Jonnin

Have you done anything to it? Might have a smith look at the crown & re-crown it if needed? Also, you might look into handloading some ammo that your gun favors? Is a peep-sight allowed, or only the original? Anything possibly 'wrong' with the gun, such as rifling or chamber areas? Just some random thoughts, I am not a mosin expert by any stretch, don't even own one but I have shot a few.

Probably. Depends on the caliber, and what else you had on hand for tinder. I would think you could just empty out the powder and strike a spark with a couple of rocks or even static electricity to get the powder to burn. Pour the powder onto a sap-rich pine stick or pine-cone cut up into tinder and it should start right up. I wouldnt try to set off the primer unless very, very desperate.

close to $500 with dies and a 4 stage press. Dies run average $40 per set or so, adds up fast. You can do it for less with a single stage, as noted.

Thanks a ton guys! I carefully polished the slide up in the lugs as feeling up in there it was as sharp as a knife and slightly rough. This was, as stated, difficult to do, ended up using a stick and very fine sandpaper to get in there. I also lightly polished the scratches on the barrel side. Took it out tonight and shot about 75 rounds thru it, home again and just finished the takedown. The barrel is now burnished and self-polishing, so it is cured. I do not know what better methods may have worked, but popsicle stick approach worked fine. A few strokes were all it took too, as I under-polished this first time to test it -- you can always polish more but I do not want to loosen the fit anywhere. My whetstones are small, the surgical one is only about 1.5 inches by 3 inches, but they do not fit in there well and it would not be easy. Guess it depends on the stones you have. A ceramic stick sharpener might have been perfect.

Of course. One of my best shooting guns ever is my $200ish makarov. If it had a decent set of sights I could probably hit black most shots on a BE target at 50 with that (and get a nice 600/900 score ish). I am not offended at all --- I do not own a 3k 1911, my new one was $900 and the one before that cheaper still. If I were good enough to win the sport and hit the big events, I would spend the $$ on the guns (costs as much for the travel anyway, once you get to that level). As it is, you could hand me a 10k gun that aimed itself and I still wouldnt beat some of the guys at local clubs shooting for fun. I have a ways to go yet -- the local bubbas can shoot 2500/2700 and I am, being honest and not modest, not there yet =) Thats not to say that if I win the lottery, I wont be buying a good one, but that at this time, my skill level does not justify it and my budget doesnt have room.

Well, I am in the process of learning all this stuff for bullseye shooting, and the gunsmith I talked to put it this way: you can buy a cheap gun and pay me $2000 to fix it up, or you can buy a $2500 gun and pay me $250 to touch it up... at the end of the day you are going to sink $3k into the gun one way or the other unless you do it yourself or settle for a lesser gun. The value is in the needs of the shooter. Do YOU need a 1911 that can shoot a 1.5 inch target at 50 yards?

People are the concern; aircraft have triple redundancy on electronics and critical things and a few bullets would be unlikely to drop a plane. As far as the gun goes, there are not many platforms for it, not a lot of ammo choices, and its a glorified 9mm just like the .40. The only reason to carry this would be because you found a gun that you absolutely love in the caliber --- I would have to recommend against going out seeking it, but if the gun finds you....

Not sure what that new question means? If you mean the academy sign, I will NOT hand one of those guys a loaded gun, no more than I would anyone else. If you mean in general, do you ignore a sign that does not comply with the law, I will. There is no reason for the owner to get it wrong, its listed very clearly what is acceptable on the web. I don't plan on having to draw my gun anyway, no one will see it or know about it but me, so its not going to be an issue anyway. And if I do need it in a proper defensive shoot, I will justify it later.

Pretty popular, but pricy enough --- not a gun for the average bubba, its for competetive shooting or other serious users rather than just a guy wanting to shoot at a 3 foot wide target 10 feet away. I got to try one a couple of weeks ago, really deflated me about my own new (and much cheaper) 1911 =/

well that narrows it down. If the ammo makes 1/2 in other guns, a gun that does not like it may open up some but not *that* much. By locking down the gun, I mean totally, so it cannot be moved, then shoot it one time. Look thru the scope and note how far off the crosshairs the round went. Then shoot 4 more times and check the scope vs placement each time. If the bullets all go in the same hole, but each time the scope is different, you have a scope or scope mounting problem. If the bullets go all over the place, the scope may or may not stink but there is a more important problem to solve!

Sometimes its the scope, sometimes its the gun, the ammo, the shooter, or other stuff. Here, if the first round hits and the next couple do not, is it possible the barrel got hot, then cooled, etc? I would give it a try with 1 shot, then cool down, repeat. Also might do other tests like lock it into a rest to see what sort of groups the gun makes when it is not moved. Its easy to blame a cheap scope (and that is a potential problem) but the best thing to do is eliminate the variables that you can to determine the problem.

willow and the ghost & the darkness (I think thats the name) stand out for me.

Its not a BS answer. Respect is not too much to ask, but it is too much to DEMAND. The line is drawn there, and people have the right to stand or not, to talk or not, etc. Freedom gives folks a lot of rights that can lead to questionable actions or poor choices, this is just another example of it. Do I approve of people sitting or not taking a hat off or yapping on a cell phone during it? Not at all. Do they have the right to do that without my approval? Yep.

Glocks with poly rifling lead up on *soft* (pure) lead badly, as do other poly guns (uncommonish, makarov is one of them). Harder lead should be OK if you do not try to make super hot loads and just use lead for target practice. The most important thing, as I understand it, is to never shoot jacketed ammo after lead without a cleaning, just to be safe.

I also have started using these. The 115 9mm, similar to yours, zero issues. Also using makarov, 380, 44, 30-30. You can order a different hardness for your .45 if you buy a lot of rounds, which would let you use the load you want without leading. I would think a lower pressure round would also reduce the problem but am not experienced enough to say for sure (?).

we have a few in strategic locations around the house, and I always carry unless forced to enter a place that does not allow it (very, very rare). I carry around the house or have one in hand's reach.

I like this policy. A lot of gun places, including gun shows, make you unload your carry piece. The better rule is the one used here: if you need it serviced or examined or touched, unload it, if its loaded and not presented its fine as law permits. This is a very good rule.

No idea. Use regular small but I do not know the difference in pressure vs a large regular. I would think the difference is not so great that your regular loads need to change unless you are really picky. If you are picky, throw away the small primer brass and stick to one set of components.

Some brass uses small primers. To swap, you just change the primer insert from the large to the small one -- on my press, that means remove the shell holder, pull out the metal primer thingy, pop in the other one, put the holder back, then use a the other size of primers and mass primer dispenser. I have 2 of each, as large rifle and large pistol are same diameter, and small pistol is same as small rifle, so 2 of them cover all 4 basic types (not sure about berdan style -- thats a whole different story).

Ok. Thanks very much guys, I will try to find it or get it looked at then!

it is a stainless or chrome (not sure but its shiny metal color) barrel! I guess we need a picture... hang on, the lighting is going to be tricky. Ill edit/add one in a min. Again, they are not deep, about like what very fine grit sandpaper might do, visible but cannot feel it with my fingers.

My first "tight" 1911, a para ssp, after only 1 box has scratches all over the barrel. I lubed it up and they are not deep (you can only just feel them) but I have never seen this before, is it normal? They are mostly at the exposed part of the barrel when the action is closed, at the ejection port, and again in the 2 slots cut into the barrel that catch in the slide. Is there something I should do here, or just let it be and sink the recommended 500 thru it without so much thinking about it? Thanks!

Its not a target pistol and yes, the long trigger makes it difficult to shoot well at longer ranges. ALL double action semi automatics have sort of cruddy triggers, some worse than others (this one is mediumish) unless modified. If you want a really light trigger pull you want to get a single action; RIA makes a 1911 style 9mm if you like cheap guns, that would be an excellent target gun. Most target .22 LR guns are single action and are perfect to hone your skills. Keep the ruger though. If you can learn to shoot it decently, you will be able to shoot most mid to large sized semi-autos well. Takes practice, but its a very worthwhile skill to have. If you can master a sloppy gun, you can do great things with a tight gun =) By the way a gunsmith MAY be able to deslop the trigger. But watch out or youll sink $100 + into a cheap gun to make it a better cheap gun. Get a guess on what it will cost before proceeding down that path. You might can do it yourself if you spend a lot of time asking the right people the right questions so you can buy the correct parts & fit them in. Sometimes cheap guns can be fixed up cheap too, with a bit of creative gunsmithing, but get help / read up before tampering, find out what others have done and see if you can duplicate it, etc. For example, start reading about it here: P95 trigger work - Ruger Forum

The official text, if I hit the right pdf file: “Handgun†means any firearm with a barrel length of less than twelve inches (12²) that is designed, made or adapted to be fired with one (1) hand;

I also had a chat with him, first rate guy. It was the one violent felon that caused the stir, the other passenger was hardly mentioned and the poor mr. sales got the brunt of the court and legal actions because the other guy skipped out. Since he didnt mention passenger #2 much, I assume that guy was just along for the ride, or didnt have any major history. There was more to the story, the violent guy claimed the other pistol initially but the driver said "no its mine" and the felon wisely shut up about it... but the officer took note of the comment. Mr. Lambeth didnt go after this guy too hard on purpose: as a NRA guy he did not want a big trial over gun-rights and esp didnt want a jury to define what is or is not a handgun. They let him go because he didnt commit any crimes and to avoid the trial; he even told the guy when he made the deal it was fine if he bought it right back after selling it so if Mr. Sales had wanted his gun he could have kept it without incident. The recommendation then was for TN residents to write to their state reps (tn govt guys not feds) to encourage a change in the law that defines a handgun as being fired by one hand, which is totally subject to opinion and can lead to a court battle. Better to have it well defined so zero argument is allowed over what is, and what is not, a handgun.