Mike A

Not that I doubt the information you've been given, but if you contact S&W with the model and serial number they'll give you a month and year.  For a research fee (I believe it's $50) they'll give you more detailed information and I believe a letter.  Maybe worth it if you had a real collector's piece.  The month and year info I mentioned are gratis.  

The Yazoo tour is pretty cool.  More of a history lesson and tasting than an in depth look at the process but worth a spin IMHO.  Pretty inexpensive, you get a souvenir glass and at least when I went generous on the samples.  They're also good folks.  I believe they're started something like 8 or 9 non-profits since they began business.  Personally like to support someone who's about more than accumulating as much cash as possible.  

http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/topic/82325-anyone-been-to-the-cabelas-in-bowling-green/   And no, I don't mean this in a "use the search function" snippy way.  Just hoping to be hopeful.   I finally made it up myself but waited until I had other business in BG.  IMHO, not worth a special trip.  Nice enough folks and all but pretty small store as I believe some others opined in the above referenced thread.

IMHO, money lending has been a major component of their business a lot longer than 10 years.  Before probably the mid-'80s people with no credit history and / or lower incomes couldn't usually qualify for a Visa or other bank card.  Sears built an empire by extending credit to young folks.  Lots of new households got fitted out with Kenmore appliances and the like.  I think when banks started issuing cards that allowed those same folks to take their business elsewhere that was really the proverbial beginning of the end.   In fairness, back in the day, Sears brands were mostly above average in quality.  I'd suggest that the quality of their products didn't really start suffering until easier credit started facilitating the purchase of lower priced albeit inferior goods at the big box discount stores.  Not to say they didn't make mistakes but I also suspect they found themselves playing a new game they couldn't win.   At the risk of sounding elitist, I believe as consumers we get what we show the manufacturers and retailers we value.  If you show 'em you're willing to sacrifice quality to save a buck, you get shoddy goods.  If you're willing to deal with indifferent employees to save 12 cents on a bottle of shampoo, you get poor customer service, etc. ad nauseum.   My $0.02.         

10:45 and...........it's gone.

Cigar Club in Rivergate?

Sold Out.  FYI.

Thanks for the pics.  Looks nice.

Have you received yours yet?  If so, what do you think? 

I went what I think was the last time they had one.  I want to say that was last year but time flies and it could have been closer to two years.  At that time it was pretty small.  Fair number of walk arounds for the size.  I wasn't that interested in much other than modern handguns at the time so it was kind of a bust at the time.  As my interests have broadened since than it could be a better experience this time.  I'm also wondering if the loss of the Hendersonville show may help this one out.   All of that useless half-remembrance drivel aside, I'm likely to give it a shot.  Not that far a drive for me.  $5 admission and free parking is ultimately a bargain for the opportunity to check out David's wares IMHO.    

In the interest of devil's advocate / another country heard from I would offer the following:   The OP I'm sure knows more about Gramps' back story than he's been able to offer up to this point.  At a minimum we know that he's in his 60s and raising the daughter of his incarcerated son or son-in-law and deceased daughter or daughter-in-law.  I'd be willing to bet that in doing so he's probably had a lot of interaction with likely well meaning but nevertheless meddlesome individuals many of whom were probably affiliated with governmental or semi-governmental agencies.  As the OP is law enforcement that could certainly add to Gramps' trepidation.  Lest I be misconstrued, I am in no way doubting the OPs intention or motivation merely trying to offer a possible explanation for Gramps' behavior.  I could be all wet on this and Gramps could just be a d-bag.   I think I'd try to cultivate a relationship of trust with Gramps.  Maybe in time he'll warm up to you and realize the nature of your intentions.  If not, I think you have to back off and make the time the children spend at your house as positive as possible unless and until you think the situation requires intervention from LE / DCS, etc.  I'm sure being in LE you know the consequences and ramifications of such involvement.   My $0.02.  

Worthwhile?

+1 on the problem likely being a cycling issue.  At the risk of stating the obvious, don't add any more fish to your tank until the cycle is complete and even then add to your fish population a little at a time to allow the bacteria colony to catch up.  Running the equipment on an empty tank without an ammonia source (e.g., fish) does nothing for the cycle.  I've not done it personally but if I ever set up another tank (doubtful) I'd research a fishless cycle.  As I understand it you basically add ammonia to a tank without fish and test the water just like you would with fish until the bacteria colony is "mature" (i.e. no ammonia or nitrite and only an acceptable level of nitrate) before adding fish.    

I've always figured anything under ~7 days you were better off letting them fast than trusting the feeding to someone who isn't used to caring for fish (they almost always tend to overfeed).  As Mike G said, they're hard to starve (and certainly in the short term).  Maybe the feeder blocks are better than they used to be.  I swear the old ones were mostly plaster. 

Who says I waited?  I had pretty much decided to go with the P64 anyway. Saw this as a sign.  I'll pick up a Tokarev somewhere down the line.

Ironically enough, Classic Firearms now has the P64's on sale for $219.99 ($20 off) until Midnight Wednesday (9/10/14).  FWIW, they also have a new shipment of Romanian Tokarevs (website says "factory safety").

Biggest tips I can offer on algae prevention are:  1)  Frequent partial water changes.  The end product of the nitrogen cycle is nitrate.  Most plant food is nitrogen based.  Less nitrate = less plant food.  2)  Limit your lighting if you can.  If you're not trying to grow live plants and there's nothing else in the tank that uses photosynthesis, turn the light off when you're not watching the fish.  I typically only run my light for about an hour in the morning around feeding time and maybe 2-3 hours in the evening when I'm hanging out in the living room doing the evening feeding and watching the fish.     Those two tips will take care of a lot of the problem.  If the algae bothers you, I'd still recommend old fashioned mechanical removal.  Too easy to create a chemical soup to no real good purpose.     Finally, as you've no doubt figured out, you're way overstocked.  IMHO, 3 fancy goldfish really need at least a 75 gallon aquarium.  The greater water volume will also keep your nitrate levels lower all other things being equal and help with the algae situation.  

IMHO the water quality is not as good as it was 30+ years ago.  The technology makes the maintenance easier but bottom line, you still need to do it if you expect to be successful.  

As for those in current supply: -- AIM's website says that they were added for import when they were refurbed. -- J&G's website makes no mention. 

Always glad to be educated.  I never got around to the African cichlids before I went in downsize mode.  I thought there were more trace minerals that one had to be concerned about.  I think most major water supplies tend to be a little north of 7 anyway.  Pretty sure our local supply is ~7.4.  Wonder if some of the PH tolerance is a function of current specimens being so far from wild caught that over generations they've adjusted to the local supply.   Another cycling tip is using the same or similar hang on the back filters on multiple tanks (i.e. the Marineland Emperor 400 uses the same biowheels as the 280 (just 2 of 'em instead of one)).  When I established a new tank I would put one of the seasoned biowheels from an old tank in the new filter on the tank I was wanting to establish.

If it makes a difference, here's a little more back story.  My C&R interest is fairly recent.  I got my C&R this Spring and purchased my obligatory Mosin-Nagant.  Not to be derisive, looks really cool hanging in the man cave.  My primary interest in the C&Rs is as display pieces.  Not to say I won't shoot 'em at least a little to say I did.  I do reserve the right to change my position on this matter.     I wanted a Nagant revolver but found them in shorter supply and higher priced than they were just a couple years ago.  I was fortunate enough to find a kind-hearted TGO member willing to part with one at a good price.  I know I will want a P64 and a Tokarev.  I'm hoping to avoid one of these becoming a unicorn for me.   All of that said, I've about decided to go with the P64 first hopeful that I'll be able to pick up an acceptable (for me at least given my current intention of more display than shooter) Tokarev down the line at a decent price.   Thanks for the responses. 

I’ll try to keep this short (no promises).  I’ve kept fish off and on (mostly on) for almost 40 years.  I don’t offer that as proof of my expertise but rather to say that I’ve had a lot of opportunities to make a lot of mistakes and have hopefully learned a few things in the process.  Rather than clutter the forum, I do have a list of good internet resources I’d be happy to send to anyone who’ll PM me a request and an e-mail address.   The first time I got a tank over 20 gallons I thought I could put an almost unlimited number of fish in it.  I understood compatibility issues but didn’t have a good grasp on proper stocking levels.  IMHO the overriding consideration is that you’re creating and maintaining an ecosystem.  I could put four or five people in my sedan but I wouldn’t want to seal the doors and all of us live there.      1)   Understock.  If the tank looks a little empty it’s probably about right. 2)   Overfilter.  Really a misnomer, you can’t really overfilter but at some point you do introduce a level of turbidity that will disturb the fish. 3)   Do regular maintenance.  Clean your filters and replace materials as called for in your particular set up.  Probably most importantly, do frequent partial water changes.      If you do those things, you’ll likely be successful.  There’s a lot of bad advice out there.  Sometimes it’s from the well meaning.  There’s a great temptation in encouraging people to pursue the hobby to downplay the importance of the foregoing three principles.  Sometimes it’s from people who really don’t know better (e.g., poorly trained clerks at the big box).  Sometimes, worst of all, I think it’s from short sighted sales people who really don’t care if you succeed long term.   Unless your house is tropical, I think the only thing you’ll be able to keep without a heater is goldfish (and I’ll get to them in a minute).   I’ve not kept African cichlids so I’ll largely defer on them other than to say that my understanding is that there are more water parameters to be concerned with than most of your basic hardy freshwater species.  I’d approximate the time commitment somewhere between the basic hardy freshwater species and saltwater.   As big as the 55 may seem right now, the tank is really too small for most of the larger South American cichlids.   You could do a couple goldfish (and by couple I mean two and no more) with a few caveats.  Goldfish are not the “beginner” fish some would believe.  In the quest to simplify my life I’ve reduced my tank collection to a single 75 gallon with three goldfish.  Goldfish are poop machines.  I’ve got a fairly large canister filter on it along with a double bio-wheel hang on the back filter and a small hang on the back canister filter I run with a micron cartridge for clarity.  I do a weekly 50% water change (DO NOT DO THIS HIGH A PERCENTAGE WATER CHANGE IF YOU HAVE NEGLECTED WATER CHANGES.  Doing so under those circumstances will be too big a shock).   Goldfish are not normally aggressive with one another and as such you can keep fish of different sizes with one another.  They’ll chase one another but no actually combat.  THE important thing is to never mix the different types of goldfish.  This is about competition for food and not aggression.  Faster types will out-compete the slower types for food and the slower types will fail to thrive.  There are three basic types (some of these are probably my terms and not necessarily widely accepted):   1)   Comets.  These are the single tail creatures in the bowls at the carnival.  These guys (like koi) get too big for the aquariums that most people keep in their homes and are more appropriate for ponds.  Comets are the fastest. 2)   “Fancy.”  This is generally how you will see them listed for sale in the live fish stores.  By this term I mean the split tail fish that are NOT of the next type.  These guys are slower than the comets. 3)   “Oddballs.”  This is probably my term.  These guys are split tails but generally have odd shapes or appendages typically around the head area (e.g, bubble eyes, lionheads).  These guys are the slowest.   All of this is not to scare you off of goldfish.  I really like mine.  They get big enough to be seen easily across my modest sized living room despite my aging eyesight.  They also have a lot of the “personality” seen with a lot of the larger South American cichlids.     I’ll hang up now and listen off the air.

  Is that based upon any opinion that the P64 will be more difficult to find or pricier in the future or just your belief that the P64 is the better firearm?

Hmmm, the AIM Tokarevs appear to be a new shipment.  I had been tempted by the price on the Romanians at  J&G ($179.95 or $149.95 each for two or more).  More reoverthinking is now required.  

From what I can see (and what I've learned here) the story seems to go:  a given model is being imported, the model is widely available and the prices are good, then that model stops being imported, the supply drys up and the prices rise (i.e. basic supply and demand).   Given that, I've pretty much narrowed my next C&R purchase to either a Romanian Tokarev or a Polish Radom P64.  I intend to own both eventually but am wondering if those here more learned than I (not a high bar) have an opinion on which of these two I should buy first to avoid the low supply / higher price scenario I've described.   Thanks.