Gunmart wrote about the Charter Arms discussion. Go check out his opinion. I understand his opinion but I think one should save the $200 and save up for a Smith, Colt or Ruger that will not need to be sent to the manufacturer constantly. It’s sort of like when people have great luck with a Hi-Point. Maybe it works for you but you probably should have saved your money and bought something a little better. I have seen what goes wrong with these Charter Arms and why their brainless design goes wrong. A firearm purchase should be an investment. When I buy a firearm, I plan on having that firearm for a very very long time, quite possibly my entire life hopefully. I cringe at the idea of selling any of my guns.

The Gun Feed‘s mention caused Rob Pincus to follow me and mention me on Twitter:

@jesseingall THIS: “it’s more the having to push the safety down then firing”, from your latest blog earns you a legit mention. It’s 2013!

— Rob Pincus (@PincusRob) May 17, 2013

Thank you Gun Feed and thank you Rob Pincus for the mention and follow. Go follow those two on Twitter if you haven’t already. It’s always reassuring to see someone that knows what they are talking about agree with me. Rarely does that happen. That reminds me that I really should get some formal training sometime. It feels pretty cool to be on the same list as some of the best people in the industry. I wish I could one day live up to any of those people on that list of people from Gun Feed’s tweet!

Mmm bacon…

Here’s a nice video Armed Dynamics put out just recently that is related to appendix carry:

Soon I will post some pictures of our RPK build progress. It’s coming along slowly because we have about 5 other projects going on at the same time. I dropped my phone which caused the camera not to focus on anything so I couldn’t take pictures. Luckily I just got a replacement so pictures will resume.

Spoiler alert: Charter arms makes terrible firearms. So let me get this straight, you went from a Wilson Combat to a Charter Arms?! When I first started reading I thought the author was actually going to try to pass off the Charter Arms Undercover as a good gun. Occasionally I’ll read those articles where the author has nothing but great things to say about a product and literally can’t criticize anything about the product. Never trust those articles/reviews. It seems like we are constantly working on our Charter Arms. They are literally the silliest designed revolver ever. Ever.

I really like this new Mustang XSP but I wish Colt still made the Pony and then make the Pony with a polymer frame. If this happened I’d actually start thinking about buying one. Something about single action carry I don’t like. It’s not really the safety aspect of it that bothers me, it’s more the having to push the safety down then firing. I’m sure if I trained enough with the gun I’d get used to drawing and actuating the safety. Actuating, that was a big word, Jesse.

I try to carry a spare magazine as much as I can when I carry. This gentleman thinks it’s a necessity and backs his case up quite well actually. When I carry in NY, as many of you know, I can only carry 7 silly rounds. So I think it’s best to carry an extra as much as I can. So what if I read a blog meant for senior citizens? I have the lifestyle of a senior citizen and definitely the bed time of one.

I really want to be able to carry in the appendix position but I’ve never really found it that comfortable. I really wish it was comfortable because I feel it’s the ideal place for carry in my situation. Being around lots of people that are terrified of firearms. I feel appendix would allow me to keep control of the firearm at all times and keep an eye on it. Also it would be extremely easy to draw from this position. I have a PHLster skeleton holster that I like to use but I really don’t find it comfortable to carry appendix as much as I wish it would be. Carrying at the normal 4 o’clock, or whatever position that is, is fantastic with the PHLster. I’m curious how the Crossbreed Holster would be that they make for appendix carry. I know no one will answer my question if I were to ask one on my blog but I might as well put it out there. Has anyone ever used the Crossbreed appendix holster? If so, what do you think of it? I have a regular SuperTuk Deluxe crossbreed and a Theis and I love both of them. I wear the Theis quite a bit out of all of my holsters. Maybe I’ll just go with the Theis appendix holster (pictured below). I’d rather support a small business when the product is essentially same.

Hehe, Pew Research Center did a study about gun homicides. What’s that? I’m the only one immature that laughed at “Pew” (that sound that those cool silencer things make in movies) and they did a study about firearm homicides? Terrible joke, Jesse.

The jigs this guy comes up with are pretty impressive:

This jig above is for drilling the holes for the trunnions to be riveted on to the receiver. Yes, people make this jig but we don’t have time for one to be shipped. 

I drilled all the holes for the rear and front trunnions on the receivers and then riveted them all. Next we have to install the barrels and internals. We have some machining to do on the barrels for the pins of the rear sight base, gas block and front sight. What a pain.

If you ever get a chance to build a gun from the basic parts I’d highly suggest it. Maybe it’ll cost you more but it will be completely worth it and learn a ton. It was cheaper for us to build these but I learned so much from it. Can’t wait to build more RPK’s. More pictures to follow as we make quick progress on this build. Next step is drill the holes for the pin of the full auto trip then mill the slot in the inside of the receiver for the trip. Then press barrel in and headspace.

TTAG, why do I carry a flashlight and do I always carry it?

I carry a flashlight in my backpack everyday. The reason I carry it in my backpack is that I really only “use” it a few days out of the week when I’m walking at a sketchy time of day in an area where I pass about 15 homeless people and get pestered for money by at least four people on my walk. I’ve never really gotten into any “serious” trouble on this walk but there were definitely times when I was glad I had a knife and flashlight. I was about two seconds from pulling my knife to protect myself. I’ve talked to others who walk in that same area and they too are nervous walking through there at night and they are much bigger than me! But they wear suits so people may think they have money. Anyways, I think it’s good to have a flashlight with you even if its in your backpack. You never know when you’ll need it. I know, it being in my backpack is zero help for self defense. But the instant I feel like where I am isn’t that safe I’ll pull the flashlight out and keep it in my hand. Yes, my gut feeling isn’t always right and I should always be prepared for something but I don’t like carrying a light in my pocket all the time. I walk for about 15 minutes every morning and night and during the day I’m around every gun you could think of so I feel extremely safe during the day. And of course I carry a knife on me at all times but I really don’t want to use it. Oh, I carry a Streamlight ProTac 1L. I highly recommend it of course.

All this controversy about this 3D printed gun makes me smile. I hope it worries people. Brandon, you were right of course.

Gosh, this is the only gun that makes me want to compete:

A coworker is refinishing his Mosin Nagant and he is going to fire blue parts of the rifle! First thing is first, he has to get all that cosmoline out of the wood first. He set up heat lamps on top of the wood. Looks like he’s raising chicks. That’s what I always associate heat lamps with. Of course I’ll post pictures of the finished product.

That face….that was a good one ENDO.

I just realized I haven’t ever had a single malfunction with my Norinco SKS. Nor have I opened it and cleaned it in a while. I should probably take a peak inside of it soon. I really like the SKS even though it isn’t all that useful me. I wish I could make it a little more accurate and shorten the length of the barrel.

Maybe I’m missing something but I don’t see why carrying in a church is any different than carrying in public. I’ve been inside a church maybe 3 times in my life and try to keep that number as low as possible so maybe I am missing something. I just don’t see what all the fuss is about with carrying in a church.

Today I learned that you have to have a permit to play on tennis courts that are run by New York. In order to get this permit you need to go to a store called Paragon Sports. There are a few issues I have here. First, why can’t I just pay for this permit right at the courts? Instead I have to go to this store, that’s a 20 minutes from the courts I was at. Another issue I have is the state of New York has put the sales of these permits in a private store that isn’t run by New York. Why couldn’t the state put it in a state building? You have to go to this store and that will probably entice you to buy something like extra tennis balls from the store. I don’t think it’s right that the state can put the sales of these permits at this one store. Best part of this is that it costs $15 to play for an hour on some hard courts maintained by the state so you can imagine their condition.

I started using our CNC mill a lot lately with all these gun builds we are doing. I really want to learn how to create tool paths. Luckily I am enrolled in a great online school for just that and more! Oh and the everyday experience I get helps a lot. It’s always fun learning how to use the machine by yourself to build an RPD! All turned out well luckily.

Sorry, no range day pictures or gun pictures this weekend. No shooting went on all weekend. I didn’t even touch a single gun, weird I know. Although I did have a great weekend, one of the best in a while. I will leave you with these two pictures from a place called Freemans:

If you’re ever in NYC you should definitely go get a meal at Freemans.

This picture suits me well:

I like pirates (I want a pirate flag for our sail boat), I injured my left eye (stupidly) and I’m into firearms. My friend sent me that picture. He knows me all too well.

Recently I was in a friend’s car when we were pulled over by a state trooper. The trooper was very pleasant which was nice but he did something that worried me. He walked up to us and went past the window and turned to us, standing next to the driver’s side mirror. I’ve always been taught to walk up to cars and stop just behind the driver, in between the passenger and driver. this way you can watch the driver and passenger without exposing your body. Also if the driver pulls a weapon they would have to awkwardly turn around to get to you while seated. Ya I know, we were just two young kids driving in a car and probably looked like no threat at all but officers shouldn’t let their guard down. Not that I will pose a threat to an officer but others may. The second you let your guard down is when something bad will happen to you as an officer. It was a nice experience though, officer was really really nice. I’ve always had good experiences in the area we were pulled over in but that’s probably because I’ve ridden with a lot of officers there.

I’ve just started to realize how different the attitudes are of police departments when dealing with pistol permits. When dealing with my home police department they are the nicest people in the world, because they want you to have a concealed weapon. But another department, that doesn’t want you to have one (one that I won’t name but you can probably guess who they are if you know anything about me), will have the worst attitude with you if you have to interact with them. It just amazes me how different the departments are with pistol permit holders.

Thank you Gunmart, glad you appreciated that Magpul shenanigans.

I decided to fire blue all the screws on my grandfather’s .22 that I just finished. Really simple to fire blue but the problem is the bluing comes off pretty easily.

I have mentioned it before but I recently refinished a Mossberg 152K. The rifle belonged to my grandfather when he was a teenager. The rifle was found by my grandmother in one of their closets a short time ago. She immediately asked me if I’d refinish it for her. Of course I said yes.

When my grandmother first showed me the rifle I was surprised at how bad it was. The pitting on the barrel was pretty bad as well as the scratches and dings in the wood.

My plan was to re-finish the entire rifle. Wood stock and bluing. I first started with the wood stock. I sanded it completely until all the scratches and finish disappeared.

I then noticed the wood had all these little tiny “cracks” in it. It was just part of the wood. These “cracks” made the stock rough. In order to smooth it out, I added wood filler. Wood filler is a paste like material that you apply with a spackle knife. Then once you let the filler dry for 15 minutes you sand the entire rifle again with 220 grit sandpaper. Here’s what the wood filler looks like once it has been sanded. You can see all the cracks that have been filled with the wood filler:

I then sanded the wood with Rottenstone with these felt pads. Once I thought the wood was smooth enough I lightly coated the stock with linseed oil then wiped off the excess oil. And tada, you have a beautiful new stock for a rifle:

I’m extremely happy with how the stock turned out. I was quite particular about the look of the wood so it did take me a few tries to get it perfect.

Next was the worst part, refinishing the metal. In the first pictures of this post you can really see how bad the rust was on this rifle. When I began the sanding process I tried put a cleaning rod through the barrel. Tried is the key word. There was so much dirt and rust built up in the bore that I couldn’t get the cleaning rod through. I let some solvent break down the rust and then eventually I got the rod through. I sanded and polished the rifle:

What a difference a little sanding can do. A before and after shot of the end of the barrel:

Now that the rust and pitting is all gone, off to bluing.

I think it came out absolutely beautiful. I really surprised myself with this one. I knew I could refinish this rifle to look nice but wasn’t expected this quality. The only part I couldn’t fix was the rifling. The pitting is horrendous in the bore. I cleaned it quite a bit but there’s nothing you can do. A few pieces were missing from the rifle when I got it from my grandmother. The magazine and the little piece of the sight that you adjust for elevation. I think I’ve got a place that will have it. It was a ton of work but it’s all worth it knowing that my grandmother will really appreciate the work I did on her husband’s rifle from when he was younger. I can’t wait to show her the rifle.

I leave you with one comparison:

I even gave this post a title, just for you Gunmart hehe.

It’s a little late but I just have to mention this post that ENDO wrote about pressure cookers, “Crate & Barrel… those heartless bastards. *Added to boycot list*”. I literally couldn’t stop laughing when I read this post from him. So good.

With all this ammo shortage lately, I’ve been rethinking my plan for this deer season. I’ve got enough .308 for one person and maybe two. But I think what I’ll do this hunt with my 870 with a rifled barrel and put a red dot on it. I feel like last season was a little too easy with a 4-12x scope and .308. Please don’t take that as me bragging because I certainly am not. I didn’t get all that many deer during the season but hunting at night on the farm with our permits I got a bunch. Shooting one with ease at about 150 yards at night is a bit lame. Maybe I’ll buy a red dot and mount that on my shotgun. That’d be more of a challenge. I want Simon to be able to shoot as much .308 as he wants with his new rifle so I’ll leave him the ammo.

You may have read that I got rid of the magazine disconnect in my 22/45. Well I did it in a way that wasn’t all that reliable, sometimes it wouldn’t fire without magazine and sometimes it would. So I just made a bushing to take up the space that the magazine disconnect and its spring took up. Maybe you have no idea what I’m talking about. It’s nothing important.

Here you can see the bushing I made. It’s next to the hammer. It just takes the place of the magazine disconnect and the spring for it.

We finally finished assembling the Krinkovs and now we will be bluing the receivers. We kind of like the sand blasted look. We were just about to finish these and now we just got word we will be building a boat load more guns. Literally, a boat load. As in four Krinkovs are a warm up compared to the amount of guns we will be building.

This is what happens when we discover Magpul patches in my desk drawer. So much tactical.