Carmoney

OK, I have a Commander-sized carry gun that I put together for myself from various parts I had acquired. Everything turned out well, and now it's time to have the gun finished. I generally use hard chrome (from Metalife, Ford's, AP&W, etc.) but would consider a black finish also, particularly since it's a carry gun. Here are the challenges: (1) The finish must be compatible with the aluminum alloy frame (which eliminates Freedom's Atranite black finish and similar processes). (2) In the area where the serial number is, the frame has been sanded or polished down to the point that the serial number is getting pretty thin. The numbers are readable, but barely. This means the finish needs to be really super thin, or better yet I need to find a finisher that is capable of re-etching the serial number before applying the finish. (Ford's used to do that sort of thing, but I can't get their website to work and I have a feeling they might be out of business.) Anybody know who can do this work for me?

Jess, I hear ya. The Filipinos are capable of making excellent guns. Awhile back I started a forum thread (http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=96673&st=25&p=1117480&hl=american%20classic&fromsearch=1entry1117480) on my American Classic .45 1911, which I swear is every bit as nice as any Colt I've ever owned out of the box. And to think I only paid $329 for the thing! The patents on the S&W Hand Ejector have long since expired. I'm surprised somebody hasn't done a true good knock-off already.

Bob makes so many wonderful things in his factory! Here's a rare video of Bob taking a group of guests on a tour:

Most everyone seems to have missed the original question--can you simply switch back and forth between separate complete upper assemblies, one in 9mm and one in .40? The answer of course is YES, as long as both uppers are correctly fit to the lower. Anybody remember this thread?? http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=26887&hl=armscor&st=0 Edited to add photo of my switch-top 9mm/.40 Armscor wide-body. All it takes to switch calibers is to simply pop out the slide stop, slide off the entire upper assembly as a unit, slide the new one on, and replace the slide stop. Takes about 10 seconds.

I'm a couple days late picking up this thread, but thanks guys! In case I haven't said it lately, I sure appreciate all the friends I've made through the shooting sports, including the folks I've gotten to know through this great forum.

Roger that, Roger. Thanks!

OK, the last time I checked (which was a couple years ago), you had to re-classify every year, or some such thing. Now when I look at the ICORE website, it appears that classifications are continuing from year to year, and are suspended when the membership expires but reinstated when the membership is renewed. Is this correct?

When a bunch of us discovered it works better, and is far less expensive.

You must not shoot in the wintertime, bro. I've tried lots of stuff over the years, and have found that in truly cold temps, synthetic motor oil is about the only lube that will keep things running. It also holds up well and stays put when the temps get hot in the summertime. Here in Iowa, we experience both extremes.

I used the Ed Brown latches for years (like in my avatar) but gave them up for the Hogue extended latches, which I now have on everything. This is totally a matter of personal preference and feel, however. My son Sam, who reloads the same way I do and has hands that are about the same size as mine, hates all of the extended latches.

Yeah, I even bid on one, but it wound up going too high. Which is fine, because my interest is already on the wane..... I actually spent part of the day with Bill Z., the Webley guy! (He was one of the ROs at the WIIT match over in Rockford.)

Ahem??

Standard grooved rubber Hogues feel good to me, and I've been using them on pretty much everything for over 20 years.

There really aren't too many real revolversmiths out there anymore, but any competent general gunsmith should be able to install a pinned front sight on your 625-6 for you. (Just don't let him mess around inside the action!)

Me too.

Naw, with very rare exception, 625s do just fine with cast bullets. It's the old 25-2s that will spit them sideways sometimes.

Yeah, but you're not drinking scotch while you load ammo, Dave. Big difference. I gotta have the auto-indexing.

I'm most of the way through my Zero jacketed 230s, and then I think I have one case of Montana Golds sitting down there, and after that I'm going to have to resupply. I still load and shoot 230-gr. RNLs from Two Alpha Bullets for local matches and stuff. I have shot plenty of major matches, including Nationals, with cast bullets. Usually the smoke isn't a big issue, but every once in awhile.... Never tried any of the black bullets or green bullets. Never tried any with coatings of moly or poly. Polly wolly doodle all the day, I say. I'm not a high-volume shooter these days, so I think I'm just going to spring for the true jacketed bullets and call it good.

It's going to be a tough campaign for Sam, considering all the skeletons in his closet: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=27861&hl=cretinous&st=25 But I did notice that Sam went downtown so the nice lady at the post office could help him with his tie. Good luck Sam!!

That's a myth. Oil may deactive the primer for awhile, but eventually the oil will dry and the primer will remain live. I researched this topic fairly extensively while defending a lawsuit involving smokeless powder that ignited after being stirred into water and dumped in an outdoor compost pile for months. Bottom line, you can't reliably kill primers and powder without actually igniting/burning them. Pushing one stuck primer out of a tube isn't any big deal as long as you're careful not to point either end at your face. Multiple stuck primers is another matter.

I bought my first Square Deal B press 23 years ago and mounted it behind the couch in the living room of our 1-bedroom apartment! Now that I have a 5-bedroom house on 10 acres of land and can spread things out a little more, I still use that same great little press to load all my .45 ACP ammo! In fact, a few years ago I bought another Square Deal B to put next to it on the bench, so I can keep one machine running .45s and the other machine for calibers that use small pistol primers. I have never felt the need for anything else. I always advise against the Dillon 550. The lack of auto-indexing on a progressive press is a huge flaw, in my opinion. When you hear about somebody blowing up a handgun due to a likely double powder charge, start asking some questions and most of the time you will find that the ammo was loaded on a 550. I shot Rainier plated bullets for a couple years, and they generally worked fine. But then I had one come apart in the barrel of my gun at the Summer Blast. You know how close the targets are on that classifier "Can You Count?"....like maybe 5 yards? Well, my shattered plated bullet hit the target in a zillion small pieces. I was lucky they found a hole made by a big enough piece that I got credit for the hit. So I don't use plated bullets anymore for competition.

Do what now? Methinks you've confused USPSA with ICORE. And I'll go on record as saying that six shots isn't really a handicap in ICORE, either. Matt I think he's commenting on the fact that you see so many stages that are nothing more than a series of 8-shot arrays. By the way, that may be more of a local problem. Clubs that pay attention to good stage design principles do not allow themselves to fall into that rut.

Fun to watch that! Maybe Bill's onto something here! I have to admit I've been cruising around the online sites checking out prices on Webleys....

that's ok, their registered at walmat, you can buy them something. I nominate this for BE Post of the Month! Congratulations, Sam. You are certainly getting the better end of this bargain!

We have discussed the pros and cons of Ti cylinders a lot here, a search should bring you that mass input of the knowledge here! My quick opinion on Ti cylinders: Much ado about nothing, no significant advantage. I ran one in 2009, went back to stainless in 2010. They chamfer just fine. I would not put a whole lot of stock in the mass input of your local gunsmith's knowledge.