DMark

Wish they had shown a better picture of the Battle Mug. The blog pic they had made it look like a 105mm grenade launcher......, not saying that would be a Bad Thing.

Yea I hear ya. That idea cross my mind about 20 rounds into the deal. The funny thing is I have an original National Match Sight Micrometer that I always take with me when sighting in any vintage rifle with a ladder sight, so having some sort of tool to mic a sight is my norm. I reckon I need to figure out something like that if I continue to shoot these old vintage scopes. What threw me at first with this scope was how far off the windage laternal was based on the boresight. I usally see a good group near my POA right at the start. Perhaps the D&T on the base wasn't centered lined as well as it could have been.

Sighting in this rifle with the old style Weaver was alot like working with a Russian scope, you have to adjust the base first. Since the crosshairs move within the field of view, trying to keep them as centered as possible can be alot of work. In order to do this you have to use the rear base adjustments for laternal left & right corrections and shim the front of the base for elevation. On the workbench I centered the crosshairs in the scope's field of view and then used a boresight kit to get me in the ballpark before heading to the range. I found that even with the elevation adjusted all the way up, the scope was at it max limits just above the boresight. I used two .020 shims under the front of the base to correct this. I needed that much thickest because the K2.5 scope has limited elevation adjustments and this rifle could see use in vintage sniper matches which shoot out to 600 yards, so I would need alot or "come-up" at that range. For the laternal boresight all I did was center the crosshair using the base adjustments. Then it was off to the range - - - Where I found out that it was a good thing that I always tend to have more ammo on me than needed. Elevation was just about spot on at 100 yards, but the laternal settings with just a boresight had me about 12 inches off to the right. So I started cranking on the rear base screws and soon found myself in a wild chase of 3-5 inch left and right movements of bullet impacts. Without any "clicks" to count my adjustments on the base screws I came to realize that I wasn't doing a good job of recalling how much correction I was putting in on the base screws while not using the scope's adjustments until I was near center of the target. Did I mention that it was a good thing that I had alot of 30.06 with me. What I finally did was draw a sketch of the left/right screws and note the adjustments using a clock method. That finally got the impacts near my Point of Aim, but it took alot of wasted rounds before I could do the final fine sighting in using the scope's internal adjustments. But it was worth it because I was able to keep the crosshairs centered in the scope. Here are the final results..., and best news of all is that the rifle is just about shooting MOA using CMP surplus Greek HXP M2 ball 1970 production ammo. The two shots within the red circle are before my final adjustment on the scope. The three shots in the yellow circle are the final shots. Happy with that final adjusted three shots (and just about being out of ammo), I took three shots at 200 yards. Not bad for 42 year old non-match, issued ammo being fired out of a 68 year old barrel.

Its a post-war Weaver K2.5. Its about as close as I could get to a Lyman "Alaskan" 2.5 without spending the big bucks. Its of the old style Weaver where the crosshairs move within the field of view. I had a set of Redfield one inch vertical split rings that mounted right up with the base. And you're right....., I need to look at that Unertl you have for another project that I'm saving up parts for.

Some may recall the thread I posted about a 1903 Springfield that I found at a local gun store and the results of getting it back into action..... http://www.tngunowne...__fromsearch__1 Well, l continue to be on the lookout for other bits of history that needs a rescue. A couple of months ago I was searching one of the online auction sites and this popped up. What caught my attention in this pic was the front sight. The sight was still in its original military configuration. So often these sporterized rifles have had their barrels shorten, but here was a 1903A3 that didn't have a cut barrel. I could also see that it had a Redfield base, always a good thing. So, I asked the seller for a bolt side pic of the rifle. For a brief second or two my heart skipped a beat when I had the idea that this might be an actual 03A4 sniper, but looking at the pic I could see that the serial number wasn't positioned in the correct location and the bolt, while close just wasn't the right shape. But that is A-OK because I'm always looking for shooters and not safe queens. Best of all this rifle had all of the stuff already done to it (bent bolt, D&T, correct base) to turn it into a 03A4 sniper clone. I won the auction and with the help of some "spare" parts that I had lying around, it now looks like this. While not a true and correct clone of an 03A4 sniper, it has all of main characteristics of the type as it might of been found after the post WWII rebuilds. Best of all its a great shooter - - - firing report to follow.

I agree. I was at Brandon's shop yesterday to drop off a part to be Cerkoted by him. He had this this rifle on his workbench. WOW..., its a good looking hunk of metal.

He did the Cerakote for my son's off-duty Kimber. Very happy with Brandon's work! Before. After.

Hi There....., Made it!

Gang, I agree that its a strange looking weapon..., but it does have a very specific function. The handle design is meant to make it a better entry device. It provides better control of the shotgun as the shooter blows the hinges of a door which is often a better technique to blow a door instead of trying to take out the lock and handle. The muzzle break with its "teeth" allows for taking a good bite on the door and the correct standoff from the hinge. Get too close to the hinge and you don't get enough of a pattern to destroy the entire hinge. Standoff too much and you'll have 00 buck bouncing around everywhere thus making for some pissed off buddies in your four-stack. The rails are useful for mounting a white or IR light since folks who have a need for such a specialized shotgun tend to do their best work during the hours of darkness. I've never fired one, but did observe an organization training with one like it. The results were very good.

The question then would be what charges would apply that the LEO could arrest you for? This has been a real problem since 9-11 and the use of contract security at military gates. The duty of the gate guards is to control entry, they do not have the powers of a LEO to hold, detail, arrest. BUT WAIT - - - There is more! If you do get inside the "wire" you and your vehicle can be searched via the National Security Act of 1947/1950/1953/2011. But again, what can be done if a weapon is found is in question because....., The actual wording of public law SECTION 1062, NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2011(PUBLIC LAW 111-383) restricts commanders to only exercise this authority over military and paid DoD employees while on duty on a military installation. So even then it would be an overstep of authority for any arrest of an non military person on said post. AND of course that raises all sort of state/federal issues. Seems that there is always some federal hook because most (but again not all) guard installations are built with federal tax dollars. Yea, I know, hurts my head also.

Its not really a "search" its a security "inspection." You can refuse the inspection (aka a search). You also won't get in. Also, most of the gate guards have no arrest authority, they are contract. BUT..., don't try any BS if you want to get into a Regular Army post like Ft. Campbell, the MPs there have the full force of the National Security Act of 1950.

Here is one of the best guides to working with old MILSUP stocks. C&R stock cleaning Forum The only other advice I would give is this...., don't forget that you are working with a piece of history. Often refinishing an old military rifle into a thing of beauty removes any trace of the service that it has so faithfully given. BTW - - - That is a good looking Enfield. They are getting harder and harder to find. Good Luck!

A golf course is just a sad waste of what could be a nice rifle range.

That Stage 3 with the plates while on the move is going to be a tough SOB! I'm In! See Ya Saturday.

I'm going to bet I know that 38 Super. If you now have it - - - Enjoy. Its Dead Ass Accurate!

Thanks for all of the kind comments. I'm blessed to have an understanding wife (The Delightful & Wonderful Mrs Kari - She Who Must Be Obeyed) and a son who took good notes about firearms when I was teaching him the martial arts (he is now a LEO). Together they know what I would want in a 1911. They also gave me some Brownell & Midway gift cards knowing that I always mod my firearms to they way I like them. BUT - - - The BEST part of this Merry 1911 Christmas story is that we presented our son with his first 1911 tonight. It will be his off-duty, go-to-court, BBQ sidearm. AND - - - He and I will have a fun day at the range tommorrow.

How did Santa know that I needed another Colt 1911? Colt Combat Elite

Outstanding point! The Finnish Model 1939 Service Rifle is the best example of how good a Mosin can be, and you still can bayonet somebody if you want to (but a real Finn Bayonet isn't cheap). Shooting a M39 is a totally different experience. I really enjoy shooting mine and would suggest that anyone who likes the 91/30 must, Must, MUST have a M39.

What I picked up on was the center of the patch. Sort of has a "SAS" look about it. Great idea having a family patch.

Its your tax dollars at work. For whatever reason and known only to the Army, this MTSU Liberal Arts major was sent for more schooling and therefore educated beyond my means to understand on several topics. I learned all about sine wave and harmonics while doing Flight Test on early Longbow Apaches. Aircraft that shake when they shouldn't is a bad thing. Getting back on topic..... The Russians knew something about all of this. The bayonet was to be mounted at all times on the Mosin. There are NO scabbards for its bayonet.

All barrels vibrate when fired. The bayonet doesn't stop the barrel from vibrating but it does adjusts the Sine Wave*** traveling along the vibrating barrel to be at the same point which result in better grouping. *** The sine wave or sinusoid is a mathematical function that describes a smooth repetitive oscillation. It occurs often in pure mathematics, as well as physics, signal processing, electrical engineering, and many other fields. The attachment of the bayonet gives a Sine Wave for a single dimension, thus the generalized equation gives the amplitude of the wave at a position x at time t along a single line. This could, for example, be considered the value of a wave along the entire barrel. In other words...., hanging that long-ass bayonet and its added weight on a Mosin 90/31 will change how the barrel shakes when fired.

Hmmmm...., That patch in your avatar is a variation of one that I'm sort of familiar with. Welcome back Mr. Brooks. Well Done!

This is the carry load for all of my J-Frames. Buffalo Bore Ammunition 38 Special 158 Grain Lead Semi-Wadcutter Hollow Point. Its a standard pressure load. The wide hollow point, soft alloy and useful velocity in an accurate round are perfect for the applications I use a J-Frame for. TN-popo, great point about using your support hand to test for recoil.

Here is everything that you need to know. International Defensive Pistol Association Click the "About IDPA" link on the left side of the page. And Yes, its about shooting - - - You would enjoy it!