Dolomite_supafly

The "NT" stuff was the line that was considered nontoxic. Dolomite

And any of you who hate the small primer 45 acp brass I will take it. I will gladly pay shipping because I like small primered brass better than large. My 1911 will light off small rifle primers so I can use them for my 1911. Dolomite

Funny, dolomite is actually a rock. Dolomite

+ a bazillion!!1!1! The only thng DPMS does well is their lower parts kits. I have used them exclusively for about 3 years now and they have been 100% perfect every time. I have used other, higher priced LPK's and they work well also but are no better than what DPMS offers. I have also heard their barrels are good but beyond that they have had issues for decades now. They are not for hard users and when they are used hard they do tend to fail more compared to other brands. As far as milspec goes it is the minimum standard set forth by the government to ensure a minimum, not maximum, level of quality. Milspec is kind of like making a "D" on a report card, meeting it means you did just enough to pass. Milspec is thrown around rather loosely these days. And if most consumers knew milspec was a "D" they wouldn't put so much weight on it and would actually do a little reasearch into what is a better option. Think of milspec as a way for the manufactures to produce the cheapest gun they can that still meets the standard. They are not going to add cost and make an "A" rated gun if they are already passing with their "D" rated gun. And no matter how good the part or parts are if they are not exactly as what is specified in the the milspec spec sheet then they are not milspec. And just because something isn't milspec doesn't mean it is a bad part, just that is doesn't meet the specifications set forth in the milspec standard. There are items that are not milspec but are far better than anything milspec. Melonite treatment is far better than chrome lining but when the milspec standard was established chrome lined was the best there was. And because the gov't is a slow moving entity it will be a long time before chrome lining goes away. Another example is the boron nitrided parts but they too are NOT milspec. Also, Noveske SS barrels are better barrels than what is issued but they too are not milspec. And finally, a lot of the two stage or competition triggers for AR's are better than the issued single stage [at least until one of my kits are installed ] which are milspec. I am just trying to say do your research on what is best because you can never assume milspec is the best because in most cases nothing can be farther from the truth. Dolomite

Why a 9.5" SBR in 5.56? The 5.56 looses so much with a 9.5" barrel. I would look at a caliber better suited to a short barrel. I have used short abrreled guns in 5.56 and the blast and reduced range isn't worth it. If you plan on reloading I would look at the 300 BLK because it would be a great SBR caliber, there is even factory ammo now that is decent. I would also consider 6.8 or even 7.62x39 a better choice than a 5.56 in a 9.5 inch barrel. personally I would say 14.5" would be the minimum for anything out to 200 yards. I know for a fact that 10.5" guns aren't really effective beyond 100 yards using standard FMJ type ammunition. You can extend the effective range a bit with quality ammo like TAP rounds which are polymer tipped rounds. Forget about 7.5" guns as they aren't much more than a 25 yard guns when using FMJ ammunition. The reason is there isn't enough velocity from the shorter barrels for the bullet to fragment upon impact and unless the bullet tumbles it will just pass right through making a nice, neat 1/4" hole. Another consideration is if you ever plan on using a suppressor. Most companies will not warranty their suppressors on guns with less than 10.5" or ever 12.5 inches. Blackthorne, Hessee and Vulcan are all junk. They are all the same company and have changed names to hide their crappy quality. I would pick a forged lower over a billet lower as well. And avoid cast at all costs but you are not going to find one without looking hard for one. Dolomite

I assume it is a brand new car. Dolomite

Also, your labor is free unless you are taking off work to cast. Dolomite

I get my lead for free. I just asked a few shops to save it for me and I get plenty. Some shops that recycle will even sell their lead if you offer more than scrap price. Even if you have to buy it you shouldn't be paying more than scrap which is .35 for CLEAN lead, not wheel weights. Even at clean scrap prices $35 for 5,000 9mm bullets is a deal. You can get 3,000 230 grain 45 bullets out of the same 100 pounds. Molds only cost $25 and last for thousands of rounds. And with a $5 cooking pot and a dipper you have everything you need to get started. You will need to do it in a well ventilated area and a mask isn't a bad idea. But for under $50 you can be casting. Dolomite

Missouri Bullet Company. Even though they are "lubed" make sure to lube them again with Lee Alox. I have shot thousands of Missouri's bullets and have always had a problem with leading. On a tip from Caster I decided to lube them with Alox. Since then my leading is minimal if at all. Dolomite

If you are wanting the ultimate in savings then cast your own. The equipment to cast can be had for under $100 and you will have an endless supply of bullets. It costs me under a nickel a shot for both 9mm and 45 acp now. It has a very low learning curve and you can get materials from most automotive repair shops. For 9mm you can cast over 50 bullets per pound of lead and over 30 45 acp. Dolomite

Also, you can't go by the load data for velocity. I have chronographed a lot of loads (factory and handloads) and NONE have matched. I have never had a factory load match the numbers on the side of the box. Some where close, as in within 50 fps but I have never had the numbers be within 25 fps. There are so many variables that affect velocity that you need a chronograph to determine actual velocity. Even with the same barrel length the numbers can vary greatly. Dolomite

I just had one done here in Knoxville. Cost me $410 and not exactly happy with their assessment. I tried to explain updates that have been done but she was stuck on the fact we had linoleum in the house 10 years ago. She got most of her information from the recent tax assessment and basically carbon copied it then charged me $410 for it. Her assessment was literally within $1,000 of the tax records and looks like she read straight from the tax record. Either way I needed to have it done and I can use it next year when my county tries to hick the property taxes another 20%. Dolomite

Hey, hey, hey. My Promags I use in my Saiga are running fine. As long as they are fitted properly they run great. And it isn't Promag's fault that every combloc gun is different. Dolomite

The higher the pressures the higher the FPS. There are seveal ways to increase pressures. Powder weight, bullet weight, seating depth, bullet bearing surface and the bore are some of the contributors to increased pressures. The 357, with the heavier bullet and higher drag in the bore, is probably giving the extra pressures needed to get to the same velocity as the 124 grain 9mm load. The 9mm bullet probably has less drag than the 357 because of the shorter bearing surface. This is probably why the same velocities are being achieved by a smaller and larger case. On a side note .3 grains is a big spread. And according to the Alliant load manual 124 grain 9mm has a MAX charge of 5.8 grains. The MAX on your 357 load is 6.0 grains of unique. Dolomite

I have had a few companies contact me as of late for their bids to do security work overseas. I guess they still have me on the active roles because my clearances are still active. Basically asking for me to submit a LOI (Letter of Intent) to work with the company for them to be able to bid on the contract. It is not a guarantee you will work and you are not locked in to working with that company, it just shows you intend to work with the company. How it works is a company needs X number of people to submit a LOI in order to be eligible to bid on the contract. They are looking for people to submit LOI's. Generally they want 2x-3x the number of LOI's as the manning requirements set forth in the contract. Anyways anyone with a military background (specifically some sort of special operations) might try contacting the big companies if you are interested in going overseas. Some companies also take LE as long as they have a long history of Special Operations experience with their department. SOC-SMG contacted me this morning. Dolomite

Now coming from a very modest background I knew of all kinds of tips and tricks but this one is new to me. I can remember taking a nail and punching a hole in the battery. Add a little bit of salt and a little bit of vinegar to give you more juice. Worked on AA's, C's, D,s and 9v's. Now I am going to have to look for 6V batteries to see if they are cheaper than 4 D's. Thanks for the tip. Dolomite

+1 I definitely did some stuff that was much worse in the scheme of things. Dolomite

What are all these high end guns you guys are talking about. Nearly all mine get dropped, dinged and scratched in their lifetimes. They, after all, are just tools to me. To really find out how reliable your gun is it needs to be used and sometimes abused. Anyone who has seen my 1911 knows this, it is part stainless, part blue and silver where the bluing is gone. It has been dropped, thrown, and just abused to make sure it will be 100% reliable. And it has been for 3,500 rounds so far. Same goes for every other gun I own with the exception of just a couple. They all wear scars of use and abuse. And because of this I trust my daily use guns 100%, even my AR in 22lr. Dolomite

If you want I will PM my number that way you can call me and we can talk about it. A dremel will definitely work but not ideal. I did mine with a drill press but if I had to do over again I would use my die grinder to just grind off the tops of the rivets. And with the die grinder it will be easier to polish the underside of the bolt to help cycling and inserting mags with the bolt forward. But in the end the conversion was very easy. I did mine in about an hour and I had to fit the shepards hook because I bought a AK rather than a shotgun hook. And when I polished my bolt that took about 15-20 minutes because I went really slow. Also, when you are doing your parts count plan on keeping the factory hammer. Even though the Tapco works it does cause cycling issues for most people after the conversion. It is higher in the gun causing the bolt to drag and doesn't hit the firing pin squarely like the factory hammer. Most people who have issues can swap in the factory hammer and the issues go away. I added a US made puck (that I made) when I put my factory hammer back in. It also works better with the Tapco trigger than the Tapco hammer, go figure. I used chalkboard paint to refinish the bare parts and it is holding up just fine. I do not use solvents to clean, just a wipe down with a rag. If you plan on shortening the barrel ever get the 19" barreled gun. They make a 24" gun and it has issues if you go to 19". With the 19" gun most people can shorten the barrel and permanently attach a muzzle brake without any significant issues. And while you have the gas block off for shortening you may as well angle the gas ports to keep cup material out of the gas system. I still have to do that to mine. Not sure how soon you want to get into on but the rumor is they are being imported without being neutered first in the next few months. They are supposed to be coming in with pistol grips, real sights, magwells and folding stocks. But I am not sure of the price on our shores though. It was rumored they were going to be under $500 but with the scare coming I seriously doubt they will be under twice that. Here is a post on some current models: http://forum.saiga-1...rom-legion-usa/ Notice they have REAL sights like what is found on real Saigas/VEPR's. These are as close to the real deal guns as you are going to find ready to go. I am far from the Saiga expert. Most of my knowledge came from the site I linked above. There is a wealth of information there although the sight is a bit slow to respond to requests. Dolomite

I have tried plenty of bulk ammo and really like Federal. I like it mostly because slugs drop right in the hull. I melt the shot down into .69" round balls then drop them right back in the hulls. Makes for cheap slug loads that work. They cost me .23 each to make and about 30 minutes of work. Dolomite

Under the duress that put the finger on the trigger the safety would also be clicked off so I don't see how clicking the safety off before or at the time of makes a difference. Also, relying on the thumb safety to prevent shooting during a "no shoot" circumstance is only going to lead to a person not being able to shoot when they really need to. Whether the target is a good or bad target the actions are going to be the same if you feel your under duress. It really is about how a person trains and is comfortable. My safety stays engaged 99.9 percent of the time but if I am expecting problems the thumb safety gets clicked off long before I make contact if I can help it. That way when stress overcomes everything but the most basic motor skills you can still shoot. To the OP, something that might work to warn is the flag on your mailbox. It should never be raised at night but if there is a reason not to enter the house have the person feeling that way raise the flag. Then all family meet at a predetermined location to wait on the authorities. And it is unlikely a bad guy will take notice to a mailbox flag being up. Dolomite

That just got me thinking, which can be a dangerous thing. I wonder is a variable power 1911 spring would work better. Maybe instead of a 16 pound standard spring use a 18 pound variable rate spring. It might tame the high brass stuff yet be reliable with the low brass stuff. Dolomite

I was told by a reliable source that the reduced power front springs are in reality 16 pound 1911 springs. And you can buy new ones for under $5 a piece. As a matter of fact I need to order a few more to keep around. I know that when I replaced my front spring with a 16 pound spring it now cycles everything on setting 1. And it does it without any impacts at the rear whether it be high brass or low brass. The only difference between the two is how far the hulls fly. Low brass flys probably 2 feet from me and high brass probably 5 feet. I have done a few other mods but the spring is what made it reliable with everything. Here are some of the things I did. I made my own lightweight dished plug out of 17-4 stainless. It is a much tighter fit with corners that are more square and defined. The plug is about 2/3 the weight of the factory plug and once I hardened it it seems to be working really well. The factory plug worked just as well but I wanted to add an extra US part. I did the glass bolt smooth and polish job, you have the tools to do it because you did the conversion yourself. That helped with cycling more than anything else. It also allows you to insert loaded mags with the bolt forward. I also added the JTE hammer/trigger spring. And after a nice polish job on the trigger and hammer mating surfaces the trigger is amazing for an AK. It still does have a lot of take up but that is the AK. I think the combination of the polished bolt, polished hammer face, new recoil spring, new hammer spring and new plug made this thing amazingly reliable. It has 700+ rounds through it so far and the only problems can be attributed to me trying to make some "cheap" slugs for it. Now I am just going to replace the shot in cheap rounds with 1.25 ounce round balls. They cycle better being .25 ounce heavier and are accurate enough to hit man sized sillouettes at 50 yards. The gun cycles just as well with the factory plug but I wanted a US part to count towards the 922 count. I was going to chop and permanently attach a flash hider this week but I have too many irons in the fire at the moment. I have a lot of important stuff going on regarding my helicopter crash so I need to stay focused. Dolomite

All you need to do is hit the "edit" button. Then click the "use full editor". It will allow you to change the title. Dolomite

All you need to worry about is making sure it is flush or below. Even if the primer pocket is loose the primer will still seal. As the bullet is fired the primer temporarily swells, sealing itself to the primer pocket. As a matter of fact the primer needs the extreme pressures to seal correctly. Try firing just a primed case and see how the primer backs out of the case. During some testing I loaded some 7.62x39 steel cases. There were berdan primed but I used large rifle primers. The primers just fell into the pocket. I made sure to load the rounds with the rounds facing down so the primers didn't fall out. Upon firing the primers sealed themselves just fine and in most cases swelled enough to stay in the cases. People even glue LR primers into berdan cases and have no issues. Dolomite