for something I can attach either to the back of the seat or under the seat in an SUV (Jeep Cherokee if it matters?) where it will be out of the way but at least deter theft. Cheaper is better, but I understand I get what I pay for. I've looked at some at Academy and on Ebay/Amazon and there are a lot to choose from, but the prices seem all over the board and the reviews equally mixed on everything i've seen. I'd prefer combination with a key option (for when I forget the combination) but I don't need a lot of fancy flip-up speed delivery options. I've already got a container that delivers my gun to my hand quickly in an emergency - it's called my holster. Speed drawing from my safe just isn't a need I see myself having. And should I be looking for/ bothering with gun-specific safes? Or is the "cash box with security cord" from Target going to be the same thing without the "it's for a gun" surcharge? It'll be to hold my 1911-CS and my wife's Bersa .380. Mounting (read: Concealing) recommendations and suggestions would be good too. With an SUV I'm concerned that just bolting it to the floor in the trunk will draw unwanted attention to people window shopping in the parking lots. Last thing want to do is ATTRACT attention with my safe. Thanks in advance!