Vistar

Can anyone order from CMP or are there club restrictions? Looks like their auctions are open to everyone (collecting donations to bid on an M1 carbine).

Checked Academy in Knoxville on Saturday. Cheapest 9mm available was 23.99 for 50 rnds. Zero 22 in stock.

Thanks for the Preditor Custom recommendation. I'll try them when the adjustable rear comes in. For this project, vised the slide between wood blocks and tapped in the new #10 rear sight with short piece of wooden dowel and plastic mallet. A little gun grease with the aluminum shim worked well and resulted in a very firm fit that can still be adjusted with the dowel and hammer tap. I should have done this in the beginning. I had considered using a mylar strip. Glad I didn't go that route due to potential heat on the slide. The TAC folks mentioned the slide looked like it had seen some use. Yep, about 2,000 rnds over the last 6 months. The slide does get hot.

TAC has now taken over and is working on bringing in their inventory, store graphics and what not. Store and range are closed Sunday - Monday Oct 21. Tried to have rear sight mounted on a Sig P226 on Saturday, but apparently Sig sent the wrong part. I paid the basic bench fee ($35 + tax) and brought home the slide minus a mounted sight. Gunsmith wouldn't shim it (can't blame him) so I will with narrow strip of thin aluminum cut from bottom of disposable baking pan. This was not a good test of TAC due to unusual circumstances.

Having seen 67 contradicting reviews of CCA on Google (averaging 2.7 in satisfaction) I've been hesitant to try their smithing services. Now's their chance. I have a new rear sight to be mounted on a Sig P226 slide and TAC (Tactical Advantage Corp. - new name for CCA) is apparently the only game in town (best I can tell) with a Sig sight tool that's required for proper alignment. I understand the minimum bench fee is $35 and I guess that's okay as the sight tool from Sig is around $200 and certainly not worth the investment. I'll report back with results. Also, if anyone knows of a proven gunsmith in the Knoxville / Oak Ridge / Athens triangle with the Sig sight mounting and adjustment tool, please let me know. I have two other Sig sights on order.

Now, let's address the topic title. The 22 in home for self-defense may seem like a good idea, but you may want to scale up to a cartridge that's a little more reliable. My FTF rate with 22's is all over the place depending on ammo manufacturer and powder load. Even the best don't always go bang. That said, I have yet to have a 9mm FTF or stovepipe, not that they will be perfect. If my home defense depended on one weapon, it would be a maintained 12 ga pump with plenty of wing shooting break in time.

Thanks. I'll call the Knoxville store and see if they have shelf stock.

I started using CCI shorts (Quiet / Low Velocity) in a Ruger 10/22 loading one round on top of a partially filled magazine with traditional LRs below. This aligned cartridge so slide bolt would load shell on release. Ejecting spent round is manual. This was my backporch tree rat control for about a year. Then Midway started selling the same CCI low noise, low velocity round in a LR size. This has been much easier to handle using the same method with only quiet LRs in magazine so manual second or third shoot was possible. In the Ruger, the CCI "quiet" shorts and longs are pretty deadly on tree rats to about 50 feet. Both shorts and LRs still show up from time to time, but now they cost ridiculous money. I've just started experimenting with the quiet LRs in a 22 x-change barrel on my Sig 226. This is not so quiet and requires IDPA-type setup through open kitchen window and firing indoors from over the sink to avoid disturbing close neighbors. Don't worry, I'm in the county. Biggest worry is wifey who isn't real keen on gunsmoke flavored coffee.

I have two old pump 22s and one is chambered for 22 Longs (good luck finding) and the other eats shorts. They are old guns and I haven't fired either since I was a little kid. That said, I have a couple boxes of Remington shorts lying around and figured I shoot them up in a bolt action using an indoor bullet trap (usually use CCI LR low velocity quiets). I figured the shorts would be like the CCI's - pretty quiet and not have much velocity. Wrongo. Those little shells are full of hot pepper. They go bang like the big boys and there was a bit of lead splatter coming back out of the trap. I'll keep the remainder with that old pump for the grandkids. My guess is that whatever powder they put in the shorts has a lot more energy than the stuff they load in full-size rounds. (The Remington boxes go back to the early 70's - w/o indication of powder weight or velocity. Box says range of up to a mile - that's now outdated.)

Thanks for the reminder to check Freedom. FreedomMunitions delivers 500 rnds, with 5% sale offer ending tomorrow, to Loudon for $0.27 per rnd. That's a nickle a rnd under battlebagammo. I've shot Freedom's reloads and they cycle and go bang fine. I'll grab 500 more from them. Re reloading, I don't think for one sec that I'm as consistent as a commercial reloader. I've had some go thud and others go really loud bang, and some I guess I forgot to charge at all. I've quit doing reloads. Heck, I can't even brew a decent batch of beer. Freedom and BattleBag must trade on their reputation. Just one "thud" and they'd be crucified on the boards and blogs.

Just ordered from battlebagammo.com 400 (4 bags of 100 rnds) rnds of 9mm remanufactured for $100 plus $31.12 in shipping. I think this is unbelievable. Put it on my AmEx card and if it doesn't come through, I'll let the plastic company deal with it. Anyone else purchased from these folks? I have no issue with loose ammo. Many firing ranges bring it in the same way. Note, I started at 300 rounds and saw a ship charge of about $29 and thought it was a deal breaker. I added another 100 rnds and the add-on shipping was less than $3.

August 26 - Sept 9  = Two weeks on the nose.

A similar turn of the table took place in Knoxville in 2011. Bottom line, don't take a pellet gun to rob a biker bar. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/apr/08/alleged-robber-subdued-wrapped-duct-tape/

I have not been able to get a reply from Jeff. Is there another supplier of followers and/or kits to expand Sig 22LR magazine capacity? Customer comments on the Sigpower website suggest there are problems with Sigpower fulfilling orders - not a metter of when, but fulfilling at all. The online order system remains disabled.

We discovered a wolf spider resting on a lamp shade. My wife thought it was a plastic "gag" spider. I wouldn't do that. I am not friendly with spiders - plastic or real. I scored a perfect 10 on it with a stream of wasp spray. It ran around the bathroom for several minutes before expiring. In hindsight, I should have used a shotshell. The wasp spray killed the lamp anyway.

Just shipped a 6 pound ammo box to Calif and it ran $19 with UPS, so it is a matter of weight x distance. I try to watch shipping charges in advance. MidwayUSA seems to be about average. Palmetto is low and Cheaper than Dirt is real high. Buying in TN is great, except for the sales tax. I figure shipping into cost and try to hold the line at $20 / hundred for high velocity 22LR and $19 for 50 9mm lugar... landed total - total.

50 Rounds fired and no issues whatsoever with cycling or firing. I've seen cleaner brass, but they seem to work fine.  A score on the paper is a score on the paper. No one sees the shine of the brass.

I like to support local business and came across Eagles Soaring Re-manufactured 9mm 115 gr FMJ in local gunshop. TN tax stamp is there and it's made in Greenback, TN. Looking forward to your comments. If there are none, I'll buy a box and cycle it through the P226 and let you know how it shoots. ($18.50 for 50 rnds) I've been shooting Freedom Munitions 115 gr reloads and after about 400 rounds, finally had an FTE today. Had to manually pull the spent round out of the barrel. It didn't sound like a light load. I suspect rim was a little off. However, no visable defect.

IANAL -- Think of a patent as a hunting license. If you have the money to enforce it (buy the legal support) it could be of some value. If you cannot enforce it, it is like having the hunting licnese without a gun or ammo. Be aware as implied above, having a patent doesn't make an item any more or less marketable. If an item involves a unique process or technology that would be key to manufacturing your product, or other similar products, having and enforcing a patent might be worthwhile to protect your invention from competitors. What you describe sounds more like a design issue. There are design patents, but they are often difficult to enforce. You might consider making and selling some prototypes, documenting the sale and shipping date, and then, if your design is first-of-its-kind and not similar to other designs, you would have some protection by common law. Saving the documentation establishes "first use" so that if someone copies your idea, you can still go hunting to protect your intellecual property. That said, be sure to do your homework. Make sure a similar design is not already being sold. If you copy someone else's idea, whether intentional or not intentional, you can become the rabbit rather than the hunter.

I've been in Tellico Village (Loudon County) for 9 years and in Knoxville for 38 years prior. I also travel heavily and can make the run to Nashville airport in less than 2.5 hrs drive time with an hour time zone change playing to my benefit. The property costs and tax structure make the Nashville drive easy to justify. For business trips, I use Knoxville and Allegiant provides cheaper than Southwest non-stop access to Orlando, St Pete (Tampa), Ft Myers and Ft Lauderdale (they do not fly to all cities every day, but it seems to work out). Oak Ridge Sportsman Assn is a great facility and there are a half-dozen other shooting clubs in the area. Tellico Village is 45 minutes drive from Knoxville, Oak Ridge, and Athens has 3 golf courses, lakefront (navigatable to anywhere in the world if you have the time and fuel dollars) and is near the foothills of the Smoky Mtns. Neighbors are from all over the country. Nice folks. Lots of gunowners.

Re HP rifle range, Oak Ridge Sportsman Association is set up for less than 50 cal. http://www.orsaonline.org/ifacilities.asp?id=2 (look for property in northwest Loudon County - near's plenty available).

This brings up an interesting issue. I've had two experiences with deer being injured by the roadside and one trapped skunk that needed to be put down. Figured deputies would take care of that because TWRA hasn't the manpower. One was called into Knox County and two to Loudon County and all brought the exact same response - almost word for word- from dispatch. "You're in the county. Don't you have a gun?" In all cases, the animals were in developed areas with plenty of homes nearby. When explained, the response was, "Well, be careful." In the case of the skunk, instructions were more specific. "You'll need to shoot it between the eyes and be at least 40 ft away. That's how far they can getcha." I declined euthanizing the skunk because 1) I'm not that sure of my marksmanship 2) It was entangled in wire mesh right by my back porch. My question is - how would TWRA view this? Even for mercy purposes, I don't think non LEOs can go around putting down wild game - even if it is legal to discharge the firearm.

Laughing here. Now the clock is ticking on Osage County. They promised to ship w/ expedited delivery Friday. Then today advised tracking will come this afternoon. No tracking so far. I am beginning to wonder if a P226 22LR with E2 grip (to go with 9mm conversion kit) even exists. I'm ready when they are. BTW - this all started because I found a 9mm conversion kit, NIB on eBay from an individual in Calif. who hated the Calif. stupid warning engraved on the slide top and did a catch and release without a shot fired. It is engraved "loaded when up." That was fine by me as it also came with night sights and was a heck of a deal for something that essentially can't be found anywhere. That item was shipped across the country and was in my mailbox within 72 hrs of order. I am eager for an E2 frame to mount it and I will have one of the great values of the year..

Update -- Brant with FF contacted me and advised he had a household accident and missed about a week of work. Orders dropped into crack while he was out. In the end, because of lack of communication, I cancelled order and purchased from another dealer. Communication. Communication. Communication. Most people would give a dealer a few more days if they were told what was going on.

Office of the US Postal Inspector also has swat teams. They train at the Bolger Center in Potomac. MD  https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/radDocs/pubs/06anrept.htm I met some of the instructors at lunch there and asked about how it works when a number of agencies are working on the same case. Who gets to kick down the door? Reply was, "Sometimes it doesn't work very well." The US is a unique country. If one group of LEOs develops a SWAT team, all the other LEO's push until they get one too. I don't think it's as much about becoming an armed state as a public feeding trough. There seems to be no end to what the government will spend. SWAT postal inspectors are an example of how crazy it is getting. I can't think of any case when postal inspectors would ever need to act independently to dispatch snipers and a flash-bang squad. Let the flames begin. I'm sure there's a SWAT postal inspector out there who can provide a valid rationale for this insanity. Employing biochemists would make 100,000 % more sense.