musicman

'Cuz I'm getting one from a co-worker tomorrow. I'm not crazy about the gun, but the price is just too good to pass up, and it's already scoped. I shot it a few weeks ago and it ran 2 boxes of cheap monarch flawlessly, and very smoothly... recoil was almost nothing to speak of with that automatic action soaking most of it up! He's just got the one magazine for it... the handgunner in me wants more! I have never had less than 6 mags for any firearm. I know that's not the point of this rifle, but a spare never hurts, right? Any tips on where to procure one for a reasonable price? Also, the foregrip is cracked pretty badly. I'm going to wood glue a chunk that is split back down, but there is still going to be a sliver of wood missing. If I can find a replacement I might just swap it out. I've had an AR, Mosin, and a levergun for a long time, but just this year I've started getting into real rifles, starting with a .270. I kinda' dig the idea of having 4 rounds of stout 30-06 power at my trigger finger, without having to manipulate a bolt between shots.... hehehe!!!... think there's a way to mod some 20rd AR10 mags to fit this sucker?!?!

Hahaha!    We had a TGO range day a few years ago, and I can't remember who it was, but someone was shooting my M44 carbine and the recoil literally cracked his tooth and knocked a filling loose!  They kick like mules, but I love 'em!  Glad the gun stung you and not the bee!

Beautiful gun!  I love the mild curl in that walnut!    One of the cool things about working at Gibson is getting to see some of the really beautiful pieces of quilt and flame maple, mahogany, and koa woods on some of the guitars.  Once or twice a week I see something that just takes my breath away.  A buddy and I have constests as to who can find the nicest guitar each day.  We both like different characteristics and patterns, so rarely is one ever a "winner" over the other, but it's fun to "argue"!

Thanks Greg! Those RST shells are what I have right now. I didn't do any patterning or anything, but they seemed fine. Do you ever get to South Nashville any afternoons/evenings? If you do, would be interested in splitting a flat of either shell?

'Nuther update:   I got to shoot Elsie (I just came up with that... get it? L.C. ... El-see ... Elsie!) this weekend and she's a champ!  I only shot 4 shells, but each one was a pleasure.  I just have one box of 2.5" 20g shells, and I really want to shoot skeet with her, so I was really just function-testing her.    For a 71 year old firearm, this one is tighter and more solid than most brand-new guns around!  Funny enough... the follower in my brand new (3rd time out) Mossberg 500 12g was giving me trouble and is in need of repair!  So much for "modern technology", huh?!   Jimbo, your info about these guns wearing in tighter with use sure is borne out by my gun!  I really have fallen in love with it.  I had entertained the idea of selling it to fund a couple of really nice pieces I want, but not any more.    I want to keep shooting this old girl, but I also want to take it easy on her, so I would appreciate any leads you guys may have on lighter 2.5" 20g shells.  I paid $15 for the box I have now (21 rds left) and I can't afford too many at that price!  I'm also planning on joining a skeet/trap club soon.  If I can't find a better deal on these, I'll be stuck shooting my 12g guns all the time... not that that's a terrible thing!  ;-)

I work at a prominent guitar manufacturer in Nashville, and we often have musicians tour our plant when preparing to make a signature model.  Maybe George was doing the same with Kel Tec?   Awww... too soon?  ;-)

I've been meaning for awhile to thank you all again for your advice and information, and to give you an update on where I got with everything.   I took it over to Hunter at Game Fair Ltd, and he was very helpful.  He took it down, looked it over and found a few non-original screws, and told me it was missing a little spring but it was an unnecessary part, so no biggie.  He checked the barrel weld and said everything seemed fine, and recommended some lower velocity/pressure 2.5" 20G shells which I happily purchased and am hoping to try out soon.  The wood, though worn with age and use showed no cracks, much to Hunter's dismay.  He said many LCs split right behind the action.  Though the gun has basically no bluing left and some light surface pitting, he considered it to be a fine shooter's grade gun that would bring $600-700 in his shop.   While I was there, I also brought him an old Ithaca Deerslayer with another small issue which he fixed for a VERY reasonable fee.  I really enjoyed visiting Game Fair.  It's not the kind of place I would normally go, and I simply don't have the kind of money to purchase almost anything there, no matter how much I liked some of those fancy doubles!  The nice thing about Hunter, though, was that he didn't make me feel like the low-rent loser (comparatively to his normal clientele) that I am, and took all the time in the world to answer every question I had.    I purchased the gun from my friend, after I told him all the things Hunter told me, including his valuation.  For now I'm going to hold on to the gun and clean it up.  For now, at 71 years, it's the oldest gun in my collection and I think that's pretty cool.  My next oldest is 10 years younger... a Polish Mosin M44 Carbine.  The firearm hobby was not passed down in my family.  Neither my Father nor my Grandfather were shooters of any sort, so there are no family guns to be passed to me.  Finding these older guns from friends I have now is the closest thing I have to my own little piece of gun history. 

I've been excited to find 00 buck on the store shelves in 25 rd boxes for under $15 at my local Academy! I've never heard of Spartan (some European stuff again) but I got a few boxes to try out... hoping I get a chance to run them back to back with Winchester and Remington stuff this weekend to see if it's any good. If it is, I'm going to stock up on that stuff and save my few hundred rounds of the good stuff for later! Congrats! Oh yea, about a year ago I found 14 100rd boxes full of .40 reloads that I had forgotten about in 2 moves! That was a reason to celebrate for sure! I'm about halfway through 'em now, and gearing up for another protracted loading session in the near future to replenish a few calibers.

You guys make me jealous! My setup is in the garage. No AC, but a huge fan that makes it bearable in all but the worst heat. However, this year my main constraint has been time. It's pretty crazy that now, during the amoo craze and tight retail supply, I've been shooting more factory ammo than ever before! We've got a family trip coming up in a few weeks and we'll be out at the in-laws' "farm" (really just a vacation spot with 160 acres of fields and woods with a nice doublewide in western KY) with nothing to do but shoot stuff for 3 days. I gotta hit the reloading bench hard, and soon!

I LOVE shooting golf balls! I make a little game out of it and play "redneck golf" with my buddies every now and then. Quite a challenge. Great shot!

Thanks Jimbo and Leroy! I'll fire off an e-mail to Cherry's tonight and see where that goes. Was planning on stopping at Game Fair some time thiz week, but work just picked up so that's gonna hafta wait a bit now. :-( It's kind of a neat gun... I think it may be mine soon! I told him what I saw some other similar examples going for on the gun sites, but he keeps insisting that he only needs a certain amount and would like it to go to someone he knows will take care of it. I told him he could probably get more, but he doesn't seem to care! Hope the stuff I have on eBay gets good money for me this weekend!

Large grip on my full size M&P 40

Howdy folks! Long time no see; I hope you all are doing well. A co-worker of mine is trying to get some more info on his old shotgun. As the title says, it is an L C Smith 20g side by side field grade shotgun. In the action, I read the serial number as FW 2004XX. Someone, he thinks it was his grandfather, etched their SSN into the side of the gun above the trigger. :-( I've edited that out of the picture. It's cosmetically not in the best shape... lots of surface rust, some small pitting spread all over the barrel, and quite a few scratches and dings. I believe in the past it has spent a lot of time living up to it's "field" designation! However, mechanically everything seems to be in EXCELLENT shape. Super tight lockup with absolutely NO looseness or rattle when closed. The safety functions properly, resetting every time the gun is opened. Bores look nice and shiny inside, showing none of the aging the outside wears. I have not test fired the gun yet, but the triggers seem crisp. The only thing I can foresee is that maybe there could be some issue with the firing pin/pins, but I won't know about that until I give it a shot. So... that's pretty much everything I know... any ideas on date of manufacture, value, etc? Thanks in advance for all your help!! Here are pics:

Nope.  Not a big fan of getting hit with a .45 bounceback from the dude beside me shooting his sweet Ed Brown.  When I recounted the story to a local law enforcement officer and he said "yea, we call that the only range that shoots back"  that sealed it for me.

I just went to Gallatin Gun Club this weekend with a friend and it was awesome!! Very simple, but really useful and friendly. Up to 300 yd range, Bianchi plates, about a dozen concrete rifle stations, and 6-8 tables at the pistol side. Only problem is, membership is full so you just gotta find a member and hope they'll invite you out one day. TW, thanks bro, you know who you are!

Very cool! Two weeks ago I got it's less-awesome brother, a 500 Cruiser/Persuader. It's got a 20" barrel, 7+1 capacity, and came with a pistol grip to swap out the fixed stock. I like my wrist in working order, so I'm leaving the stock on mine. :-) Enjoy it, dude! Fabulous gun. I'm planning on running about 75 mixed loads through mine tomorrow. Can't wait!

I'm going to jump on the Smith bandwagon. I love just about every handgun they make, and have/had some from every family they produce. M&P is my current fav, but those 3rd gen autos are awesome. I only sold mine due to financial hardship, and will get more again in the future. Yea, find what fits you best, yea, price can be a factor, yea, both can be just as reliable. But seriously... the dude in the Hyundai Genesis will always be envious when the dude in the 911 drives by.

I picked the handle when I had a EB Musicman bass. :-) I play guitar and bass, and moved up here to learn recording engineering/live sound. I kinda lost focus/drive for it and graduated with a Bus Adm degree. I still dabble, but now work in a different side of the music biz... I make guitars at Gibson. Maybe I can come check out your studio after you learn to reload?

You'll get your max velocity in the Puma with those slow powders. Check load data... fast powders/lower velocity, slow powders/higher velocities for 357. H110/W296, or AA9 are all good choices. Though Blue Dot shows good numbers, it has proven problematic in some loads, especially w 125gr bullets so I just stay away from it. (Google it, also, google 357 mag lever gun vs pistol velocities.... discussed ad nauseum)

That sounds good, XDS! I've got data for HP38 and 220gr cast bullets, so that should work great. :-)

I'll echo what Big K has said and add a little more... I use Tightgroup a lot in charge weights similar to what he's listed for Bullseye yielding 1500-2000 rounds per pound. However, when loading hot 357s and 44s, I am throwing 16-21 grs of H110 at a time, giving me somewhere between 320-400 rds per pound. So... you're looking at spending anywhere from 1.5¢ to 6-8¢ per round in powder, per round, depending on what kind of deals you score.

TDR, that's pretty much exactly what I did! I had a slight bruise/burn on my tummy from flame/gas spitting out of the cylinder gap, but that was it.

I won't go into details, but a couch and 6 vinyl records paid the price for my negligence one day. Like you, I am very thankful no one was hurt. Hope the roof shows no damage tomorrow, and that wifey lets you live. :-)

Little dude IS fast, but for about 10 minutes I couldn't get in to the site.

Um... I don't clean my guns very often :/ However, I do have some reloading music that I listen to every time. I have tons of music and listen to a lot of different stuff throughout the day, but when it comes to reloading it's only two things: The Jelly Jam "2", and anything by Rush. The Jelly Jam is a prog-rock side project composed of Ty Tabor from King's X on guitar/vocals, John Myung from Dream Theater on bass, and Rod Morgenstein from the Dixie Dregs, Winger, and Platypus on drums. They make an awesome group and have released 3 albums, but "2" is far and away my favorite. I have been listening to it for over 5 years and still don't get bored with it!