Grayfox54

Good point.

I'll look into that.

Actually, i was just thinking of putting a sheet of aluminum foil in the bottom. When done and cool, just wad it up and throw it away.

I went over to her house and took a look. This is the first time I've actually examined the thing myself. What I knew before was just from a phone call. Ok, no need for rocks. The burners are located high just under the grill with deflectors. Grill surface is roughly 18" X 14". Has a place in the back for a standard propane tank. Looks to be a pretty good brand, but has some age and rust. But she got it dirt cheap and it'll meet her needs. There doesn't seem to be any kind of catch pan for drippings. Should there be one? Anyway, here tis!

Forgive my ignorance. I've always been a charcoal guy. My disabled friend recently bought a small, used propane grill. Its in good shape, but aren't there supposed to be rocks in the bottom? I think they're called lava rocks? Exactly what is their purpose and do you have to have them? I see on-line that Home Depot does sell them. But its about $25 a bag and her money is tight. She'll also need a propane bottle. I figure her best bet is to get one of the exchange bottles they have at convenience stores. But she won't have a trade in for the first time. Anybody know what the current going rate for that is? Her birthday is in a couple of weeks and she wants to have a cook out. I'm trying to help her get set up. Any and all advice is welcome.

No experience with that particular rifle. Generally Japanese Winchesters are made by Miroku. I'd do a bit of research to be absolutely sure. If that's true, you can expect it to be a top quality rifle. Miroku is a first class gun maker. They don't make no junk.

I carry both depending on my needs at the time. Where I'm going, what I'm doing, how I'm dressed, weather, circumstances, etc and so on determine which gun I carry. Could be either one and I got no problem with that at all.

Rain and thunderstorms predicted for all next week.

Not as far fetched as you think. In my career I have repaired large booms on various pieces of equipment by welding and plating the damaged areas. Same principal on a bigger scale.

Local news just announced that the Coast Guard has re-opened river traffic. About 1000 barges are now moving again. Good news as the Mississippi river is a major agricultural product pathway. There is also talk of a temporary repair to re-open road traffic until a permanent repair can be planed and scheduled. But nothing solid as of yet.

PM sent.

Luckily for me, both my vehicles are about 3/4. I don't get out much. Hopefully I can make it till things settle back down.

I watched the news a little while ago. They say that beam is 24" X 30". That's serious load bearing stuff. They also say that there are already over 200 barges sitting half a mile upriver waiting for clearance. News is that clearing river traffic is the first priority. Unlike a road, a traffic jam on the river doesn't just sit still. Things have a tendency to drift towards each other and don't do well if they meet.

Thanks Garufa, that gives me a much better idea of the scope of the problem. Its bad. Real bad! And that is most definitely a clean break. It snapped all at once. Just a SWAG, but when was the last time a string of barges hit that bridge? That would be my guess.

Wish there was something in the pic to give it some scale and a wider view to show exactly where it is. Would also help to know the thickness of the steel. Fairly clean break. Looks repairable to me. How long would vary depending on the actual size of that beam. BTW: I'm not seeing rust streaks that would indicate a slowly growing crack breaking over time. That looks like a clean break that happened all at once. And that bothers me.

I've been saying for years that this country's infrastructure was in major need of an overhaul. I'm actually kinda happy Biden is interested in this. But, like every other democratic proposal, they want to pass a bill to spend trillions of dollars and maybe 10% of it will actually go for the intended purpose. All the rest will be used to fund the totally unrelated liberal wish list.

OH CRAP! I just reread the article and realized that they closed river traffic as well. I can't even imagine how much cargo runs up and down that river every day. Not good! Not good at all!

Local news can't seem to get it straight. There's a crack which is bad enough to close the bridge, but local TV seems to think it'll be repaired in just a day or two. Really? I kinda have my doubts about that. The news also reported that 100,000 vehicles cross that bridge every day. The I-55 bridge, which normally sees half that, will now have to take the full load. Downtown Memphis is a mess. Traffic is barely moving. For those who don't know, Memphis and all the Mississippi river bridges have been on our enemy's primary target lists since the early cold war days. Drop those bridges and you effectively cut this country in half.

Thanks for the comments guys. I think I will sit on most of this stuff for a while. I've got plenty of ammo on hand and having components will give more flexibility to future needs as I may choose to change bullet weights, powder charges or something for a particular caliber. Never really know what tomorrow may bring?

Your house, your rules.

Gary, I also had one of the Crossman M1 carbine BB guns and still do have a Marlin 99M1 rifle. These were my first guns growing up. Quite possibly that's why I'm such a fan of the M1 Carbine.

I've always kept a pretty good supply of reloading components on hand. I currently have a good supply of both factory and reloaded ammo and don't really need to reload at the moment. However, I do have components to make a very large amount (thousands) of rounds of ammo in various calibers. Since I do have loaded ammo on hand, I've just been sitting on this supply just in case. I suppose if push come to shove, I could sell off some bullets, primer and powder. But honestly, I don't really need the money. Likewise, I have no friends in dire need either. I could go ahead and load this stuff up which would contribute considerably to my own supply. However, I wouldn't be able to sell any of it. And then that opens the questions of when, if and how much to resupply? Is it foolish of me to sit on and basically hoard these components or should a just go ahead and load 'em up and have shootable ammo ready to go?

I have two. An Inland and a Standard products. But I signed up anyway. Depending on price and condition, I'm open to another one. IDK, Italian Police in storage since the 1950s? Makes me question their condition. CMP goes through, checks and repairs as necessary. These may well be "as is" and luck of the draw. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I do believe it will eventually. However, I am really starting to question how long that's gonna take. Its already gone longer than I expected and there's really no let up in sight.