Grayfox54

My gas logs burn a ton of gas and runs up the utility bill. That's why I rarely use it. But its a good flame and kept the den/kitchen area nice and warm. It kept the rest of the house tolerable. I actually had to turn it down after a couple of hours. Only ran it at about half.

I'm finally back. Here in Bartlett my power went out at about 9:30am thurs morning. It came back about 1:30, But went out again at 4:00pm. I have lanterns and fired up the gas fireplace. Funny thing is that I've lived in this house 32 years and I doubt those gas logs have been turned on a half dozen times. But I sure was glad to have them. I stayed warm and toasty. All in all I did quite well considering. Power came back on around 9:00pm Thurs and all is good. The streets never did ice up. I drove around the area some and lots of limbs and full trees are down. It was a mess! On Friday I heard on the news that 350 trees were reported down. That's just what was reported. No telling how many people have limbs or parts of trees down. Some streets were completely blocked. I lost a couple of large limbs, but no damage. I've mentioned my disabled friend before. She lives in the Frayser section of Memphis. Her power is still out now. I went and got her and her dogs Fri morning. They've been staying in my guest room ever since. Supposedly her power should be back by midnight tonight. But no promises. They're saying some folks may be out until the end of the week. For me the biggest PITA has been my cable was out. No TV and no internet for 5 days. It just came back on a little while ago.

Greg nailed it. Collectors will pay big bucks for just the right item to go with a pristine collectible gun. It completes the set as it were. Complete tool kits (screwdriver, cleaning rod, mop and brush) sell for big bucks. Especially if still in the original, unopened package. Prime example is S&W factory stocks. Up to about the 80s, new gun buyers at that time routinely took them off a new gun and slapped on a pair of goodyears or other aftermarket stocks. Many were simply thrown away. Gun shops often had boxes full of them for about $10 a set. But S&W quit making wood stocks years ago. Originals are getting hard to find. Many collectors want to return used guns back to factory original. Now days, depending on the condition, style and wood, these stocks routinely sell for $150-$500. Some go for even more. An original set of "Cokes" in like new condition could bring as much as $1000. A few years ago I bought a refinished 1930s .38/44 HE. Being refinished, it had little collector value. However, it did have a set of excellent condition period correct Service stocks on it. I took these off and listed them in the S&W Forum For Sale section at half the price I paid for the entire gun. They sold in less than 10 minutes. I really should have asked for more. Never underestimate what serious collectors are willing to pay.

Is it just me or does it seem that Americans today just aren't as tough mentally as the older generations? I'm talking mostly the under 30 crowd, but some older folks as well. When I was a kid, (1950s/60s) we were taught right from the start that life is hard. You gotta learn to deal with it. Not everybody made the team, you don't get trophies just for being there and you had to punch the bully in the nose to get him to leave you alone. It seems to me that many Americans were over protected as kids. They weren't allowed to experience failure. But the truth is that failure is the best teacher. Then one day they were thrown out into the real world and SURPRISE! They suddenly realize that they aren't special. In fact, almost nobody gives a #### about them! And most of all they come to the realization that you're completely on your own. Is it any wonder that when life poops on them that they can't handle it? I really think this is why we see so much mental illness in the general population these days. They were never properly prepared for the real world and many of them cracked under the strain. I'm interested in your thought on the subject.

Don't confuse crazy with stupid. Many crazy people are perfectly capable of serious and intricate planning of what they want to accomplish. Its their motives that are insane. But also bear in mind that their motives make perfect sense to them.

No idea. I found it at a gun show some years ago. Paid $700 for it. I posted it on the 1911 Forum a couple of years ago and even the experts over there were stumped. The trigger, grip safety, thumb safety and slide stop are from an original "Black Army 1911". The slide shows the classic two tone coloring of a WW II re-arsenal job. Best guess is that it was cobbled together by some unit armorer out of spare parts. But there's no way to prove it. What I do know is that its a genuine Army issue pistol and it shoots better than most. I'm fine with that.

My mystery 1911. All G.I. parts. A mixture of 1911 and 1911A1 parts. 1914 Springfield U.S Arsenal frame with a Colt slide. Looks like brand new. All parts are properly military marked. But no arsenal rebuild marks. Best anybody can figure, this gun was put together from parts. By who or why is completely unknown. Just another Army issue 1911 mixmaster.

Hindsight is 20/20. One of the best friends I ever had was a retired Police officer. Medically retired due to an on-the-job injury. During his career he worked patrol, narcotics and undercover. He was shot twice, cut twice and had numerous broken bones. In all four of the serious attacks it happened so fast and so unexpected that he couldn't react until after he was already injured. None of his attackers survived their encounter. He described Police work as hours and hours of routine, tedious boredom broken by occasional moments of sheer terror. Police Officers are daily asked to deal with the worst our society has to offer. It rarely goes as planned. I support our LEOs and whatever they have to do to go home at the end of their shift.

Legendary Texas Ranger Frank Hamer. The man who hunted down and killed Bonnie and Clyde. And that was just one small chapter in his amazing career. I recommend the book "Texas Ranger" by John Boessenecker to learn more about this incredible law man.

Ooooh! So tempted. Must resist..... FYI: serial number dates this fine revolver to 1969.

I don't think most of those add-on goodies existed until long after the Duke left us. Definitely Photoshop.

I'm no expert, but were the officers too far away for a taser? I think less lethal should have been tried, but I'm not sure it was possible. However, when the suspect made that sudden move which looked like aiming a weapon at police, I think shooting was the right call. IMHO this was a clear case of suicide by cop. I believe the suspect knew exactly what he was doing and got the result he wanted.

I remember gun magazine write ups about this back in the early 80s. Touted as being the smallest .45acp pistol at the time. It never caught on as it was heavy, expensive, awkward to operate and if I remember correctly the trigger was awful. Today it falls into the weird, but collectible category. I wouldn't mind having one just as a curiosity.

I'm not sure about your sanity, but I do admire your commitment.

The famous "its not my fault" defense. It ain't gonna fly. Not only do I want to see Baldwin lose the lawsuit, I hope he gets charged criminally.

So not only did a felon sell this guy a gun, he knew that the buyer intended to threaten someone with it. A criminal act in itself. They're gonna bury this guy as well they should.

Howdy and welcome to the free state of Tennessee. We have some good folks here. Jump right in.

The other end of the state. Every damned time there's something I like, its at the other end of the state.

I saw some nice stuff that caught my interest. Just wasn't willing to pay the crazy prices they were asking. Ammo seems to be in good supply. But prices are still high. Basically, the stuff is out there IF you're willing to pay the price.

The Girsans are still new and haven't become widely available yet. So there are few reviews out there. It seems to be a good gun, but I'm holding out for a SA-35.

My older son called yesterday. He tested positive. He is 42 yo, vaxxed and boosted, but is also diabetic. Says it feels like a bad sinus infection. Called the doctor today. They called him in some pretty heavy meds. He's dosing and hiding out at home. Talked to him today and he is feeling a little better. Hopefully this is as bad as it'll get. He shares a house with a married couple about his age. Apparently, the wife started a new job on Monday and came home with the Covid that same day. Now all three of them have it.

Don't knock the Raven .25s. Cheap? Low quaility? Absolutely. But the darn things are also completely reliable. They work. period.

Anybody going? RK Show at the Fairgrounds. I'll be there early. Probably right at opening.

Good grief! Celebrities are dropping like flies!