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Last Easter I fashioned a Cross out of a couple of 1 x 4's and hung a wreath on it, in our front yard. We have a large circular flower bed with a bird bath in the center of it. Last winter the B-bath bowl split in half. I put the cross where the bird bath was, in the center of the flower bed, for the Easter Holiday. After the holiday week I just left the cross in it's place. I am a Christian and not ashamed to let people know. Long story short, our 16 Y O grandson is struggling with the on line learning, because of Covid, from his high school. Our daughter has been looking for a Tudor, and found one last evening. The Tudor and my grandson came to our house last evening, and come to find out the Tudor is a new close by neighbor. They built over 100 homes on our road in the last 2 years. She told my wife she was wondering where we lived, after they talked, and her 10 year old girl told her it was the house with the Cross in the front yard. Little things can send a big message, if a 10 year old noticed a Christian cross in a yard. Nice to know God lets us know, in subtle ways, we might have done something right. That 10 year old knows we are a Christian family. I do love God, and Christ and thank Christ often for what He has done for all mankind.

I got the night off in Nashville. If anybody wants to come have a drink at the Bootleggers Inn on lower Broadway, I’m buying. I’ll be here until I’m not. Shoot me a text if any of y’all decide to get out of the house. 9015908837

Yes, I have. I shoot about 10,000 rounds of .40 a year in USPSA competition and load it for 12 cents/round. Making 400 rounds in an hour is worth the trouble to me. Saving money, tuning my load, and having what I need when I need it are why I reload.

And it's one, two, three, What are we masking for? Don't ask me, I don't give a damn, Next stop is Covidland; And it's five, six, seven, Open up the pearly gates, Well there ain't no time to wonder why, Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

Just start accumulating the items needed like a press, dies, powder, etc., as opportunities present themselves. I pick up components when I see them, whether I need them or not, as a "just in case" there is another shortage. I can load up rounds for every caliber I've got but not like I did a year ago. I think a bit more about the end goal/results a bit more now since components are harder to find, but I still go to the range 2x/week for the most part. Reloading is also something to do on rainy days during the summer, or those crappy winter days when you don't want/need to get out, you have something do if you so desire.

Well no ones more trustworthy than a politician. Of any stripe... Worst case scenario is to be frugal and when this passes....and it will, take advantage of all those guys who want to get rid of their loading stuff. And let me add you can't beat a Rock chucker. They always go for cheap after a Crises. I've got 3. Lol

"Say It ain't so Joe!" "Yes, kid, I'm afraid it is," Well, I'd never have thought it." I didn’t forget Obama, and I’ve stayed in pretty good shape. I just didn’t have any reason to buy these calibers. I just never had a reason to reload, but the winds they are a changing. But from what I'm seeing on reloading components; that might not be much of an answer either. Just kicking the idea around. I think you may be right. I don’t think this will clear up as quick as the Obama non-sense did, but I hope I am wrong. Obama pretended to not want to violate the 2nd amendment, even though that’s exactly what he wanted to do. Biden makes no bones about it; he is crystal clear. Now it seems they think they may be able to take the Senate and have full control. As long as the state of Tennessee sticks we us; we may make it though this. If the state turns on us; anything can happen.

Let me be an ass and say again...did you forget Obama?. I understand if you don't want to reload. But if that's the case you have to horde some serious ammo. The next 4 years might be challenging. Good luck.

OCD aside, I reload because its an enjoyable respite for me (in addition to the other reasons). I put some tunes on in the workshop area, clear the clutter from my reloading bench, and start sizing brass... its theraputic like any mindless repetitive task. I have a single-stage RCBS Dolomite gave me a while back, works great! Maybe after a few hours work I can point to a couple hundred rounds. Not really cost effective (errr.. wasn't last year). If I've got nothing going on a Friday night, or my Saturday plans outside are rained out/delayed, I've been known to enjoy a beverage or two while running the first 2 dies. I stay sober for charging and seating bullets, but the first 2 pulls are pretty brainless (on a single stage). The biggest of all the reasons I got myself setup for reloading was the last time politics made ammo pricey and hard to find. There may come a day we're casting lead boolits from scavenged tire weights and making homemade gunpowder (yes, Gordon's got a recipe and loads figured, but you prolly knew that already! LOL!) I find self reliance gives me a warm fuzzy feeling all over. Its not a bad extension to this hobby. I wouldn't get into it for savings (whats the ROI on your budgeted press and consumables, assuming you can even get them?) Someone once told me its not about saving money on shooting, rather getting to shoot more for the same amount of money.

Reading this will probably be the highlight of my day.

Dave, you have waited to long.

A cameo appearance being put in by a DLB ( @Grand Torino) trench knife.

I think we've all been had. I've decided I'll spend my money on ammo instead of questionable lobbyist...

You know I'm done convincing folks reloading is a good thing. Don't do it. It's bad for your health and dangerous. You might blow something up. Now to order supplies.....

Let me add that all the Interstate routes suck these days...

I went through Bristol las year. I’ve made several trips to North Carolina, but holy crap! I didn’t realize there was so much Northern Tennessee east of Knoxville! It seemed like that stretch of interstate was longer than driving all the way through Virginia.

I’m happy knowing I can load 38 Specials with crushed walnut hills for our next carpenter bee safari out in the barn.

Nice offer, but you’re gonna have to come north a ways to get me outta the house. I hope you enjoy Nashville. Cut a hole in your mask big enough for a longneck.

Have one for me. Hopefully I can catch you the next time you are in town.

I've been an NRA Life Member for 40 years or so, but in the past few years I've really come to question the organization. As other here have stated, it's long past time for WLP to go. The thing that bothers me most, I think, is that the NRA magazine hasn't addressed the controversy except in a purely defensive way. The new president wrote a puff piece about how great LaPierre is, and how evil the NYC AG is, but not a word to address the real issue of spending huge money on trips, clothes, and "interns". I like the NRA, and want it to be hugely successful, but the salary and perqs that go to WLP are entirely out of hand.

Reefermac came up with the word I've been looking for for years. I put some tunes on in the workshop area, clear the clutter from my reloading bench, and start sizing brass... its therapeutic like any mindless repetitive task. After a bad day at work, and after the three S's, I head for the loading room and pound out a few hundred rounds, Works great both for my nerves and for the ammo cabinet.

I just poured 3 fingers of bourbon in your honor. Have a good evening.

Agreed. Nice not to be dependent on wally, eh?

Awesome offer

I don’t save money...I just get to shoot more.

Although I will say that you can save money if you don't count your labor. Another trick is to get a comprehensive load book. You'd be surprised how many powders you can use.

Great post. Thanks for sharing.

You don't reload to save money. You reload so you can shoot more. Sadly, reloading components pricing and availability usually follows pricing and availability of loaded ammunition.

Dave, Check out DecoyPro gun socks. I found them to be of good quality and can easily accommodate an AR w/scope or an AR-type MKA shotgun w/carry handle without tugging or struggling. just Google and check’em out ....... usually could be had for around $10-$11 which included shipping

Yeah, a family member texted me and wanted to know where I ordered my guns from. I told him, but said most don’t have anything. He texted me yesterday, he bought a Bushmaster AR with a low cost optic and 500 rounds of quality brass case ammo for $500. So there are still deals to be had.

Ha, ha, ha… I know. I did not think this election would end the way it has. It’ll return to normal; I’ll just have to wait. I’m pretty much good on most calibers; just added two new ones at the wrong time.

I started loading back in '87 because I wanted to shoot more and still load some. Definitely now components are hard to come by. Looked for small pistol or small rifle primers lately? You can find good deals on used equipment sometimes.

Reloading components are already in short supply. I started reloading some years ago not because of price or cost savings, but because I didnt want to have to worry about ammo shortages due to politics anymore. You dont have to have a several thousand dollar setup to reload - you can get quality equipment for much less, and there are many opportunities to satisfy any OCD you might have in the process of measuring case length, working up loads, getting dies set up, etc. If you want to start, assuming you can find the components you need, read up- you'll need some reloading manuals, from Hornady, Lyman, Sierra, etc. I like to cross reference from more than one source. Also check out the book "The ABCs of Reloading".

That's why I never sit up front. On another note, the theatrics they used are a bit much.

They did catch his earlier. But they also credit his diet with some of his ability to survive. He also had the best doctors in the world (including a stint in Memphis for a transplant).

Back when I was looking for a belt feed, I thought the RPD was my best option with the mint Polish kits running under $300 at Sarco and DSA semi receivers for $350. Pretty much a no brainer there. Only thing I hated was the way these were being built with a sliding hammer made up FCG. That brain fart system is about as far from mil spec as you can imagine, so I figured out how to fab in a HK G3 lower with a HK91 FCG that slips into the G3 frame and is removable. With a heavy finned SS barrel and M2 bipod it weighs in at about 20 lbs but shoots nice. A couple guys wanted to do conversions like this so I spec'ed out all the work and put it here. Maybe not a everyone project but food for thought for belt fed fabricators. https://www.weaponsguild.com/forum/index.php?topic=69139.0

For ammo storage, this works quite well ...

In general terms, I do not expect the current retail climate to change much at all for the remainder of the year. The whole thing is rather complicated and multi-faceted. Ammunition: This is equal parts a supply issue, a demand issue and retailers taking advantage of the situation. Primers are in short supply, so there is already a constraint on availability at the component level. This naturally causes prices to increase at a wholesale level. Completed ammunition is increasingly in shorter supply, but I know for an absolute fact that you can still buy 9mm FMJ from the wholesale channel for around 22-cents per round because I recently brokered the sale of approximately 52,000 rounds of 9mm and 5.56 NATO ammunition for a small group of individuals. I could go on an absolute tear about this but I am going to refrain for now. Retailers who are charging exorbitant sums for 9mm FMJ should be taken note of and remembered when this settles. One caliber that I can attest to being much more expensive today than it was in February, at wholesale and retail pricing, is 300 Blackout. The price on that shiz is nuts. If you have it, I'd be sitting on it and not shooting it unless I had to right now. Black Rifle Parts: Whole, mass-produced AR-15 pattern rifles are still easy to come by thanks to the absolute glut of them that were produced over the last 10 years. Pricing on them hasn't changed a whole lot. Boutique rifles and component parts are a different story, and those go hand in hand anyway. I don't see this changing until after the election and maybe even beyond that. Supply needs to catch up to the demand. Manufacturers like Aero Precision, Bravo Company Machine, Rosco Manufacturing, Ballistic Advantage, Midwest Gun Works, etc. are all still releasing product albeit in small batches that get cleaned out almost immediately. You can thank social media for that. As soon as barrels, uppers, lowers, handguards, etc. hit these manufacturer's web stores or the web stores of the retail channel, it gets posted by the likes of MrGunsNGear on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. or it makes the headlines on Reddit and major national forums. People are cleaning-out supply as soon as it hits. And while I guess that's nice if it means that there are more armed citizens exercising their Second Amendment rights than ever ( aka "a rising tide raises all ships") there is a pessimistic side of me that thinks there are a lot of parts that will never be used sitting in personal caches. I hope I am wrong. Handguns: You can still buy pretty much any handgun you want right now, but in some cases you may have to wait a few weeks to find the exact variation you are searching for. Also, this is legitimately the only time that I can remember wherein Glocks were seriously selling for MSRP. Nine or ten months ago, at the very most, you could buy a new Gen 5 Glock 19 for $525. These days you're probably going to pay closer to $600 and you might have to wait while your local retailer orders it for you from Lipseys, RSR, Sports South, etc. I blame this entirely on the number of people who are buying handguns to protect themselves for the first time ever because of the current political and social climate and social turmoil. I hope that those people (a.) get training, (b.) own them responsibly, and (c.) keep them beyond 2021 and become advocates for the 2A now that they understand why it matters. I am obviously glazing over other areas of the gun industry right now, but these are the things most people are noticing the effects of and maybe wondering what the hell is driving it all. The ammunition and shortage of AR parts are the things that annoy me the most, presently, for the reasons I mentioned.

I sold off all the evil black rifles and pistols I had left after the boating accident and I have the lack of documentation to prove it.

I suspect they would have to call in the Navy Seals to recover all those guns from all the boating accidents that would surely follow.

Hell yeah! Especially NFA at the Federal level.

A repeal of all of them would be a start.

If I leave Bristol now....

Thanks buddy...now I've got the "I feel like I'm fixin' to die rag" stuck in my head!

If your looking for more nutsacks shoot me a PM I'd be will to sell 3 "new in the wrapper" woodland camo with starter tabs and around 2-3k worth of LC links used once.. Linking is not so bad, I run a sweat shop, you want food, I want linked ammo..

Hahahahaha. As if this is even a real question. If that’s unclear I’ll give you a hint. When the NRA calls me and asks for money or “Direction for the next year, please pick one of these four options”, I tell them I will gladly support them and donate to them when they become a pro-gun organization again. That really confuses them and the caller typically asks “What?”.