Handsome Rob

Thanks buc, yes I did. It's my first attempt at a holster.

Here's a couple of my '51....... I won't have my '58 Remmy for a week or so. I usually load the '51 with 18gn of FFFG Goex, with 20gn of cornmeal on top, a lubed felt patch & .454 ball. Since I've recrowned the muzzle (I think the previous owner must've dropped it) it'll shoot 3" groups at 20yds. I'm told it should shoot better than that, but I'm not much of a pistol shot!

......have once again given me the necessary courage to pull the trigger on a gun I've been lusting after for too long. I'm now $200 lighter, but eagerly awaiting delivery of a steel framed Pietta 1858 New Model Army in .44 to compliment my 1851 Navy Colt. I dare say they'll be coming down to Florida with me later in the year for a piggy hunt, but my first job will be to switch out the crappy Pietta nipples for some Treso's & start working up a load. I am VERY giddy about this, as I've been wanting one since I was a kid & every time I've seriously thought about buying one, something silly has come up & taken my money. Drunken courage is happy courage!

Watershoes & fishing shorts for me please! I wear Teva sandals regularly. I prefer the toe protection offered by open sided, but closed toe sandals. Keen are excellent, but I begrudge paying that much for shoes, so I settled on a pair of Tevas I found at BassPro for $40 IIRC. They do let small stones in, but I'd rather stand on the occasional small rock than lose my big toenail against a big one! Wading boots by themselves are a great, although expensive, option, especially felt soled models. I personally DETEST wearing any kind of wader, I find them too restrictive, too hot in summer & cold in winter & insanely uncomfortable all the time. I've never tried any really high end versions, but again, I begrudge paying $hundreds for any item of clothing.

Myself & a few good buddies are avid canoerists. If you can find (& afford) a kevlar boat, it would be a very wise investment. 13-15ft long will only weight around 35-50lb & is more than enough boat for one person & a weekend's camping load. Legally, all waterways in TN are public, so long as they're not fully encapsulated by private land (ie; ponds & lakes), fenced or posted. Even if a stream, creek or river passes through private land, so long as you are below the high-water line, you're not trespassing. Personally, I paddle a 16' Pelican flatbottom tourer as I do the bulk of my paddling on the lakes around here & the added initial stability afforded is a great asset. I would prefer a shorter, more tumblehome profile boat for moving water & when funds allow it's near the top of my shopping list. There are always a bunch of canoes on Craigslist, some good, some not so good. Pretty much anything by Coleman, Pelican, Indian, Grumman or Old Town will get you going for under $500 Try and avoid Aluminum boats at all costs! They're hot in summer, freezing cold in winter, noisy as hell, crack, split & are tough to repair! There's a reason they're usually cheaper!

FTF only for me. I've only bought one gun online (not here) & after 3 weeks of phone calls before I got the guy to ship to my FFL I decided never again

When do/did quota hunt applications need to be submitted by? For some reason I can't find the info on the TWRA website & every time I go on there, all I can do is check an application status, I guess meaning that I've missed the deadline. I could've SWORN the deadline last year was July???

Been getting it since January 3rd.

'Strawberry-Blonde' if you please!

This is me, getting waaaay to friendly with a channel cat....... And again with a Florida hog, my first taken with a bow I built.......

For God's sake man keep quiet! If th AR boys hear you they'll beat you to death with their Magpul catalogs!

Ummmm....you miiight wanna check on that. As far as I know baiting deer is very illegal in TN!

I used to have a LOT of luck running snare lines back in England, in my youth. To successfully set, you need to find the 'runs' the rabbits are using daily, preferably under a hedge or fence. Set your snares about 3" off the ground & big enough that your fist will pass through without touching the wire. I used to have more luck setting with the snares attached to the bottom run of a barb wire fence. You need to be looking for rabbit sized 'tunnels' through long vegetation & set them there. Make sure to wear rubber gloves when you handle your snares & if you can, store them outside for a month before you use them. I twisted my own up out of brass wire. I made the snare roughly 12" long, with a further 12" of strong string on the end to tie to stakes or fences. I remember the school summer break of '87, catching enough to buy my first shotgun (A Baikal SxS 12 gauge) If I remember correctly, they sold for £249 & I was selling rabbits for £1.50 a brace! However, you'll have a lot more luck with an air-rifle, if you want to eat them, or a cat if you don't! EDIT: Sorry, just read WD's post above. That blows

Other than my longbows & recurves, it's all I hunt with anymore. Lyman Great Plains .54 percussion, John Anderson longrifle again in .54 & an old Traditions Crockett in .32 (fer skwerls & sich) I've made all my own accoutrements ; bag, horn, powder measures, ball blocks, short starts & I cast my own balls. Like fly fishing & traditional archery, it becomes more of an obsession than a hobby!

What a tool.

Yup, that's the motor! To this day I'm not 100% sure what happened. I pulled up on the bank to get to my deer stand & 4 hours later came back to this. The only thing I can think happened is that the angle of the bank put the bilge-drain underwater & it back filled into the boat! I had to pile rocks on the front deck to raise the back end (thank you high-school physics!) & bail it out with my hands. The troller got my the 4 miles back to the ramp. Slowly.

Sometime you've just gotta shout 'Balls to it!' sit down & laugh. Boating trully will make a McGuyver out of everyone though. I managed to get home after this.......

All perfectly legal! It's pre-ban (documented) ivory. Very, very expensive, but readily available.

Here's a few more pics.....

I just got this one finished up today, for my Dad's 65th Birthday present. My folks are coming over from England for a visit this week & I wanted to surprise Dad with a nice gift. It's 240 layers of Alabama damascus (1095 & 15N20) Full tang construction with a nickel silver guard, pins & bolsters. The handle is Elephant Ivory. I'll admit, there are a couple of small gaps I'd rather not have left around the guard, but hey, my workshop consists of a 4' length of 2x10 & a 4" machine vice! LOL! OAL is 14½" with an 11" classic clip-point blade. The box I made from a Black Walnut tree that fell 3 years ago, lined with velvet...... I'll post a few, better pics tomorrow once the camera is recharged!

The REAL trick is being able to pick up & transport a 44' long length of 10"x6"x½" box section steel through an 18' wide doorway. Sideways. Drove a fork truck for 8years.

I'd never fire another shot there. My brass is MY brass, bought & paid for, be it in a factory box or my own reloads. If I collect it & throw it in the trash, then they'd be welcome to it, otherwise, it's coming home with Robbie!

Can you not???

^ This.

It's actually pretty hard to describe how good they are, without swearing. One of THE finest battle rifles ever made by anyone, anywhere, ever. OK, so they're not the strongest of actions, compared to a Mauser action, b ut for the pressures they were designed for, they're more than up to the task. They're possibly the smoothest bolt-action made, although if you're not used to it, the cock-on-closing can feel a little wierd. If you want to see exactly why they were so loved by the Commonwealth countries, rattle off 10 rounds as fast as you can.......10 shots in 5 seconds isn't hard to do Accuracy is pretty much legendary the world over. They're a cinch to work on & clean, headspacing isn't an issue, because you can replace the bolt-head in about 8 seconds with no tools & ammo is as cheap as you can get. I buy & shoot Prvi Partisan 150gn softnose from ammunition to go dotcom at $14.00 for a box of 20 Recoil is no worse than a .308 or heavyweight .30-30, as you'd expect with it being a cross between the two. They make for an exceptional hunting rifle & to this day are still one of the most popular rifles in Africa, Australia & Canada. They say that the .303 round has taken every animal on the planet.....well, I'm not sure about that, but I'd confidently pit one against anything smaller than a Cape or Water Buffalo. The original English iron sights are sighted at 300yds for the battle sight & the flip up ladder sight is good for 100-1200yds. The US armory versions of the No 4 Mk 1 (Springfield armory, CIA, Savage & some Long Branch) have a dual aperture flip-over battle sight, ranged at 300 & 600yds The No4 Mk1 model & Mk1 No 3 are the most popular & the easiest to find. The No 5 Mk 1 Jungle carbine is a great rifle & a pleasure to carry & shoot, but accuracy is simply awful past 100yds It was designed as a short range rifle, so this is no great surprise. Oh, & SMLE stands for Short Magazine Lee Enfield, which is odd, 'cos they never made a LMLE! The Ishapore Enfields chambered in .308 (7.62 NATO) are NOT a modified SMLE. They're designed specifically to shoot the higher pressure round, so don't worry. They're also a spectacularly good gun. If you're ever around Tullahoma, hit me up & I'll let you take one of mine for a run!