Grayfox54

When I was still working for the city, part of my job was taking care of all our emergency generator sets. We have 16 units ranging from fairly small ones which might run a single building up to monster diesels to run water treatment plants. 24 to 48 hours is about right for run time on a fully fueled unit.  When Hurricane Elvis hit the memphis area back in 2003, all I did for anywhere from 10 to 16 hours a day was haul fuel to these generators and keep a check on them. This went on for over two weeks. This was only possible because our shop generator also ran the fuel pumps. Our biggest consern was that our fuel supplier was having an awful time trying to get fuel. Since we were government, we did get priority, but even then we came very close to running out several times. in fact. there were a couple of times where we were praying the units wouldn't run out before our next fuel delivery. But all of this would be a moot point in the event of an EMP as the control circuits in the gensets would be fried. They would never even start.

With any form of transportation, be it a working vehicle, bicycle or horse, you might as well put a huge target on your back. Everyone is going to want it and they'll be more than willing to kill you to get it.

I noticed that they didn't mention what bad shape our power grid is in. Our current grid is overloaded, seriously out dated and poorly maintained. There is real concern that something as simple as a large storm could cause a cascade failure which could take out large parts of the country.    In all the possible disaster scenarios, This one scares me the most. In a physical disaster, tornado, earthquake or even an attack of some sort, people tend to pull together to dig out, help each other and put things back together.  But if the power were to suddenly go out, no TV, radio or internet. No information.  Confusion would turn to fear. Fear would turn to panic as supplies started to dwindle. And then we would start turning on each other. Scares the hell outta me.

A few years back we had a couple of cops hanging around the shop while their vehicles were being serviced. We got to talking guns and such, Somehow the subject of guns in cars came up. They both told me that the vast majority of stolen gun reports they get were where a firearm was stolen out of a vehicle. I never leave a gun in a vehicle. I strongly suggest that you don't either. 

Lowpower, Sorry, but I didn't even notice the Federal 22s  at first as they were at the other end of the counter. They were the 500 round bulk packs. But I didn't check the price.   Prices I did notice: Remington Bucket o' Bullets $80 CCI Mini-Mag I believe it was 800 rds?  in a plastic ammo can $107 Both of these were going fast. Seems that most folks were more interested in large amounts as sales we're limited.   I had just over $51 on the gift cards so I went with Winchester 555 pack $30 333 pack $18 That works out to 0.06 per round which is about as good as it gets these days. After checking out I had a balance of $0.21 on my card.  ;)   If any of you in the memphis area are interested, I strongly suggest you get there soon. Like I said, they do have a large supply, but it was also going pretty quick.   The store is a very interesting place to visit once. But my fear is that most people will only go there once just to see it. Without repeat business, I don't see how it can survive.        

As many of you know, the new Bass Pro Shop located in the old Pyramid in downtown memphis opened this weekend.  The media and city have been pushing this full tilt treating it as the greatest thing to happen since Elvis.  Normally, you couldn't drag me to downtown memphis. There has never been a show, event, ball game, etc that I've ever considered worth that kind of hassle. I haven't been down there in at least 10 years or more.  However, things just sort of fell into place so that for this, so I figured oh, what the hell.  Not the least of which were that a friend had given me a Bass Pro gift card for my birthday and I'm a curious, retired old fart with nothing better to do.  :shrug: Being an early riser anyway, I figured I'd beat the traffic and get there before the doors opened. The store opens at 8:00 am, I got there at 7:15. To my surprise, there was already a long line at the door stretching out into the parking lot. BTW: today was the first day of actual business and they were giving free gift cards to the first 200 people. I just barely made the cut and got a $5 card. When the doors opened at 8:00, there must have been 300-400 people in line.    I must say the place is impressive. Its big, but not quite as big as I thought it would be. For some reason I thought the pyramid was bigger than it actually is. I will add that it is much bigger than your average sporting goods store.  The decor is basicly rustic swamp. This is one of the points the media has been focusing on in efforts to push the place as a tourist attraction. It really does make for a nice outdoorsey feel. I liked it. In the middle of the main floor there's a sort of large, 2 or 3 foot deep pond that branches off in several directions. There are bridges that cross it a various point so that you can get to other parts of the store. This pond is stocked with live fish and were interesting to watch. There is also a very large aquarium which takes up a sizable section of the back wall.  Scattered about the place are many scenes featuring an assortment of stuffed animals. Deer, bear, boar and a bunch of smaller critters decorate the entire store.  One of the things that tickled me was all the wide eyed city types Ooing and Ahing all this stuff like they're never seen a live fish or a real blade of grass before.  :shake: Now the media has been focusing on the decor of the place and promoting it as a tourist attraction. While it is interesting and nice to look at, the plain fact remains that this is a STORE. The decorations only make up 10 maybe 15% of the place. Everything else is shelves and racks of merchandise just like any other store. In that respect, the place is still impressive. Just about anything a hunter, fisherman, camper or outdoorsman could ever want can be found here. Although I think the prices are a little high. But if you want it, they got it. One of the things that also prompted me to go there today was I was hoping to use my birthday gift card to score some of the ever elusive and pricey .22 ammo. I figured that this opening was such a big deal that they would probably have some. I was right. They currently have a large supply and selection of .22 bulk packs from Winchester, CCI, Remington and Federal. Some brands very reasonably priced and others not so good. But it was going fast and even with the amount they had on display, I really don't see it lasting through the weekend. One disappointment I had was that I did want to take that much vaunted elevator up to the observation deck and check out the view. However, that cost $10 per person and there were already too many people in line willing to pay the price for me to even consider it.  :-\   Conclusions: Pros: As a store the place is quite impressive. The selection of merchandise is absolutely outstanding.  The decor is both pleasing and interesting. I liked it. Cons: Downtown memphis is probably the worst possible location they could have chosen. The traffic is awful. I also believe that the majority of  the customer base for Bass Pro live in other sections of town much too far away to make regular shopping there practical. The prices are just a little high for my tastes.  While the place is interesting to see, I seriously doubt it will ever become the big tourist attraction so many people think it will.  Frankly, with so much working against it, I suspect that in two, maybe three years, the store will be forced to close.   As for myself. I went, I saw, satisfied my curiosity and I did enjoy it. However, I seriously doubt I will ever go back. as i said in the beginning, I really hate going to downtown memphis.                   

Do the power door locks work from the switch inside the vehicle?  If they don't, check the fuse and/or relay. If they do, see the dealer. They will be the only place you can trust to properly diagnose and repair the problem.

If there are any unattached ladies out there who own or work in a gun shop.........   I'M SINGLE!  :hat:

In the early 70s I was in the Army and served with a S/Sgt who had been a Chicago cop during the 1968 riots. Afterwards, he gave up law enforcement and began an Army career. He figured Viet Nam was safer than Chicago. 

I walk for exercise in many of our local parks almost every day. Lucky for me, my small city choose not to "opt out" of the original parks law, so I have been legally carrying in our parks for years. The troublesome part for us has been the "school use" provision. Just how are we supposed to know if there's a school group in there? Is the whole park now off limits or just the area around the school kids? How far would I have to stay away from them? etc and so on?  Thje school use part is just so vague that there is real concern that the new law will be challanged on this item alone. Plus the possability of an otherwise honest citizen being charged with a Class E felony simply because they weren't aware of a school group being in the park.  As someone mentioned earlier, there seems to be the unreasonable assumption that a person with a Handgun Permit will suddenly turn into a mass murder if school kids are present. The new law is a step forward, but we still have a very long way to go with guns in parks yet. 

Just my humble opinion, but I think Kimbers are over rated and over priced. I wouldn't have one.    No personal experience with the Sig, but I only hear good about them. 

I'm quite fond of my PPKs. There are plenty of used ones out there. Just keep looking.

Walther PPK. 

A car is a much more effective weapon than a handgun and it does provide some degree of cover against a rifle. I think it was a smart move.

In regard to the 1911: The grip safety blocks movement of the trigger. It is possable, although highly unlikely, that dropping the gun could "bounce" the hammer and sear out of engagement and cause the pistol to fire. The thumb safety blocks the sear from moving and essentially locks the mating surfaces of the hammer and sear together. In order for the hammer to fall and fire the pistol, something has to break.  The 1911 is properly carried Cocked and Locked. However, if you're going to do this, you must be willing to put in the time and practice to build the muscle memory so that releasing the thumb safety on the draw is an automatic, instinctive movement which requires no thought. on your part. If you aren't willing to do this, then you should not carry a 1911. I've been carring 1911s cocked and locked for about 30 years now. I have never had a ND nor have I ever found the thumb safety "accidently" swept off.     With DA/SA semi-autos I find a mechanical safety un-necessary. I believe these pistols are best carried with a round in the chamber, hammer down and the safety off. Here that long, heavy trigger pull of firing the first round is all that is neccesary. Just like a DA revolver.   I can't speak of striker fired pistols as I don't have any and likely never will. However, I have noticed that these designs do seem to have more than their fair share of negligent discharges attributed to them.    Just my opinions. YMMV 

Another option you might consider is taking a small center punch and lightly strippling the rear of the sight to break up the glare. Hit it with a little touch up blue and you're go to go. Won't cost you a thing to try. 

HEY! HEY! I'll have you know that I'm  Marquis Man!   :bow: Don't be dissin' my ride Bro.  :rant:

Howdy neighbor.  :wave:

A friend of mine has a Raging Bull that I've shot several times. I've also fired a .500 S&W. They were interesting experiences, but its not something I want to do on a regular basis.  Another guy I know has a Rossi Model 92 Trapper in .454.  I shot a full magazine through it and even in that light rifle, it kicked like a mule.  His is one of the early models with a curved steel butt plate which sure didn't help matters. Darn thing left a bruise on my shoulder.  :shake: I think I'll leave the loudenboomers to folks who enjoy that sort of punishment.  :screwy:

I'll never understand this hot, spicy, make me sweat and cause me pain food trend.  :shake:  :shrug: Flavor is fine. I like tasty food. But I make it a rule to never eat anything that hurts. 

Give Truotburger's suggestions a try. If that don't work and it being a brand new gun, then back to the factory with it. 

I find them mostly used in the "clean burn" ammo designed for indoor ranges to hold down the fumes. You tend to come across them in range pick-up brass or when buying bulk once fired cases.  It is a pain to have to sort them out, but the small primers work just fine. I go ahead and load them and then use that ammo for IDPA matches where I don't really have the time to pick them up anyway.

Check the gun auction sites. They will have a large selection of used grips to fit your gun. Usually at fairly reasonable prices.  Rubber would be the cheapest way to go. If you prefer wood, check out Herrett's. I'm quite fond of their Shooting Stars grips. 

Being a big fan of the M1 Carbine, I did take a long hard look at the M1-22. I like the idea of it, but wasn't real impressed with the actual rifle. The cheap plastic sights were one of the main things that put me off. I did some checking around the internet and found this to be one of the biggest complaints. The rear sight in particular seems to break rather easily and from what I understand, Chiappa doesn't get in any hurry to replace them.  Maybe they've gotten better. I look forward to hearing how you make out with them.  I do think that a .22 version of the classic carbine would be loads of fun. I've also wondered if G.I. sights would fit on the Chippa and if it would be worth the money to put them on.  You say it broke in well and now runs fine. How is the accuracy?  Please keep us up to date with your situation.   

  You can get a general idea from the Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson (SCSW). This is the S&W collectors "Bible". It gives general dates for serial numbers. However, you have to bear in mind that S&W does NOT build guns in serial number order. Frames have been known to sit in the store room for years before actually being built. The only way to know for sure is to get a factory letter which will list the Ship Date. However, in your case the "dash number" is more telling. The book lists every model and every dash number for that model including what engineering changes were made and when. The 19-8 was when the afore mentioned changes were made (1998).  You don't necessarily need to run out and buy one. I have one and I'm sure a few others here do as well. Or you can simply go to Smith & Wesson Forum and ask.  :D