Mark@Sea

Oh heck yeah, take every minute you can get!

night, folks.

I won't know until Friday afternoon whether or not I will get orders. We don't get much warning - ranging from a couple hours to a couple days - and I could get sent out anytime between now and then. If I don't get orders, I am coming home for the weekend. If I do get home will post it here on my way out the door Friday. If not, Mike could probably arrange something. Or Julie might could pick it up for you, but we know how that worked out last time

Cody, one of 'em is yours. There is very little difference between them - the color of the varnish, maybe. They're all arsenal refinished and in the same condition (excellent). Mike, the trapdoor is a hoot. Recoil isn't that bad, but you know you're throwing 500 grains downrange. As for a carbine - www.odcmp.com still has service grade inlands for $495, which price you just cannot beat. Price 'em at gun shows recently? They're starting around 850. They won't last out the year, so buy one as quick as you can. They are a great gun, a reasonable defensive arm, a wonderful centerfire trainer, a wonderful ladies' rifle, a real slice of history and without a doubt a great investment.

Sorry for the reply delay, folks. This hotel I am stuck in charges 10 bucks a day for internet. CAS, sorry, but I had one of those 22's years and years ago. If you want one of these, though, I will hold it for you. Seems to have held up fairly well in the cosmoline for quite a few years, and I have a couple other things I'd rather shoot - when and if I get the chance, anyway. Springfield Trapdoor 45-70, for one. Almost enough to make you give up on those weenie 30 calibers

I'm home for the weekend, but I am leaving in about 45 minutes. No guarantee I will be able to make it home next weekend. Your options are to wait for me to come home, or call Sue and come by (or have Mike come by) and pick one out yourself. Please don't stop at the house without calling beforehand, as when I am not home Sue would tend to provide a truly memorable meeting. Cody, what sort of .22 did you have in mind?

Sure thing, Doc. Hows a hunnerd sound? Say, how about letting Mike pick it up for you

Always open to interesting swaps.

Just the box? What would I do with the rifles?

Can't take 'em out of the box - don't have any place to put them.

Brought home 1 case of ammo to go with the barbecue forks. Was gonna use these as newbie rifles, or maybe tent pegs, but naturally didn't get them home in time for the shoot. Well, maybe next year.

These were in storage for a while, finally brought them home.

Have to use something besides hot water - windex, 409, what have you. Anything with a bit of ammonia in it ought to do.

Sorry guys, Tower and I will both be out of area.

Spoke too soon. Numrich is out of stripper clips. Anybody have a source besides gunbroker?

10 bucks a day for internet here at the pool hotel. Won't be on often. The SIG is a european style, (mag release on the butt), marked Browning / SIG SAUER system on one side of the slide. Not in their current catalog, don't know much about it. Swapped my M4gery for the sig and a Manhurin Mauser PP. Anybody want a nice little 32 ACP pocket pistol, 'cause I don't really need another one. BTW, Tower, yep, you can haz PA-63. Keepin the holster, though Never loaded the 45-70 before. Did buy a box of ammo at the show, ?? grains of IMR behind a 500 grain roundnose lead bullet. Shoots fine, doesn't really kick. 30 bucks for a box of 20 though.... I guess the other Mauser I picked up at the show also qualify as C&R, though not black powder - a C96. Yay - Numrich has stripper clips for the broomhandle! Now I need to find good 7.63.... anybody currently producing it?

Thanks SunTzu.... Early sights on the trapdoor. Also came home with a few other things - a broomhandle, a sig 220, and a walther PP. Did some swapping... Very little BP stuff there.

Adopted an 1873 Trap Door at the funshow today... bought a box of ammo, but at a buck and a half a shot I'm going to be rolling my own in short order. Time to get serious about casting my own bullets - in this case probably 500 to 600 grain roundnose. Although I can use smokeless powder safely, I just have to try it with BP and paper patches. Luckily, since I'm headed back to work tomorrow I have about 6 months or so to research the matter.

Gotta drive to Norfolk tomorrow, but I had fun today. Walked in with my coach gun and AR. The AR was swapped for a Sig 220 and a Walther PP, neither of which I really want, but what the heck. The coach gun went for cash in short order. The fun part, though - I adopted an 1873 Springfield Trapdoor (which shoots well, I checked this evening) and a C96 - early 21 line model - which at some point in its' past was nickel plated, probably by the gentleman who carved his initials (tastefully) into one of the grip panels. Well, what it amounted to was a functional broomhandle that was reasonably affordable, and it shoots too. About 4 inches to the left at 15 yards, unfortunately, but I'll noodle out a way to correct that.

Have at it, just be good with the engineering.... Check this website: http://www.buckstix.com/CoehornMortarHunt.htm

Anybody else going today?

Great fun the last couple weeks. First thing on my plate was replacing the bathroom flooring - My wife had gotten tired of it and 'accidentally' spilled paint on it - so 5 boxes of tile were my welcome home present. Then the shoot, of course, which was fun. Right after that I started to pull and replace the decking on my big deck. Well, after I replaced about 25 percent I started seeing water damage to the framing. From that point the more I pulled off, the worse it got. Once the entire deck was off and piled in the yard, I found the sill plate and face plate of my floor joists was rotted almost completely away. I found a few carpenter ants in the decking, but the exterminator tells me there is no sign of termites. So the last three days were spent jacking up the house, pulling and replacing the rotted wood. Not sure just how much more vacation I can stand.

If anybody can find out more about this, I'd like to know, and would like to know what politician(s) are responsible. I'll make it a personal crusade to get them de-elected.

What sites show Tennessee to be restricted?

Speaking of lanterns, I'm in the middle of a rebuild - a 1958 Coleman military that I've converted to the standard double mantle burner. More than you probably want to know, but the short story is that the military burner is a bit of a pain to get used to. It operates exactly opposite every other coleman lantern, is finicky, and replacement parts are a female dog to get hold of. The lantern does have some neat features, though - you cannot lose the fuel cap or the ball nut that holds the ventilator on, and the globe is much, much harder to break. Plus, you have a neat parts compartment built right into the lantern, which holds your spare mantles, matches, oil for the pump leather, and so forth. Kellys Heroes has some great lines, doesn't it?