Grayfox54

Sure, why not? Me and my sons on Halloween 2011.

I've got a Tactical Solutions barrel on a Buckmark and have been very pleased with it. But I also bought it before so many guns could be had from the factory with threaded barrels. I don't see much sense in swapping barrels when name brand guns can now be had suppressor ready. 

I own both and carry both. Just depends on what I'm doing and my mood on any given day. Go with what you can shoot well and don't worry about what other people like. 

I can't speak for the whole system, but the VA in memphis is a complete cluster :censored: . My younger son is an Iraq veteran and his attempts to deal with these people have been a lesson in frustration and incompetence. The biggest problem seems to be complete and total apathy for the vets. Nobody cares. I was there one day and noticed an older man, probably in his 70s, who seemed to be having trouble walking. Before I could get to him, he fell flat on his face and busted open his forehead. Several doctors and nurses walked right past him without so much as a glance. We actually had to go find somebody to take care of him!  :rant: The place is an embarresment to our nation and certianly no way to treat our veterans.  :mad:

Having spent 25 years as an equiptment mechanic, I've worked on many different tractors. For your needs I'd recommend New Holland with Kubota a very close second. The only reason I give New Holland the edge is because they're generally easier to work on and parts are easier to get. You might also consider Case.  For me one deciding factors would be the quality and location of the nearest dealer. Can they get me the parts I need when I need them? Are they easy to deal with or a bunch of jerks who don't care? You'd be surprised how much these things matter.  BTW: Deere would be at the bottom of my list. They ain't nowhere near what they once were. 

I'm with the "take or leave it" group. Its not something I specificly want, but I won't turn down a nice gun because of it.  As for 1911s with rails, I generally prefer them without the rail.  I have a number of 1911s and only two have rails. One is a limited edition that only came that way and the other was bought for the specific purpose of being a house gun. That one does have a light on it.    Some years back I took a Low Light shooting class. The instructor kept emphasizing two points over and over. 1. White light attracts incoming fire. 2. Incoming fire has the right of way. 

Modern engines are computer controlled and adjusts fuel rate, timing, EGR  and many other things to keep everything running properly.  These adjustments are dicated by various sensors which keep it up to date on the engine's condition. Engine temperature is one of the primary inputs in this system. Prolonged running of the vehicle with the engine too cool can possably lead to a mutitude of problems as other systems constantly try to compensate.  In short, it comfuses the computer and brain farts may result.  :screwy:

I always caution the ladies I know to never carry in their purse. The BG's target is the purse. Once he gets that he not only has your gun, your money and your credit card but also your ID with your home address and your keys. What if he has other mischief in mind?

I'm a huge fan of the .44 Special and own several. One of my favorites is my 696 which is the all stainless 3" L-frame.  The recoil of a .44 Special isn't bad in an all steel gun. But, due to a touch of arthritis in my hands, I think I would probably pass on this light weight.as It would have a hefty kick to it. But that's just me.  Also, S&W limits this model to 200gr bullets or less.  OTOH, these were only made for three years, 1999-2001, and usually sell in the $500-700 range. For $400, I'd be sorely tempted.     

This thread has hit a major pet peeve of mine. My wife and my father were both handicapped and people who illegally use Handicapped spaces piss me off no end.  :rant:   In most counties you can just go to the County Clerk's Office when you need to renew your handicapped placard. Not in Shelby Co. Here you have to mail in the renewal to Nashville. The reason? Well about 10 years or so ago somebody noticed that Shelby Co (memphis) issued an extraordinarily large number of handicapped placards. So the state did an investigation. It turned out that at this particular office, anybody with a "friend" or $50 cash could easily get a placard. It was so bad they just fired everybody and closed the office.  Its been four years since we needed to renew, so I'm not sure if they ever reopened it or not.   Back in 2009 I had knee surgery. I was cooped up in the house and about to go bat poop crazy because of it. About the time I was able to hobble around a bit on a cane, I noticed that we needed a few things from the grocery store and hit upon a brilliant idea. My wife was out with a friend, so I'd just take her car, park in a handicapped space and use the little motorized buggy in the store. Seemed like a good idea at the time.  :shake: Just my luck, no open handicapped spaces. I ended up parking way back in the south 40. Every step towards the door hurt more and more. As I passed the handicapped spaces I noticed a small car in one of them that looked out of place. If you've ever dealt with the handicapped, you know that they don't drive small cars. Too hard to get in and out of. Sure enough, no placard or plate.  By the time I made it into the store I was sweating from the pain. I made my way to the customer service desk, reported the illegal parker and asked the lady if she would be kind enough to call the police. As I left the store, I saw a rather trashy looking woman placing cases of beer into the trunk of that car. As I drove by on my way out, I passed her just in time to see her discover the ticket on the windshield. That just made my day!  :clap:   A note on judging by appearances: my wife was sick for seven years. Aside from the fact thet she couldn't walk 50 feet without being completely out of breath, one of the side effects of all the crap they pumped into her was a massive weight gain. She was only able to shop in stores that had the motorized buggys. Yet everywhere we went, you would see some people give her a dirty look because they thought she was another fat cow too lazy to walk. Don't be so quick to judge.   Finally, I want to tell you about my Father. When I was 16, he lost his right leg due to on going complications from wounds he recieved in WW II. he actually learned to get around quite well on his artificial leg.  He had a Disabled Veteran license plate, yet very rarely, if ever, parked in a handicapped spot. I asked him one day why he never parked there? He just looked at me and said "Son, there are people who need those."     

Very few shooters can really wring out that little bit extra from a $2000 + 1911. For us normal folks its just wasted money. Pretty much any box stock medium grade pistol will do just fine.  Just about everybody and his brother is making 1911s these days, so its pretty much up to you.    Ya can't go wrong with a Colt. They set the standard a long time ago and are still right up there.   I personlly like Springfields and have four of them. But you already ruled them out for personal reasons. Although I think that's a mistake, its your choice. BTW graycrait: If you contact Springfield about that POS gun you have, I'll pretty much bet thet they'll be happy to fix it for you under warranty and likely pay the shipping too. One of the big bonuses with Springer is they have the best customer service in the business.    I keep hearing good things about all the new guys in the 1911 game such as Ruger, Sig, etc and so on. IDK, I just can't seem to warm up to them. Maybe because I feel like their soul is really with the products they started out with and the 1911 is just a money thing to them. But then, there wouldn't be so many companies making them if it didn't pay.    Having said that, I really believe the hidden gem out there are the Remington 1911R1s. Yeah, its kind of a plain matte finish and there ain't nothing special about their looks, but these are some very well built guns. I bought one when they first came out just because it said Remington on it. Frankly, its amazed me. These are very well fit, accurate guns and IMHO have the best right-out-of-the-box trigger on a 1911 I've ever felt.   I'm guess that if you stick to a good brand in the medium price range that you'll be happy with whatever you end up with. After all. its a 1911.  :up:            

Para-Ordanance makes a good gun, but they're noted for needing an extended break-in period. Generally takes 300-500 rounds to get them running smooth and trouble free. 

I don't see what's in it for the U.S.? After 50 odd years of communism, Cuba is nothing more than a third world dung heap.  I'm bettin' there's some big money to be made in this somewhere and that most of it will be under the table and at U.S. tax payer expense. 

Patton, I understand your  concern about me trying to trade off the 624. Let me clear that up so I don't appear as much the idiot y'all think I am. ;)   I stumbled across it locally from a private seller at a very good price. It doesn't have the original grips. It wears goodyears. I also don't have the box. While the gun is in very good shape, it does show a few minor handling marks. And its been shot quite a bit. Mostly by me.   :D  So its not like I'm trying to sell a mint collectable. I figure this one to be about an $850 gun.  I might also mention that I have several other .44 Specials including a 3" 24-3. I just like blue better than stainless.  Also, in the OP I said it was a gun I was "willing to sell or trade". I never said I needed or even wanted to sell.  This gun was actually an impluse buy.  I actually bought it with the intent of reselling it.   So this 624 is more or less an extra in my collection. I like it, but don't necessarily need it. If I can sell it for what I consider a fair price or trade for something of similar value that I want, I am "willing" to do so. Otherwise, I'll keep it, enjoy it and continue to shoot it.  :up:

I was at the Germantown gun show today. I had with me a couple of revolvers that I was willing to sell or trade.One fo which is a Smith & Wesson 3" Model 624 Lou Horton Special. Been totin' these guns around to various gun shows for a while now and although I get lots of lookers, so far no buyers. Same thing with trying to trade for something I liked. I know that dealers have to make money on a trade, but most of the offers I got were downright insulting. Frankly, I'm gettin' tired of carrying these guns around. My younger son has a Sig P220 Compact. Nice gun, but I don't care for the short grip frame. I've shot it many times and and while I'm not realy a DA Auto kind of guy, I've often thought it might be nice to have a full sized one of my own.    So there I am at the gun show. Once again, many want to look at what I have, but nothing but bad low ball offers.  Anyway, I'm making my way down through the show and a voice from behind one of the tables asks about my 624. Its a pretty good sized dealer with lots of tables and the inquiry came from one of the salesmen. I show him and the guy is about to pee himself. He's been looking for one of these for his personal collection for quite some time. He looks it over and agrees that my asking price is fair, but sadly, he can't spend the money right now what with Christmas coming, small kids and of course the wife to deal with. We all know the story.  :rolleyes: They have lots of guns there, so I ask if maybe we can work out a trade?  I look around and find a brand new Sig P220 Carry. That's the full size frame with the slightly shorter barrel and slide. I like it. It feels good in my hand. So the salesman goes and gets the owner, who is the only person allowed to make trade deals. So we commence to haggling. At first it was no go. But over the next couple of hours I drop by occasionally, make and offer and he counters. After about the 4th time, we reach a deal we can both live with. I figure I'm loosing about $50, but that's to be expected when trading with a dealer. So I'm ok with it. I sit down at the table and start the paperwork. The dealer tells some other saleman that I hadn't spoken to pack everything up and bring it down for processing. Then right in front of me, this (insert appropriate term) DROPS THE NEW SIG ON THE CONCRETE FLOOR! :eek: . :censored:  :wall:  He  picked it up, gave it a quick look see and announced "its ok, it doesn't look hurt."  But its already too late for me. I was so mad that there was no way I was going to take this gun now. I demand my gun back and say "The Deal's Off!"  :mad: Needless to say I was not in a good mood when I left the show.    But now that a few hours have passed and I've calmed down, I think maybe that God, fate, nature or whatever forces may control our lives was just telling me that for semi-autos, I should just stick with my 1911s.  ;)            

Not a fan of bobtails myself. But its your gun, do what you want.   I sent my Pre-70 Series Commander back to Colt for a refinish a few years ago. Came back beautiful. As I recall the cost was $235 + shipping. Probably gone up a little since then, but well worth it.  :up:

I never heard of him either. Now I wish I hadn't.  What a   :poop:

Y'all might wannna hold on  minute. Seems BATF&E may be back peddling. Ot at least there's some confusion in the ranks.  Here's an article I got in e-mail last week: End of the Sig Brace? Bear in mind that the guy who wrote this letter is the "ACTING" Chief of the BATF’s Firearms Technology Branch.  Lord only knows what ruleing comes down when they get a permanent chief. Wouldn't be the first time the feds have changed their minds or the first time the right hand didn't know what the left hand was doing. Also remember that BATF&E can change the rules whenever they want to and have done so in the past.  Looks like the lid is loose on this can of worms.

I've never done business with Bud's and really don't know much about the company or its business practices. So I can't comment about them. But I did read several really nasty rants by PO'd customers on a couple of different forums. Each and every one of them amounted to the same thing. Some person missed out on a deal they felt they should have been entitled to get and immediately jumped on the internet to whine, cry, blame and generally act like a spoiled child.  So for the benifit of those who may have missed it when growing up: Life ain't fair, you don't always get what you want. Deal with it.   

When I was still working for the city, part of my job was taking care fo all our small engine stuff. Our saws worked hard and the crews were pretty rough on them. So from a mechanics point of view.......... Stihl is the very best, easy to work on and find parts for. Husqvarna makes a good saw, but getting parts can be a real PITA. Echo, don't even go there.    As for myself, I've got a 20 year old Poulan Woodsman. Yep, just a cheap hardware store saw. But its still running strong and takes care of what I need to do.   

Unfortunately I have certian dietary restrictions. Some things, like onions, peppers or heavily spiced foods, just never have set well with me. Messes my stomach up. Other restrictions are due to medical problems (diverticulitis).  But there are some things that I just plain don't like. Green peas for one. Never cared for the taste of the things. Another is raw tomatos. Its funny that I like pretty much everything made from tomatoes like tomato sauce, ketchup or tomatoes cooked into another dish. Just never liked the taste of them raw. The one thing that I've never understood is when people take perfectly good food and then start adding spices, peppers, sauces, etc to make it hotter than Hell. I've seen people eating stuff so hot that they're eyes are watering and then talk about how good it is. What's that all about?  :squint: I make it a rule not to eat anything that hurts.  :shake:  

That feller is Jerry Miculek, A top tier competition shooter and the world's fastest shooter with a revolver. I tend to listen when he speaks.  :up: I met him once. Really nice and down to earth kind of guy. Check his videos on You Tube. Some of the things he can do are amazing.

Around 15 years ago I personally witnessed a Glock ka-Boom. In this case the gun was a 9mm using factory ammo. Myself, the Rangemaster and a couple of other seasoned shooters all examined the gun and agreed that it appeared to have fired before locking completely into battery. The gun was ruined, but thankfully, the shooter only recieved minor injuries.  As I recall there was some discussion going around about that time about wear on certian parts which would allow this very problem to occur.  It wasn't my gun, I didn't know the owner and I'm not a Glock guy, so I have no idea what the final outcome was.   

I used to, but don't any more. One day several years ago some of us were standing around in the shop BSing. A couple of local LEOs were in the group and somehow the subject came up. They both told us that the vast majority of stolen gun reports they do have the weapon stolen out of a vehicle. Also said that vehicle burglaries are far more common than home burglaries. To my way of thinking, leaving a weapon in something as insecure as a vehicle is irresponsible. I don't care about the cost of the lost firearm. I just don't like the idea of some criminal out there with one of my guns.

The entire infrastructure of this country is on the verge of collapse. Power grids, roads, bridges and water supply. It seems congess would rather waste our tax dollars on worthless government programs and sending billions each year to countries that hate us.  All the Chinese have to do is wait.