peejman

I've got a knife with a partially serrated blade but rarely use the serrated part. It's really only useful for sawing stuff... rope, wood, bones, etc.

Welcome!

Cool info, thanks. I didn't immediately think of X-ray diffraction when you mentioned X-rays. Seems like residual stresses would be only one piece of the puzzle for verifying a Damascus barrel was ok for use. I'd want traditional X-rays and penetrant inspection as well. I'll keep your mom's company in mind. I work on aircraft engine parts and residual stress determination occasionally comes up.

I view helicopters as a bucket of loose parts flying in formation. Those pilots have utter faith in their machines. One burp of the engine or if the cable snag, they're dead before they'll have time to say "uh oh." That said, heli-logging is fairly common in the northwest and Canada. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UAqe7FeBdOs

Welcome!

Wood stove emissions have been regulated for a long time. Past emission requirements drove technology that made significant improvements to efficiency and reduced fuel usage that likely wouldn't have happened otherwise. http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/hoepareg.htm The 2015 version is just another update. And it's not like they're outlawing old stoves or even phasing them out. But I do agree that surely they have something better to worry about.

    Care to elaborate?  X-rays don't show internal stresses.   edit... nevermind, apparently x-ray can be used to determine residual stresses... interesting.  Now I'm curious who did it?

I really like my Remington 552 Speedmaster.  It's a somewhat picky on ammo as it doesn't feed uncoated/unjacketed lead hollow points real well.  Anything round nose or coated/jacketed works fine.  It's got irons and an integral scope rail on the receiver.    That said, CZ's and Henry's are excellent too. 

My Dad has his grandfathers damascus barreled shotgun.  Yes, you could make some very low power hand loaded shells with either black powder or smokeless powder and probably be fine.  I won't do it with that shotgun because its too intrinsically valuable to risk it IMO. 

    Agreed, the levels of radiation are of no consequence.  But they're greater than zero and the media knows they can prey on the public's ignorance and irrational fear to get a few extra hits on the story. 

Agreed, there's a big difference between a machinist and a CNC operator.  While I know how to program a few CNC machines and design tooling and such, I'm no machinist. 

    heh.... me three.

  They already have.  The cloud of radioactive dust that was thrown up into the atmosphere crossed into North America not too long ago.  I've heard stories of unusually high level of radiation detected in snowfall out west.  

    Being brand new, obviously take it back to the dealer but I agree with the above.  The noise and the smoke point to cracked exhaust manifold.  Unless it's uber steep, the slope of the driveway should have nothing to do with it.    Pop the hood and spray the COLD exhaust with some soapy water.  Have your wife start the truck and you watch the exhaust.  It should make bubbles if there's a crack.  And it'll  burn off quick so you'll have to be alert.

    I'll agree with this.  If it's non-functional, it's not worth a whole lot to IMO.    But the value determination is up to you Tanker.  If you want it, get it.  Personally, I'd accept a little short term debt and give myself a little time to recoup the money.

        Hardened Steel - I have no idea what this is.  There are literally dozens upon dozens of types of steel that are considered "hardenable".    HBAR Chrome Moly - HBAR stands for Heavy Barrel and has nothing to do with the type of steel.  An HBAR barrel is simply thicker in some areas than a "government profile" or "lightweight profile" barrel.  Chrome Moly is a subdivision of "hardened steel" but still could be one of several types.  They're generally high strength steels and make good barrels.    Chrome Moly - see sentences 2 & 3 above.   Melonite Nitride - is a surface treatment for various types of steel.  It leaves a very thin but very hard surface layer on the metal and is typically applied for wear resistance, corrosion resistance, and/or improvement of cyclic fatigue life.  The degree of fatigue life improvement depends largely on the base steel which isn't specified.    Chrome lined - Similar to the above, chrome plating leaves a very thin but very hard surface layer and is typically applied for wear or corrosion resistance.  No effect on strength or fatigue life per se.    Stainless Steel - again, this is a very general category of a large number of steels.  Some make good barrels, some don't.  Obviously stainless is chosen for its corrosion resistance and aesthetics (aka, it's purdy.)      The ignornance of people who use these terms as buzz word selling points and have no idea what they mean annoys me.     All that said... My statement above still applies... they're all functionally the same for the recreational shooter.  Get what you want and fits your budget. 

Think it was loaded with wad cutters?

While the propane/methane does burn hotter, the gas is so much cleaner than gasoline that the engine will show practically zero wear.  There's no carbon/soot build up, no fouling, etc.  Dad used to deal with propane powered chevy trucks at a power plant.  After 200k miles running around the plant, they looked new inside. 

Barrels I presume?   Chrome-moly's typically are hardened steels so it's hard to give you any sort of intelligent reply without more information.  What kind of chrome-moly steel and what kind of "hardened" steel?   Though functionally, for any normal recreational shooter save perhaps a national match or frequent 3-gun type competitor.... there is no difference.

So the water from the tap in the bathroom is somehow dirtier than the water from the tap in the kitchen?  Do these people not brush their teeth in the bathroom?  :squint:      Granted, given the outrageous prices at Starbucks you'd think they were using imported glacial ice (and clubbing those annoying baby seals out of the way)but seriously.... when you heat water hot enough to brew coffee it's functionally boiled. 

I had one of the Daisy pump pellet rifles as a kid.  Granted, all that time shooting was with 12-16 yr old eyes, but within it's lethal range (20-30 yds?), it was a tack driver.  Sub 1" groups with the stock iron sights were cake.  I'd routinely blow the center out of a small bore rifle target with BB's.  Many a matchbox car or green army man met it's demise.  And if the shotgun effect was desired, drop a dozen or so BB's down the bore, and viola!  Instant shotgun.    The modern GAMO air rifles should be even better.  I've been thinking about getting one for quite a while to use as pest control in my suburban back yard. 

Welcome!

    Carb rebuild for a small single cylinder engine is pretty easy, there's not much to them.  A motorcycle with 4 carbs that have work together... that's not so easy.  If you're really averse to rebuilding it, look for a whole new carb.  Sometimes they can be had for less than the cost of the rebuild parts.    As for storage... 100% gas with Stabil.  Ethanol is the enemy. 

  Steel Panther's image is intentionally like that... they play the classic '80's hair metal stuff and make fun of the image at the same time.  It's clear they don't take themselves too seriously.    And yep, that kid's got a future.

I've got a DeSantis Nemesis for my P3AT that I like quite well.  My wife has a Blackhawk pocket holster for her Shield and while it works, its just not quite as nice.