TGO David

If I were the editor, this is how I would have changed the first paragraph of that news story...

I'm working on pricing information and will post something no later than this upcoming Monday. I just need to make sure that I have all of my bases covered before I put a rate schedule out there. I'm not looking to get rich off of any of this but I need to at least cover materials and make a little pocket money. There's about 3 hours worth of work in doing one completely, but I enjoy it. Obviously certain considerations will have to be taken, such as whether the firearm is completely detail stripped before it is sent to me or if I have to do it. I have an assortment of firearm-specific MGW sight installation tools and have ordered a B&J Machine universal sight tool to take care of those that I don't have a specific tool for. So sight removal and installation is something that I won't factor into whether or not a firearm is completely stripped. I'll take care of that as part of it since the sights will need to be reinstalled correctly to prevent the slide being banged up after being refinished. Anyway... more on all of this come Monday.

If you end up ditching the ISMI guide rod and spring, I'd highly recommend using a Wolff spring and guide rod combination. I use it in my Glock 19 and have ZERO problems. It's not a captive design, but i actually prefer it that way.

Not one to be content with anything that strikes me as being not quite perfect, I shot the Glock's slide again tonight but this time used my airbrush instead of the HVLP spray gun that I had used earlier. This time the finish looks absolutely STUNNING. The color is absolutely FLAT and shows no shine or sheen. Exactly the way that I had hoped it would have looked to begin with. The Glock's slide now has the appearance of brushed stainless steel. Very classy! I'm blown away with what a difference this second set of coats with the airbrush made and I think that Jason will be even more pleased with this than he was with the previous photos. The pieces are curing in the oven right now and I will get photos of them tomorrow morning out doors when the light is best.

Not one to be content with anything that strikes me as being not quite perfect, I shot the frame and slide again tonight but this time used my airbrush instead of the HVLP spray gun that I had used earlier. This time the finish looks absolutely STUNNING. The color is absolutely FLAT and shows no shine or sheen. Exactly the way that I had hoped they would have looked to begin with. The finish on the SIG looks like the finish on the new FN-SCAR rifle. It's got that awesome powdery flat tan that MILSPEC requires. I'm blown away with what a difference this second set of coats with the airbrush made and I think that Daniel will be even more pleased with this than he was with the previous photos. The pieces are curing in the oven right now and I will get photos of them tomorrow morning out doors when the light is best.

Kimber Warrior with 10-8 Performance rear sight and Milt Sparks VM2 in cordovan leather for railed 1911.

It's sad that all of this confucism is leaving the family hanging like this.

Tacticool Black is definitely an option with the moly resin finish, and of course I can still do Duracoat in just about any color under the Lauer Weaponry sun. I'll be posting some pricing information soon.

JHatmaker here on TGO was the other person to volunteer their firearm for a refinish. What surprised me was the fact that what Mr. Hatmaker provided was a pristine Glock 32 that had barely any wear on it at all. It takes cajones to offer up a like-new firearm for something like this. Before I get into the photos, I do need to say this: We often read and hear about how awesome Glock's Tenifer finish is. In fact, the durability of Tenifer has reached almost mythical status. Having now had one's slide media blasted, I have a profoundly deeper respect for just how true some of the hype about the factory Glock finish. My compatriot who did the media blasting actually commented on how much more involved it was to remove just the black surface layer of the Glock finish. He stated that it took quite a bit more work than the other firearm pieces that he blasted for me, and that he had to run the air pressure to the maximum for their blasting cabinet. Even then, what resulted still had a lot of pigment left to it. Clearly the Tenifer chemical-bath nitriding process really does penetrate deep into the metal and provides serious protection from within. I would wager that even with the black outer finish removed, the slide would have exhibited excellent corrosion resistance thanks to the Tenifer process. Anyway, enough of that. Here are photos of the slide "in the white" as it were... And here are photos of the slide after it was shot with Norrell's Stainless Moly Resin and thermally cured. As I stated in the thread regarding Daniel's SIG P6, the moly resin finish is not a paint and does not properly activate until it has been baked for a period of time at the appropriate temperature. I am awaiting receipt of the nylon firing pin channel liner for this slide and will then reassemble it. I'm really pleased with the way the color and finish quality turned out, and entirely confident that even if the finish wears some over time, the Tenifer treated metal beneath will still provide superior corrosion resistance.

Sure... but from this point forward it's going to involve a price tag.

It's going to look something like this, finished...

Daniel, one of our moderators, took me up on my offer of a complimentary refinish job using his well-worn SIG Sauer P6 as the subject. He was even kind enough to completely detail strip it for me ahead of time, so all that was required was to have the slide and frame media blasted and the rest of the parts thoroughly degreased. Here are some photos of the slide and frame "in the white" fresh from being media blasted. After discussing it some with Daniel, I encouraged him to let me use Norell's Moly Resin product on the firearm rather than Duracoat. Moly resin is a more durable finish, although a bit more picky about how it is sprayed and a lot more noxious when being sprayed. Hence, a proper respirator and good ventilation are required. Moly resin also must be thermally cured rather than left to air dry the way that Duracoat can be. You can bake Duracoat also to expedite the dry time, but it is ultimately still a paint. Moly resin is not properly cured until it is exposed to at least 300 degrees for at least an hour. Once it cures, however, it is highly resistant to all common solvents and extremely resistant to chips, scrapes and scuffs. Since Daniel wants to treat this firearm like a tool rather than an heirloom, moly resin was the best choice. Here are some photos of the slide and frame, post-curing. The color is Flat Tan (U.S. Military mid-east desert tan 30118 color fed standard 595B. Also known as "Dark Earth.") Firing controls and other external pieces, including the sights, were finished in SOCOM Black Flat moly resin and also oven cured. I will be reinstalling the sights for Daniel before returning the remaining pieces to him for reassembly. I'm probably as anxious to see it put back together as he is.

Sadly, because of the well-insulated world that so many live in these days, thanks due partially to how long some of our "younger" set can stay cocooned in the womb of academia for graduate and post-graduate studies, it is no longer just those fresh out of high school who operate on a vast supply of ignorance. Hence we have people well into their late twenties (and sometimes much further beyond) who subscribe to idiotic utopic theories of how the world ought to work and embrace that as their own little realities. We've become a nation of over educated idiots.

Why didn't you just do a Revocable Living Trust instead of trying to get Serpas to sign off on it as your Chief LEO?? I really don't see him bending over backward to sign that very fast. I did my trust using Quicken Willmaker to create the template and just edited a few things in MS Word before printing, signing and notarizing.

General Motors was a dinosaur that failed to evolve over the past 30 years. I don't buy into the idea that it is the "canary in this economic coal mine" as that article purports. I do believe that it serves as a clarion warning to Union shops everywhere. It's cry? Evolve or die.

Where are foreigners covered? It doesn't matter if they are terrorists are Nobel Peace Prize recipients. The Constitution and it's guarantees apply to American citizens.

Thanks. Here's the sort of statement that I am making to the manager: First and foremost, the food and service were both excellent. My wife and I really enjoy dining here and we do so about once every week or so. * The manager generally thanks me for that and is now a little more relaxed, assured that I didn't ask to speak with him because I wanted to bitch about our experience there. That opening line really makes a difference in how open minded they are going to be. * I don't know if you've been following the news lately but Tennessee legislature recently passed a law that on July 14th will allow citizens, who have gone through the background checks and training necessary to obtain a handgun carry permit, the ability to lawfully carry a concealed weapon where alcohol is served. Places like your own restaurant. * Sometimes the manager's ears may be perked up at this point, almost expecting that you're going to tell him how if they allow carry here, you'll never be back. So I don't give them the chance to slip in a word edgewise. I keep going. * I just wanted to let you know that my wife and I are both in that category of people and we carry concealed pretty much every where we go for our protection and the safety of our loved ones. Cops can't be everywhere all the time, you know. <-- A good friendly smile goes a long way here. We both really hope that your restaurant won't be one of those that refuses service to people with carry permits. I know it's your prerogative to do that if you wish, but I just wanted to let you know that as long as you don't, you will continue to have us as faithful patrons of your restaurant. I know you probably have to deal with your fair share of complaints and gripey people as the manager here, so again I just wanted to thank you for the excellent experience here today and just let you know that you've got our support if you decide not to prohibit legal carry here. From that point forward it's the manager's ball game. I've told them what I think, I've expressed my sincere hope that they won't leave me hanging out in the wind, and I've told them what they can expect if they post a notice that I can't carry there. And I did it without being a douche, without making threats and withing causing a scene. If the manager elects to comment, fine. A lot of times they won't. They will just thank me for being there tonight and thank me for voicing my concerns. But they will be thinking about it later and hopefully since I came across like a reasonable, articulate human being with common sense, it will have abated some of their concerns about gun owners -- if they had any.

Because I've got some time to kill while I sip my coffee, I thought I'd come back to this and expound upon it a little. I refuse to give my money in exchange for goods or services to anyone who is brazen enough to flatly state that they do not want me as a customer. Why the hell would I want to? There are alternative sources for just about any good or service that you can imagine, even if it means going outside the mainstream to get them. I am not content to sit around and hope that my favorite local restaurant doesn't post that carry is prohibited there. If I dine there for the next three weeks and then suddenly on July 13th a sign appears on their door telling me that I'm not welcome, guess what... I've given them my money for the past three weeks and they're STILL booting me out. Who got the last laugh? Surely wasn't me. I would rather know right now if I need to start looking for another place to enjoy a nice meal out with my family. And I want that business owner or manager to know right now that if a TCA notice appears on his door next week, I won't be darkening his doorstep or filling his cash register again unless it comes down. I see no reason to delay asking while hoping that it doesn't happen. While we sit around keeping our thoughts and opinions to ourselves out of fear that we might otherwise rock the boat, you can rest assured that there is probably some hand wringing pansy having the balls that we don't, confronting the management and telling them that they won't be back if they don't post. The squeaky wheel gets the grease! Start squeaking! Squeak early and squeak often!

You are allowed to make such idiotic statements because of the sacrifices made in combat by people who have fought terrorists (and other enemies of our country) using tactics that you apparently deplore. There are still flights departing for Canada every day. You can book one at www.usairways.com

On Target

Ding ding ding! We have a winner.

Yeah, because the vast majority of entrepreneurs who own restaurants and managers who take care of restaurants are both blind and deaf and haven't noticed the media blitzkrieg that has been waged against HB 0962 for the past two months so us asking about it will totally blow our cover and prompt them to post signs all over the place. Give me a friggin break. Your plan seems to consist of ignoring the elephant in the room and hoping it doesn't decide to stampede. My plan cuts the bull**** and just puts it in black and white for the people taking my money. Oh, I suppose we could just advocate illegal activities like carrying despite what the landowner has requested. Or we could wait and hope that our favorite restaurants don't post, and then fight an uphill battle with the management and/or owners asking them to retract it when they do. You may not agree and may choose not to ask, and that's your business, but I think your stance is pretty weak. If a restaurant owner who hasn't heard about HB 0962 even exists, the first time one of us carries into his establishment with our sidearm exposed, the gig is going to be up.

Price: RIA Quality: Springfield Authenticity: Colt

Joe's recommendation is spot on for the M&P Compact. I run the bigger TLR1 on three of my weapons; one on whatever's in my night stand, one on our HD shotgun, and one on my SBR AR15.

Not mine. I haven't done a precision rifle ... yet.