StPatrick

I'm biased towards the 220 with the SRT, because it's a great pistol made even better with that trigger, but if you're not in love with any of them, use your GunBroker account (or create one) to search for closed auctions so you can see what guns actually sold for, as opposed to what the asking prices were.  My offhand guess is that the Sig and Smith will provide the best future trade leverage if you want to get into a different gun.  The Sig has a very widespread appeal, the Smith has serious fans who know their stuff (not sure whether the aftermarket barrel enhances or detracts from the overall value)...the Mini has less appeal to either group, and now that we're back to <$800 AR-15s, it is less desirable than it was several months ago.

  Might want to ping Dolomite_Supafly first...he's done some digging on the Aluminum upper-receivered Rugers.  I know he found durability issues (service life was short compared to stock Ruger steel receivers) with the Pac-Lite uppers, but can't recall if the 22/45 Lite had the same faults.  IIRC, it has to do with how and where the steel barrel / chamber liner is placed and how much steel is present.  It sounded like the steel bolt face would peen the Pac-Lite Al receiver over time, reducing its life cycle to around 10k rounds.  He could explain it better than I.

I have a MkIII that has a MkII bushing and the VQ trigger / hammer / sear.  If I can ever shoot to the level it's capable, watch out world...Also, the Marks are known for their ability to handle cheap bulk ammo, e.g. the dreaded Rem Golden Bullet, much better than many other semiautos.  There's no need to run CCI minimags at all.

  Create a Photobucket.com account, upload the picture, and then use the photo icon in the toolbar above the "type some stuff to go onto TGO" box to past in the direct link to the photo.

This seems like something* a slower twist rate could improve.  Wasn't the M16 originally fielded in 1/11"?   *Not fragmentation, but tumbling upon impact due to less stabilization.

  I don't have any findings - I've been following this thread out of general interest.  I think your point about plating makes sense, but that seems to be something used more for pistol (and .22lr) rather than rifle bullets from what little I know, and my interest in this case is directed towards rifles.  Obviously there's no market for pistol bullets that can handle 3200 fps.  Are there plated bullets that perform well at those speeds?  If there are, then whoever wanted to develop a process to powder coat cast bullets would have to beat the low costs involved with plating.  I think the equipment needed to capture and recycle the solvents involved would be very expensive on the front end, and then there's EPA compliance to factor in, so my bet is that the cost to coat as opposed to plating would have to be at least -5% / MM units (SWAG*) so the investment paid off quickly, at least for the big boys.  For smaller companies, their savings would have to be greater.  That's with the assumption that both reloaders and shooters of plinking ammo adopted the technology quickly.  A couple "This stuff crapped up may barrel" posts on the major firearms sites could derail that quickly.   *Scientific Wild-Assed Guess - the real number could be anything; 5% just seemed a reasonable jumping-off point.

  Do you have anything she likes to shoot? The Kahrs are among the softest-feeling 9mm mouseguns around when it comes to recoil, but they're still fairly stout due to their size and weight.  The Hogue Handall Jr. made my PM9 much more comfortable, if that helps.

If the PMR 30 could be engineered to the point that it was 99.9% reliable, it would be a fantastic bedside gun for all the people out there that for whatever reason have reduced strength or coordination and can't rack the slide to reload (30 rounds! no need unless zombies), have other physical issues which prevent normal handgun or long gun manipulation (BTW, I love what you're doing with that, Fitty), or [insert issue with other guns], etc.   Imagine a reliable PMR 30, then ask yourself whether you'd like your loved one, dealing with any of the above noted issues, or others you can imagine, to have: A) the now-reliable Kel-Tec, B ) a Smith J-frame in .38, or C) a Beretta Tomcat in .25ACP.   The KT folks need to get their S together on that gun, make it absolutely reliable, even if it raises the MSRP by $100, then sell the ever lovin' heck out of them.  There's a huge and untapped market.

I've been very happy with my Kahr PM9 in both concealability and shootability - the trigger is excellent.  My PM9 resides IWB under an untucked shirt, and is a bit large for pocket carry in typical non-cargo / non-pleated shorts unless you're a bigger guy than me (33" waist).  If you're looking for something smaller than that, the Taurus TCP has a very smooth DA pull and is more suited to pocket carry.  While I find it odd that I'm putting a recommendation for Kahr and Taurus in the same paragraph, it's the absolute truth, but the "good" Taurus triggers do not extend across the line.  If you like the trigger on a Kahr or TCP, you will hate the trigger on a 709 Slim.

  Post a picture - somebody on here almost certainly has.

  Because he went through about 40 Les Paul / pickup combos before he got that sound, if you're asking a super-literal question.  It's something special when you can play an LP through a Marshall and still have an instantly recognizable sound, though his phrasing is a big part of that.  One of my favorite players, even when he sits in on crappy songs.

  This seems like quite a leap forward for casters - I'm not one, but I find this really interesting, since 3200 FPS means you can shoot cast bullets at jacketed speeds*.  Have you fired enough shots yet to see what kind of residue is going to be left in the barrel, if any, at that speed and with a high volume of fire?   *Were a manufacturer to scale this up and perfect it at a mass-production level, range ammo would be insulated from fluctuations in the price of copper, and the process could, and should, be cheaper than making FMJ.  There would be far fewer manufacturing steps along with lower materials costs, assuming the EPA didn't factor in due to VOC emissions.

I've only heard good things of them once broken-in, but haven't really pursued one, as my PM9 fits the same bill.

  If 7mm Mag won't kill it, I don't ever want to meet it.

  I'm not much of a golfer, but I'm of the belief that being shot at is the best possible use for the hunks of marble Wilson calls golf balls.

Brenda Lenard is challenging him (ran in the '12 primary against Corker).  From what I've read of her positions, she is definitely to the right of Lamar, and she has a good bio that will help raise out-of-state money from conservative grassroots, but she's never been elected to *anything*, which suggests she is probably not experienced enough at building and staffing a campaign to take on an entrenched and well-known incumbent.  We shall see, I guess.

Order received by CMP 6/17 (sent late March), still showing "pending".  The wait continues...

My little beard trimmer works for my misaligned schnozz with some pushing and pulling of the nostrils, but mainly I just yank 'em out.  Once you do it enough, it ceases to hurt anymore.  Ear hairs get yanked with extreme prejudice.  I also have to keep my eyebrows trimmed, which seems kinda crappy, since I'm 34 and still can't grow decent sideburns.  At least I don't have back hair...

PADI Advanced Open Water and Nitrox, don't know how many dives, but it's in the hundreds, most in Cozumel and Bonaire.  There's nowhere I'd rather be than 60' down in clear water at dusk with a spear and the Lionfish starting to poke their heads out.  Own my own gear, have been to Pennyroyal a couple times for classes / staying sharp.

  Indeed.  They will not support or service those involved in the firearms industry.  I switched from turbotax to taxact this past year due to that.  Taxact has horrible commercials, but with my simple tax situation, they did just fine.

  I hadn't considered that possibility - I'm not sure it's correct, but it's certainly plausible.  At the same time, I do feel that tattoos have become more mainstream over the last decade or so than they have been, in that they've lost (nearly all of) their edginess and outre factor.  I remember when guys having earrings was a big deal in the 80s, and now people shrug - the tattoo thing feels similar to that, in that what was somewhat common but still "different" is now accepted.  Obviously the more extreme forms of ink, e.g. on the hands, neck, face, etc., are exempt from that.

I doubt this is some kind of anything.  Hornady doesn't know how long the current stupidity is going to last, so they aren't willing or able to add additional equipment (assuming they run 3 shifts x 7 days, which most companies are doing right now).  In order to attempt to meet the demand for their most popular products, they will limit the amount of time their machines are down due to changeovers, keeping their equipment up and running as much as possible.  This maximizes their productivity, which, again - if they're unable or unwilling to expand - is the only capability-enhancing move they can make.   It looks like a good business decision to me in that they can better meet demand for their top-line items without investing capital in machinery or additional workers that may or may not be needed X years from now.  Buying specialized industrial machinery of the sort they use requires a very rosy forecast for 5 years or so at a minimum, though of course that varies with the application.

Last week, I happened to be on vacation in Colorado, specifically the eastern high desert. One of the things we did on the 4th was play some shotgun golf, which is when you try to shoot wedge shots out of the sky...that's a different story for another time. One of my fellow players pocket-carried a Taurus TCP .380. Having never shot one, I asked if I could give it a try; the answer was "yes, of course". I dry-fired the weapon three times (not a bad trigger at all - long, but light and smooth), then took aim at a golf ball on the ground 25 yards away. I'd just finished watching another man shoot at the same ball, and he was within feet at best, so I didn't have high hopes. With my first shot, this happens: I should've bought a lottery ticket that day, I guess. After being flat center-punched, the ball looped straight away 20 yards or so; I found it against a fence. When I saw the ball jump, my first reaction was to shout "Did you see that?!" and turn around (maintaining muzzle discipline, I'm happy to say), only to find everyone was looking elsewhere. Those in the group quickly came to a consensus that I must have hit the dirt in front of the ball - after all, who hits at 25 yards with a mousegun? I'm glad I found the evidence. Here's the back of the ball, which shows an exit where (I guess) what was left of the core passed through: If the PT709 Slim I used to have had a trigger anything like the little TCP, I'd have kept it. Sweet little trophy though, right?

  Yep - I've been watching the prices on gunbot, and they are slowly falling.  I'm looking forward to shooting without feeling remorse with every pull of the trigger.

Charlie Haffner's place in between Franklin and Spring Hill only goes to 100 yards, but so far it's the best "formal" range I've been to:  http://chmr.us/CHMR/Home.html