AustinMike

My brother sent me this. Too corny not to pass it on. One Christmas Eve, a frenzied young man ran into a pet shop looking for an unusual Christmas gift for his wife. The shop owner suggested a parrot, named Chet, which could sing famous Christmas carols. This seemed like the perfect gift. "How do I get him to sing?" the young man asked, excitedly. "Simply hold a lighted match directly under his feet." was the shop owner's reply. The shop owner held a lighted match under the parrot's left foot. Chet began to sing: "Jingle Bells! Jingle Bells!" The shop owner then held another match under the parrot's right foot. Then Chet's tune changed, and the air was filled with: " Silent Night, Holy Night." The young man was so impressed that he paid the shop-keeper and ran home as quickly as he could with Chet under his arm. When the wife saw her gift she was overwhelmed. "How beautiful!" she exclaimed, "Can he talk?" "No," the young man replied, "But he can sing. Let me show you." So the young man whipped out his lighter and placed it under Chet's left foot, as the shop-keeper had shown him, and Chet crooned: "Jingle Bells! Jingle bells!" The man then moved the lighter to Chet's right foot, and out came: "Silent Night, Holy night." The wife, her face filled with curiosity, then asked, "What if we hold the lighter between his legs?" The man did not know. "Let's try it," he answered, eager to please his wife. So they held the lighter between Chet's legs. Chet twisted his face, cleared his throat, and the little parrot sang out loudly like it was the performance of his life "Chet's nuts roasting on an open fire."

Well, I'd love to have a big dog, but there are few breeds we can have because of my wife's allergies. Poodles don't bother her, as they have "hair", rather than fur and they don't shed. Weird... Guess we could get a big standard size poodle, but there is something to be said for the portability of the toys. I've even had Lucy, the 8lb black one, out for a ride on my motorcycle.

OK, my wife gets a little carried away with the dogs at Christmas. I have nothing to do with this, really! They sure are cute though...

Sorry to hear this. I can understand the pain you must feel. We used to have a 120 pound Bull Mastiff at work here that belonged to one of the guys. She was family to us and we all cried when she passed away due to a liver problem. We have a couple of toy poodles at home (yeah, poodles) and they are like children to my wife and I. We love those little critters. I know dogs are with us but a short time, so I make the most of each day. No matter how busy I get, there's always time for a game of fetch. I can't bear to think of losing them, but the day will come.

My BT revolver holster took about 6 weeks. Could be worse. It took almost 4 months for my Milt Sparks concealed carry holster to arrive! Can't rush quality, I guess.

I tried Precision bullets in my stock Kimber barrel and they caused heavy leading. I think my barrel has a rough spot or two, so I switched to jacketed bullets. I used Rainier plated bullets for years without issue, but FMJ's are only a little more money. I think I got Major PF with 4.0 N310 and a 230gr. Precision, if I remember right. They move down the barrel faster than FMJ's, that's for sure. I use 4.3gr. of N310 for Major PF with Zero FMJ's.

Strange. 4.2 grains with 230gr. FMJ gets about that velocity for me and it's very consistent, usually 9 SD or less and clean as a whistle. I could probably get it even more consistent if I settled on one brass vendor instead of range scraps. What little soot remains wipes off with a dry paper towel.

Can't comment on those specific bullets, but it takes 4.2-4.3gr. of N310 to make major PF with a 230gr. FMJ out of my Kimber. It took 4.5gr. of N310 to get up to major with 200gr. lead bullets, so I didn't even bother experimenting with jacketed. N320 would probably work better with the lighter bullets. You didn't mention it, but here's another option for the 230gr. bullets: Clays (straight, not Universal.) It takes the same charge weights as N310 to make major in my gun and feels about the same. Very soft recoil and I see no difference in accuracy. N310 is a little more consistent in velocity. Other than that, I've had a hard time justifying the extra expense. They both burn clean and are remarkably similar, but Clays is about half the price around here. Standard safety advice: Every gun is different, so what works for someone else is not necessarily going to perform the same for you. Start low and work your way up with a chrono and watch for pressure signs. The loads I mentioned above are at or above manufacturer listing, so don't go dropping those right off the bat.

I put the plain black one on mine. The fiber front really stands out in the middle of it.

Sweet deal! Congratulations!

I think those are actually max loads on Hodgdon's site. Check their manual. I don't have mine handy, but the starting load with 180gr. bullets is 4.0 or 4.2gr. of Titegroup, if I recall. Start low and chrono! Watch that OAL with .40.

Quit yer yapping and get your check book out before he changes his mind!

I got an older 625 (625-3 Model of 1989) a while back for IPSC. I may take it to steel matches too, but it seems like a 627 would be better for that. You can only miss once with a 6 shooter. I'd take .45 over .40 for IPSC, because the holes are bigger and easier to reload. That, and I just love .45! I shoot a 1911 .45 in Limited 10. I just got my 625 all geared up and will take it to a match early next year. So far, I love shooting it in practice! Like others have said, sights and grips are a personal preference. I use FO fronts on my bottom feeders, so I put an SDM FO on the front and Millet target on the rear. Just put a Miculek grip on and had my smith rework the trigger. Keep your eyes peeled. I checked Gun Broker and Auction Arms for some time and snagged mine on AA. It was in beautiful shape. I prefer the older Smiths myself, without the silly lock mechanism. The newer ones shoot just as good as the old ones though. I found my grips for about half of retail on ebay.

I dunno about a plastic mag tube. There's a lot of spring pressure in there, plus the weight of 8 or 9 rounds. Just doesn't sound like a good idea. I saw those when I was shopping, but it's not much more for steel, so...

The Choate follower seems to work in mine, but I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet. I cycled the full capacity through it a couple times manually, with no feeding issues. I guess I've got a fairly old 1100. I just had to pry out a metal spring stop and there were no indents in the tube. I've got the Easy Loader on the way from Chuck. I probably will have my smith put it in, since I'm about as mechanically inclined as a monkey with a hammer.

I put one of the Choate +5 extensions on my 1100. Stupid question...it sticks out past the muzzle by about half an inch. This shouldn't be a problem, should it?

On my 625-3, the front sight is pinned in and the SDM has to be drilled. It has to be drilled from both sides and it sounded like more than my club-fisted self could handle, so my gunsmith did that for me. He did have to do some additional fitting to get mine in too. If your model is the interchangeable variety, it *should* be a simple drop in. Here's the link to SDM's site: SDM Sights Give 'em a shout and I'm sure they can help you out.

I got a Blade Tech Dropped and Offset holster, but I don't know if I like it or not. I've been using a Kydex Uncle Mike's with my 1911 and Glocks, which works fine. Being new to the sport and experimenting with different guns to see what I like best, I didn't want to drop $150 or so on each holster! The Blade Tech looked like a comparable solution for the revolver, but I think it's going to need some work. I don't like the DAO belt bracket, so I'm going to swap it for the regular one. The gun fits too tight even after loosening the screws. It looks like I'm going to have to attack it with a Dremel and get rid of excess Kydex. Or sell it on ebay and get a CR Speed holster. My belt is a CR Speed and I've got the California Competition moon clips holders, plus lots of Ranch moon clips. I've got an I-Shot Tournament bag with two of their nifty moon clip panels.

Got them sights in and installed finally. I love them! I had a blast trying them out last weekend. Thanks ya'll! Here she is all decked out with the new sights, Miculek grips, and a trigger job. I hope to be practiced up and ready to compete with it the first of the year!

OK, I got the sucker on, but it wasn't easy. I squeezed the nut bracket in some with pliers, which got it to where it would stay put where I positioned it on the frame. I think the problem was that the bracket was getting pushed out of line going in and the nut wasn't able to find the notch in the bottom of the grip. The fit is super tight. The backstrap bows out a little bit from the grip and there is a small gap where the strap disappears into the grip. It leaves a sharp edge hanging out, but I don't think that will bother me. Just wondering if this is normal. It's a little hard to see, but here's a picture of what I'm talking about:

I acquired a used set of Miculek grips off ebay for my 625. They look like new. I'm trying to install them but I can't get them to slide on! They stop tight about half an inch from being fully seated. The bracket slides in and out OK on its own and the gun will slide all the way down (tight!) With the bracket on the butt of the gun, I can't seem to get the grip all the way on. What's the secret to getting this thing on? I'm afraid to force too hard and break it.

He said they were shooting from a rested position. I'd assume resting on the handgrips, but I'll have to find out. There's several things I'll have him check from the input out here. I appreciate all the info. It's good that he's getting to debug a gun before I buy mine next year! I can learn from his experience before diving in.

My brother brought over his brand new Bushmaster AR-15 to show me yesterday. I don't know what model, but it's .223 and has a 16" barrel with flash hider. He said that he can't get it to shoot a group at 50+ yards. He's using iron sights and is happy with it at 25 yards. Moving out to 50, he said he's lucky to get a shot on the paper and they're all over the place. He asked me for advice, but since I don't even own a rifle yet, I'm not much help. Being the supportive brother that I am, I just told him he sucks. He's tried several different brands of ammo, all with the same results. He's a police officer and he's had other officers shoot and they couldn't get it to group at 50 yards either. Anybody have any idea what to check for? Is it possible for a brand spanking new Bushy to have a problem like this? Or does the police department just have a bunch of really bad shooters? I didn't know what else to tell him, other than to have a good gunsmith give it the once-over.

I've got a PT-145 myself for carry. Being that it is double action only, it has to cock the striker each time you pull the trigger. They've kept that spring as light as possible to make the trigger tolerable and I've found that it can fail to set off primers that are not fully seated or exceptionally hard ones. I had some failures with reloads until I started using Federal and seating more firmly. No recent failures have happened. When I was having trouble, a second pull of the trigger always set off the primer. I've never had a failure with factory ammo. For what it's worth, I carry with Speer Gold Dot 230gr. JHP factory ammo. It's the lightest recoiling I've observed in that micro cannon.

Great link, thanks!