peejman

What do you like to do... boating, hiking, swimming...? While Douglas Lake is a nice area (as is Cherokee Lake, just to the north) I'm not sure you'll find much other than the usual hotels and such. Perhaps some cabin rentals here and there. You'll find tons of stuff in and around Sevierville and Gatlinburg. There's also Boone Lake near Johnson City and South Holston Lake near Bristol.

Ammo availability has improved considerably in the last couple weeks. I think maybe the hoarders have finally decided they have enough. The same 400 rounds of .45 WWB has been on the shelf at the local wal-mart for 2 weeks. It wouldn't sit there for 30 minutes 3 months ago. They've got several thousand 9mm on the shelf. My carry gun is also a .45 (PT145) and while I shoot it at every range trip, I put twice as many rounds through my 9mm (P85). So my advice is to find a 9mm to practice with and keep the .45. As long as the guns are similar, I don't think it makes much difference. And for the record, I love the XD45C and would really like to have one.

Definitely have her shoot an airweight before buying. My wife loved the feel of it, then rented one and hated it. She had a blister forming in the web between her thumb and forefinger after 15 rds. She said she'd rather shoot my subcompact .45.

Myrtle is nice if you like the big-time touristy stuff. My family used to stay at Ocean Isle Beach, NC (just across the state line) and really enjoyed it. It was very quiet... while on the beach, you wouldn't be within 100 yds of the next family. If your 8 yr old likes to play in the surf, you need to be aware that there is some hurricane debris (mostly large hunks of asphalt from the old beach road) in the water. Just go out a low tide and you'll see where it is, it's not really a big deal. There were big tidal pools and water is quite shallow for a long way out.... waist deep for a good 150yds off the beach. We've also stayed near Charleston and liked it too. Folly Beach, Sullivan's Island, and Isle of Palms are all good family destinations. Lots of neat stuff to do as well. Visit the Yorktown and the Hunley. We took our 2 yr old to Hilton Head for his first beach trip in May. Other that having some difficulty finding stuff on the island (no signs and all the buildings are behind trees), we had a good time. There's a lot of marsh/wetlands so we had a boardwalk to the beach, but the resort had a shuttle. I think my son liked riding the shuttle as much as the beach itself. We also found it to be a bit less expensive than other areas. The beach was nice and somewhat busy, but nothing like Myrtle. Continuing down the coast... Savannah and Tybee Island are also nice. Not as much to do as Charleston, but still some entertainment to be had. I'd say the advice to call first and possibly negotiate a bit on FL stuff is spot-on. If you believe the news, they're dying out there. We stayed at St. George Island, FL with my wife's family a few years ago. While not cheap, it was a very quiet, family oriented area as well. White sand beaches that were nearly empty.

The one Taurus I own and the few others I've shot (not a 709) have all had reasonably good triggers after a bit of break-in.

We have a drill doctor here at work and the machinists tell me it works pretty well. We drill holes in things like titanium, inconel, and hastelloy so sharp bits are a must. MacGyver's statements above regarding temper/anneal are correct. When you overheat a drill, you anneal (soften) it and it won't hold an edge. You could try the blacksmith heat-treat methods, but honestly... (steel) bits are cheap.

I took my HCP class at the Unaka Rod and Gun Club . Other than being a tad chilly shooting outside in February (I was prepared), the class was good.

Racking the slide is easy when you do it this way.... Cornered Cat - Rack the Slide My wife can rack the slide on my subcompact .45 relatively easily using this method. Most women I've talked to about it are "afraid they'll hurt the gun". So they try to pull the slide back slowly. Once they're convinced they won't (can't) hurt it and drive the gun forward aggressively, they'll say... "oh, that was easy." When done properly, the whole motion occurs in a blink.

Golf balls at 45 yds, wow! I think I could hit the milk jug at that range fairly regularly, but to pick the golf ball off the top... that's very, very impressive. If he seems the type that would be a good instructor, offer to cover his ammo costs for some lessons. I also like the advice above in using a small portion of a big target for practice. I try to do that when I go to the range using the standard sillouette. Shoot the X out. Once it's big enough that you can't tell where the bullets hit, then shoot out the #7 at all 4 clock positions (12, 3, 6 ,9). Then give it a smiley face. That gives you 6 targets a couple inches across for 6 different distances w/o having to change paper.

There have been several recent threads on this topic. First, she needs to shoot the gun before buying it. Pocket guns can be unpleasant to shoot. Best of my knowledge, most all the .380's can have some reliability issues. Some break-in and or minor mod's may be necessary before it'll work well.

+1.

I'm a no-talent hack on the guitar. And that's not just your typical musician modesty, I really stink. Though I'd like very much to get better. I play mostly for myself and my 2 yr old. I have an older Ibanez electric with full Floyd Rose and a cheap acoustic.

Be careful when polishing large, moving surfaces with a dremel. It's possible to end up with a bright, shiny surface that isn't flat. Using a stone to to the bulk of the work and keep the surface flat. Only use the dremel for the "final polish".

I actually typed "legal system" first then changed it to justice system. My hope was if we return to referring to it as a "justice" system, eventually it might actually become that again. Yeah, I'm a bit from time to time.

The hot wire is the best tool, depending on the type of foam. Some foams cut nicely, some just melt into goo. If you're cutting with a knife, instead of using 2" thick foam, get 2 pieces of 1" thick. You can cut completely through the 1" foam and lay another uncut piece under it. A few dabs of glue will hold the two pieces together. Again, you have to find the right glue as some glues with dissolve the foam.

Compressed air is quite handy for clearing those lines. Carb cleaner should dissolve any gunk and shouldn't hurt the plastic.

35 miles in 1 day, I couldn't do 35 miles in a week. Sounds like you're making good progress. I hope you're enjoying the experience.

The fact that his statement makes perfect sense effectively guarantees that our justice system would interpret differently.

I thought you could only do that in Nevada?

My PT145 shot about 3" low when new. POI slowly drifted up with use and after a couple hundred rounds, it was POA/POI. No further changes after 800-ish rounds. I don't know why they do that, but give it some time.

I used to work with a PhD who was working on development of a land-based laser system for shooting down missiles. It looked like a spot light and sat on a flatbed trailer. He was all giddy when it blasted the first missile in-flight. He sent us some video of the test, which was cool to watch. That's been 7-8 years ago now.

What he said. The condensate drain/vent was rusted and clogged up on our old fridge, though mine ran down the back of the fridge into the floor. As stated, can also be caused by too much stuff in the freezer so that the air can't circulate.

Most jewelers have a tumbler to polish rings. A couple hours in there and it'll look like new again. And the 2nd version is far better. And that's a great movie.

The wife and I dropped our young'un off with her parents, had a nice lunch, bought some flowers for the yard, then went to see the new Robin Hood moive (which was good). Glad someone understands the flag code. Smoky Mtn Harley in Maryville had the American Flag at half staff well past noon and left their other flags at full staff.

A mass stiffing.... sorry, but that's just hilarious!