Jonnin

I find the buffalo bore to be better defense ammo as it has more punch than the silver bear and that is needed to push a hollow point -- the expanded rounds with a normalish 9x18 loadout can fail to penetrate and need all the help they can get IMHO. Trust me, the EG will rust too if sweated on or shot with corrosive ammo. I have spent over a decade keeping mine from rusting with reasonable success but only because I have kept it wiped down and cared for it carefully. They all rust if you do not care for them -- see my earlier recommendation to buy a blue touch up kit of some sort.

Its reasonable, unissued means its going to be basically a new gun so its worth a bit more than a typical one, and the holster adds to its value. Magazines are not expensive and add $10 or so value.

The decocker is handy. For the DA guns that cannot be cocked & locked, its the only safe way to drop the hammer back when re-holstering etc apart from unloading it. A very important feature on some guns.

Flooding and fire are going to be a big loss, but tornado is another story since they can be scattered. What you do is anchor your safe to the foundation and buy insurance. If my safe floods, you guys better build an ark, as I am pretty high up (tn has a number of mountains).

Totally depends on what the gun is for. Everything that follows is just my personal preferences, and nothing more. 1) SA: I love these esp for target shooting, though my pocket 380 is also a SA (it was that or DAO, nothing much in between in the tiny frames). I would be happy to carry one, but almost no SA guns that fit my other needs exist (most SA are massive or have oddball features that annoy me like grip safety, huge pointy hammer or beavertails, etc). Show me a good, small SA that isnt a 1911 rehash and I am all over it (the 238 is 1911ish but lacks beavertail, grip safety, bushing, and so forth). DAO: I like the para light double action. My hands are in bad shape from years of computer work, and I simply cannot fire most DAO guns without physical pain, and since I cannot practice with the guns beyond a few shots, I cannot use them. No good for target guns, really only good for a carry piece, so these are just a no-go for me. DA: Most of my guns are DA. I like them well enough, but why on earth are the triggers so darn sorry? What I want is a DA revolver trigger in a semi-auto. This is not easy to find, but its what I want. The slop in most DA guns is just horrible, even the ones I like and own are poorish. I love the concept: the first pull is your safety, its long and difficult, follow up shots just take a light touch of the trigger. But nothing out there really meets this concept. Not sure what a DAK is. I probably know what it is but not by this name (?). Safe action: I hate them: all the disadvantages of a SA, with none of the advantages. About the only thing positive about them is no need for a safety... which is also true of a DA gun and a DAO gun. Thats right... the long DA pull is as good a safety as a glock's .. I am willing to say that and willing to say leave the safety on "red" for a DA carry gun. A lot of DAO's do not have a safety, which defends this point pretty well. --------- Uses. a) target: single action is the only thing that makes sense to me here unless you are shooting a target with your carry gun for training/practice. True target shooting is hard enough without a junk trigger pulling you off target. CCW: I will not advocate any type here. YOU carry what YOU like. I carry a SA pocket pistol and a DA subcompact, because those are the 2 guns I like for the job. c)Competition: What competition? See A for bullseye/long range high accuracy event, but IDPA or other non-accuracy events can revert to the answer for . d) Personal preference... but I would not use anything except a SA (anything, includes bolt action, most semi-rifles, etc) or DA revolver. e) SA semi-automatic rifle or rifle-caliber pistol. Mostly because I cannot think of any weapon I would have that isnt SA for this job, mostly "fake assault" weapon style stuff. Show me a capable DA option and I would not turn it down.

For someone totally new to guns, I recommend shooting a very wide variety. You are on the right track, renting different models to try out. Normally I recommend it sort of like this to sample a lot of stuff with just a few guns: one mid sized revolver, a 357 or 38 special one DAO gun, a Khar or Kel-tec in 9mm or so, a compact carry gun one SAO gun, a 1911 style (maybe in 9mm) is the default choice, a large frame gun one DA gun, a beretta is a good choice, maybe try a medium frame one glock or clone (XD counts) try another compact or subcompact By now you have tried every action type, every frame size, some lightweight plastics and some heavy steel, seen a few different types of sights, checked out some different styles of controls (mag release, slide release, etc), tried a fairly generic revolver, etc. If you kept notes, you can now compare what you liked and disliked for each type... this is too big, this lightweight one had too much recoil, these sights were awesome, that trigger pull felt good, this type of safety seems easy to use, this grip felt nice, ... whatever you think about each one. Sticking to 9mm lets you compare like to like, but mixing up the calibers lets you sample different types of ammo, both approaches work but mixing calibers makes it difficult to compare the recoil and shooting feel of the different guns. Its not perfect but it gives you a starting point on what to look for and what to avoid based off your own likes and dislikes, which can help you to get better feedback here on the site by describing what you like to us.

I picked rubber for the softness/nonslip but to be honest, plastic, rubber, carbon fiber, etc are all the same to me. Wood is its own thing and the shape/texture matter so much, some wood grips I hated and some I love. Metal I do not like on most guns, a few have managed to do it well. I am not sure what micarta even is, is that another way of saying plastic?

If it costs much over $300, you need to know why, it may be a collectable one but it could also just be a rip-off. East german maks are worth over $300 in general. Your best bet is a bulgarian, which are still being imported and are less expensive at this time. The ones at the gun show were $260 if I remember right, I have one so I didnt study what type they were. A CZ82 is about $200 right now, 250 for a really nice one.

Our summers are pretty brutal sometimes, and this one is not looking good. I wish all of it and more on all the folks that were complaining about the cold in the winter and saying they couldnt wait for summer.

The data provided for the auto disks is way off (is it really old or poorly done? Not sure), you have to weigh your powder for one of the disks to see how much it puts out (average of several goes). Once you weigh it one time, you can grab your calculator and determine what disk you need. For example, say you need 6.5 grains of the above for your next round. Then you take .76 / 6 = .12666, multiply .12666 by 6.5, and it comes out .823 so you grab the disk that is closest to .823. Sometimes, for some powder and bullet weights, its not easy to get the load you want and you may find that 2 hits of a smaller disk is better than your choice of too hot a load or too weak a load. The disks simply are not capable of every possible bullet weight/powder charge / caliber combination, but they cover most. Another way to handle it is to change powders to see if a different brand or burn speed will match to the disks better. You want to weigh the setup you select again, to make sure you are getting what you thought you would get, but this saves a LOT of swapping the disks and weighing a bunch of charges. As for loads to cycle the action and practice, it depends on the gun. Some guns (glocks!) will not cycle starter loads and you have to increase the powder until the ammo works well. Other guns cycle great on less than starter loads of powder --- its largely tied to the recoil spring in the gun and weight of the slide. I usually just make about 10 rounds, test it, and if it works, go with it, if not, increase the charge say 1/4 the difference between starter and max load rounded down to the nearest auto disk.

not rare, but once again your limitations have you down. Probably a bunch of them on the web auction sites etc, there were at least 4 at the gun show here last weekend.

I voted yes because UFOs do indeed exist. All it takes is for *anything* to fly over *anyone* without being identified by the viewer -- which happens all the time with home-made and experimental aircraft. If you meant alien life forms buzzing the planet, then I remain open to it being possible but have no way of saying.

Crimping will increase the pressure spike slightly, but it should not matter. If your loads are not cranked up to the max powder charge with the shortest OAL for the hottest load data you can find, the slight pressure increase from a crimp will have no serious effect. If you ARE trying to push the hottest load you possibly can down the barrel, and are new to reloading, you might want to rethink what you are doing. Otherwise, it should be fine.

I love my makarov, had it for over 20 years, its a 1962 east german with a redneck trigger job. I can put a full box of ammo into a group that you can cover with your hand at 30-50 yards, on a good day (some days I cant hit anything, of course). Not bad for a gun that has a major birthday next year and has going on 10k rounds thru it. There are only 2 bad things about these guns. The finish: buy and have on hand a blue touch-up pen or kit, you will need it. Second, the ammo: while its as cheap as 9mm, it is hard to find and your best bet is to buy 1000 round bulk packs online. Sellier and belliot, silver bear are 2 of your best options for non-steel cased ammo. The guns were made to shoot steel ammo but I do not. I personally just knock 1mm off 9mm cases and reload it. Remember: mak is wider than 9mm and 380, so you cannot shoot a those slugs down the pipe or you will damage the gun with the hot gas going between the bullet and the barrel, this is really hard on the barrel. A few maks are found in 380. These are either new production or converted guns. 380 costs more than twice as much per box as makarov 9mm ammo, so those guns are to be avoided unless you are rich. If you can find an east german makarov, buy it if its in good shape. They are the best made IMHO. All of them are well made and as reliable and tough as a glock or military 1911. The germans cost more. When buying, watch for 3 major problem areas: -some doofus shot 380 and wore out the barrel -some soldier shot corossive ammo and didnt clean the gun in time, rusty or pitted barrel/chamber - worn out gun (should be obvious, but look at the rifleing and chamber. Nothing else matter much, you can replace the springs but the mainspring should be in good shape (cock the hammer, should have some weight to it, if its WAY too easy its worn out). The rifleing is poly and can be hard to see, but looking down it at a bright light at different angles should make it visible. You cannot go wrong with these guns if you buy a decent one. They are cheap, some are just over $200, and the ammo is cheap as well. Mine was my college gun, bought because I could afford to shoot it a LOT during college, and while its no longer 1000 rounds of ammo for $100, its still one of the best bangs for the buck out there. I sold my cz82 this weekend at a gunshow. It wasnt bad, but mak ammo is a pain to make and I prefer to shoot it in my mak, not the cz. Cz is better carry piece, or weapon, mak is a better shooter.

These supposedly need a new spring pretty early in life. Mines got some 500 in it and orig spring is good, but its something to do that is a known fix for this gun.

If you are looking at smaller guns that are easy to conceal, the sig p238 is easy to rack and has a light trigger, both of which are awesome if your hands are in bad shape (age aside, computers have ruined my hands). Its a 380, which is weaker than 9 but more than plenty.. but it has less firepower than any of your revolvers, upside is just the rapid fire and small easy to conceal frame. From there, there are many, many 9mm to pick from in many sizes and styles.

Are you going to get it engraved for the occasion? That may cut into your funds a little if you do.

I dont care what you kill so long as you eat it, wear it, or can honestly say it was a threat to you. Anything else, I have a problem with.

They are new 223 dies. But there were 2 types being sold, and I think mine size the whole case? I could have the wrong type? The expert there (and hes been really good so far) asked what gun it was for and at the time we said the mini-14 ... maybe I need 2 sets of dies? Until you said that I even forgot about the 2 die sets..! The 223 is really the big deal now. The 30-30 is fine with 30-30 slugs, and the witness problem is understood. THe 223 may be the shoulders, I havent had a chance to get back to it.

I think we have determined its the gun for the 9mm issue. I can make it work with some 380 slugs I have, which have a short, thin nose that does not bite into the rifleing during feed and do quite well. It looks like they started the rifleing on my barrel just a wee bit earlier than max OAL of 9mm allows, I have even found a couple of brands of factory ammo that it will not eat and am looking into getting that fixed. I do have, and use, a 9mm crimp die, its not related to this issue though. THe crimp die is very useful for the 380 load. I may try those xtps; that is exactly the problem and any bullet that is truncated works (most factory ammo is working). Add to the issue, the cast rounds are slightly fatter than jacketed anyway, apparently this is required for a good fit but makes the issue at hand worse. Seating shallower isnt in the cards, not only does that put more of the fat nose into the rifleing bite (the source of the trouble), I already had them somewhat shallow. I went the other way, to try to seat one deep enough that only the narrow nose of the round would show to slip past the problem, but those were way, way too deep, ended up putting 3/4 the mass of the slug deep in the brass before it would seat properly, which was a no-go. The 30-30 is fine with the correct bullets, I just did not understand how the different rilfleing of different guns worked... seeing a lot of folks swap one slug for another if the diameter is very very close, and wanting a light load, I made a dumb mistake and learned a bit for my troubles =) I can now see why all 30-30 slugs have a fat backside and narrow nose...

I would have a real hard time with anyone going to jail for speeding, no matter how fast, if they pulled over when caught at it and otherwise did no harm. Fine the crap out of him, ok, take his liscence for a while, ok, fine, but jail time for speeding? Too harsh for me.

Guilty... We used to have an old ford with a 7 liter engine and Ive seen it push past the 120 mark a time or 3... sometimes, if you have the car, you gotta wind it up now and then. Once made the chatt to atlanta run in just over an hour, my friend and his new sports car... good times =)

Normally a metal head, but I also like the old stuff (pre 1960 or so) stuff. Everything since about 1960 or the J Cash era has been a steady decline toward rock music... and he sort of started that movement though I do like him a lot (did you know you can bang you head to JC's rusty cage remake?! Its good stuff!). These days, if you muted the singer, you could not tell the difference between mainstream rock and mainstream country -- the differenc is just the fake southern twang or lack of it from the singer. Personally, when a certain not quite good looking woman in plastic skin tight clothing took the scene, country music stopped twitching and totally died, but thats just my opinion.... Speaking of which, dunno if it counts or not but tonight on my way to see some banjo music by Steve Martin. Not quite old school but its well done.

RIA makes one, if you want a budget model. The feg I mentioned is probably SA (I really am not sure, its uncommon, possibly collectable, and you should ask seller). Taurus makes one in your price range. You might find a used big brand in your price range as well -- springfield has one I think, and maybe kimber? Given your situation, its another case of take what people have to sell/trade since you cannot just go order what you want... RIA has a great reputation on their .45s, but no one talks about the 9s, most likely its the exact same design and every bit as good.

Well, all I can say in that case is to give a SA gun a good chance before you spend any money. Every store will have a 1911 .45 that you can at least feel of to see what I am talking about, then you can seek out a 9mm SA if you like the style and feel. There is a reason that most pistol shooters who are going for accuracy use a SA, and have $1000 worth of trigger work done... its the reason you stated, bad triggers pull everyone off target (this is not just you). If you prefer the DA guns, you just have to get used to nasty triggers. I think its done on purpose, for "safety", but all of them are pretty bad out of the box (again, compared to a DA revolver that is thumb-cocked then fired).