No_0ne

Yes, the various iterations of hedge fund and private equity entities who have owned Colt for many years have been very adept at using other people's money to squeeze any remaining capital from the company, with no regard to innovation, vision or market dynamics. I suspect that ride is nearing the end, and once these current government contracts expire Colt will either be sold off or just allowed to cease operations altogether ...

Good analysis. The simple fact is that Colt is so poorly run and managed, their only mode of survival is in government contracts, preferably (for them) the no-bid types ...

Meh, it's McDonalds, the food sucks anyway ...

That's cruel, promoting hope only to see their little hearts torn out again ...

Only the body, drivetrain, suspension, electrical and fuel systems ... All of it ... Not difficult, nor expensive to work on, which is a good thing because nothing will ever work on one ... As you can tell, I was not enamored of them, even back when they were new ...

It can't hurt, albeit I'm not convinced that you know anymore now than before. With modern automobile engines, I wouldn't expect any appreciable wear at 110k, most of these engines are capable of 3 or 4 times that amount of mileage ...

Except even the aircraft guys will tell you that it's a bad idea to make such a decision based off a single analysis. You need (according to most mechanics) a long, preferably lifetime series of analyses to compare with ...

That's not unexpected, by any means ...

Once again tonight, Tennessee manages to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory ...

I probably have close to 2 dozen pairs, scattered everywhere in my house, shop, and vehicle. Diopters ranging from 1.25 to the latest, 2.00's ...

Oil analysis is done regularly on aircraft engines to look for specific wear patterns among the internal components. However, to be most effective, you need a history of analyses from the engine over time to show changes in the levels of particulates in the oil. While a single test may prove useful in determining the relative health of the engine at that particular moment, doing the test repeatedly is much more valuable as its the changes over time in both the type and amounts of metal contaminants in the oil that give the best picture of engine health and longevity ...

That was always my biggest gripe back when I was fooling with classic Mustangs and other Fords of the era. It seemed like they never built 2 identical cars consecutively ...

BBQ was best when it was whole hog, cooked over homegrown charcoal, laid out on old metal racks supported on rows of concrete blocks, under an open-air awning of tin and rough-sawn wood. Surrounded by dirt worn bare by generations of folks who stopped by and bought their meat pulled directly off the hog by the pound with stacks of buns and chips on an old picnic table nearby, paid in cash only ...

Headline on the net last night ... "Rocky Flop"

While that was true years ago, modern cars often have circuit protection built in that will shut the alternator down when it senses low, or no battery voltage. The battery does a lot more than provide energy for starting, it also acts to smooth out spikes in the line voltage, provides some measure against over-current situations, and generally acts as a "damper" to contain the normal transients in every type of charging system ...

My first try would be to disconnect the neutral cable, then short that cable over to the positive lead for about 60 seconds. That's often long enough to cause the computers to reset to defaults ...

There are a lot of pension funds, hedge funds, etc. which are required to store a certain percentage of their funds in the bond market. As older bonds roll over, they must purchase new bonds to replace these. With the low rates being charged by central banks, there is intense competition for the types of bonds these funds are required to own. Thus when purchasing their requisite share, they are forced sometimes into paying prices that are greater than the total return on the bonds when held to maturity, thus the "negative" rates ...

When European and Asian bond yields are in negative territory, US treasuries at 2% and below, and the Fed beginning another rate cutting cycle, I don't think you're going to see any 4% CD's in the foreseeable future. Having said that, I have no credit cards, no credit score, and no debt - I like it that way ...

Used market moving how? I don't normally buy anything other than C&R items, so I haven't kept up with the market like I used to. Do you mean people aren't buying, prices are too high, what?

But then it gets a 30% tariff applied ...

^This. Amazon is now charging tax on things they handle directly, but they don't (yet) have the capacity, or will to charge from items handled by third-party sellers. I suspect this will also change at some point ...

There's still plenty of opportunities to use a C&R, but it's in the secondary markets now. There are a lot of collectors out there buying many guns per year off their 03 license ...

I'm only a casual observer at best regarding the NRA, but even I could read enough between the lines of the current scandals to know that the whole organization has been hemorrhaging funds in the various kickbacks, payoffs, insider scams, and other billing and compensation schemes ...

Just for the exercise: you can buy 55gr bullets for 8-10 cents, powder is roughly 8-10 cents, a primer is 3 cents. That's 23 cents per cartridge on the high side for a standard .223 load. I don't know off hand what new brass goes for, but used brass can be found easily at 10 cents per. So a reloaded .223 should run about 30-33 cents per round (less if you're careful where and when you buy your components). This is for new, not pulled components, I haven't seen any pulldown bullets or powders offered in a while so I have no idea of current pricing. Your best bet is probably to shoot the new ammunition for plinking, save the brass and reload it rather than trying to salvage the commercial components to reduce cost ...

I hire a local kid to do this. I offer good advice and supervision ...