hi-power's Blog

brought it home in basic blue, cost was $289 before tax. did a little informal testing at the trap range:

i hit the clays i aimed at, the others less so.
recoil was pretty vicious with buckshot and slugs, and a friend tried shooting one barrel with one extended hand; he definitely does not recommend it. he was using 2.75 target loads at the time.
but from the shoulder the target loads are nothing to complain about, though the plastic recoil pad will definitely be upgraded.
really fun to shoot from the hip.

a few details:
the barrels seem to get hotter than i'm used to with a shotgun, but it might just seem that way because you have touch the barrels when you break the action
also with the short barrel and the steel block receiver the balance is very far back, and when disassembled the receiver/stock feels like an anchor
one trigger is fairly heavy and the other is almost too light, this bothered me when i was examining it, but i didnt even notice at the range.
no ejectors, so you have to pluck the shells out. remains to be seen if the hulls will fall out if its up ended and broken vigorously, but i think not without some polishing.
the gun came with minimal packaging and no instruction manual, though it seems like that has to be an oversight
but in case they all come without manuals:
the serial number is inside the action, on the upper face of the receiver (this caused some confusion in the store)
if the gun is dry-fired immediately before or while the gun is disassembled, when the front stock goes back on, you will have to
force the cocking levers back as you do so. since you have no leverage this requires a fair bit of force. had me scratching my
head thinking something was wrong. long story short, cock it before you take it apart.

all in all, ridiculously fun gun
and it did smooth out pretty quickly with a little oil and everyone working the action as they eyed the new gun
a friends brother is planning on picking up the deluxe version, i'll let you know how that works out

sweet,
i just finished watching the series, stretched it out as long as i could. i cant believe there were only 14 episodes
(shakes fist at network executives and the TV viewing public in general)

one of my favorites, i actually managed to wear the dvd out.
i've been meaning to pick it up again for some time...

STI might, but think it is (or was) on one of their double stack frames.

a check to their site http://www.stiguns.com/ , shows nothing at this time, so it looks like a custom project

the real question is why would you want to do .357 sig, the 1911 is a large frame gun and there is a whole class of
.38 super/ 9x23 etc. cartridges that should launch the same bullets at similar or better velocities.

and .38 supers at least are readily available from the factory

http://pistolsmith.com/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=22637

a discussion on .357 sig in 1911's

the .22 conversion is a good idea, but more as something down the road, after a good holster or two, a few boxes of the various premium ammo to find what works for you and you're gun, magazines etc. Also the 1911 has the best and most plentiful .22 conversions, but if you look around a bit you can find 'em for a lot of the popular automatics.

regular dry fire training is also good if its structured and kept clearly separate from carry and any other times when the gun might be loaded.

a friend with a passion for the old timey was looking over one of those Norinco's at the local gun shack, gave him a nice deep scratch down his thumb. the man behind the counter nodded his head sagely, and displayed the huge 30 year old scar he got from an original.

i thought it was pretty funny

my pa is planning on picking one up whenever he makes it to the store with money in his wallet
basic blue, $289 i believe

anyone have any experience with them? it seemed a little rough and one of the triggers seemed heavy, but the sort of things that would wear in or polish up pretty easily.

the MIM debate is just the fact that us gun nuts like to complain about anything that takes a gun further away from being hand fitted out of hand forged parts by a single master craftsman

also, change, we don't like it, its from out of town and probably up to no good...

but in all seriousness i know three guys with Kimbers and they all love them. one did have a fairly serious factory part issue, but i believe Kimber offered to fix it, he did the repair work himself, but think that was just because he wanted to rather than a negative reflection on their customer service

also if you plan on heavy usage stainless steel is a better bet, that matte finish in the basic models can wear off pretty quick

i can usually dig up a few 10mm loads at the better gun stores, but its over $20 bucks a box for the 'cheap' stuff

this is why i reload...

not more reliable, probably more durable, but unless you plan on using it to split wood it shouldn't make much difference.
what i always hear from AK guys is the forged receivers are more accurate, heavier, stiffer etc. how much of a difference it makes i don't know. for the purposes i would put a Kalashnikov to, i wouldn't bother. but that depends on how important maximum potential accuracy is to you.

i hear good things about the Arsenal's, but for prices like that you might consider other options
there are a few small operation turning basic Saiga's into varying levels of fancy

http://www.krebscustom.com/, kinda pricey now that i actually look at the numbers

http://www.tromix.com/ , basic models starting at $900 it seems

FBMG apparently has something of the same sort on the works, but i don't know much about it. perhaps the Ogre knows some details?

it really puts my lack of gaming hardware into serious perspective

midway through the first scene, i had already decided my money was well spent. that is so rare and satisfying these days that the nitpicking seems too trivial to bother with.

except for the jokers stupid hair...

maybe they can get edward norton for the sequel and do a classic debonair joker with green hair

i'd definitely be in line for the sequel, and some of my closest friends are pretty anti-social, but you get the impression that he's burned no shortage of bridges in the industry

i really hope he gets it done, and even if it ends up being an independent, it should end up at a decent number of theaters, despite the lack of Agent Paul Smecker.

loved the show, was kind of hit or miss with catching the episodes, but i finally caught up with the first two seasons in February when i was couch ridden for a couple of weeks, loved it.

also the whole family, and several friends have gotten into Entourage, hilarious stuff.

the Wire may be the police drama to end them all, but the Baltimore slang keeps throwing me off...

and if anyone's into fantasy HBO optioned George Martins 'a song of ice and fire', so that may make it to airwaves at some point; the books themselves are also highly recommendable.

satellite TV, this must be why i cant get any reloading done...

i know a guy who can rock pretty hard with the ACOG, on a sniper rifle to boot. we pretty much all think hes crazy,
but i have seen him come out top of his team using the M40 and the ACOG, on Vacant no less.

for me that maps all about c4 and full auto, and getting fragged by martyrdom and nade spamming...

i think the reason the ACOG doesn't work for most people is that every map is short range/CQB, and scopes are really only useful for counter sniping (for me anyway). and since the standard scope is about 4-5X, so you can actually find non stationary targets at <200 yards, the magnification on the ACOG is also reduced, putting it into a place where its not quick enough for the red dot crowd, and not precise enough for the scoped crowd

a grown man should not be analyzing video games with this level of seriousness...

the movie was awesome, but take anything from troy duffy with a grain of salt

the documentary Overnight is essentially an 80 showcase of arrogant douchebaggery
it can be pretty funny if you can make it through the excruciating scenes

it didnt bother me too much, but i was probably reading a book at the same time and not paying too much attention to it, some guys i know cant enjoy Boondock Saints anymore after watching Overnight so serious fans should avoid it
its probably biased, Duffy did fire the guys, they were managers of his band or something i think. but a lot of it was almost impossible to take out of context, and they claim they cut his worst comments, bu whos to say what that means

its 330 and im rambling, my long winded point is this, unless hes going totally independent, i'd wait for a studio announcement because duffys talent for making a decent action flick is almost neck and neck with his talent for shooting himself in the foot

i wonder if all of those models are on the same 'frame', 'cause it'd be a whole lot sexier in 10mm.
but maybe if we're all good little boys and girls microtech will make it in 10mm and save me the trouble.

and fyi the IMI Timber Wolf, not so well made, at least not the one i saw. it seemed somewhat cheaply made and it gave me the impression it needed some time with a file to run as smoothly as id like.

saw a game play video the other day,
http://www.gamespot.com/video/918428/6194162/fallout-3-e3-2008-stage-show-demo-2

gotta love the mini nuke gun

being able to whip the sniper rifle out and switch to turn based seems a little cheap, but oh so delightful....

fan of both the elder scrolls games and the fallout series. i do worry a little bit that by trying to please the turn based isometric fanboys and the real time first person guys at the same time they might end up with a horrible mishmash that will please no one, but these doubts are very small. a more real concern is gameplay concessions for the consoles, but im a die hard PC man so i may be prejudiced...

even if it was just a morrowind/oblivion game with updated graphics and a fallout theme that would still be pretty awesome

in that price range I'd definitely want to take a look at certified used Sigs
the 226 is a great gun, recoil should feel pretty tame in 9mm, i have a friend who is very happy with it as a concealed carry piece, at least until that god-ugly rail adapter got put on...
though for concealed carry you might also want to look at the 229 and even the 239 though i don't think those are nearly as common used.

and while you browse the glass cases at your favorite Maison du Canon, if you see the frosted stainless finish of a 3rd generation smith and wesson... pick it up, give it a try...join us on the dark side...

I've been playing a lot of Fallout 2, that along with the original Diablo is all I've got on my laptop at the moment.
Starcraft is definitely getting installed whenever i find some time and I've been thinking about getting that Command & Conquer battle chest with all the old games.

speaking of the classics i just discovered last night that there is a port of the original Doom for the Xbox 360, with deathmatch and Coop, its a pretty sweet deal for the equivalent of five, six, dollars in Microsoft funny money
either they changed some things or i forgot one of the steps, cause i could not get the chainsaw on level 2...

for the truly old school: projector, laptop, ps2 controller adapter, NeoGeo emulator, Metal slug 2,4,5,X, puzzle bobble, weird Japanese game with flying robotic cat with fists of fury

arcade classics 'til 3 in the morning, thats how i spent my forth

I am definitely a lever guy, between my dad and i we have a .22, a .357, a .44, two 30-30's and a 45-70
you can get a lever gun for not too much and most don't find after market work necessary

but the 7.62x39 has some nice inherent advantages, a friend just bought 500 rounds of wolf HP for $110
which we then shot about 400rds split between his two AK's the only jams came from the 75 round drum magazine which wasn't wound up enough. I'm pretty sure my 30-30 could take that many rounds without a hitch, but I'm just as sure I'll never get caught up enough on my reloading to have 250+ rounds of 30-30 on hand.
with 7.62x39 its easy to live up the grandpappy's ideal of "having enough ammo to hold 'em off"
He was never clear about who 'they' were but I expect it was a sentiment influenced both by WWII and the moonshinin back hills of Kentucky

and now for some of that wild speculation that makes gun forums so great...even though it doesn't directly speak to the question posed...

If you're a reloader, you keep the 7.62x39, and get a .35 Remington to compliment it
its a substantial power increase over the 30-30, while being more reasonable than the 45-70 for use on deer and such. It has enough power for black bear and its traditional low profile experience should raise no eye-brows.
As a reloader the greater cost of factory becomes minor issue and the versatility of the .35 caliber becomes a great asset.

But maybe I'm just romanticizing it because I'm itching to add one to my collection...

http://leverguns.com/articles/paco/35remington.htm