Luke E.

Sounds like you guys had a phenomenal hunt!

You don't need any additional permits to hunt the "leased" fields. You only need a small game license and a migratory bird permit. I'm not sure how it works for WMA's. Call the number on their website and punch zero for the operator. They have been quite helpful in my experiences.

   I can't say for sure that they are all this way but the ones that I know of were open today and then shut down all week then open back up for hunting Saturday and Sunday. Most of the TWRA leased fields that I looked at had parts of it chopped for silage and then wheat top sewn on it. I don't know how the weather was Saturday and Sunday everywhere else but it rained so hard around here that it drove every bit of the wheat into the ground. I didn't get out there and dig around but if they hadn't told us that they had broadcast wheat over it, I wouldn't have known. I didn't see a single grain of it out there.

 Sidewinder and I spent all day in a TWRA field not far from home and there probably weren't 25 birds that flew through from 10:30 until 5:30 and none of them were in front of us. I made a few long shots just to get to pull the trigger but that was about as exciting as it got. I sure enjoyed the good company though.   When I walked into my house I got a call from a friend telling me to come to his place and that there weren't really any birds but they were just hanging around the barn. About 5 minutes after I got there the birds lit up. Long story short they went back to the spots they had been sitting in all day and I just kinda stayed back towards the barn. In 45 minutes time I had 9 birds and they each had 10 or more in their bags. I hope we can get everyone's schedule lined up to do that again one evening later in the week!

   I was only looking to come spectate this time around so registration wouldn't have mattered to me. I wish it had been today because I've got to leave for Kansas early Friday morning for work so yet again something has come up and gotten in the way of me making it out. I guess i'll try again next month.

I guess I could have elaborated. I'm not talking about enough flex to cause problems with loading. We have a laundry/utility room that I turned the utility part into a loading room or as my wife calls it "the bullet lair". This room isn't far down the hall from our living room and as it stands, when there is brass in the casefeed hopper, it can be a little noisy. It wouldn't be nearly so load if casefeed hopper didn't get whipped around due to the pipe it's mounted on flexing. The strong mounts I have been around have worked great but they have had a small but noticeably to me amount of flex. I'm almost certain that extra flex would really make that casefeed hopper howl I my small area. My wife has never complained about anything I do back there and I value that so I try to keep things tolerable. Bottom line is, there is nothing functionally wrong with the strong mount.

Is tomorrow the day for the 3gun shoot in Manchester? If so, how late does it usually run? I'd like to come have a look but wouldn't be available until around noon.

A buddy and I have a .223 load using pull down powder and bullets from David that we load on a Dillon 550 or 650 depending on who's house we're at. These are just "blaster" loads and they are always sub moa and he can get down to half moa with his Rem 700 bolt gun. My point is, I get the same or less flex out of my Dillon 650 than I do out of my turret press and it doesn't have a lot of flex to it. One key thing when using a case actuated powder measure is pulling the handle somewhat consistently. If you ease it down one time and then slam it down fast the next the powder charge can vary slightly but not usually enough to be noticeable when shooting unless you're really getting serious. We've measured our loaded rounds using the Hornady caliper contraptions which measure from the base to the ogive and they are very very consistent. If you're shooting groups at 300 yards and out then maybe a rigid single stage is the way to go but for most purposes a progressive (I can't speak for the Hornady) is more than consistent enough. When I bought my turret press I based that decision on the number of rounds I shot at the time and the amount of time I had to devote to loading but things changed. The number of rounds I was shooting doubled almost instantly once I started loading and life got way busier so I all of the sudden had to build more rounds in less time. I got to the point that the only way I wouldn't run out of ammo was to load at a buddy's house on his Dillion so I made the decision to buy the Dillon and I've not regretted it once. Honestly I wish I'd started out with it. I've got quite a bit of stuff laying around that I never use because I went that direction first. There's absolutely nothing wrong with a turret press if you have enough time to build the number of rounds needed but I found that I didn't. This became really noticeable once I started in on rifle rounds because then you also have to make time to trim and swage (if the primer pockets are crimped) and that can take as long as loading (lots more time than loading with a progressive and about the same as loading on a turret). If you're going to load .223 I highly suggest buying the Dillon Super Swage 600 and the WTF (Worlds Finest Trimmer) as these two things will slash you brass prep time. Should be around $160 for both of them.

Looks like a good list. The "tool holder with wrench set" can only be used if you also have the "strong mount". I would love to have the wrench set on mine but I don't want the extra height or the extra flex that comes with a strong mount. Whenever we build and I get a room like I want then I will likely pick one up.

I've got a Dillon 650 and love it. If you go with the 650 you need to go ahead and figure in the cost of the case feeder because you're better off with a 550 than you are with a 650 without the case feeder. It's also a fare bit more expensive to covert to new calibers than it is with a 550. If you have anyone that you know with a progressive that would be willing to let you hang out while they load that would be a big bonus for you. Good luck.

 Definitely bring targets as stated above. A stapler would be great but not a must have as they have a few loaners  but if it's busy it could be fun to try and track down the person with the stapler. If you guys like to shoot trap then take your shotguns because he has some really nice hydraulic clay target machines. There is a "pit" down by the pistol ranges that is good times with an AR. It's one of the few places around that you can shot left, right and straight. You won't find nicer folks.

I have decided that I want to look around for some different tips before I start in on a pistol frame. I know what I want to do but but need a skinnier tip. I can sharpen one of the ones I have but the taper is to wide. If I burn in deep enough the tip is to wide at that depth.

 Okay, I've never really had to worry about having anywhere to hunt any game before but i've not had any luck finding a dove field to shoot for the last 3-4 years. I would be super appreciative if someone had a field that I could shoot with them Monday! I've got plenty of deer to hunt and would be happy to repay the favor with some deer hunting if that interests anyone. Feel free to PM me if you don't want to post it here. Like I said, I've not had the opportunity to shoot dove in several years now so I am willing to do some driving so just let me know. I've got a neighbor that started chopping silage this morning so that could possibly pan out but i'm looking for something more dependable. Thanks!

 The "PRO" model is on my short list for sure. I've not had the opportunity to shoot one yet but I have got a regular full size as my carry pistol and my wife has a Shield so I guess the pro would round out the 9mm M&P collection.

A lot of Blackout loads are right at if not at or above 100% case capacity (compressed load) I know how you feel though because no matter what caliber or powder i'm loading, it always makes me cringe a little when I know that the bullet is going to "smoosh" the powder. I'm shooting a 125gr Nosler BT bullet for hunting and i'd have to look to be certain but i'm pretty sure i'm 100%+ on that load and they shoot nicely. 

 That's incredible!

   I've got a cheap wood burning kit (looks to be a soldering iron with interchangeable tips) from Lowes. I believe the brand is Weller. It does not have multiple heat settings so i'm not sure what temp it operates at. I would suggest using the sharpest pointed tip you've got. I keep mine filed to a good sharp point and have to do so after about an hour of use. I never would have dreamed that lightly touching plastic with it would dull or deform the brass tip but I guess I wasn't appreciating how many hundreds of times you have to make contact to stipple a square inch or two. If you've any more questions don't hesitate to ask.

My father in law is British and I have a couple friends that are British as well and have never lived anywhere else. I completely understand their thoughts (or lack thereof) about guns. My father in law isn't "against" guns in any way but he's a bit awkward any time he's around mine. I wasn't implying that they wouldn't change or add laws because of this rifle design but I'm not so sure that it would be because of ease of conversion. They don't have to have any excuse or reason because the people just bend over and take it (like all good subjects should, I guess). My brother in law is Irish so I sent this to him and he said they probably still wouldn't be allowed to own it. They have to go before chief leo and ask for permission and give a reason for NEEDING to own it. This is of course after paying for the firearm in full and when the chief denies your permit you DONT get any of your money back. Because of this he thinks that most folks would be scared to risk the money because they are very open about it having nothing to do with the rifles capabilities and everything to do with it's appearance. If I remember correctly he told me that there was only 1 privately opened pistol in the country that was over .22lr in caliber. However they can go to the store and walk out with a suppressor without signing anything more than a credit card receipt.

I'm pretty sure it's not simply like our "empty mag" bolt catch that's been rigged to catch the bolt after each round. It's something back where the disconnect is in our FCG but if I was a betting man my money would be that it's on some kind of ratcheting mechanism that allows it to catch between each shot no matter what you do. Now if your talking about it being easy to just switch parts and make it semi auto then you're probably correct but tits also easy enough for us to convert ours to full auto by switching out or adding a few parts. Where there's a will there's a way I reckon.

Great news! Wish you the best of luck on your first day!

I'm sure they'll institute a law stating that the bolt must be manually opened and close or se other foolishness. I hope it doesn't give our idiots in Washington any silly ideas.

Man will always make lemonade when given lemons, http://www.alloutdoor.com/2014/08/13/video-lr223-british-almost-semi-automatic-ar15/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=2014-08-19&utm_campaign=Weekly+Newsletter

  If you want to spend a lil' extra time on it I would suggest stripping the paint/coating from the bolt and polishing it to a mirror finish with jewelers rouge. the absolute slickest 10/22 actions I've ever felt have been done this way.  As for lube, I have resisted the Frog Lube "hype" for a long time now but finally bought a jar of the Frog Lube in paste form last weekend. I cleaned the parts real good then hosed them down with non-chlorinated brake cleaner and wiped them down. I repeated the brake cleaner part 3-4 times and used a fresh clean rag (sock riddled with holes) to wipe them down the last time which left everything super dried out. Next I took my wife's hair dryer and, one part at a time, heated them up (doesn't have to be crazy hot, uncomfortable to touch to the inside of your bicep is more than enough). Then I stole one of my wife's makeup brushes, cleaned it up with brake cleaner and used it to brush on the Frog Lube paste. I looked like solidified bacon grease in the tub but when it hits the hot/really warm gun part it liquefies immediately and is drawn into every little crease and crevice. I probably over did it but I really caked it on there by applying, allowing it to sit for a moment and then applying more. By the time you get through with the last part, the first ones have completely cooled and the lube on the surface has turned back to a semi paste form which I then wiped off with a rag. It leaves no extra lube built up anywhere but out of the numerous different lubes I've tried, it is hands down the slickest. Supposedly by completely degreasing the parts and then heating them up before applying the lube, it draws the lube into any pores in the metal.  I'm not sure how much AR shooting you do but if you do much at all you know how caked on the carbon gets on the tail of the bolt. I've got a buddy that's been using this stuff and can let it really build and then just wipe it of with a rag and it's cleaner than I could ever get mine using any other method. You only have to go through the brake cleaner and heating up process the first time and after that just wipe it down with the rag that you wiped the excess off with during the initial application.  I just lubed 1 AR and 1 pistol with it last week and shot this weekend but I will wait for at least 1 more range trip before cleaning because I really want to see how well the stuff does for myself. My initial impression is that it truly is great stuff.      One more thing that I will add is that the stuff has some cleaning properties as well. Even though the last 2 times I wiped the part down with a white rag after spraying with a harsh brake cleaner and the rags coming out perfectly white, as I applied the white/really light green paste it started drawing out left over grime and old lube because when I wiped the excess off, the rag came up semi dirty and black.

^ This ^ Of course if you've got a curious mind like I have, once an idea enters it, it won't be content until you do it/tryit.

 I had a big group from my wife's workplace that wanted to take their carry permit course so I was helping with that. We went straight to the pistol range and stayed there until 5.