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Finally "pulled the trigger" on an AR15. Bought a lower and magazine a long time ago, but the price of all the other parts, when you could find them in stock, was crazy. Happened to look at Midway tonight and they had a sale on a 16" complete upper in 7.62x39 for $320! Grabbed a lower parts kit, 6 position stock and a rear sight too. Then they had a $10 coupon at checkout.  I got it all, including shipping, for $470.  Now I just have to sneak it into the house, assemble it, and get it in the safe before the wife notices. Hopefully it will come when she's at work and I'm not.:D

Stopped at a new gun shop in town yesterday. In addition to a nice model 64 Winchester I can't afford right now, they had a Western Arms "Long Range" double in 20 Guage for $165. Anybody here ever own one? I'm always looking for a good grouse gun that I'm not afraid to use in the thick stuff. Seems to function smoothly and comes to my shoulder nice. I have never owned anything but 12 guages. Thoughts?

We had a very cold winter with a lot of snow and now that the south slopes are finally opening up the deer are out in force. They are so hungry they eat off and on all day in the open. I had an alfalfa field across the road from the parlor today that had 15 deer in it so out of curiosity I drove around and looked at some of my other hunting grounds. 60 acre alfalfa field had 25 deer on it and 12 more across the road in the corn stubble. Another field of corn stubble had 30 deer in it and the one across from that had 10. I have NEVER seen them like this. This is not to mention the singles and small groups I saw driving around. My boss has about 1500 acres (mostly in small parcels less than 100 acres) spread over a 7 mile radius from the milking parlor and I only looked at a couple fields. It will be interesting to see the fawn count. Round here they almost always have twins. On a side note, I think we lost a lot of turkey and pheasant. Seem pretty thin compared to normal.

I thought there may be at least one person on the sight who would appreciate this.
 
http://news.yahoo.com/long-strange-trip-ending-vws-hippie-van-043000991.html

What broadheads does everybody use around here? I haven't bowhunted in ages. The last ones I used were glue on Snuffers.

Want to know what y'all think. I have a LMT(marked Lauer Custom Weaponry) lower I bought a year ago and was going to make a 7.62x39 flattop carbine. I paid $100 for it and a 30rd 7.62x39 mag. I was looking at uppers and parts kits that would have put me back another $600 or so. Now as things stand no company has anything in stock. I can buy from a private seller, but pay twice the price. Do I bite the bullet or wait and hope this blows over? Other option is the lower and mag are selling for about $400 right now. Make a $300 profit now and try to get back in later when things calm down?

My son got 2 does opening morning. Shot them while in a stand by himself for the first time. Both great shots taking out lungs and at least 1 shoulder. I encourage shoulder shots because of the "patchwork" of properties around here(4 different landowners property he could see from this stand). Puts them down quickly. Nothing today. Too warm. 55 for a high today may have to go looking for them tomorrow. Put the scoped 308 away and grab my Marlin 44 mag or the Model 64 Winnie? Descisions...

I opened a decent sized box under the tree and what did I find? A Lee turret press kit. Has all the little goodies to get started in the kit. I just need dies and components and I am ready to go. My family loves me! I'll use this mostly for pistol cartridges and figure on buying a single press for my rifles. Anyway, I just had to share with people that would appreciate it.:D

If any of you recall, my boy shot his first 2 deer(a fork buck and a doe) on the same day two years ago. Well I took my daughter out for the 2 day youth only hunt a couple weeks ago and she bagged 2 deer in twenty minutes (a 1 antlered four point and a nice doe) Derik was with my wife and didn't see anything.
 
The place I had picked for us was too open for the hot (70 deg) day and the wind was wrong so we went to a different stand. As the wind came from the south, thats the way we faced. We had standing corn behind us and tall grass and oaks in front and heavy tag alders and birch to the extreme right. Small pond at 11 o'clock about forty yards away. Can see maybe 100 yds max in all directions. Great stand for a beginning shooter. Close shots build confidence. Bailey was shooting my wifes Remington autoloader in 308 Win. cause it has a short stock and a scope.
 
We sat down and my daughter arranged her snacks and water bottle.(important stuff for a 10 year old) We had been watching for about an hour when I caught a tail flick in front of us in the tree line. Told my daughter they were out there and be ready. Sure enough, in a bit here comes a nice doe and fawn down to the pond for a drink. Bailey had a hard time seeing them in the grass because only there heads showed as the walked. They moved about in front of us not 50 yds away, but my daughter just couldn't get on them with the rifle. Mama finally realizes something isn't quite right and pops back into the brush and fades away. I realized Bailey was breathing so hard they probably heard her! She was about to cry and I asked what was wrong. She said, "I couldn't shoot." I told her that was fine better to wait for a sure shot. Besides, you ever been that close to a deer that didn't know you were there? "No, that was pretty neat, dad!"
 
Not 10 minutes later I catch some movement to the left and there is a nice doe standing broadside at 40 yds. Where did she come from? I told my daughter there was a deer and she says"Where?" almost out loud. Somehow the deer didn't hear her or see her as she got read to shoot. I told her to take it through the shoulder and she dropped it in its tracks. She was so excited. I told her keep the gun on it until we were sure it stayed down. We topped off the mag and I told her we would wait a bit and see if anything else came out. About 20 minutes later I heard something in the corn and here comes a buck maybe 25yds out. I told Bailey to turn around very slowly and shoot him as soon as he stopped cause he would smell us any second. About then his nose pops up and he stops and BANG! she dropped him like a ton a bricks! We top off the mag and watch him for a few minutes then unload and climb down. We tag them both. What a first day of deer hunting!
 
I think I enjoy watching them hunt more than hunting myself, and the look of pride on their faces when they realize we are eating food they brought to the table is irreplaceable. My kids are so blessed to hunt in a time and place with so many deer. I hunted for years before I shot my first deer(a buck and a doe on the same day). I think I was 18 or 19. My son has already got 6 or 7 and he is only 12. All of their shots were nice clean kills. I try to tell them they may not always have such great success, but I am not sure if they hear me.
 
I'll post some pics as soon as possible.

Saw this add in the paper for a 1917 Remington in 300 H&H. I paid $175 for it. A bit much I think, but it has potential. Shoulda checked on the price of ammo first though. Now I will have to reload. Anybody here shoot the 300 H&H? Pistol grip and comb have been added to the cut down military stock. The front sight "ears" have been ground off, but other than that the metal looks OK. No body drilled it full of holes anyway. Bought it mostly for a project, but I will probably at least try a few shots before tear it apart or stick it in the back of the safe. Serial number on action is 628712. Don't see any other numbers. Has an old Redhead recoil pad on it. I wish it could talk.

Bought my first AR15. Well actually just the lower receiver and a 30rnd mag for 7.62x39.  I don't have much use for .223, so figured this would be the best caliber for me in this platform. Looked at a couple of wildcats 6 and 6.5X45(223 necked up), but the cost was much more than I wanted to deal with for my first venture into this rifle. The lower is a mil spec by LMT made for Lauer Custom Weaponry here in Chippewa Falls, WI. Set me back all of $85 bucks and only an hour away(I was there for something else anyway). They charged me $16 for the mag. They weren't even open on Mon, but the owner said he was there working anyway and just call him from my cell when I hit the parking lot. Opened up for me and let me browse and talk for an hour. They are the manufacturers of Duracoat Firearm Finishes too and boy do they have some wild looking guns on display. Now I need to decide what "kit" to put on it. I am leaning toward a A3 upper with an m4 stock and a 16"carbine barrel. need to decide on chrome lined or not. Guy at LCW said it really isn't needed if you aren't going to shoot corrosive ammo or be in combat. Also can make it a bit less accurate I guess. The kit will run me $400-600 more depending on what I want and where I get it. I'll let you all see the work in progress.

Today I was listening to a radio station I don't normally listen to, and they aired the exact same program 3 times in a row! Would you just figure somebody screwed up or could it be just for you? An old military adage says, "Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action." In this case I think it could be "3 times is God in action", or "3 times is Erik too stubborn to hear it the first time."

Anybody out there ever harden steel for gun parts before? I really did some major work on the tumbler of an 1861 Springfield with a file and from the way it first was hard and then got easier I bet it was surface hardened. I have done some knife blades and chisels before by heating to a specific color and quenching in oil or water. Anything special to do with a gun part? And yes, I know what some are thinking, no one but a smith should mess with a trigger. :end:Too late. Besides, black powder triggers are pretty basic in design. Make sure everything is square, your full **** has full contact with the sear and your half **** has a good deep notch for it to sit in. Its pretty straight forward. I wasn't thinking and used a file instead of a welder. I should have filled the bottom of the full **** notch instead of filing down the top. :oops:Oh well, I got it perfect now, just needs hardening. All help is appreciated. And by the way, those "primitive" flat main springs are plenty strong enough to make a hammer bruise a thumb and crack a nail.:frown Just in case anyone was wondering.

I have been saving off and on for awhile and have amassed a decent amount of change and must spend it on something gun related before it gets used on a bill. Many questions to myself. Reloading equipment or another gun? Do I shoot enough to justify the reloader? Would I shoot more if I reloaded? Been looking at a couple different caliber AR15s, should I get one? Also a 1911 or another lever gun might be nice. If I go reloading gear, turret or progressive?  For handgun or rifle or both? (Won't get into colors here as I have just about seen blood spilled over that!) I will get a single press in addition to whatever other route I choose for a reloader, if I don't buy a gun. I guess what it boils down to is I want to get the best "bang" for my limited funds. What will bring me more pleasure in the long run? I have asked about this before, but I finally am going to have to "fish or cut bait."  Anybody care to give me a "push" off the edge either way? Of course I reserve the right to take all or none of your advice and go do something crazy anyway.

Any body out there know anything about these guns? I have one my bro wants to sell. Its in great shape. I saw one on action arms listed for $495, but no takers. Can get one new from midway for $680 if I remember right. Comes with hard case, 500 caps, a box or 2 of bullets, patches, powder flask and measure, jags and brushes, couple of quick loaders and a bore protector. We are going to shoot it tomorrow as it came to him from his father-in-law loaded. I might want to buy it or maybe sell it for him as he is headed to Panama for 6 months and needs the cash. Whats an average load for this rifle? Anyone know? Otherwise I'll keep it under 90gr w/round ball. That should be ok. Any help/advice would be appreciated.

In addition to the 2 does my son and I shot earlier. My family got 5 more deer during the regular rifle season. I shot a 2 1/2 year old buck by mistake. I thought he was older cause his spread was wider than his ears and heavy bases, but I should have looked at his body closer.  He didn't have that sway back, pot belly, and really bulging neck.  I also shot another small buck and doe to fill a co-workers tags(its legal in WI if they are in sight or hearing distance of you). To cap it off, tonight my son and I rushed out to a close stand with only an hour left of shooting light and he shot another doe and a fork horn.  He shot the doe at about 70yds destroying its heart and got the buck at 200 though the lungs and the off shoulder. Not bad shooting for a 11 year old kid. He has now taken 5 deer . Something I didn't do until I was 21.Of coarse I have been striving to make the shots as easy as possible for him as he gets used to hunting( mostly from blinds or tree stands with a solid rest). We also hunt in an area with more deer than where I hunted as a kid. I think I enjoy watching him shoot more than doing it myself. Next year its my daughters turn, if she shows the same interest. I'll try to post some pics later.

I have been reading and rereading a few books I have and this caught my eye today. Samuel Adams penned this in 1772 in his Rights of the Colonists.
 
"In short, it is the greatest absurdity to suppose it is in the power of one or any number of men at the entering into society to renounce their essential natural rights or the means of preserving those rights when the great end of civil government from the very nature of its institution is for the support, protection, and defense of those very rights, the principal of which, as is before observed, are life, liberty, and property. If men through fear, fraud, or mistake should in terms renounce and give up any essential natural right, the eternal law of reason and the great end of society would absolutely vacate such renunciation; the right of freedom being the gift of God Almighty, it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave."

 Italics added by me for emphasis. Wow, does anyone in the public spotlight think, write, or believe like this anymore?

Blue Marlin 1895 22"45-70 w/ Leupold VXIII 1.5-5. Quick detach mounts. Beautiful walnut. No barrel porting. On consignment for 8 bills. Lets see-$550 for the rifle, 400 for the scope, 50 for the mounts, 40 for the padded leather sling. About $1000 in it. Maybe I'll sell a kid and offer him 7. I'm gonna check a few other places first to see if this is a good deal.

The boy and I each shot a nice fat doe tonight. We have a 4 day doe season here through the weekend. Nice to get the does out of the way so I can concentrate on a buck during regular season.
 
 He hit his in the spine/top of the shoulder- wow what an explosive result. I shot mine quartering to me in the brisket and out the off side behind the liver via the heart. It still ran 60 yards. Derik found the bullet in my deer, just under the hide on the off side. That is a rarity.
 
They got quartered and are cooling in the fridge in the garage overnight and I'll chop them into more managable chunks tomorrow after work. Just been too warm to let them hang through the day.
 
Nice start to the season. Meat for the winter.

http://www.model1sales.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=212
 
The barrel in this kit is 1:9 twist rate. Any of you know how this will run with a 120 gr sp @2600FPS? JUST LOOKING at this right now. My kid wants one and I am not a fan of .223 for deer and the 7.62x39 has mag problems so unless I go with a larger gun (AR10)this or a similar cartridge will be it. Also am looking at the 300 Whisper and the 6.8SPC.