Mark A

Finally got to add some more paint today

  I know a lot of folks who cook pork ribs this way but haven't met anyone cooking beef ribs like this... Are you sure you guys are cooking beef ribs like this?   I use the 3-2-1 for pork but when I cook beef I smoke them slowly for an hour or 2 and then wrap them with a little beef base and braise them until they are tender. It might take a couple of hours or 5-6. Before serving I char them just a bit on the grill over high heat.   Mark

Well, thanks for all the help and advice. I'm still out looking around and reading on the net. Just a little over a week until we close so I will have to make up my mind soon... Mark

No real pattern. I am not detail oriented enough for that. More a series of complimentary colors to help just break up the definition of the rifle

It seems like it has taken forever to get to this part. I finally began painting it today even though the rail won't be here until tomorrow. Once the rail gets here it will get a good base coat and then then everything will be mocked up for the next couple of coats of paint. This is my first time to paint one. I've been a bit apprehensive about painting it but it was time to take the plunge. I will be working out of town most of the week so it will probably be next weekend before the next coats go on with an eye on completing the build the following weekend. some control and other small pieces the only really exciting part so far is realizing well after the first round of paint that I had grabbed the wrong scope to paint. That is ok because in the end the rifle that this scope is going on will be painted a camo scheme as well. Mark

Kind of what I was afraid would be the answer...

It looks like we are finally going to be closing on a small piece of land in a couple of weeks...   Of course as a red blooded 'murican male I claim as my birthright the necessity of owning a tractor.   Looking at something around 39 HP in 4wd (probably a Kubota) It will have a small bucket on the front and a detachable back hoe on the back.   My question is what size to get. This is probably the only chance I get to buy one so I need to make it count. I won't be moving around a bunch of hay. Mostly general farm chores. There will be a fair amount of trenching and other backhoe work to be done in the next 5 years.   What size does everyone think I need to get? I would appreciate any and all info and suggestions.   Thanks, Mark

he tried to send them but they were deleted during upload.   Digital Opspec you know...

I've yet to see a LGS have really good vacuum packing machines, or slicers, or a ton of good jerky spices... Or the 10,000 other things that Cabelas has that a LGS doesn't carry.

Franklin here. I imagine there are a lot of avaiable presses in the area. Letting us know where you are would help with the offers.   Mark

Well, they sucked me right in. Headed my way along with one of their 16" barrels via a short stay in Oak Ridge for a shortening of the barrel and engraving on the receiver. Then we will see just how quick the revamped e-file system is.   That should pretty much round out the carbine craze for my house although a MPX in .357 sig is really  calling my name.   I know, famous last words...

I bought a couple of bushels last year at the farmers market and canned it all. It makes great spicey creamed corn. Just had some last weekend as a matter of fact Use this recipie for the creamed corn. People will think you are a master chef... http://www.gactv.com/gac/pac_ctnt/text/0,,GAC_26058_106025,00.html#corn

I agree decent series for the money... Also, the sequel to 77 days in September was released a month or so back..

I have a Traeger that I bought about 4 years ago. I've beat the snot out of it and it runs great. I have the little tex and unlike Daniel I wish I'd gotten a larger one but I make do. I got mine about 6 months before the market exploded and all the new brands came out. The RecTec seems like a nice unit but if I were buying another one I would probably get a Yoder. Also, for me, more weight equals more mass which equals smoother and more even cooking temps. If I get another smoker I'm going to be sure and get one of the new PID controllers that can sense a flame out and auto restart. That would be a nice feature to have. Mark

Ar15.com has a great link on the parts. I watched the same videos you did then pulled up the parts list on my ipad and used it to ID each spring as I built it.. Worked well for me, Mark

Peejman, super clean and nice looking build. Kinda old school, kinda new school and lots of way cool... Mark

You must have eaten there the same nights I did. 2 chances, bad food and horrible service. They are now crossed off the list

My power outage was last night for about 3 hours. It was weird trying to sleep in a house that was sooooo quiet...     the funny thing is I've lived in this house for 6 years and up until about 2 months ago we'd only had 2 power outages for a total of maybe 20 minutes. In the last 2 months we have had two outages that lasted several hours each. The only thing I can see that has changed is my neighbor got one of those auto on natural gas emergency generators.   So, I blame them...   Mark

Call me in about 3 years and remind me that I am supposed to stop hating you. I've been dancing around wanting to do a SBR and get a suppressor for quite a while. I wasn't paying a lot of attention to things and came across a mention of the e-file system. I started reading about it and decide I could live with the wait times people were talking about. So, I got everything in motion...about 2 weeks before they shut the e-file system down.   so, I get to do the big wait anyway.   So yes, it is apparently my fault the e-file system went down. If I had not decided to go for it I'm sure it would still be up and running...     Mark

Sonny, I've built 2 CMT ar-15's and I have one of their 308 receiver sets in my safe waiting to be built. The pieces are extremely well built and fit together perfectly. I like the fact that they designed the lower to take one of the 45* selector switches. Hopefully my barrel will be here sometime next week so that I can begin my build. I can't wait to shoot it against my M&P 10 to see how it does. I was about to pull the trigger on building a Mega when CMT announced ( or rather, MacGyver...) that they were finishing their design. I'm glad it worked out that way as CMT builds first rate stuff. Mark

Over the last 5 weeks I was fortunate to be able to take a couple of different carbine classes. The first class was a small class and at the end of the day we did a gas system and brake comparison. Hands down the midlength gas system was the most popular.   The brakes were a mixed lot but all of the brakes allowed quicker shot to shot split times.   This past weekend I was able to shoot several of the same carbines (M&P VTAC 2's) with different brakes. I'm not sure how the rest of you judge brakes but for me the main thing is watching where my red dot streaks after a shot. With a fair amount of practice and adjustment of my grip, sling length and stock length I was able to get my aimpoint to streak straight up and down with the original A2 flash hider. This allowed me to better predict what would happen and decrease my shot to shot splits.   This weekend we were able to shoot a battle comp, a Gamma VC6, and a Surefire SOCOM. The battle comp was not bad, it reduced felt recoil and allowed the dot to go straight up. The recoil on the  VC6 felt a little less but pushed the dot down which was a bit disconcerting. Possibly that would be helpful in a full auto or burst situation but it increased my split times a bit. Everyone agreed the SOCOM felt 50% softer. The dot did not move up and down at all but instead moved right to left just a tad (and left to right when we shot left handed). All shooters decreased their split times. To be fair, some of the shooters were very good and their times only decreased a little bit but they all went faster.   I spent the majority of the weekend shooting that brake on my VTAC. It helped across the board except for 25 yard distances. For some reason my groups opened up only at 25 yards. they were fine at 50 yards and anything shorter. I have no rational explanation for the 25 yard issues other than maybe I screwed up the first string and it got in my head for the rest of the weekend. I'm going to try my hardest to get to the range on Wednesday to do some 25 yard work by myself to see if I just goofed or not.   So brakes in general were helpful. I have to admit I was surprised at how much they helped on 5.56 rounds. I knew they helped a lot on 308.   For me, the SOCOM was clearly the best of our admittedly unscientific testing. It will transition on to all my carbines and will also be my suppressor mount of choice.   Mark

Another big thumbs down for Hawaii. I MIGHT consider going back if I could find a way to stay on several of the smallest islands. The larger islands are like a dirtier version of Florida that costs 3 times as much after flying on a hellishly long flight. Sorry to be a downer...

I appreciate the feedback. This puppy is going to be used for a lot of mid-distance training classes so it is going to get some wear and tear on the finish so painting it isn't too distressing.   It just makes me pause for a second... I guess if I really don't like it I can strip it down and have it coated over the winter in between classes.   Mark

You may or may not know that I am in the process of building a 308 AR based on the new CMT receiver set. I'm waiting on my rail and since I have idle time my mind has started to wander. With the exception of one AR pistol in FDE, my carbines (both AR and Sigs) are all good old basic black.   I have been giving thought to making this one something different. At first I thought about getting it coated but I have several friends that have rattle canned their AR's and to be honest I kind of like them.   It just gives me the heebie jeebies a little to think about spray painting something that I am going to have a decent amount of money invested in.   So I thought I would see what the collective thinks.   Paint or not?   Thanks, Mark

Thanks, that is good info.   I'm going to show my ignorance now: You mentioned reducing the lock time. Won't that possibly lead to a reduction in accuracy? What is the reasoning in your wanting to reduce the timing?   Thanks, Mark