Currently

I have used the vacuum technique for several years especially with yellow jacket nests under vinyl. If the nest has any size to it, use a step ladder or a couple of chairs with zip ties to tie the wand down so that it is 2 to 3 inches from the entrance. Start the vacuum up; which can be a shop vac or cannister vac, and walk away for a couple hours. Never had to do it a third day. Usually one or two sessions lasting an hour and a half to two hours will do it.

I bought the SV650 with the intent of trading up to a liter sport bike in a year or two. It has been over 4 years and I still own it and will keep it till it burns out or gets wrecked. Lot of fun to ride, nimble as a cat and incredibly modifiable. I am a mod on forum.svrider.com You may want to spend some time there and read up why the bike is developing a cult status.

Fellow engineer pointed me to this stuff ... Make sure whatever you use is "plastic safe" due to long term effects that some estrified hydrocarbons have on long chain plastic molecules. Even some gun cleaners are not plastic safe, several owner manuals that I have read in the past cautioned against using certain solvents. Oh, almost forgot ... buy a bore snake. Turns a 15 minute job into a 5 minute one.

I made some decent deals on Gunbroker, got exactly what I wanted WHEN I wanted it. OTOH, some stuff you just can't get from the locals. I had bought a PX4 in .45 and wanted a couple extra mags. At the time, they were very rare. Someone offered it at OEM price and I paid it gratefully. Another time I was looking for 1911 mags, got a sweet deal on 6 NIB for 65 bucks. Three of them were SIG OEM's for my GSR. I also use the site for research to see what is a fair price before I go to some of the dealers. Just that in itself saved me tons of money and from getting screwed. (esp. used firearms)

When I was younger, it took me a while to fully comprehend the wisdom inherent in that statement!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ When I first move down here, some good ole boy called me a "stump-breaker" when the subject turned to goats one day. Took me a week to find out what it meant. My first forum was on electrical and electrical contracting. The great people there helped me totally rewire a foreclosed house that I bought from weatherhead to plugs in the wall. The city inspector passed my work on the first go around. Also ... here I am.

Got a legitimate question here ... Why not purchase a suppressor designed for the .223/5.56 and use it on the .22LR? One tax stamp ... double duty ... same caliber ... the .22 is less demanding for its ability to suppress. The only hangup is that the serial number must not be engraved on the barrel but on the frame of each weapon. Why isn't this scenario plausible?

Virginia Dragoon in .44 mag ... think it was Iver Johnson who was the manufacturer. Got rid of it the next day. Cylinder was misaligned with barrel and anyone around me got lead and copper shavings embedded in their face.

If you have to run DOS software, you can download VMWare or Virtual PC and install a virtual machine in your computer. I have tested this quite successfully with legacy DOS automation software. It will even go out the USB to Serial converter as if it was a COM port. If I had to choose between the two, I would get the VMWare. Both are free for single users, VMWare will cost you if you are a company. You will need the original DOS installation disks and actually install DOS or Win98 on a virtual machine. Keep the virtual hard drive under 100 megs because some of these old DOS programs get a little flaky as they were never meant to be installed on gigabyte and fractional terabyte hard disks. If you need more info or assistance, shoot me a PM and I can steer you through some of the tricky spots.

If cost is not an issue, look at the Panasonic Toughbooks ... Don't get Vista, stick with XP.

You mean I can't even foul out?

I thought the Mugster and Froggy both answered the question much better than what I would have. Points made were lucid and comprehensive. Why should I repeat what they said using different words? That is why I prefaced my post with "a totally different point of view". Is one type of rifle more accurate than the other? The real answer is how much money you want to spend. A match quality semi auto will be slightly more expensive than a match quality bolt action. Some calibers lend themselves better to semi auto than others. Hence a caliber should be chosen first and then focus on the firearm. What do you want to shoot? 1500 yards? First choice here would be Browning .50 cal Why? Economies of scale. 500 to a thousand yards? .308 or similar ... why? Ammo is available in all grades and qualities. That is the point I wanted to make. It was a hard lesson for me to learn. When you buy a tool, don't look at the price of the tool, look at the TCO ... how much do the consumables cost you and are they readily accessible. A "pretty rifle" in a gun case is a jewel ... good for show and bragging rights. A well used rifle in the hands of a competent shooter is a tool. Am I wrong and totally off base for sharing my experience and wisdom? Or did I just say too much and now considered a fool for doing so? Enlighten me please. (I do have an open mind and can take criticism ... it is an acquired skill that takes work to maintain.)

Here is a totally different point of view. When I was younger, dumber and filled with testosterone ... I used to read the gun mags and lust after the biggest, baddest and mostest. I had a Dillon that was equipped to reload over 30 calibers, pistol and rifle. Most accurate rifle out the box hands down was a Weatherby Fibermark .270 Weatherby Magnum. Quarter MOA only with factory loads, never could duplicate that accuracy with handloads and I tried and tried all kinds of permutations. It was an expensive habit so I got an FFL to try and offset the costs of components plus treat friends with good deals ... Things I found out: 1. A FFL cannot compete with Walmart, Kmart and any other large retail giant when their firearms are on sale. They sell it for cheaper than I could buy as a dealer. 2. I could get more variety and specific models. 3. The best buys out there were new military surplus for new and used military surplus for used but the latter was a crapshoot, you could never count on what you were going to get. 4. If you look at TCO, Total Cost of Ownership; the best bang for the buck was always something that used a military round. Pistol calibers were 9mm and .45 ACP. Rifle calibers were .308, 30-06, 303 British, .223/5.56 or 7.62 AK round among the many. If you like to shoot, get something in a military caliber. They are inexpensive because the ammunition factories load millions of rounds per batch, also known as economies of scale. There were times in the early '90's I could buy quality 5.56 thousand round lots for a little above the cost of .22LR at Kmart prices. That has since dried up but like any other market condition, it will swing the other way eventually. Moral of the story? Lots of practice makes a good marksman ... not the firearm. Military calibers typically have cheaper prices on ball ammo. (Buy thousand round lots at a time) Choose your caliber first and then look at the firearm. (You can purchase hunting type ammo for hunting and practice with ball ammo) Go shoot and shoot and shoot and make lots of noise.

This thread is living proof that the internet is filled with inaccuracies that will get an ignorant person who sees and hears what they want to believe in deep trouble. The most critical point made in this thread is when you cross a state line, the transaction now falls in federal jurisdiction. I was a FFL holder in the distant past when anyone with a clean nose and a tax id number could obtain one for 30 dollars. I released the license when the rates went up to $300. It was not a business, it was a hobby which the then new regulations were designed to eliminate as a subclass of FFL holders. There is a right way and a wrong way to do this and there are consequences to both choices. The former allows a paper trail pointing to the firearm(s) in question. The latter opens up a veritable morass of legal problems from the "understanding and compassionate" members of the BATF. (That last sentence is laden with sarcasm for those that have trouble interpreting the written word in a forum.) Pleading ignorance to the law is no excuse for breaking it. The private party in the other state does not need a ffl holder. The private party in the other state MUST ship to a ffl holder in the buyer's state. The private party must also provide a copy of their drivers license in the package that is shipped to the buyer's ffl holder.

I bought one of my pistols from NC, the seller (non-FFL holder) packed it unloaded in a USPS overnight package and shipped it to a TN FFL holder. I went to the FFL holder, gave him 25 bucks and he ran me through the system and verified that I was qualified to purchase said firearm. I then filled out the paperwork and left said premises with over $400 of ammo and accessories because he was so reasonable with his rates. Edited: I made my point and subsequent posts support it with legal documentation.

Go to a gun store that has both the Buckmark and the Ruger. Preferrably the different models of each ... When I put my buckmark with the competition grips model in my hand, the decision was made in less than 3 seconds. It should feel like an extension of your hand. Buckmark is easier to fieldstrip ... Ruger can be a nightmare if you screw it up. Both are very accurate pistols. Should you want a suppressor in the future, the suppressor has to remain on the Ruger because the serial number is on the barrel. The buckmark has it on the frame. So if you want to get a suppressor rated for a .223 and use it on the Buckmark, you can transfer it to the .223 without violating the stamp. Every gun that I bought sight unseen, I have regretted and eventually sold it. Every gun that I bought trying it out, fitting it to me and checking out the balance, I have kept for a long time. Internet forums are great for suggestions, not choices. Just because you handled a firearm at a counter does not mean you have to buy it. Make the decision based on what you feel and then do a targeted search for the deal.

The point of the thread is both concealment and quick access ... I got some great ideas now!

Oh Yeah! Now I got some practical ideas to work on.

Yup, exactly what I was looking for .... now for a place for my pump. Was thinking of cutting an opening in the sheet rock and covering it with some trim or maybe a mirror. Juices are starting to flow now .. Thanks guys!

Kind of ... more with a closed lid with some hidden latch or a bump type latch that does not catch the untrained eye. Kids are all gone and if the grandkids visit, they will get locked up and secured. Special wall hangings ... ornate decorations ... whatever. I have tools and know how to use them, all I need is a productive direction to go towards.

Saw this mentioned in the Fort Knox thread and it is a question that has been intriguing me for a long time. Does anyone know where to find or get plans where one can conceal a firearm in a home yet have it readily accessible if needed. Any key word terminology is appreciated as I have been googling unsuccessfully for a while with no coherent results. Thanks in advance.

I use a SIG GSR for my 'beater' and for the money, has a lot of options that the other manufacturers charge extra. Been very reliable.

Please read this article that was posted in the Chattanoogan last week about Chik-fil-a .... 8/15/2009 - Roy Exum: ‘It’s My Pleasure’ - Opinion - Chattanoogan.com We need more businesses like that. I will now eat there more often ...

I am gonna pee in your beer, put rocks in your hubcaps and superglue your keyslots. I really thought there was a news scoop here ... phhhhtttthhh!

Chattanoogan: 8/17/2009 - Teen Killed At Park In Cleveland - Breaking News - Chattanoogan.com Our parks are safe ... unh-hunh Funny that it did not make the other papers. =============================== A 17-year-old was shot and killed at a park in Cleveland on Sunday night. The shooting occurred shortly before 10 p.m. at Mosby Park on Inman Street. Emergency personnel found a young man who had been shot in the chest. The shooter allegedly fled in a green Chevrolet Impala. A vehicle matching that description was stopped a short time later on I-75 and found to have two males and two females inside.