http://www.leupold.com/hunting-and-shooting/products/scopes/vx-3-riflescopes/vx-3-4-5-14x50mm-long-range/

it's got a "side focus parallax adjustment". parallax is when your crosshair and your target appear on different optical planes. if your eye isn't perfectly centered on the scope, you get parallax throwing you off. parallax is what screws you up looking at the speedometer from the passenger seat...it might look like the needle is reading higher than what you're actually traveling because the needle and the graduations are on different planes and you're not looking at them straight-on, but the driver is. anyway, the vast majority of scopes do not have a way to adjust the parallax. most scopes are set for zero parallax at 100 yds. most scopes intended for rimfires at set for zero parallax at 50 yds. you can usually send a scope to the factory to have the zero parallax distance adjusted. a lot of folks do this so they can use high-end centerfire scopes for 50 yd rimfire competitions and such. there are 2 types of scopes with adjustable parallax. adjustable objective and side focus. adjustable objective has a ring similar to the magnification adjustment ring on the muzzle end (objective) of the scope. usually it has marks for where you should set it for various ranges. side focus has a little adjustable knob sticking off the left side like in the pic at that link. you simply look through the scope and turn the knob until both the target and the crosshair are in focus. you can also move your eye around a little and if the crosshair doesn't move on the target, your parallax is set for that range.

2/5/2012 10:39:39 PM

That is pretty cool, so basically you can have your scope set up for longer range and still be able to hit shorter range stuff without much adjustment?

2/5/2012 10:42:56 PM

you just have to look through the scope and turn the knob til it looks good

try your scopes out at various ranges. you'll find that at some ranges the crosshair is clear and the target is blurry and at other ranges the target is clear, but the crosshair is blurry. you can get rid of some of this with the eyepiece focus, but the side focus and AO will put them right on the same optical plane. it's certainly not necessary, but it's a cool luxury to have. i like them on guns where i need small practical accuracy at widely varying ranges. i've got an AO on my 22 WMR and on one of my 22LRs.

[Edited on February 5, 2012 at 10:57 PM. Reason : you also have to know your zero and your drop. drop's easy if you use the MPBR method]

2/5/2012 10:56:39 PM

Thanks for the information, I really appreciate the explanation.

2/5/2012 11:05:10 PM

no problem

2/5/2012 11:08:15 PM

I just want to rant here for a moment (TWW is not a blog and all that aside).

I had a guy on CSF message me a couple weekends ago about buying a gun I have for sale, and says he will get one of his family members that lives in my area to come meet me and buy it. I don't hear anything for a couple of days, so I message him back and he assures me that he definitely wants to buy and to please not sell it out from under him like someone did with something else he was recently going to buy.

I tell him that I'll hold on to it since he seems pretty adamant about getting it, and that he can meet me the following weekend if his family member doesn't get a chance to meet me during the week. Over the course of the next couple days, I have two offers to come get it asap, and another guy offering a little bit less than asking price. Original guy says he's still definitely interested and that he'll get it from me while he's in town visiting his family this weekend. I told the other interested folks that they would get next "dibs", but it was essentially SPF following that exchange. The next day one of the others told me that he had found something else in the meantime, and the other came back and said that he was only in town for the day on business, so they were both out now.

I'm still betting on this guy being as serious as he sounds, so I call him up and arrange to meet this morning. He asks me to bring along the other gun I have for sale, so so I drive out to meet him. We pull up and he whips out this big-ass blue book of guns, flips through a bunch of stuff and basically tries to assert his "dealer cred" about all the people he's talked down using his book, and I have a feeling I know what's coming. He doesn't actually have any data in his book for the guns I brought to sell, and ends up chatting me up for about 20-30 minutes about how he's gotten all these great deals from people that were hard up for cash and sold him guns because they were in a bind. I'm in no particular hurry to sell anything, and I've stated as much by this point. He tells me how great he thinks the condition is and how everything functions just right, how my price seems pretty fair, then proceeds to offer me roughly half of what I'm asking and outright refuses to accept any reasonable counteroffer I made.

At this point he tells me "Well if you have any other offers, don't wait on me, go ahead and take them, but I'll be back around here in a couple weeks. If they haven't sold by then, I'll be glad to buy them, but for nowhere near what you're asking". I'm pretty pissed at this point because I'd blown off two opportunities to sell this gun because this jackass practically begged me to sell it to him. I was a little more shocked than anything because I'd never had anyone actually pull this stunt with a gun sale, so I just respectfully declined and said I'd gladly be keeping them for what he was offering.

At this point I felt like I had been talking to a used car salesman, with him assuring me that he believed in karma and giving people a fair price, while bragging about how great of a wheel-and-dealer he was. I left and kept my opinions on the whole thing to myself, but I've never had anyone do something so blatantly rude and deceptive, so I'm not even sure what I would have said.

Anyway, that's the whole deal - it just kinda pissed me off because I've come to trust most "gun people" as fairly honest and respectful folks, and it's always worked out that way in my experiences up until now. At least have the courtesy not to drag things out for a week and a half only to lowball the hell out of someone after you know full well they've turned down other buyers for you. It's really not cool, and only makes things more annoying for everyone else involved.

Okay, rant off. I just needed to get that out there because it's had me pissed off all day. Moral of the story: don't be a douchebag.

[Edited on February 5, 2012 at 11:26 PM. Reason : .]

2/5/2012 11:24:16 PM

call him out in the feedback thread on there. those folks take that shit seriously.

2/5/2012 11:36:24 PM

^ This. Also send any and all documented messages (ie: pm's, emails, etc) to the appropriate moderator for full review.

2/5/2012 11:52:03 PM

majority of CSF is retarded white trash anyway

2/6/2012 12:07:28 AM

sounds like you handled it as well as you possibly could have.

hope you didnt drive too far-

2/6/2012 6:24:38 AM

I didn't go that far out of my way, it's just that I turned down two opportunities to sell it because of him. I might be inclined to report it and make some kind of a deal about it if I felt he had done something wrong or outright deceptive, but after some more thought, I just see this as somewhere between acting in bad form and simply being a douchebag.

I don't think I'll have any problem selling it, it's just really damn annoying that someone would waste my time like that.

2/6/2012 8:51:33 AM

I would call him out on CSF as well.
Once you make an agreement, you don't haggle at the meet.

2/6/2012 9:26:54 AM

yeah, you don't get someone to hold something for you and then expect them to come off the price.

2/6/2012 9:28:26 AM

I would be pretty pissed too, what a douche. Definitely call him out on CSF, that is just ridiculous.

2/6/2012 9:38:55 AM

OK, I need some clarification here. I applied for my concealed carry back in December. I thought I'd call the Wake County Sheriff today and just inquire about the status of the application, since my instructor told me that it'd be 45 days for processing. The person with whom I spoke on the phone said that it didn't work that way at all - that instead it was 45 days from the time in which my background check was processed and that the complete process was more like 90+ days. That seems rather misleading to me. Has anyone else had this experience? I was really hoping to have the permit by now, but I am probably being a little too optimistic for government work...

2/6/2012 12:31:27 PM

^you get in on that livingsocial deal as well? lol

2/6/2012 12:57:17 PM

^^The law changed in December, and now they have 45 days to complete everything. Look into HB650 for the specifics (which I can't remember).

Also, I thought this should be posted here, given some of the recent discussions here:
http://www.news-record.com/content/2012/02/04/article/neighbors_asking_why_after_slayings

2/6/2012 1:32:31 PM

The change is actually somewhat detrimental. The prior wording was that within 90 days of you turning in the paperwork, they had to issue an approval or denial. Period. Now they have 45 days from the time you turn in your paperwork AND the background check comes back. There is no limitation on how long the SBI can take for that check.

I think the intention was to prevent a situation where the background check didn't come back for some reason and the sheriff would be statutorily forced to issue a permit to someone that hadn't necessarily passed the check. Whether the resulting wait period based on the SBI was intentional or not, I don't know, but given that wording, there is no longer anything to prevent an indefinite holdup on the background check from keeping you waiting forever.

Here is the wording and changes from HB 650:

Quote :

"SECTION 17. G.S. 14-415.15 reads as rewritten: "§ 14-415.15. Issuance or denial of permit. (a) Except as permitted under subsection (b) of this section, within 9045 days after receipt of the items listed in G.S. 14-415.13 from an applicant, and receipt of the required records concerning the mental health or capacity of the applicant, the sheriff shall either issue or deny the permit. The sheriff may conduct any investigation necessary to determine the qualification or competency of the person applying for the permit, including record checks. (b) Upon presentment to the sheriff of the items required under G.S. 14-415.13 (a)(1), (2), and (3), the sheriff may issue a temporary permit for a period not to exceed 9045 days to a person who the sheriff reasonably believes is in an emergency situation that may constitute a risk of safety to the person, the person's family or property. The applicant may submit proof of a protective order issued under G.S. 50B-3 for the protection of the applicant as evidence of an emergency situation. The temporary permit may not be renewed and may be revoked by the sheriff without a hearing. (c) A person's application for a permit shall be denied only if the applicant fails to qualify under the criteria listed in this Article. If the sheriff denies the application for a permit, the sheriff shall, within 90 45 days, notify the applicant in writing, stating the grounds for denial. An applicant may appeal the denial, revocation, or nonrenewal of a permit by petitioning a district court judge of the district in which the application was filed. The determination by the court, on appeal, shall be upon the facts, the law, and the reasonableness of the sheriff's refusal. The determination by the court shall be final." "

2/6/2012 2:37:34 PM

once again, law abiding citizens are shat upon



in other news, i called up Midway about the range bag that went on sale for half off the day after i bought it. i didn't have to push any numbers to get ahold of a human and the CS rep was extremely helpful. he hooked me up with store credit for the difference. it's sad that such excellent service is so rare, but i'm happy nonetheless.

2/6/2012 3:02:11 PM

^love midwayusa

+1

2/6/2012 3:09:27 PM

^^^ Wow, damn. The instructor told us that the law had changed to 45 days, but he didn't mention anything about the length of time that the SBI would be conducting the background check. He was confident that we'd have the permit in hand within the 45 day period provided we passed the check. This is disheartening. I keep going to the mailbox every day in anticipation.

[Edited on February 6, 2012 at 3:13 PM. Reason : ^]

2/6/2012 3:13:13 PM

Quote :

"in other news, i called up Midway about the range bag that went on sale for half off the day after i bought it. i didn't have to push any numbers to get ahold of a human and the CS rep was extremely helpful. he hooked me up with store credit for the difference. it's sad that such excellent service is so rare, but i'm happy nonetheless."

Midway is great.
I ordered a bunch of dies. They sent me two sets of 38 Spl and didn't send me a different caliber I ordered. I called them and told them I didn't want to pay to ship the wrong ones back because it wasn't my error. They said no big deal, keep them because they didn't want to waste money getting them back either.
I sold the extra set.

They aren't the cheapest but most of their prices are good, the website is way easier to use than any other site, and customer service is great.

2/7/2012 11:04:58 AM

i put a YoDave shim/spring kit in my CZ 455 American last night. i had to use the biggest shim, but now it has just a tiny bit of pre-travel and is lightened up to about perfect for me. i put 40 or 50 rounds down the pipe this evening and my groups were a lot better. at 50 yds, i had a few around half an inch and one that was probably under 3/8" except for one flyer that took it over 1/2". anyway, it looks very promising. i've got a Utica adjustable torque screwdriver off ebay on the way. i feel like finding the right ammo and the right torques for the action screws will get me repeatably under 1/2". still haven't ruled out pillar bedding, but i probably need a better bench, a solid benchrest sort of front rest, and a better rear bag to get the full potential out of the rifle. the wire spool, bipod, and walmart rear bag ain't cutting it anymore.

[Edited on February 7, 2012 at 6:19 PM. Reason : dasf]

2/7/2012 6:18:24 PM

http://deadspin.com/5883203/this-looks-like-a-fortified-snipers-nest-at-the-super-bowl

make and model?

2/7/2012 8:53:20 PM

I wondered the same thing myself and poked around online. It appears to be a XM2010 ESR.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XM2010_Enhanced_Sniper_Rifle

2/8/2012 8:01:01 AM

In other news, I finished a project to restore a 1943 Long Branch Enfield No4. Mk1*.

I started out with a pretty well-used sporter conversion that I got from Amkeener a few weeks ago.

Here is how it started out


First thing I did was to find and order the parts I would need. I didn't really need a new buttstock, but I got a complete, new set for $80, so I figured why not replace it too. I also needed the front barrel bands, screws, and a sling swivel. The rear sight was a Mk 2 design 300/600m flip aperture sight, so I also replaced that with the Mk 3 milled micrometer-adjustable sight.

Here is the new hardware and a handful of stripper clips:


Here is the rifle alongside the new, unfinished furniture:




Finishing the furniture was simply a matter of applying 8 or 10 hand-rubbed coats of Boiled Linseed Oil. I did use a little bit of stain to try and match the foreend to the handguards, which you will notice are very different. It took about a week and a half, but once it was all stained and oiled appropriately, everything was fitted to the receiver.

Here is the finished product of about two weeks of daily work:

2/8/2012 8:13:54 AM

Just overheard one of the dumbest conversations I've ever heard. Two coworkers talking about getting firearms (pistol, maybe shotgun). One guy just agreed as the other spoke. The guy speaking said things to the effect of:

1) I don't know why people carry; I won't carry. You know, people carry guns because they may get into a situation where there need a gun; but if you carry a gun your chances of getting into a situation where you need a gun increase hundreds of times.

2) What's the point of having a gun for self protection? That's just a dumb argument. I mean, if a guy breaks into your house with a gun, you won't have 5 minutes to run to your bedroom, unlock the safe, and take off the trigger guard. Self protection arguments are just stupid.


WHAT?!?!?

2/8/2012 8:44:45 AM

^^nice looking enfield? where did you get the rear sight?

^lol

2/8/2012 9:21:01 AM

^^^ Nice work on the Enfield! I realize that the WW2 bolt actions were common as hell right after the war, and why they sporterized them at the time, but man it makes me sad to see the (now rare) bolts butchered like that heh. Looks way better in the original form!

^^ lol @ trigger locks on inside a safe...

2/8/2012 9:29:22 AM

lol at home defense firearms in a safe

2/8/2012 9:38:49 AM

Thanks guys. I've always had a particular attachment to the WW2-era Enfield rifles since my dad had a few of them when I was growing up. I got this one for a good price since it was hacked up and tried to keep the replacement parts within a fairly reasonable budget so I didn't end up spending much more than a comparable complete one.

The Mk2 sight that came on it may or may not have been original. I researched it, and to the best of my knowledge, the Long Branch rifles of that era would have been issued with the Mk3 milled micro-sight, so I grabbed one on eBay for $45. Those things are surprisingly difficult to find. Most vendors don't have them, and the few that do are selling them for $40 or more plus totally unreasonable shipping and handling. The one it had didn't bother me, but I figured that if I was going for an authentic look, I might as well give some attention to the details.

2/8/2012 10:37:46 AM

mine has a sporter stock, mk3 no1.

love that gun. love cordite ammo too-

2/8/2012 10:56:15 AM

Any recommendations for gun safes? I don't need anything huge; capacity for a half-dozen long-guns would probably do it, although really I'd probably like it to hold 10-15+. Also, a biometric lock would be nice, where it'll just scan my hand or something rather than needing to punch or dial in a code.

I see plenty of hand-scan pistol lock-boxes, but I'm having trouble finding larger floor safes.

[Edited on February 8, 2012 at 11:09 PM. Reason : ha, just scrolled up, funny that safes and locks were just being discussed]

2/8/2012 11:07:12 PM

i'll put in my usual plug for Drake Safe Co.

the DS-18 would be perfect for what you describe. check out the pics of his brochure in the "Drake Safe Co." folder in my gallery.

and i don't like the idea of a battery or anything electronic between me and my firearms.

[Edited on February 8, 2012 at 11:14 PM. Reason : sadf]

2/8/2012 11:10:38 PM

I don't even like the idea of locking them. I used to just unload them and put them on a high shelf in the closet when my daughter was around, but she's getting a little older and soon should be spending half of the time with me, so I need to come up with a solution for locking them up.

2/8/2012 11:29:25 PM

nice work on that enfield man

reading some of the comments on that superbowl sniper link....

Quote :

" So long as the clip isn't in the gun, fine by me. I've had a rifle go off without anyone being within a metre of it. Everything was set up properly, just a faulty round. Scary."

2/9/2012 12:30:29 AM

Duke...about your daughter...make sure to talk to her about guns, gun safety and how they are not toys. also see if she can pull the action/slide back on any automatic firearms. I get my son to do this every once in a while. his little fingers aren't strong enough to grip the slide and pull it back on my pistol to chamber a round, so I just keep it with a loaded mag but not one in the chamber.

2/9/2012 10:54:03 AM

might also be wise to actually take her shooting sometime if you havent already.

2/9/2012 12:47:41 PM

The sniper rifle picture from the super bowl is a Remington 700, XLR Industries chassis system, and product of Kyle Miller in CO.
Read this info in a news story.

2/9/2012 4:13:01 PM

They used a sniper rifle in the super bowl?

2/9/2012 4:24:16 PM

I participated in the reddit.com/r/guns "secret sniper" thing between Dec./Jan. My guy sent me a Galco Miami holster. Thing was sweet, but my S&W has a 6" barrel, not quite concealable. So I sent it back to Amazon and got a cleaning mat, a gun cloth, a spyderco tenacious and some other stuff.

A+ experience, would secretly snipe again.

2/9/2012 4:32:42 PM

2/9/2012 4:33:34 PM

Quote :

"Duke...about your daughter...make sure to talk to her about guns, gun safety and how they are not toys. also see if she can pull the action/slide back on any automatic firearms. I get my son to do this every once in a while. his little fingers aren't strong enough to grip the slide and pull it back on my pistol to chamber a round, so I just keep it with a loaded mag but not one in the chamber. "

Yeah, already have talked to her several times about it.

Haven't had her handling any guns, yet...I know that there's no way she's strong enough to chamber a round, anyway...she's only 5. I still am not willing to take a chance like that just on betting that she can't cycle the action.


I will certainly take her shooting when she gets a little older...not quite there yet.

2/9/2012 4:33:59 PM

Heck, my wife can't hardly chamber a round in my glock

2/9/2012 4:42:15 PM

oh nevermind.

i wouldnt let my 5 year old nephew in the same room as a gun.

2/9/2012 5:26:15 PM

is anyone interested in putting together a large order from http://www.hi-techammo.com ?

if you buy four 8 lb. containers of powder (you can mix and match) then you only have to pay shipping, they cover the hazmat. they have WC844 pulldown, which is the same as H335, for $85 per 8 lb jug. they have some other pulldown powders too. they also have good prices on primers and they cover the hazmat if you buy 30k.

2/9/2012 9:15:25 PM

Primers might be difficult to come up with free hazmat for, but I might as well get a jug of the H335 pulldown if you get enough interest. For primers, I'd look at Grafs's since they sell Tula products. They're way, way cheaper than CCI &c. - Tula's are like $80 a case, most others are $130-150. I would split the cost if someone wanted to order a few cases of primers from there.

[Edited on February 10, 2012 at 11:08 AM. Reason : .]

2/10/2012 11:07:46 AM

i might would go in on some small rifle tula primers and/or small pistol.

[Edited on February 10, 2012 at 11:20 AM. Reason : y'all just keep letting me know and if/when i have enough interest, i'll get something together]

2/10/2012 11:18:59 AM

^i could use a case of small pistol and rifle

2/10/2012 12:34:22 PM

noted

[Edited on February 10, 2012 at 12:56 PM. Reason : one or two more people on some pull down WC844/H335 and we can get a case.]

2/10/2012 12:52:00 PM