leroy

Willis: Can you see down the bore very well. If the surface of the bore looks like alligator hide or a bunch of dry cracks in a mudhole, it could be a surface form of stress corrosion cracking. You see this sort of thing every now and then (very seldom, in fact) in stainless steel parts. If it is, it should go back to Ruger who will fix the problem im sure. Hope this helps a little bit, LEROY PS-- THIS COMES FROM BAD HEAT TREATMENTS. IF YOU HAVE THE PROBLEM, OTHERS WILL TOO.

This is a great truth!! Revolvers, especially N frame smiths, flattop rugers (and the others), and colt single action armies are the absolute pinacle of firearms art. Sadly, i like 1911's too; but the old smiths and colts are the kings!! PS: Giadala aint bad either!! Kind regards, LEROY

I want to say that I have read with pride, awe, and hearty approval the wise observations of THORN and GRIMEL in regards to the issue of both Christian and governmental responsibilities. They are well said and capture in a direct way what i tried to point out by all my rambling. I spent way too much time going around the mulberry bush trying to convey the point. You both went to the heart of the problem. I want to thank both of you for being wise, direct, and thorough in your answers to those who believe that government ought to be everybody's nanny, and that socialism is somehow akin to Godliness. Again, thank you both for the most excellent dissertations. They are dead on target. Keep up the good work! Kind regards, LEROY

Amen brother!! Well said!! Keep up the good work. Kind regards, LEROY

I was too. RE: Take your had off--- I tell my 20 year old that all the time. Keep up the good work. LEROY

Ralph: You have raised the level of this discussion to its highest possible point. It is my firm belief that once these issues are answered, the other issues become crystal clear. I want to try to speak to your observations and provide my understanding of this most important point in the kindest, most Christian way possible. Much of what will be said can be taken as being preachy but it is not meant to be. The most important point in this discussion is what did Jesus teach and what did He mean when He said; “You must be born again.†Being “born again†is a process whereby God gives us the free gift of salvation that changes our inner being (our heart, for lack of a better term) and we become new creatures. This “new creature†is called a Christian or follower of Christ. From that changed heart there develops a desire to do the things that Jesus did; that is, tho follow His great example. Jesus taught that benevolence was an INDIVIDUAL act. When Jesus spoke to the rich young ruler, HE said to “sell your possessions and give them to the poorâ€. This is clearly an INDIVIDUAL command. The Scriptures do, indeed, teach that benelevonce is the result of a right standing with God. The Scriptures also teach the concept of private property. The issue of private property is important enough that God included them in the Ten Commandments. ‘Thou shall not steal†is an endorsement of the rights of individuals to property. The Scriptures also teach that work and honest business enterprise that springs from work is honorable. In summary, Jesus taught that benevolence was an INDIVIDUAL act of kindness; not an act to be mandated by government. He also taught the right to private property. Regarding the issue of Jesus being a Socialist. I believe that nothing could be farther from the truth. However, there have been those who have taught that Christianity in action is actually socialism. The foremost of them have been the black liberation theologists here in the US and certain of the Catholic Orders who have preached the “social gospelâ€. The fact is that socialism is the very anthesis of Christianity. Christianity teaches that God is God and that good works (benevolence) flows from a right heart on an INDIVIDUAL basis as the result of wanting to do what Jesus did. The important thing to remember her is that it is an INDIVIDUAL act; not an act that is mandated by the state. The fact is that Karl Marx was an atheist. The basic premise of socialism is that the state is god. Christianity (and Judaism) teaches that God is God. Socialism postulates that all property belongs to the state and benevolence flows from the state. Christianity teaches that everything belongs to God who gives it to us freely and expects us to be good stewards of that property. That means “loving our brother as ourselvesâ€. Socialism makes the pronouncement of: “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need.†This requirement is a compulsory mandate of the state that owns everything. Socialism takes forcibly by power of the state from the individual and gives to those who do not work. Christianity teaches that benevolence is an INDIVIDUAL act of kindness, and that people are entitled to the private property resulting from their individual labors, and are free to distribute them as they see fit. Casual observation will prove that socialism never works because people are bad and not good. People run governments, not God. If socialism worked, the Soviet Union would still be around and would be an economic powerhouse and a worker’s paradise. It’s not around anymore. More than that, we hear about the six million Jews that Hitler and the Nazis executed. Joseph Stalin was an ex-divinity student from the Russian Orthodox Church and a pupil of Marx and Lenin. He killed sixty million people and confiscated their property in the name of socialism. That is a far cry from the teachings of Christianity. It is not possible to point to a single instance in history where socialism improved the lot on any people, or where it worked. On the contrary, it always leads to totalitarianism and persecution of the very folks it was supposed to help. Bottom line: Christianity and socialism are incompatible. They are as far away from each other as it is possible to be. RE: “ IF we are truly a Christian nation… The fact is that we are not a Christian nation. We have long ago abandoned Christian principles and codified wrong doing into our system of laws. I will grant that we are a nation whose founding documents incorporated Judeo-Christian principles; even invoking God into them. General adherence to those principles has faded away, and we could have a pretty long-winded converstation about whether they were ever the norm. The fact is that we are far away from God and His principles in our government and society. Some of what has been said in this little dissertation may be offensive to some. It is not intended to be. I want to restate in the kindest way possible that it aint meant to be preachy. It is a heart-felt opinion that I firmly believe to be a truth. Enforced compassion will always fail or turn in to an oppressive burden because it does not flow from a changed heart. Today’s politicians are actively seeking to mandate enforced compassion just as they did with Welfare, not for the general good, but to buy votes and make people serfs. They are cynics who worship the god of power. Do not be deceived, they are not the least bit interested in the ‘general welfareâ€. So, as Sean Connery so famously said in the great movie, “The Untouchablesâ€: “Thus endeth the lesson.†Food for thought. LEROY

Ralph:_____________ I grew up in a family in which there was no health insurance until my mom and dad went to work with a company that was forward thinking and prosperous enough to offer it to their employees. That was about 1955. Before that, most no one had insurance. Don't ever forget that insurance is a PERK that you BUY. Not a RIGHT that you are ENTITLED TO. Our culture is so attuned to hearing about all these so called "rights" that it is now customary for most everyone to think of healthcare as a "right". This simply is not so; and never was. The idea that you are "entitled" to healthcare coverage is a bogus idea. It is, in fact, a socialist proposition that has been advanced by the political class who are buying votes with it, the unions who look for more benefits for their members, and activists who do not want to start an insurance company to cover folks; but would rather demand that others do what they want. I know that it is always a bad deal when bad things like pre-existing conditions occur in families that cause the cost of health insurance to go way high, and i have sypathy for it. That sympathy does not translate into a death wish to re-do a private sector industry and make it like the socialist healthcare systems in Canada and much of Western Europe. Government intrusion never solves problems in any private sector area that it meddles in. It is my firm belief that the main problem with healthcare today is the government meddling that has gone up to now. It is also my firm belief that this country is at a critical juncture in it's history. We are seeing the flower of the 60's hippy socialist revolution in full bloom. These people are simply not americans, nor do they believe in the principles outlined in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They are socialists who seek to remake this country into their own evil image. The banking takeover, the car maker bailout, and the healthcare proposal are evidence that they have no regard for private property rights nor the capitalist system. The fact is that the healthcare issue is a lot bigger than just providing healthcare to everybody. At it's core, it is about socialism and vote buying. It is about people being led around like children and selling their birthright for a little percieved blessing. There may well be some "insurance vultures" out there who are "profitting from misery". It is important to remember that they didn't cause the misery. The fact that most people will characterize legitimate companies (which are, in fact regulated by the US Government and the individual states) as vultures helps to validate my observation that the demigogs are winning the debate about what this country stands for. I do not believe that "government" anything is preferable to what we have now. Whatever the government gives today it can take away tomorrow. I think USMCJG's observations are dead right. The healthcare system needs some correction; but i guarantee that what these soclialist demigogues have in mind is not preferable to what the "vultures" are doing now. This little speech aint meant to be an attack or even an argument; it's meant to be something that causes you and others to think about the principles this country was founded on. Private property rights are the foundation of all our freedoms. If the government can take any one of them away, they can and will take the others. Food for thought, LEROY

Be careful!! We'll keep you in our prayers. Kind regards, LEROY

Try some Butch's BoreShine (Butch's is a solvent like hoppes) or; just let the Hoppes sit in the barrel longer. Soak a patch in the boreshine (or Hoppes), swab it in the barrel, and let it sit a couple of hours. Then use a clean swab to wipe the barrel down. Then oil the barrel with any good synthetic, moisture displacing oil (CLP Breakfree, Birchwood Casey Sheath, others im sure will work.) It has been my experience that most any good solvent cleaner (Hoppes is one) will clean your barrel very well. The key is to let the barrel sit with the cleaner on it for a little while (more than 15 minutes, longer if real dirty). When we used to target shoot with rifles (lots of shooting --- 222, 223 target bolt guns), we would clean with a solvent like hoppes then use a product called JB Boreshine (I know this is confusing because of the same name -- The JB Boreshine comes in a little white, wide, round jar about 1 inch high and 1 1/2 inch in diameter; its a white paste -- Midway will have it too; any old time rifle supply vendors should have it). Just read and follow the instructions on the jar. JB Boreshine is an extra fine polish that gently polishes the barrel. A few applications of boreshine always did wonders for most barrels; as it would polish the little micromachining marks out of the barrel-- the slicker the barrel -- less places for the fouling to stick to -- the easier to clean. For what it's worth, I like the Breakfree CLP. It's cheap (we buy it in big bottles from Midway -- watch for it to go on sale) and it works great. We shoot mostly big bore revolvers; so I oil everything down with it after we clean them up. The Breakfree will clean up the powder residue and make the barrel shine in our old revolvers; but we shoot hard cast lead bullets all the time. All we do is run a boresnake with a little squirt of Breakfree squirted on it thru the barrel a couple of times and clean the cylinder with one pull of the boresnake, then run a clean patch or wool swab thru the barrel and cylinders with a little bit of Breakfree on it. I'm sure some of other guys have more updated thoughts and techniques for cleaning; but this old one works very well. Hope this helps, LEROY

Plus one on this. My bet is that they are 9mm bullets (.356 dia). Make sure they are at least .358. Good luck, LEROY

What a truth!! You are exactly right. LEROY

Great observation!! I like it. My personal take on it: "We're trained and smart; who are you to defend yourself?!. We will dispense any law that needs dispensing." Thankfully, not all law enforcement officials think this way; just those who are "the smartest guys in the room", and the unelected bureaucrats that seem to pop up in those positions with great regularity. Remember, hold your mayor responsible for his APPOINTED chief of police. Kind regards, LEROY

This is a great post!! The "we" here, i would read, is the "we, the individual"; as opposed to "we, the government"; --- i think. Government intrusion into any activity that it seeks to regulate negates the possibility of the basis libertarian free will tennant of "we, the individual" once the discussion is over and the collective political decision is made law. As i would understand it; you cant invoke the "we of government" and claim to be of libertarian philosophy. It negates the "we, the individual". The "we of government" is antithetical to the basic philosophical tennant of libertarianism. Good Job!! Keep up the good work!!! Kind Regards, LEROY PS: David:____________ Sorry I've not convinced ya yet; I'll just keep working on it. RE: Office: We could run on the old "T. R. Bullmoose Platform" as third (hopefully Libertarian) party candidates!! Keep up the good work!! Kind regards, LEROY

David: It's a sad fact that everyone will not ever have everything that everyone else has. They are all created in God's image and of equal value in His eyes, but they dont stay that way very long. Government intervention in anything never solves the problem of "equality". There are many competing views of what "equality" is. I am old enough to remember when no one had insurance (im 62). They simply went to the doctor when they felt they needed to, and paid their bills. We have promoted the idea in this country that everyone should have access to everything they want, no matter whether they can pay for it or not. I have been part of the "uninsured poor". My (and my parent's) solution was to make hard decisions. One of them happened to be not to go to the doctor or the hospital unless it was imperative to do so. The fact is that insurance is not a "right"; it is a priviledge that you purchase if you are affluent enough to do so. This truth is not taught much anymore; because folks simply dont think about it. I am of a firm mind that if insurance payments were made to the individual and then to the doctor; costs would go down due to the shock factor of the costs involved. I agree that something needs to be done, but i am absolutely convinced that it is not wat government wants to do to buy votes. By they way i am, in fact, a "far right folk(s)"; I wear it like a badge of honor. My advice is that you need to be too. If you want to help others; do it on thru your own benelovence (the church, doctors, and hospitals used to do it -- don't call on government to do it.). By the way, lots of them are uninsured because they made a choice not to be insured. Twenty-five year olds dont need insurance; us old folks do. I am also equally convinced that there are some uninsured folks who desperately want to get insurance. I think that is laudable. My advice: Get to work and buy some. By the way, I didn't get any of this off a bumper sticker or from a talk show host. I have thought thru it and firmly believe it to be true. So, as Sean Conery so elequently said in the movie "The Untouchables": "Here the endeth the lesson" . More food for thought. Kind regards, LEROY

AMEN!!! I like this post!! What a truth!! Everything does not have to be a crisis. Just be ready if it turns into one. Keep up the good work!! Kind regards, LEROY

This is a great truth. The fact is that it is not about healthcare, it's about buying votes. The Demorats (and lots of Republicans) are nothing but a bunch of trashy polititians trying to pass out largessee to foolish people. Nothing that government runs ever goes on a paying basis; that's why nationalized insurance and healthcare is laughable. If this legislation passes; it will be a good idea for eveyone to stay healthy. The fact of the matter is that instead of trying to keep everybody healthy and alive; the government run medical enterprise will re-introduce the practice of "selective culling" (by the way, Hitler did this sort of thing to certain segments of the population in germany to "lower healthcare costs" and improve the quality of life for some -- he cleaned out the orphanages and the insane hospitals by buying doctors to do the job). Right now, the individual who is terminally ill can decide to opt out of taking expensive, life extending drugs and treatments (read that chemotherapy and radiation treatments, others too). Under the new system, the government will make the decisions as to who is "culled". Hospitals were instituted by the compationate of the Judeo-Christian faith who reached out in love and concern to their suffering brothers and sisters. They provided comfort and treatment to the suffering in society whom no one cared about; or who were'nt able to help themselves. They grew into the healthcare enterpirse they are today. It is my belief that the problem with the healthcare system in the US today is not greedy hospitals and doctors; it is meddling government and unrestrained lawyers. Once the government starts running the health care system; it will not be troubled by by good old Judeo-Christian compasion. Government as it is constituted now in the US is largely athiestic, socialist, and totalitarian in nature; it will have no problem killing folks. Look at it this way; would you want to be laying on your death bed and in need of a compationate advocate to speak for you; then look up and find Hillary Clinton doing the talking? The thought is horrifying at the least. There are those who are foolish enough to believe that they will either get a smaller premium or "help" as some have opined for their "health insurance policy". They will get help for a time; but they won't get any help when they go to the hospital if they are old or have a potentially terminal condition. I am convinced that there are some who believe this little speech is "over the top" and amounts to fear mongering. My reply to them is to take a look at Canada. Most canadians who can afford it come the the USA for treatments for serious conditions. because they either cant get the treatment because of age or the wait list is too long. Just for the record, i think health insurance is too expensive to. I pay about $14,000 per year for family coverage. Things need to be fixed in the healthcare business; but not the way the Demorats and some others want to fix it. So stay healthy, and make sure you are ready to meet your Maker. Government mandated and operated healthcare certainly will not help you; on the contrary; i am convinced that it will speed you on your way thru life. After we are dead and gone (early, thanks to government supplied health insurance) others may straighten this whole thing out, and return this country to the free enterprise healthcare system Food for thought, LEROY

Chief Terry symbolizes all that is wrong with too many Chiefs of Police all over Tennessee and the rest of the country. Chiefs of police are APPOINTED, NOT ELECTED. You need to work on the Mayor of Cookeville; that's who Chief Terry works for. This is another case of an un-elected "know it all criminal expert" presuming to speak for everybody. He is even smarter than the duly elected representatives of the state of Tennessee and the Founding Fathers. If you want this fixed; go after the mayor and make it hot for him. The people of Cookeville deserve better than this; as do the people of other cities in Tennessee; especially Knoxville, Nashville, and Chattanooga. The character of your elected officials matter. Be careful who you vote for. LEROY

Amen brother!! You aint always got to shoot bad guys to hurt em; especially when they are busy stealing your stuff. Rope him by the heels and drag him off with your hoveround and turn Otto on him. Keep your pistola and shotgun in their holsters until you really need em. Keep up the good work!! Kind regards, LEROY

Plus one!! Great choice. Kind regards, LEROY

For what it's worth; you need to understand that if the law is on the books IN ANY FORM; the Justrice Department (which which has plenty of jahadists and political opportunists) can bring investigations against anyone or anybody for any reason knowing full well they will be reversed on appeal knowing full well that the charges are baseless. The fact is that many times this is done knowingly to harass political or (worse yet) or philosophical opponents (like gun owners, church goers, etc). The government has a limitless budget. You most likely dont. You are obliged to litigate these charges, and that costs big money. This very tactic is used every day on real people and organizations who are clearly innocent of anything. It is simply used to drive them out of existance and bankrupt their organizations. The Demorats are busy using this tactic on their political enemies -- look at Sarah Palin. We have plenty of laws on the books; we don't need more. Always remember, all crime is by definition a "hate crime". Dont be lulled into believing that this is a "no nevermind" issue; if it was, it wouldn't be so hotly contested. The last thing this country needs is more laws; we have too many now. Remember this, the last guy you ever want to talk to is a Federal Prosecuter with with no ethics looking to make political points. All prosecuters (Federal or otherwise) are not jhadists and political hacks; some are. The character of your elected officials and those who serve in government is IMPORTANT. Think about it. LEROY

At a boy!! The best way to fix poor service and bad manners is to quit spending with them and tell everybody you know why you did!! Bad manners and poor service is always a bad idea when you are in the business of building customer loyalty. PS -- USE AN AMERICAN EXPRESS CARD IF YOU ARE DOING BUSINESS WITH SOMEONE YOU DON'T REALLY KNOW. THEY ARE MERCILESS ABOUT STOPPING PAYMENT AND MAKING THINGS RIGHT. ALL IT TAKES IS A PHONE CALL. Sorry they are so sorry. LEROY

Great post!! Move Cliff to the head of the class; he has nailed it. Keep up the good work!! The character of your elected officials MATTERS!! Keep up the great work!! Kind regards, LEROY

Im feelin a little sad myself!!

The MEC 650 is gage specific. I believe that you can reference all the data of the MEC website. I used to load lots of 12 gage back in the mid 70's with a buddy of mine. We used 207 primers with Winchester AA trap and skeet hulls. We loaded thousands of them with that old press. I've never seen any 97 primers. Maybe some of the other guys can help you with that. I do remember that the MEC loader doesn't like changing components. That means to use one specific brand hull and wad. When you start changing the components, you start having to readjust all the stuff on the loader (wad pressure, ect); and that can be a pain. We always used Winchester hulls and winchester wads. We loaded thousands of them; they all shot well in automatic shotguns like the old Winchester model 50 and the Franchi recoil operated shotguns. We quit reloading for shotguns when shot went to $5.00 per 25 lb wholesale; thats been a long time ago!! Have fun. Kind regards, LEROY ps -- them little shiny things are powder and shot bushings. Make sure you get the right one for the powder charge you want to use (they are marked) and the right shot bushing. That's another reason not to change the loader around after you get it up and going.