Jonnin

Chattanooga does emissions testing. It is a crock: they do not test the polluters (commercial and government vehicles) like those small dumptruck looking things with 6 wheels that blow black smoke every few seconds, or the 18 wheelers that do the same. It costs $10 a year and they have rules (if your car is this age, it can pollute this much, newer cars are held to higher standards). Mostly, its a way to steal $10 per car and create "jobs". It may be the county, I forget if its city, county, or what in charge of this tax. (Note that I would be all for this if the testing were free, a fine charged for polluting vehicles, and all vehicles with a TN tag of any type had to do it). I would be a lot more concered about the income tax than anything else; as it is double taxing (taxed both when you make it and when you spend it). 5% twice may seem the same as 10% sales tax, but you do not spend every cent you make, making TNs tax rate much lower for those who save, invest, or just shop online or across the state lines. I doubt I pay the 10% tn tax on more than 1/3 of my income, so its really about a 3-4% tax rate in Tn, TOTAL, for me.

google Ortgies. Be careful not to google orgies by mistake, esp if the wife is around.

oh, ok. Yes, it is ok to feel/hear the powder shake. I think everything I make except 223 can be shaken.

I would fully expect to be arrested if I pulled my gun on people in public. Depending on what else was going on, I would also expect to be released pretty quickly once the cops sorted it all out. Guns always make the news, should have details soon.

pistol grip ARs have to have a device added to make it not a pistol grip. 10 rounds max for anything including rifles. You CAN have various not-fully-automatic rifles, even semi auto rifles, but the 10 round rule, pistol grip, and several other rules make it a big hassle. I do not know how that works but I have seen pictures of CA approved AR-15s with short stubby mags & what looks like a boat oar screwed on to the pistol grip. However, it may be that those are grandfathered in, there are some guns in CA that were there before law changes and you cannot take a new one of that type into the state (?). You really, really need to read up on it. It is an extremely strict state with a ton of BS rules that can get you into a lot of trouble in short order.

heh, kids these days. Back in my day sonny everything was 6-8 weeks for delivery, not just your HCP. These days anything over a week is a long wait.

No, No, No! The powder should weigh exactly what your load data says (this is a range from weak to do not exceed). It may fill 25% of the case with a really, really hot powder (accurate #2 in a 9mm for example, you can fit at least 3, maybe 4 charges in the case). It may fill most of the case (2230 in a 223 for example). But you use what the data says, not a rule of thumb! Now, as far as that goes, here are my rules of thumb, and why: 1) fill at least 50% of the case with your powder. Why? If you screw up and double charge your case, it will overflow and you get to feel like an idiot at the press, not on the range as you remove your slide from your forehead. 2) The more you fill the case, the more consistent the load (when using volumetric tools). If you dispense your powder by volume, for example the lee disk dispenser or dippers, then the errors in the amount dispensed are consistent. If you are building a 9mm with 3 grains of hot powder, and are off by .1 grains, that is significant. If you are using a weak, case filling powder that takes 6 grains, .1 grains of error is half as much, relatively, see? So your loads will be more consistent. If you weigh each charge, this does not mean anything, of course, it is only of note for volume dispensers. 3) Powders all cost about the same per pound. If you choose to fill 75% of the case instead of 25%, you pay 3x as much per round in powder costs. 4) Powder is cheaper in bigger cans. If you pick a powder that covers most, if not all, of your load data, you can buy more of it cheaper. That is not always possible: If you load only your 2 most expensive handguns and those are 44 mag and 380 auto, you probably want 2 powders. But see what you can get away with: I can do every caliber I own with 4 powders (2 pistol, 2 rifle).

I had the p-40 which is the p-11 in .40 cal, which fit into a pocket but was a little big for it. The pf9 is slimmer and will fit just fine. However it is a DAO with a fairly heavy trigger out of the box, and requires some lovin' and break in to get it running smooth. Kel tec pistols are sometimes a bit of trouble out of the box but they make up for any issues with outstanding service. I use the sig p238 as my most common pocket pistol. However, it is coming out in 9mm later this year, if you can wait I would get that instead as 380 ammo is expensive. There are a number of small 9mms on the market now, there is no reason to move to a 380 unless you are wearing skin tight rock star pants or something, the 9s will fit in normal mens clothing pockets. I have the beretta nano and it has a pretty hefty trigger but is quite small and pocketable as well and much, much better built than most.

I am pretty sure that the 2-bore is bigger @ 1.33 caliber. Not more powerful, but bigger caliber (caliber = bullet diameter not cartridge power).

I think you can get NWN electronically now, as a download, from whoever owns it now (atari? Someone else?).

I am 95% sure the whole M&P line shoots both, meaning they are really 5.56 chambered (?). Davidson's sometimes has really strange notes, not precisely wrong but almost as if written by someone who knows little of guns.

I have used 25 year old powder and primers that were unopened. I used up dad's stockpile last year, and have refreshed it with new. Stored properly, I suspect modern powder and primers would last your lifetime. But it is better to "rotate the stock", use the oldest up and buy more to replace it as you go. If you store powder long term, keep load data with it, as sometimes the data changes due to powder formula changes, and it could be unsafe to mix old data and new powder or vice versa.

I can only hope that some terrorist lets loose an EMP rather than a nuke in some big city... computers can be replaced. (that is, if they are going to bomb someone at all, I prefer neither of course!).

I will try D3 but game makers are really killing their own industry. Nothing that you can play "offline" has the depth to last for years (like D2, for example, I STILL play that sometimes for an hour or so and it is still plenty of fun). I still play alpha centauri & warlords 3 & neverwinter nights. Then you get stuff like skyrim: I got it at christmas, have beat the main quest 4 times now and am finding it somewhat lacking compared to morrowind in terms of depth and detail. It seems intentional. They want you to buy more games, not spend a decade playing old ones. But the old ones are better; all the new ones have are graphics, the story and depth are lacking and complexity is replaced with the simple until you do not have to think to develop your character or strategy, its done for you .... making it even more meaningless.

Sportsman's is a good place, and the guy who runs the reloading section is very, very helpful and knowledgeable. Gun shows usually have a reloading vendor or 2, and those OFTEN sell their own reloads for very cheap. There is a neat shop in fort oglethorpe GA, not far from chattanooga if you dislike sportsman's. Several local gun shops have a small selection of random items, a couple of types of a couple of powder brands in the small bottles sorts of things, maybe a few sets of dies, a brand or 2 of primers. Most local shops only stock the things that sell easily, rather than a full selection. I think they can only have so much on hand before needing special storage (??). You can buy bullets online, and that is your best option for them. Powder and primers have a fee to be shipped and are not worth it online.

It can happen to any chain, at any time. Think back to the tainted lettuce or tomatoes of the past few years... they all buy from the same few suppliers. The Bell's prices have nothing to do with that --- their prices reflect their cheap meats and fillers. "The CDC indicated that some of the people who were ill ate at Taco Bell, while others did not. They believe that the problem likely occurred at the supplier level" It is not a coverup. If they list TB as the source, and it is not (say it is the tomatoes again) so McDonalds buys up all those tomatoes next, what does it accomplish? It hurts the bell --- people stop eating there -- but it just shifts the problem to another place, repeat, until all we have are people afraid to eat fast food so the grocery stores end up with the tainted veggies.... problem moves again.... the CDC has to be sure before pointing a finger, and they have to find the source to destroy the tainted products, not shut down the end vendor and allow the source to spread the taint thin & wide across other end vendors.

Make sure the wife has held and fired one first. long, heavy trigger guns with a fairly stout recoil... it is not the sort of gun that should be bought just because the price is right. The trigger pull on these things makes them extremely difficult to use, and I cannot recommend this class of weapon for a novice shooter. I do not KNOW that your wife is a novice shooter, but if she were experienced, she would be picking the gun out instead of you, so I made a leap of logic there

Stockpile primers & powder. Then you can make whatever you want without a lot of trouble. One 10 pound keg of powder will make nearly 15k 9mm rounds and takes up the space of a gallon jug of water, maybe a little more but not much. Primers do not use much space either. Brass you can find and bullets you can make.

I do not care what the police and military use. They choose the ammo using a variety of criteria, including the price tag (for small police departments), performance, and also safety concerns (some big city cops use frangables for example). The military is constrained by conventions that I am not: I have zero need to be using ONLY ball ammo. I am sure I could use whatever the police use (in any department in this country) and be more than fine. I would not turn down a can of milsurp but it would become target practice or emergency stash, not daily carry ammo. I am sure that the stuff I have been buying, which has gone bang accurately and without feeding issues, will also work. I think just about anything that is not some sort of bottom of the barrel plinking ammo will work, to be honest, so long as it feeds in the gun in question without problems, does not have duds, and is not insanely inaccurate. I think some calibers matter more than others, and am a lot more picky about my 380 ammo than my 9mm.

I can live without the straight 8, its the one thing I hate about my beretta 92. These sound like a fine gun, from every source I have heard, congrats on it!

there are M&P ARs that have the dust cover and FA, ours did, though they may cost a little more (not sure). Ours was about $750 with those features, 1/9 twist, its been a great trouble free gun. I would bet that it is cheaper to pick the one with those features than add them after the fact (?) if you really want them.

I have used dental floss in some places, and I have used just a cardboard q-tip with the head removed for other tight spaces. I have scraped caked on grime out with a large plastic/fake bone/something needle.

My lever action 308 argues with you. I have not tried it at 800 but its all one hole at 200, the longest range I can do "easily". Browning makes it, and with a magazine you can use any type of ammo. If you want a lever gun, I highly recommend this one. Bolt guns work too, 30-06, 308, 7mm, and many other great long range calibers in bolt guns. A semi-auto at that range does not exist at that price. Remember to save $$ for a scope!

it sounds like the ammo is not hot enough to cycle the gun properly. I have never had this issue on those brands but anything is possible. It could also need lube: its been months you said, did it get any cleaning in between trips to the factory? Fixing it and returning it is not poor service --- it worked when you got it back and they do not have a crystal ball to say it will break again in a few months. Poor service is getting it back and it does not work on the first shot. Nevermind, I misread that. It should work after coming back from them. I would ask them what ammo they used to test it after they worked on it, and then try that brand.... I suspect they test fired it and it worked for them, probably at least 1 mag of ammo. It sounds like break-in woes to me. Shoot it a lot. Like 500 rounds. Clean it every 100. If the problem persists past that, send it back again and remind them its the second trip back (you might get free stuff or bumped up in the wait line). I have the subcompact in 40 and it has never missed a beat, but does not have that rotating barrel thing. Those extra moving parts may dirty up fast, esp on a new gun, and need extra lube/cleaning attention, but that is a guess.

the fridge causes condensation. Basically any moisture in the air when it closes will condense when it cools, which can spoil your goods. That is the biggest concern I can think of. If you do this, consider some way to deal with the moisture. Note that heat speeds up the decomposition of (most, maybe all?) powders and primers, so the shelf life is decreased if store too much over 90 for a long time (decades?). Powder and primers do not explode in a hot car. I would guess that powder can stand at least 150 degrees F before it goes up, same for primers. No one would SELL things that explode at lower temps than 150 to the public; it would be too risky as you KNOW some fool would leave it in the hot car, or it would get hot during transportation, or in a warehouse, or something --- even punks that leave some in a bottle by the road to see if it blows up in the sun. The fridge is a good idea, but you probably could just put a fan blowing on it and do as well, or better, to keep the heat down without the risk of moisture. A cool, but not cold, dry place is what you seek.