USMCJG

If it is done right, there isn't anything wrong with a cast frame. Caspian frames are very, very good and they are cast. There are Caspian frames out there with tens of thousands of rounds and they're still fine. The same can be said of MIM parts. I am not a big fan of MIM for critical high wear parts, those should be milled from bar stock. But a good quality MIM part is just fine for most purposes. A bad part, whether it is cast, forged, or MIM, is just a bad part.

+1 for the Spyderco sharpener. I never had the skill or patience to get a knife really sharp until I got the Sharpmaker. Now I can get any of my knives razor sharp(literally) in just a few minutes.

You just have to remember the law of unintended consequences. While the intentions may be honorable, ANYTIME you give the government the power to regulate ANYTHING, you WILL have unintended consequences and will pave the road to even more power. That's how we got where we are now.

Colt for SA, Smith & Wesson for DA

Congrats on your new 1911. I'm not sure if it's possible to own too many 1911s but I intend to try to find out.

I laughed so hard I injured the third ball I just grew while watching that commercial.

It is most definitely the squarest pistol I own. It's my first 2011, but I have a feeling it may not be my last. I can hear an Eagle 5.0 in .38 Super calling to me. Maybe next year.

Just brought it home today. Fit, finish, and function(at least so far) are outstanding. STI Edge .45:

Congrats on the Trojan. Very nice pistol. STI makes a great 1911 and IMO, dollar for dollar, the Trojan is at the top of it's class.

Wolf primers are good. Some people seem to have problems with them because they don't seat them far enough to set the anvil. Wolf primers tend to be slightly bigger than most and take a bit more force to fully seat. I started buying Wolf primers during the shortage and haven't had a problem yet.

Not a single one of those "better options" has been proven in every type of terrain, on nearly every continent, over the course of 100 years. The 1911 has been proven on the range and on the battlefield like no other handgun in the history of the world. The US didn't even look to replace it until it had already been in service for over 70 years. And then it was primarily to change to the NATO 9mm round, not because of any failings in the design. And even after all of that, the 1911 is still in use by the US military(not to mention various SWAT teams and the FBI). There is a reason the 1911 is the most copied firearm of any type in modern history, and it's not because they aren't any good.

Of course not. The state of the art fighting pistol is a rifle. Otherwise, with the exception of magazine capacity(remedied by the 2011), the 1911 is still as good as anything out there and better than most.

Why would it need to be? Messing with perfection makes no sense.

I would change the word "all" to "nearly all", but otherwise you are right. I do still have faith in a very few. But I haven't become so jaded that I don't think we can ever return to our origins as a nation. I am not entirely optimistic, but I still have hope. Here's hoping that the love of freedom, and the acceptance of the responsibility and accountability that it requires, is renewed in this country.

If it ever makes it to the Supreme Court, the mandate part of the law will be ruled unConstitutional(if the Justices go by the Constitution). Once that happens, they will have to seriously rework the whole thing since they are counting on fines from the mandate to pay for a large portion of the multi-trillion dollar act. I think there is a chance that it will be repealed in the next three years. A very slim chance. I wish TN would sign on too, but our current AG won't do it. And we are stuck with him until 2014.

I wear an atomic, solar powered Casio G Shock everyday and when it wears out I'll replace it with another one. Turns out I'm a Casio kind of guy and I haven't worn my Rolex in years. And yes, Rolex's do "tick", but they tick many times per second and it's imperceptible at a distance. One way you can sometimes tell a real one from a fake is by the weight. Real Rolex's tend to be quite a bit heavier than the average fake. But I don't know of any way to tell a decent fake from the real thing at a distance.

Actually, right now it's easier to find powder and primers locally(I found Varget and Bullseye locally long before the online retailers had them) than it is to find them online from places like Widener's and Midway, but you'll pay for that convenience. Bullets are fairly easy to find online now and I usually order mine from Midway. Locally, Mahoney's has a pretty decent selection of reloading supplies, but they are pricey. The Gun Rack in Kingsport has a really good selection of components too, but again, pricey compared to mail order. I prefer the Gun Rack to Mahoney's because they are smaller and their sales people are usually more willing to help. Mahoney's probably has more reloading tools but the Gun Rack has a better selection of components, especially bullets and usually powder. Expect to pay $5 to $10 per pound more for powder and ~$10 per 1,000 more for primers locally than you would online. So if you are ordering a couple thousand primers and a couple pounds of powder you will probably come out ahead online even with HazMat fees. I don't like paying HazMat fees, so I buy most of my powder and primers locally and the rest from Widener's when they have what I want in stock. And I highly recommend the Lock N Load bushings. I have them on all of my dies, along with Hornady locking rings(by far the best locking rings out there now). Not really necessary starting out, but definitely worth having.

I must say, I'm impressed. I'm not going to rush out and buy a Hi Point, but I'm impressed. I honestly don't believe very many guns would have survived as long as that Hi Point did. And there has never been a gun made that could have survived that last test.

.22 LR .25 Auto .38 Spec. .357 Mag. 9mm Luger .45 ACP

The problem that I have with the newer RCBS presses is the fact that they are made in China(the Rock Chucker at least, maybe others). Hornady, Forster, and Redding also have lifetime warranties just like RCBS and are all US made. Don't get me wrong, I own and use several RCBS tools, but I would never purchase a newer RCBS press.

You do know that the vast majority of "middle of the road" and independent guys(and girls) voted against the Democrats and Obama's agenda in the last election don't you? I can tell you that this independent voter isn't voting for Obama in 2012, and I can't think of a single person that I know who is, including several lifelong, dyed in the wool, Democrats.

I started out with the Lee Breech Lock Challenger kit several years ago myself. It's a good kit and will allow you to see if reloading is something that you will want to stick with for a long time, without investing a lot of money. I have since replaced nearly everything that came with it, but I still use the press for decapping and I still use the hand primer. The fact that I have replaced most of my Lee equipment isn't meant to say that the Lee stuff isn't really good. It's just that I have developed different preferences in equipment over the years. Many people use the Lee kits for years, or even decades, and never see a need to change a thing. If I knew then what I know now I would have bought everything separately and gotten exactly what I wanted for every piece of equipment I needed. But that would have cost A LOT more money up front. And at that time I didn't know if I would really stick with reloading and I definitely didn't know what my various preferences in equipment would end up being. Those things are impossible to know until you have been reloading for a while. I'd recommend going with either the Lee kit or the Hornady that you are considering(with the bullet offer the Hornady is a good deal and the press itself is IMO much better than the Lee, with the exception of the spent primer collection). And then just have fun reloading. Used reloading equipment holds it's value fairly well. So even if you go with the more expensive Hornady kit and decide that you don't really like reloading, you still want lose your behind if you sell your equipment.

Sounds like presidential material to me. I haven't had any faith that a candidate would put the best interest of the nation ahead of his own interests since Reagan. It seems that the best we could hope for anymore is someone who's own self-interest just coincidentally meshes with the nation's best interests.

^This

I agree with those that think any new gun control legislation will not pass. I believe that for every Republican who would vote for gun control, there would be a pro-2nd Amendment Democrat(yes, they do exist) who would vote against it.