Quote :

"was there a larger problem? I like the blazer but I'd hate to shoot it if it's unsafe."

i had been consistently receiving defective 9mm rounds (to date the 40 s&w have all been perfect). i purchased them in garner, a few stores in raleigh, cary, etc... and each box had at least 2 major defective rounds, plus others that looked really bad.

i emailed CCI about it and they were not surprised, but they were not down with giving refunds, just replacing suspect product with more of the same. so i took my problem to wal-mart and got the managers involved. at first they were reluctant, but i made it a liability issue and that got their attention.

i have purchased many rounds of both winchester and blazer brass. winchester uses 1st quality components and skimps on the powder/primer. blazer brass skimps on bullet and casing, as their powder is great and burns clean.

you have to inspect each round of blazer brass. otherwise you're liable to have a bullet jam in the barrel or something worse. i'm glad i paid attention.

[Edited on May 1, 2008 at 11:34 AM. Reason : i may seem like a debbie downer, but i refuse to pay for someone elses mistakes.]

5/1/2008 11:31:24 AM

remington UMC in 9mm has worked out for me recently. but then again ive had brass blazer, UMC, and winchester work fine.

5/1/2008 12:12:22 PM

isn't there a show this weekend or something at the fair grounds?

(and this is a n00b question as i have limited understanding of the laws about it) but i assume you need some sort of permit to obtain a rifle? or is that not true?

[Edited on May 1, 2008 at 12:37 PM. Reason : s]

5/1/2008 12:34:28 PM

negative.

have to have a permit or CCP to purchase handgun in NC.

5/1/2008 12:55:35 PM

yup, like ^ said..

but they will probably still run a background check on you.

5/1/2008 12:58:48 PM

Quote :

"i had been consistently receiving defective 9mm rounds (to date the 40 s&w have all been perfect). i purchased them in garner, a few stores in raleigh, cary, etc... and each box had at least 2 major defective rounds, plus others that looked really bad."

What exactly was the problem?

I personally don't shoot Blazer or Blazer Brass in my 9mm. Mostly because it's not cheaper than Win white box and I already have tons of Win brass and just want to be consistent when reloading.

^^^Yeah, there's a gun show this weekend. I'll be buying a Del-ton AR kit.
Like the others have said, you don't need any kind of permit to buy a long gun, but the dealer will check the NICS when you buy one.
You can skip the NICS by providing a pistol purchase permit...but that's kinda silly to do because of the pain in the ass it is to get a pistol purchasing permit in the first place.
If you offer a pistol buying permit to buy a long gun then the dealer will probably think something's fishy and would want to check the NICS anyway.

5/1/2008 1:17:34 PM

Those of you with Remington 870 based tactical shotguns, what barrel did you use when you put it together?

5/1/2008 4:20:53 PM

so....since they were out of some parts that i wanted for my ar build from delton (m4 profile carbine) i went with the 16" midlength rifle with the chromed heavy barrel, yhm 4 rail ff handguard, 6 position m4 stock.


i'm hoping to pick up a lower from the gun show this sat. at a decent price. will probably pick up 1k of 9mm and 1k of 5.56 as well. what does everyone else plan on buying?

5/1/2008 6:23:34 PM

Other than the Del-ton AR kit, I don't plan on buying anything...because I'm gonna be broke.

Hopefully my brother in law's brother will hook me up with some mags.

5/1/2008 11:54:26 PM

i'll be there looking for an AK variant. what kind of lower priced 7.62 AKs usually show up at the gun show?

5/2/2008 9:19:21 AM

^the best you can do at this point is going to be a Romanian "G" kit build. DPH Arms usually has several to choose from and is usually the best source for them. He has a big yellow sign at his booth.

Classic Arms may have several of them also. They are usually set up on the east wall of the Graham building.

5/2/2008 9:40:22 AM

gonna swing in there on Sunday in hopes of picking up a mossberg 500 tactical cruiser or maybe the 500 tactical

we'll see

[Edited on May 2, 2008 at 10:00 AM. Reason : ]

5/2/2008 9:56:14 AM

Quote :

"^the best you can do at this point is going to be a Romanian "G" kit build. DPH Arms usually has several to choose from and is usually the best source for them. He has a big yellow sign at his booth. Classic Arms may have several of them also. They are usually set up on the east wall of the Graham building."

How much do they sell for these days? any chance they'd sell out on saturday? i was planning on going sunday in the hopes of getting a better deal

Quote :

"gonna swing in there on Sunday in hopes of picking up a mossberg 500 tactical cruiser or maybe the 500 tactical"

check out jims guns. i got my 500 from there for $300. (18" barrel, 5+1 i think, telescoping stock, heat shield, strap on the foregrip). he sells the cruiser for $250

5/2/2008 10:27:39 AM

somebody buy this .22 from Ammoman (.com)

its only $1,100

5/2/2008 1:38:51 PM

^^You can probably find one either day. You'll probably find them for around $400.

Oh, and skip the $330 (also Romanian) WASR-10's also. These are imported as single-stack magazine AKs and then have the mag well carved out with a dremel tool to accept the normal capacity double stack mags. Often the result is a less than stellar mag-to-gun fit. You can identify them on account of them not having the oval-shaped "dimples" on the sides of the receiver above the mag well like all other AKs have. Plus they say "WASR-10" on the side of the receiver in sloppy electro-pencil lettering. Pay a few more bucks and get the "G" build gun, assembled with real Romanian mil-spec parts on a USA made receiver. It's a better built gun and will have more desireability factor in the future should you ever decide to sell it.
Either of the aforementioned dealers will know what you're talking about when you ask for a Romanian "G" or "civil guard" AK.
Other good (but slightly more expensive) choices include:
-Yugoslavian M70. Century built most of these, and they're great rifles. Only drawback is a non-chromeed bore, but this is not an issue if you only use non-corrosive ammo. You're probably looking in the range of $475 out the door for one of these.
-Used Romanian SAR-1. This looks very similar to the WASR, but has dimples in the receiver and says "SAR-1" on the side of the receiver in the same sloppy electro-pencil. Good solid guns that are appreciating in value and haven't been imported since 2003. Getting rather scarce these days and prices have climbed toward $450 or higher. Anything less than $400 on one of these is considered a screaming deal these days. These were sold everywhere for $300-ish in the first 3 years of this decade.

There is an absolutely bewildering variety of AK variants out there, do your homework before you purchase and you'll be fine. If you need to know more, the link below is a good start. It's several years old and some of the prices and such listed are outdated, but it is a good guide to learn what is what.
http://www.gunsnet.net/Linx310/



Good luck and go ahead and get 4 or so extra mags and 1000 rounds of ammo. If you do this right you're looking at around $600 for everything.



[Edited on May 2, 2008 at 1:54 PM. Reason : /]

5/2/2008 1:44:33 PM

thanks for the info

what about the mak-90s? my buddy has one and it seems nice to me? i thought they were also pretty inexpensive<1--

[Edited on May 2, 2008 at 1:51 PM. Reason : -->

5/2/2008 1:51:26 PM

^MAK-90s are good rifles. Last imported in 1993. Sold new back then for as little as $250, now they generaly command $450+.

5/2/2008 1:56:06 PM

What are the best products and technique to polish stainless steel guns?

5/4/2008 1:08:52 AM

gun show was mehhh...

but i did get 50 9m rounds for $13.00



btw...THEY PUT TIE STRAPS AROUND ME BICEPS.

i dont know why.

5/4/2008 1:14:56 AM

^^I've heard of people using Flitz polish.

5/4/2008 2:32:55 AM

Quote :

"What exactly was the problem?"

the bullets were inserted at an angle.

bullet setback.

on a less important note - bullets that were not smooth (dimpled) and cases that looked dull and almost corroded.

5/4/2008 9:11:51 AM

how easy is it to put a pistol grip on a saiga?

5/4/2008 1:12:16 PM

the show was ok saw a good bit of shiz going for over retail,

picked up 1k of 9mm ammo, a lower for teh AR, a few magazines, and a utg case (couldnt pass up $29 on that one)

now i have to try not to spend money for a while so my bank account can recover

5/4/2008 11:30:55 PM

^^^Irregular shaped or deformed bullets and imperfect brass is no big deal unless you're shooting long distance.
But, bullet setback in a factory loaded cartridge is baaaad...
I have found a couple 45s once that had very minor setback. One corner of the box was smashed...it was obviously a problem with handling at the store or during shipping.
Ammo companies don't seem too worried until something actually breaks.


I got my Del-ton AR-15 kit yesterday at the gun show.
se7entythree and I shot it today.
It was a lot of fun
I got the 16" midlength flattop with detachable carry handle. I like it a whole lot. The only thing keeping me from loving it is the HBAR. The extra weight makes it balance too muzzle heavy.
They don't offer a gov profile midlength. I'm gonna see if a friend can turn it down on a lathe and if he can't then I'm gonna see how much it'll cost for the local smith to do it.
If it's 50 bucks or so then I'm gonna get it done.

5/5/2008 1:06:26 AM

Quote :

"how easy is it to put a pistol grip on a saiga?"

I just got all the parts from Tapco in the mail, and I plan on doing the conversion on mine maybe next weekend or the one after. I'll let you know how it goes when I'm done. Total parts cost with shipping came to just a bit over 100 bucks.
It doesn't seem hard at all if you have the tools to drill out and file down everything you need to - check out the Youtube series that one of the Saiga forum members did to document the whole project.

Quote :

"but i did get 50 9m rounds for $13.00"

I went to wally world today back home in Roxboro and picked up a 50 box of Win 9mm for 9 bucks and change. They had the 100 box for just 18. I needed to break in the new Taurus PT111 I bought yesterday at the show.

5/5/2008 1:36:21 AM

Quote :

"I just got all the parts from Tapco in the mail, and I plan on doing the conversion on mine maybe next weekend or the one after. I'll let you know how it goes when I'm done. Total parts cost with shipping came to just a bit over 100 bucks. It doesn't seem hard at all if you have the tools to drill out and file down everything you need to - check out the Youtube series that one of the Saiga forum members did to document the whole project."

ahh ok thats what i figured. i was trying to cheap out on an AK, but I can get a saiga (with 30round clip) for $300, and then the upgrade is $100...while I can just get an ak variant for $400 and be done with it. guess i might as well do the latter. thx for the info

5/5/2008 8:57:43 AM

Quote :

"I went to wally world today back home in Roxboro and picked up a 50 box of Win 9mm for 9 bucks and change. They had the 100 box for just 18. I needed to break in the new Taurus PT111 I bought yesterday at the show."

well it was for a friend. but good to know

5/5/2008 4:56:06 PM

I put a full Tapco kit on a friends Mini 14. Decent quality stuff and went together pretty straight forward.

5/5/2008 9:29:29 PM

well along the lines of guns... what about safes? brands, things to look for, things to avoid? I looked at a couple this weekend at the show, want to use it more for storing important items like paperwork, jewelry, etc. But will also use to store guns in any time we are not home (as in vacations where transporting isn't advised like airlines or cruises) or there are children in the home (which is next to never).

Looked at some liberty line safes, Talton's had some good prices and they're right up the road so I think me and a few buddies could handle getting it up the steps and into the house. Also looked at some safes from Drake's out of Roxboro, they're a little bit more $$$ but pretty much a full custom job.

and go...

5/5/2008 11:35:20 PM

I don't know much about safes, but I hear the ones Costco and Sam's carry are good deals.

A few important things to remember:
-For best fire resistance, you should put the safe on an outside wall. This minimizes the heat that surrounds a safe during a fire.
-Bolt it down.
-Leave as little space around the sides as possible. The door is the strongest part of a safe. You defeat a safe by smashing the crap out of the sides (weaker than the door) with a maul or sledge hammer and taking the contents out through the hole you made. Less space = less room to swing something at it.

Also, the material used to make the fire resistant is type X gypsum/drywall. If you wanna buy a larger safe that isn't rated as high for fire resistance then I hear you can line the interior with type X drywall.

[Edited on May 5, 2008 at 11:51 PM. Reason : ]

5/5/2008 11:47:41 PM

As far as safes go, there are several things to look for. The number one thing is a "UL" sticker in the doorjamb. If it has this, and the rest of it checks out well and it has the fire rating you need, you're probably ok. Remember, any safe can be cracked by a skilled and/or determined thief, all it takes is time and perhaps a bunch of noise. What a safe buys you is an extra level of security due to the often substantial amount of time and effort required to crack one, which usually isn't worth the average burglar's time.
I've seen safes at numerous outdoor and gun shows that may have "China fire safety institute" or something like that certification inside the doorjamb. If you see anything like this, walk away, no matter what the guy hawking them tries to tell you. Safes are not the thing to skimp on and buy some cheap Chinese shit. Insist on the UL rating every time.

Liberty products are usually pretty good stuff. FWIW, Perry's Gun Shop is the place to buy a Liberty Safe here around Raleigh. Everyone else who carries them, buys them from Perry's.
Stack-On's Elite line is pretty good as well. Dick's Sporting Goods carries these.
Drake Safe Co. out of Roxboro is very nice stuff, but a bit more expensive than some of the others. As mentioned, many are built to order, not spec.

Everything else mentioned about bolting one to the floor (most have provisions for this), placing it in a tight space, and near an outside wall is pretty much spot on.

5/6/2008 10:48:59 AM

Whats your budget on a safe?

Do you just want a fire rating or a burglary/fire rating?

5/6/2008 7:42:39 PM

Taltons safe down 401 has a lot of nice new and used ones. they are a liberty dealer, and the warranty and service that come with a liberty make it a screaming deal. Drake safes are buck as hell, but costly to match.

5/6/2008 8:02:07 PM

Always check that a safe has a U.L. Group 2 lock or better. The three dependable lock manufacturers are LaGard, Sargent & Greenleaf, and Kaba Mas. The last thing you want are your most valued items locked in a safe with a malfunctioning lock.

It is important that the safe has a minimum of a ½” thick solid steel door (beware if the safe manufacturer doesn’t state solid steel or lists ‘composite’ as this can be anything from sheet metal wrapped around wood to sheet metal and drywall) and a ¼” thick solid steel body. Steel is expensive and many manufactures cut costs by making their safes with thin sheet metal.

Consider convenience: if you don’t make the safe convenient you are less likely to use it. Adding an electronic lock can make opening the safe quick and easy, as well as enabling the user to easily reset the combination when needed (without the aid of a locksmith.)

All safes should have relockers to help ensure the safe remains locked in the case of a burglary. Relockers are hardened pins that are triggered, in a variety of ways during an attack, and cannot be retracted without hours of drilling. The number of relockers on a safe will range from 2-10+ depending on the size and burglary grade of the safe.

If the safe is going to be placed above ground floor, the safe’s weight should be keep below 1000 lbs. Many floors will hold considerably more, but should be inspected prior to safe installation.

When selecting a burglary rating (B, C, TL-15, or TL-30) keep in mind that adding the fire composite not only adds fire protection, but also greatly increases the burglary protection of the safe. This is due to the addition of a concrete composite material used for the fire insulation in both the walls and the door of the safe.

Added fire protection can be obtained for extremely sensitive items (film negatives, computer media, etc.) by placing the items in a fire box within the safe.

5/6/2008 11:07:19 PM

Quote :

"Whats your budget on a safe? "

$1000 ish

Quote :

"Do you just want a fire rating or a burglary/fire rating?"

I'm not as concerned with the burglary rating as I am with the fire rating. Like I said it's mainly for the valuable stuff and important documents, etc. And when we're not here keeping the guns in a spot that is safe from the dogsitter or family or whatever if we're out of town. I have looked at some fireboxes as well as a place to keep the tape of our property, and back up hard drive and stuff like that in.

Quote :

"f the safe is going to be placed above ground floor"

we have a ranch, so no problems there

Quote :

"Taltons safe down 401"

or up 401 in my case

I have heard Perry's has an annual safe sale... any truth to this rumor?

Thanks for the info everybody

5/7/2008 9:20:24 AM

Perry's usually has an annual safe sale right before Christmas.

5/7/2008 9:59:25 AM

since I haven't gotten any answers yet:

Quote :

"Those of you with Remington 870 based tactical shotguns, what barrel did you use when you put it together?"

5/7/2008 1:18:42 PM

I have a normal 870 Express, so I don't have direct input...

But most of the ones I've seen people with have the factory 18" improved cylinder or cylinder with bead front sight.
There are also quite a few with the 20" improved cylinder with bead.

If I was gonna build one I'd get the 18" improved cylinder with bead sight.
Then I'd knock off the front bead base and put on a Scattergun Technologies or XS ghost ring set.
I don't like rifle sights. They'd be good for hunting with slugs, but ghost rings are much faster.
You can probably buy a barrel with the ST or XS front sight already mounted.

I like ghost ring sights
I put the front sight on myself. All you do is get high temp silver solder.

You can save a few bucks on a barrel if you buy it from Mossberg. They make 870 barrels too. But, the Rem barrel will have few machining marks in the bore.

[Edited on May 7, 2008 at 3:10 PM. Reason : My short barreled shotgun is a Mossberg 500]

5/7/2008 3:09:31 PM

that is what I was looking for, thanks.

5/8/2008 8:46:42 PM

Well, I decided that one gun this month wasn't enough. Once Uncle Sam sent me that "Stimulus" check, I decided that it was time to support the 2nd Amendment again.

Picked up my first AR tonight.

RRA M4 upper w/ 1:9 twist chromemoly bbl
Superior Arms lower
RRA 2 stage trigger
OD Magpul furniture
Couple of GI mags (filled with ammo as a nice bonus)
windage/elevation adjustable rear sight.

Pic with the Kimber I picked up last weekend:


[Edited on May 9, 2008 at 10:01 PM. Reason : code oops]

5/9/2008 10:01:00 PM

RE: 870 barrels Use the barrel that came with it, if its too long send it and $50 to Mike Olrlen and get it threaded for tubes.

5/11/2008 9:35:07 PM

And have him solder on a front sight for a ghost ring set

Does that $50 include any tubes?

5/12/2008 1:46:58 AM

no. But I can order any of them at cost from Brownells. threading is $35 if you are a member of shotgunworld.com I have a few to send out shortly.

5/12/2008 6:58:08 PM

ISO Magpul 93B stock. new is better than used.



oooooo yeah for a 9mm AR

5/13/2008 1:08:04 AM

niiiice


what would you guys recommend for a good .22lr rifle? (yeah yeah, it's only really for plinking on the cheap (ammo wise))

[Edited on May 14, 2008 at 11:29 AM. Reason : not the rifle]

5/14/2008 11:29:43 AM

A price range would help. I've got a Marlin bolt action that I've used to take innumerable squirrels and slaughter entire ore deposits of aluminum cans. I paid $110 for it when I got it. But I've also shot $Texas target .22s that could make a .23" hole 50' away.

5/14/2008 11:54:47 AM

What do you want to do with it? Blast a lot of ammo or shoot small groups?

Ruger 10/22s are fun semiautos with a huge aftermarket following.
They'll shoot about 1-1.5" at 50 yards, less than half an inch at 50 yards with mods.
$175-200 new

If you have an AR-15 then get a 22LR upper for it. They'll be $300-400

If you want a bolt action that will shoot 0.5-0.75" at 50 yds then pick one of the cheap Savage or Marlin bolt actions. You can't really go wrong with either brand. The heavy barrel models will shoot smaller groups more consistently.
$160-240 new

se7entythree has a Winchester Wildcat bolt action. It's a fun gun. The machining is a little better than the other brands and the bolt is chrome so it's easy to clean. The only things I don't like are the small sights and the stock is a little small.
~$200 new

You can always get a really nice one built like a centerfire. Look at Kimbers, Anschutz, etc
$texas new

5/14/2008 12:01:26 PM

im actually not sure entirely, i would guess accuracy then fun/price...

5/14/2008 1:21:15 PM

Ruger 10/22

5/14/2008 1:24:51 PM

Quote :

"what would you guys recommend for a good .22lr rifle? (yeah yeah, it's only really for plinking on the cheap (ammo wise))"

If you're just looking for a basic cheap plinker, then a Marlin Model 60 is hard to beat. $60-$90 in most pawn shops, used in good condition. I have many rimfire weapons but the little Marlin 60 is still one of my very favorites.

5/14/2008 2:55:44 PM