mike_f

What are the maximum distances to the targets for each type of firearm? If that's listed somewhere, I missed it.

I wish I could say it's mine, but I stole it from a random website that came back on my Google search (didn't have access to my photos at the time. This not as good photo is one I took at the overlook though.

Here are some things I've enjoyed in Sedona (that haven't already been mentioned) during my family's visits over the last 15 years or so: Favorite breakfast spot: Coffee Pot Restaurant Coffee Pot Restaurant in Sedona Arizona visit us in Sedona AZ for breakfast or lunch - neat place, moderately priced, interesting local history with the movie crews that filmed in the area in the '50's. All I could think of while hiking out of the Grand Canyon during my last trip was getting to the Coffee Pot and having some blueberry pancakes. The place is busy, but service is quick and our waiting times have been short (when there was a wait). Favorite sunset spot: Airport Mesa. Take the road up to the airport, big parking area. Get there early for a good spot and bring a camera. Favorite place to get hiking info: South Gateway Visitor Center - New (within the past couple of years) visitor center that will help you pick out the best places to see and hikes to take based on what you tell them you'd like to do and how much time you have. There a dozens of great places to see and hikes to take, can't really go wrong with any of them. Red Rock Country - South Gateway Visitor Center What to see/do at the Grand Canyon is a whole 'nuther subject. We've been many times and backpacked there 5 or 6 times. Don't know if you want to open that can of worms in this thread or not. My basic advice is "don't miss it" even if it is hot and there are huge crowds.

I used to do it some for fun when I lived in Colorado. I went to college out there and knew the geology fairly well (degree in Geological Engineering). Lots more public land out there (no trespassing worries). I just used a pan, small shovel, and rock hammer. Minimal investment in equipment and I could carry it along while hiking. I never found much gold, but I had a good time doing it. I think if you're doing it for fun, then it's worth doing. If you're trying to make money, then you'll probably be disappointed. I think it's well known that the best way to make money in mining is to sell stuff to Miners.

I have been using a Camelbak HAWG for a couple of years for a day pack. Comes with the Camelbak bladder, enough room for what I carry, easy access outside flap to stuff rain gear, and enough pockets to keep things organized. The back pad is also ventilated to help keep a little bit cooler on hot days. It has worked and held up well. They've got them on sale at Campmor right now. $70 CamelBak Hawg NV 100 oz. Hydration Pack, 75283 | Hydration Systems | Packs | GEAR | items from Campmor.

Are the competitors going to be grouped into different "classes" based on the type of sights (iron/optics), action type, caliber, magazine capacity, etc.?

I have tried many different brands of binoculars and a Leica 8x42 is my favorite. But they're heavy and expensive. The pair that I use the most a Nikon Monarch ATB 10x42. They also come in 8x42. It does most of what the Leica does, but at half the weight and 1/6 the price. I've carried them backpacking and bouncing around in the cab of a truck and haven't been damaged them yet. They have decent built-in lens covers for both the objective and eye lenses. Some of the lowest prices I found on Google are from Adorama. I have ordered from them in the past with no problems. 10x42's 7432 Nikon 10 x 42 Monarch ATB Binocular, Black, U.S.A 7525 Nikon 10 x 42 Monarch ATB Binocular, Realtree Camouflage, U.S.A 8x42's 7430 Nikon 8 x 42 Monarch ATB Water Proof Roof Prism Binocular with 6.3° Angle of View, Black, U.S.A 7524 Nikon 8 x 42 Monarch ATB Water Proof Roof Prism Binocular with 6.3° Angle of View, Realtree Camouflage, U.S.A

I'd attend a Nashville class.

I use a Wilderness Tactical Safepacker holster. Safepacker Concealed Carry Holster, Concealed Weapon Holster It's a square pouch that fits on the hip belt on my backpacks and also on a regular belt. Looks like a camera case or something similar. I have talked with Park Rangers in a National Park with it on and they never said a word. Opens fairly quickly and completely protects my handgun.

Here are 2 websites that allow you to compare ammo prices for a bunch of on-line ammo sellers. "gun-deals.com" also estimates shipping charges (enter zip code). gun-deals.com - User-Submitted Gun & Ammunition Deals AmmoEngine: 9mm / 9x19mm Parabellum (Luger), Instock For Sale Premium & Discount Ammunition, Ammo Deals

Is it a fixed or folding stock? Century-built or kit build? Century guns almost always come with a new US-made barrel. Kit builds can have original Yugo barrels whose condition can range from new to sewer pipe. Neither are chrome lined. It would have to be a nice one (excellent condition barrel, nice looking stock/hand guard, and excellent metal finish) for me to pay $600 in the current market. If you haven't shot a Yugo yet maybe see if you can try it out before you buy. Yugo fixed stocks feel different from other European AKs. Yugos are typically built on RPK-type receivers with heavier barrels & grenade sights which equals a heavier rifle - which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

My son & I just got back from the Match. We were first-timers and had a great time. Everyone there was very friendly and helpful, especially HOGNUT. Here are some pics of my son on a couple of the stages.

I've used mine at the TWRA Stones River and Montgomery County ranges without any problems. Stones River personnel asked to see my Form 4. Montgomery County didn't.

OK, thanks for the info. I am interested in buying one and have been keeping an eye out for one. But I've never been anywhere that had one in stock.

Great looking milsurps! Did you find somewhere that had the pps43c pistol in stock or did you have to special order it?

Thanks for your comments, Bob & John. It was a good refresher for me, Bob. Rob gave me some suggestions to improve what I was doing, so now I have things to work on during my range sessions.

On Saturday, April 17th my wife, son, and I attended the LMS 1-day Pistol Clinic in Waverly, TN taught by Rob Edwards. The scheduling of this class was a little unusual and I have to thank Rob immensely for making it happen. Rob already had 1-day Pistol Clinics scheduled for March and May, but we couldn’t make it to either one of those because of other commitments. So Rob actually added the April 17th class for us since it was the one day that we were all available. Thanks again for doing that, Rob. I have been trying to convince my wife to attend a pistol training class for the past couple of years. She is a competent shooter and has been shooting for over 20 years. She is not a “gun person†that shoots a lot for fun, but she recognizes the need to be proficient with her self-defense handgun. She had a great deal of anxiety about attending a class. My son started shooting at a young age and is up for shooting anytime I pay for the ammo. Firearms Instructors (like everyone else) all have different personalities. I had previously taken a 2-day LMS Pistol I class with Rob in 2008. I thought his teaching style and personality would be great for a family class. At the risk of over generalizing, some of the firearms instructors that I have had in the past have military backgrounds and personalities/teaching styles that, while very good and effective, might be somewhat intimidating to some people. All of my past instructors have been helpful and courteous. It’s just that for a non “gun person†with a high level of pre-existing anxiety about attending the class an instructor that is blunt or overbearing can make for a long day and sour them on taking future training classes. I hope I haven’t belabored this point too much, but I think that it is important to attracting a wider audience to attend this type of class. I think that Rob’s personality and teaching style is very reassuring while still being efficient and effective. The range used for the class is a new facility just west of Waverly, TN. It offered wooded hills on 3 sides with a main berm at one end. I estimate that the longest shooting distance would be about 100 yards. The terrain will allow for safe shooting in 3 directions now. Rob said there are plans to construct a berm on the fourth side to allow for 360 degree shooting (with appropriate rules/precautions, of course). The range is still under construction, but already was a nice place to have our class. The training day started with safety and medical briefings reviewing the firearm safety rules, range rules, radio communication procedures (no cell phone coverage at range), primary/secondary medical care providers, and primary/secondary drivers. The range work started with dry fire exercises to develop the proper grip and stance. We then moved on to developing a proper draw. It was nice to be at a range that allowed us to draw from a holster (and later shoot on the move). We typically shoot at the public ranges in the area and they generally don’t allow drawing from a holster or movement. The remainder of the morning was spent learning the various “ready†and shooting positions, and performing shooting drills. The targets consisted of a real human torso image (view from front and behind). The perimeter of the targets also included small individual targets consisting of colored & numbered shapes. The shooting drills included differing round counts and shot placement into the various portions of the target. We learned magazine changing methods and malfunction clearance. The instruction was presented with some options for performing the tasks so that each person could try different things to figure out what worked best for them & their hardware. The afternoon instruction and drills focused on shooting on the move. These drills were challenging and fun. We were moving up and back, side to side, between/around cones while drawing and firing. Part of the time was spent with each of us firing simultaneously on our individual targets and part firing one at a time at differing combinations of all of the targets present on the range. By the end of the day we were all comfortable with drawing and shooting on the move. I had a great time at the class. The feedback about the class that I received from my wife and son also was entirely positive. The transformation that my wife made was incredible. She started the day anxious and apprehensive about even attending the class, and finished the day confidently drawing and firing on multiple targets while on the move. Equally as important to me is that she had a good time and was planning future practice sessions to maintain what we learned.

The only place I know of is Champion's Choice in LaVergne: Champion's Choice - Product Catalog - Anschutz

Does it hurt the whole hand on the pitol grip or primarily the trigger finger? Some Century SAR rifles are known to have "trigger slap" which causes the trigger to reset forward very sharply and hurts primarily the trigger finger. The easiest fix if trigger slap is the problem is to replace the hammer, trigger, and disconnector (fire control group) with a quality US made replacement like the TAPCO G2 set.

Yes, those items can be changed out if you want (try them first to see if they need it or not though). The fire control group (FCG) is relatively easy to switch out. If you did that I would suggest going with a retaining plate for the FCG vs. the wire that comes on most AKs (much easier to install/remove than the wire). The gas piston is a little more difficult, but certainly a doable DIY job. Have there been problems with WASR gas pistons? If you're thinking about getting a WASR and swapping out parts right away, you might want to add up the cost of all of that and compare it to the cost of an Arsenal rifle that is good to go right out of the box. I would guess that the Arsenal rifles will also retain their value much more than a WASR if you ever want to sell it in the future.

Any European AKM or even AK-74 stock set should fit it. You will probably have to do some minor adjustment - as nearly all AK stock sets need. One thing to be careful of is that stock sets from stamped receiver Chinese rifles or any stamped receiver rifle with 1.6mm thick receiver steel (old Armory USA receivered rifles and some of the current rifles sold by TGI) will be too loose. The European pattern AKMs and AK-74s use 1.0mm thick receiver steel. The stock sets have to be trimmed down more to fit the 1.6mm steel receivers so they rattle around a bit when installed on a 1.0mm receiver. Other than not being as pretty as wood, the polymer stock sets on the Arsenal rifles (and sold separately from KVAR) are superb. They are virtually identical to the Soviet/Russian stocks - except they actually have a more uniform color and finish than the originals. They also have an excellent polished stainless steel heat shield in the lower handguard that keeps the lower handguard cooler long than any other handguard I've used.

+1 The Saiga Legions currently being sold by Arsenal through KVAR and other distributors are the best deal in AKs right now. It's a genuine Izhmash made Russian AK already set up in "normal" AK configuration that accepts regular 7.62 AK mags. They are currently selling them for $549. You can pick up a used wood stock set later if you want. K-VAR Corporation :: Rifles & Shotguns :: SGL21 Series – 7.62x39 Caliber Russian Stamped Receiver AK-47 Variant Rifles :: SGL21-61

Not sure what you mean exactly. I am not aware of any significant amounts of AK-type rifles designed to be semi-auto only that were military issue used by any country. If you get a US-legal semi-auto AK rifle it won't be a rifle "actually issued and used by the military". Are you only interested in Soviet/Russian AK's or would one from another Warsaw Pact country that manufactured their own rifles be OK? Are you looking for a true milled receiver AK-47, or would a stamped receiver AKM type be OK? I guess another question would be are you only interested in 7.62x39 or would a 5.45x39 AK-74 type rifle work? Most of the Russian AK-type rifles in the US are the conventially stocked Saigas. Great rifles for the price, but they take a lot of work to make them look like a "normal" AK. There are Russian AK-47 and AKM parts kits that have been imported into the US and built into functional rifles using US-made or other AK receivers that are semi-auto. There have been many Chinese milled receiver AK-47 type rifles imported. If an AKM from another Warsaw Pact country would be OK, you might consider a Hungarian FEG rifle or an older Romanian SAR-1. They are semi-auto versions of their respective country's AKM-type military rifles (a SAR-1 would be the cheapest). There are many stamped semi-auto AKM-type receiver Chinese rifles in the US too that were made at PLA weapons plants. Semi-auto Bulgarian milled AK-47 types rifles have been sold by Arsenal (they make the Bulgarian military AKs), although the most accurate copy of an AK-47 would be their "Classic" that goes for anout $2K these days. If an AK-74 type rifle would do, Arsenal has sold SLR-105 rifles in the past that are basically semi-auto versions of a Bulgarian AK-74 (they're pretty expensive these days too since they're out of production). Arsenal has also recently started importing "Legion" rifles from Izhmash in Russia that are fixed-stock semi-auto versions of a Russian AK-74. You might also consider a "kit build" rifle built with a US-made receiver (NDS are best) and an AK parts kit. There are several established US builders that make great rifles. There are many possibilities depending on what type of rifle you want, how accurate a copy you want, and how much you want to spend.

I have used these AK gunsmiths with great results: http://www.inrangec2.com/ http://www.ak-103.com/home.html http://www.marshall-arms.com/ http://www.pieceofhistoryfirearms.com/ As others have already mentioned, the good AK smiths are booked months or years in advance. You might start with an email inquiry and see who has the earliest opening.

I saw this video posted on the AK Forum and thought it gave a pretty good discussion of single point vs. 2 point slings.