The Time We Spend

Here we are, in the throes of summer.  Man, has it been busy.  Between the garden and fixing up the old farm house, I haven’t had many spare minutes.  When I do, we head to the beach.  Colorado gave me the mountains, but robbed me of the ocean.  I have to say that I prefer the latter of the two.

I beach comb while the kids are in the water.  In the winter, they wander the beach with me.  The beach in the winter sometimes reminds me of the Cormac McCarthy book, The Road.  Lonely.  Desolate.  Still pretty awesome, though.

I find a lot of wood.  Take a state with a working coastline, and it’s no shock that the weather beaten remnants of dock structures wash up on shore from time to time.  We’ve scavenged from Belfast to Old Orchard.  The treasures on every beach are different.

I’ve been trying to shake the money tree a little harder.  Why?  AR-15s, that’s why.  Components are cheap right now.  The other brother on this blog, B&A, made me an AR pistol in .300 AAC Blackout back in late May.  I’ve been hooked ever since.  I might add that prices are dropping since Trump took office.  I’ll review the pistol in a later post.

Anyhow, I’ve started selling these signs.  I print the letters, align them, trace them on, route them out, then paint them in.  I’ve sold a few.  I’m not breaking the bank, but I am making a little extra scratch.

I’ve also had the idea to try and utilize drift wood and scrap metal.  These can hang on the wall, to hang coasts and such from, or they can lay flat as their own artistic piece.  Personally, I think most art is a bunch of hooey.  These things aren’t any sort of expression of my inner child or any bologna like that.  I just like drift wood and composition.

If anyone is still reading, check in.  Even if you’re new.  Let us know what’s up in your world.  Me and that B&A bastard have been busy with kids and such, but I’m going to make a better effort to check in here and there.

Mike, Oscar, Hotel….out.

Durn the revenoors!

I’m thinking about making my own whiskey, any thoughts?

Yard Sale Scores (Ammo Can, Inverter, ATC)

I hit the pavement this morning in search of a deal.  Found it!

First stop:

Ammo can for a buck.  Not the best that I’ve found by any means, but the price was right.

Two power inverters and a CB radio.  I’ve got no use for the CB, but I like inverters.  They were all in the same box.  I got everything in the box for $5.00.

Second stop:  A girly yard sale and I thought I was wasting my time, until I saw this baby.

1984.  200cc.  Honda, my favorite brand.  It’s in great condition for the year.  Although ATCs are known as death traps, due to flipping easily, I had to pick it up, pun intended, to FLIP.

The best accessory in the world…….a gun rack!

I paid $250 for it.  I’m reasonably sure I can double or triple my money.

Pax Domini Sit Semper Vobiscum,

Mike Oscar Hotel

All the Things I Didn’t Need….

….but I bought anyway.

Yard sale season has finally started here in CO.  Late spring storms have put a cramp on things during the month, but the sun has finally come out.  I begged the Mrs. to throw the kids in the van yesterday morning and check out some advertised sales.  After conceding that I’d help with breakfast and the laundry, we were on our way.

We hit a few sales that were pretty blah.  Sometimes I wonder why people even bother to have a sale.  You show up and they want eBay prices for dollar store material.  Sales like that frustrate me, especially when the signs say “Huge Sale” or “Estate Sale” and it’s really just a bunch of Chinese crap.  And the Chinese make (and we buy) a lot of crap.

There was a sale not advertised on the main roads.  We were headed from one place to another and there was a solitary sign for an estate sale on one of the side roads.

It was a score.  I wasn’t looking for things for me, as we are trying to move, but I was looking for things to flip, as we are in the hole in a bad way at the moment.  Here’s the rundown:

Elk Mount – $10.00.  It’s an older mount, but I couldn’t say no for $10.  Worse comes to worse, I’ll knock off the antlers, save the glass eyes, throw away the mount and sell the antlers for $30.  I’ve currently got it on craigslist for $125, though I doubt I’ll touch that number.  We had fun getting it in the van.  The youngest wasn’t fond of this guy at all.  It’s hard being my kid.

James Swan Co. Auger bits – $5.00.  I took a chance on this one.  The box looked old and the augers are in good shape. Looks like they’ll fetch quite a bit more than I paid on eBay.

Valor Esso Blue oil can – $2.00.  There was an estate sale tag on it for $25.00.  I asked the guy and he said $2.00.  I put it on eBay and got a hit for $15.00 within the hour.  Not bad.

Assorted traps – $5.00.  I got five traps in a box for $5.00.  All but one are made by Victor, so, not worth much.  One is a Triumph 315-x, which immediately bid up to $50.00 when I put it on eBay.  It’s a single spring.  If it was a double spring, it would be worth hundreds.  I’ll take what I can get.  I’ll keep the Victors for myself.  If there are any pessimists reading, buy some traps.  When the collapse happens, they will hunt for you when you’re not there.

Stuffed Pheasant – $2.00.  I’m not sure it’s worth anything, but I think it’s cool and that’s worth the $2.00.  I’ll get it on eBay eventually.  Looks like they’re getting about $20.00 on auction.

Various Ford Mustang Items – $10.00 per box (2 boxes).  To me, this was risky.  The guy was obviously a Mustang enthusiast.  I got a box full of manuals and buyer’s guides and a box full of 1:18 scale models and other models still in the box.  In the mix was a five book set of Ford manuals from 1969.  They immediately hit for $20.00 on eBay, so I’m at least covered on my losses for that batch.

 

All in all, I’m already up by about $30.00.  That’s better odds than going to the casino.  More fun, too.  I’m hoping to make more off of this batch, but if not, I’ll hit the sales again next weekend.

Pax Domini Sit Semper Vobiscum,

Mike, Oscar, Hotel…out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frank Ferreting at 90

Just watch it.  It’s the best.

MOH

Free firewood

How much wood can you haul in a civic hybrid?

‘Bout dis much. 

I love Craiglist. And in response to your next question yes, but it was only a .22, so I’m glad this guy was legit. 

Stippling: First Attempt

Stippling.  I’d heard the word in my life, but heard it in a new context recently.  I’ve got a few “plastic guns” (polymer) and was looking into some sort of grip to aid in holding onto them when shooting.  For those of you new to the shooting game or if you’ve only owned metal framed guns, it can be hard to hold onto some plastic guns when you are shooting. I’ve heard this is especially true on smaller guns like the Ruger LCP .380.

recoilweb.com

There are already solutions to the problem.  Talon Grips are a good example of a sandpaper-type wrap that can go onto your plastic guns.  I like these because they aren’t a permanent modification to the gun. There are also rubber wraps, grip modifications and a few other things on the market that can help you get digit traction on your pistol.

As I said before, permanent modifications to weapons aren’t my thing, but stippling still interests me.  Not only do people do it to their pistols, they also do it to rifle stocks and magazines.  I can get behind stippling magazines, due to their affordability and for the fact that if you botch your stippling job, you don’t have to live with it for very long, if you don’t want to.  What really interests me is the fact that if you become good enough at it, you can offer it as a service and get paid for doing it.  It’s always nice to have another feather in your cap.

I plugged in the soldering iron and waited quite a while before trying it out on the magazine.  When it did press it to the magazine, it barely did anything.  I didn’t realize that the plastic in Tapco mags was so hard. After letting the iron sit on the magazine for seconds at a time, this was all I got.  You saw it right.  Nothing.  Just minor dents.

 

The kids were playing with Legos, so I reached over and grabbed one.  I caught a lot of flak until they realized what I was doing.  The iron worked much better on a Lego.  The kids loved it.

I think getting an even pattern would take some practice.  Luckily, my kids have about 8,000 Legos, which I technically own.  They also have a soldering iron that they got for Christmas.  I might pilfer that as well and see if maybe the one I got at the Goodwill just has a bad heating element or something.

I don’t think I will be doing this on my plastic guns – just magazines and accessories.  I’m still struggling with the idea of plastic guns.  Without a doubt, they are fun, convenient, and light, but I’m questioning how they will hold up over time.  I just don’t think they’re heirloom quality and what I think about mostly when making firearms purchases is what I’m going to pass down to my children. Inheriting my dad’s Smiths is certainly proof of how well metal pistols hold up over time.  I have his pre-Model 27, and it was made in the 1950s.  60-some-odd years later, after years of use and abuse, it is still solid and shoots well.  I’ve debated ditching my plastic guns and buying something all metal.  You certainly can’t go wrong with something like a 1911, though carrying one concealed would tend to make one walk stiff-legged.  I used to carry a compact 1911.  While it was a great piece, it did tend to pull down my drawers.

Mike, Oscar, Hotel…..out.

 

DIY Concealed Carry Holster

Michael, over at the Isserfiq blog, recently commented that he needed to make a holster for a piece that he has.  I’ve made a few holsters and decided to share this one that I made years ago on and posted to one of the old blogs.  It is an IWB holster that I used for a Rock Island 1911 and a CZ-52, both of which I’ve gotten rid of since.

I found a soft, supple leather, since it was going to to be IWB.  Hard leather would likely not ride comfortably.  I figured out that per piece I paid about $2.75 for the materials.  It is comfortable and works well.  Here are a few pictures.

As you can see, I double layered the back so that the snap wouldn’t rub on the weapon.

The strap hooks around my belt loop and snaps.  This prevents the holster from coming out when I draw.

I also double and triple stiched with faux sinew to make sure it was nice and strong.

It fit both my CZ-52 and my compact 1911 when I had them.

I tend to carry at 4 to 5 o’clock .

 

 Easy to make!  It took me about 25 minutes to cut and stitch.  If you can’t afford a good holster, try making your own.  It’s easy.

 Mike, Oscar, Hotel……out.

AR-15 build instructions with videos and humor.

Do you want to build a ‘sheen gun? Do you want to spray some lead? Ok, I have kids, so I’ve seen too many Disney winter princesses too many times. But, building an AR-15 isn’t too much harder to build than a snowman. Much easier, here in Texas. And in the spirit of roughing it, the only tools I used were a pair of water pump pliers, a hammer and punch, an Allen wrench, and an armorer’s wrench. I could have skipped the wrench, but I like the buffer tube snug. And I could have skipped the punch and the hammer and just beat the pin in with the water pump pliers, but since I’m not working on jet engines, I guess I don’t need to turn everything into a hammer.
This is my third build. The first I had planned on working on with a friend, but I got impatient one night and assembled most of it myself. I called him to apologize for jumping the ‘gun’, only to have him confess that his was done and his barrel was on the way. The nerve! That one has some dents and dings in it, from not being careful and some rookie mistakes. I sold that to my friend for his father to use, and built another. That one suffered from a little too much cockiness, so there are a few scratches again, and I messed up the front trigger guard hole by trying to hammer a pin into a threaded hole.

This build went flawless! I’d like to say practice, but I bought a higher end internals kit this time, I think that might have something to do with it. There is nothing wrong with the $45 kit I used on my other guns, but spending $100 meant the trigger is locked into place, and the pins slid in smoothly with my pliers, rather than having to use the roll pin punches that I had to for my other builds (Harbor Freight is the best! I’m gonna pick up a drill press to start 80% building when I get back to Detroit).

Speaking of parts kits, here we go. The kit I bought had an extra Safety detent pin, so if yours has one less than the picture, you’re doing A-OK.

There are 2 pins and 2 springs that are identical, they are for your front and rear takedown pins. They are inter-changable.

The bolt catch spring and the disconnector spring LOOK identical, but they aren’t. The disconnector spring has a flared bottom (much like me) so that it seats itself (much like me) and locks into place inside a circular indent on the upper rear of the trigger assembly (not like me). Feel free to pop that sucker right in from the get-go.

Immediately after I arranged the parts kit in a beautiful manner to impress you, I put all the pieces into a magnetic parts dish also obtained from Harbor Freight. I can’t impress upon you enough, stuff flies. At the end of one video, you actually see the rear takedown pin shoot off when I was tightening the buffer tube. It’s gonna happen! Make sure that you aren’t building this on a shag carpeting, or in a workshop like mine, cluttered with lumber ends, half-finished projects, and bottle kids (Ricky! It’s the bottle kids!)

Tools –

Slip-jaw (water pump) Pliers, jaws wrapped with electrical or duct tape. These are nice because you can keep resetting the jaw distance so that you’re applying leverage in a linear plane.

Hammer

Roll pin punch set

Armorer’s wrench (or a strap wrench, if you can dial it down small enough for the buffer tube

Razor knife

Assembly –

Magazine catch –

Start the long lever through the hole on the left side of the gun. On the other side of the gun, drop the spring into the oval hole, so that it fits around the rod you inserted into the other side. Compress the spring with the rough textured threaded oblong piece. Screw the rod into it, and keep pushing the catch further in and screwing in the rod until the end of the threaded portion is level with the magazine drop.

Front Takedown Pin

Let’s slide that front takedown (pivot) pin in. Drop the long skinny spring into the hole at the front, and follow it with the pin. At this point, I often (didn’t need to this time) hold the pin down with a razor knife and slide the takedown over the top of it. Slide the knife out when the takedown is through the hole and headed to the other side. Click the pin back and forth a few times to make sure its gonna work well. Drop a little Remington oil on it to keep it smooth.

 

Bolt catch –

 

Start the roll pin through the holes parallel to and on the left side of the lower. Make sure you are pressing it straight in. Once you get it started enough so that it is going in straight, but not into the space between the holes, grab the spring. Drop the spring into the hole between the mag catch and the roll pin. Align the bolt catch so that bottom of the ‘T’ is in the center of the gun, and the triangle piece is resting on top of the channel.  

Press down on the catch, compressing the spring and lining up the holes. Once the holes line up, squeeze the pliers and sink the pin home. Another drop of oil on the moving parts and a function check, and we’re ready to move on.

Trigger guard –

Pretty easy one. Just make sure you line it up correctly. The last kit I bought had a very simple, and the front didn’t have a pin. Since it looked so much like the back, I tried driving a pin into and scored it pretty bad. So make sure you do it right!  One end is smooth for a pin, the other either threaded for a set screw or has a spring-backed pin of some sort. Removable media goes in the front with the single hole, pin goes in the back with the through and through hole.

Another important thing – when you start the pin, put the guard in between the ears. If you squeeze the ears unsupported, you WILL BEND OR BREAK THE TABS. Then you are going to have a serially controlled paperweight to remind you of why we listen to Mr. B&A.

Once the pin is started, line up the holes and send it home. Finish by attaching the front.

The Trigger! –

Start out by sliding the fat end of the round spring into the top rear of the trigger until it seats. Next, loop the clip spring as shown, taking care not to bend it out of shape when you are sliding the holes over the ears. Then, put the disconnect or on top to make sure everything fits together just right.  

Once the assembly is together, drop it down in the trigger housing of the lower, spacing everything how it should look when the gun is done. Make sure the long open ears of the spring point towards the front of the gun, so they are pushing up against your hand when you’re pushing it down into place – you want that tension. Line up the holes on the side, between the trigger, disconnector, and the lower. making sure the long un-connected ends of the spring slide down parallel to and in front of the trigger unit. Once the holes are lined up, press the pin in through the lower, trigger, and disconnector.

The Hammer –

 Assemble the hammer mechanism as shown. When you are putting it into the gun, make sure the loop on the spring is pushing tight against the back of the hammer, and the long open pieces are folded under and towards the rear of the gun, and over the trigger. If you look close at the hammer I received, in the smaller hole where the pin goes, there is a spring. In the video, you can see where I started the pin but didn’t finish putting it through. Do you remember when I had to use the hammer? It was for this bit! I bought a cheaper hammer for my last build, no pin. This one, after a few small taps with a punch and hammer. Fits much nicer and seems to actuate better than my last one too.

Safety and hand grip

I had a leftover Magpul (I like Magpul, they are popular for a reason) handgrip that I thought would work well for this build. These two components go together for a reason, as you will see.

Leave the hammer down (don’t dry fire it either) and slide the safety in from the left side of the lower. Make sure it goes in even, and it travels between the ‘safe’ and ‘fire’ poles (or as one meme so eloquently puts it, the ‘no pew’ and ‘pew’ poles). Flip the lower upside down and slide the pin down into the hole by where the handgrip will be attached. Once the pin is settled firmly in the hole, slide the spring into the hole behind the pin. Once it is seated as far as it will go, start to slide the handgrip over the ridge. Carefully line up the hole in the grip, and slide the exposed spring into that hole. Once everything is lined up and good, slide the grip the rest of the way down. Finish this step by sliding the washer over the bolt, put the bolt on the Allen wrench, and seat the bolt home in the bottom of the grip. Tighten until it’s good-n-tite, then sit back and admire your handiwork.

Rear Takedown pin

This part can be tricky, and has the opportunity to go bad. Springs, when compressed, enjoy coming out at the worst time and ending up in the worst places. I’ve had to go back and buy pins later, as a helpful spring placed them in a location from which there is no return. Slide the takedown pin in from the right side. Flip the lower forward, so you are looking at the rear of it. Slide the smaller pin into the hole on the lower right, followed by the spring. We’ll lock that spring down in a second.

 

Buffer tube et al
Slide the end plate off the buffer tube. Press it against the back of the lower, compressing the spring. MAKE SURE TO KEEP THE SPRING UNDER YOUR CONTROL, THIS CAN GO WRONG QUICKLY. Screw the buffer tube down, making sure the end plate stays flat – if it twists around, you may have the spring shoot out to the side unnoticed, and you just bent it at a 90 degree angle. Not cool, bro. Screw the buffer tube nearly all the way down, but stop when the front lip of the tube gets close to the hole in the bottom of the lower threaded assembly.

Now that you are close, drop the larger spring down into the hole in the threads, followed by the buffer retainer (fat pin with the hollow bottom and pitot on top). Press the retainer down, and give the buffer tube another turn or two, covering the outer edge of the retainer – enough to keep it down, but don’t go near the pitot with it. Using the armorer’s wrench or some man-hands, tighten down the retaining nut to the lower. Make sure the end plate doesn’t budge and tweak that spring at all.

Once the tube is firmly in place, slide the buffer into the spring, and slide the spring into the buffer tube, pushing until the buffer clicks into place behind the buffer retainer pin.

You may have noticed something funny about my buffer tube. “Wait a minute, Mr. B&A! How are you supposed to mount a stock to that silly little tube?!” Oh kind reader, let me ‘splain – nono, lemme sum up. This funny looking buffer tube is for a pistol. Look in to the legality of what you are building – by building a pistol AR, in my state of Michigan, I need to register it as a pistol. I also have to have a certain length of barrel – if my gun is shoulder fired and between 16 inches and 26 inches, I need to register it through the ATF, pay for a special stamp, and wait forever. So I’m buying a .300 A.A.C. Blackout barrel that is only 10.5 inches long, and I will be firing it with one hand, and I won’t be able to mount a stock or front handgrip to it.

So when you do look into building an AR, make sure you check to see what it is that you want and what laws apply.

All that being said – isn’t this a spiffy little gun? I’ll take other pictures when the upper comes in. I haven’t built an upper yet, so far the market is such that it is easier to buy an assembled upper than it is to make one yourself. There are a multitude of places that can make some pretty sweet uppers for you. I’m going through Discount Tactical (580) 286-0882, they have some amazing deals on custom built AR15 uppers, and may other parts for excellent prices and cheap shipping. I’d like to thank Coldwater Gun and Pawn for the awesome deal on the lower, they are great guys to deal with (http://www.coldwatergunandpawn.com/)/ The internals were purchased from an amazing shop at a gun show at the Gibralter trade center in Clinton Twp, MI, I wish I could remember the guys! If I do, I’ll add it in the comments. For my first build, I used http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_4/226782_Assemble_your_own_LOWER__UPPER__FREE_FLOAT__TRIGGER__GAS_BLOCK___Step_by_step_instructions_.html  feel free to check them out if my instructions are confusing at any point.

Have fun building your gun. When you complete it, do like I do – upgrade. Everytime I find something I like better, I buy it, and save the old part for my next build. The more I learn about gunsmithing, the more I like it. There seems to be a lack of people doing and building things for themselves, which is part of the reason Mike Oscar and I started this blog. Make something for yourself. Customize it. Be proud of it. Repeat.

Have a great day all, and thanks for readin! Don’t hesitate to ask questions or give advice of your own in the comments section!

Civil War Spencer Cavalry Carbine

This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing for me.  Well, hopefully not.

I was on Facebook one night recently.  I’m a member on lots of those forums for stuff for sale.  I’m always looking out for a deal on things and every once in a while, I find one.

I saw that on a local garage sale forum, somebody posted an old rifle.  The called it a Spencer and said it was from World War 2.  Nearly as soon as it was posted, the moderator got on the horn and said that sales of firearms were prohibited on the site.  They deleted the ad almost as soon as it was posted.

I have moments of wisdom, though not very many.  I had clicked through to the person’s profile and sent her a message asking for more pictures.  She replied back and sent a few.

The Spencer Cavalry Carbine was made in the 1860s, not World War 2.  I recognized it from watching Aquachigger’s videos on Youtube.  He’s found a few in the brooks and rivers where the Civil War was fought.  I’m not going to write all of the history on the Spencer Carbine here, but you can find links here for more information.

The Spencer Carbine was one of the first repeating rifles.  It loads from the back of the butt stock and is lever action, though the action is not that of which most of you are used to on say a Winchester Model 1894.  Look at the pictures and you’ll understand what I mean.

I called the lady the next day and went to her house.  Upon seeing the rifle, I knew I had to buy it.  She knew what it was worth, but was moving and needed a quick sale.  She sold it to me for a sum I don’t even want to type here.  I was amazed.

The cool thing about guns made before 1898 is that there are no federal laws regulating them.  If you find one online and purchase it, you can have it sent directly to your house instead of the usual routine, which is to have it sent to a Federal Firearms Dealer (FFL), where you have to get a background check.  Here in Colorado, it goes one step further.  Person to person transfers of firearms have to go through an FFL as well.  So if I want to buy a gun from Jim, we both have to go to the FFL, submit our personal information and that of the gun, then get it approved by the ATF.  That isn’t so with this rifle because it is from the 1860s.  No background checks are needed and I can send this directly to someone’s house.  Pretty neat.  I might add that ammunition for these rifles is nearly non-existent, so it isn’t like someone is going to go out and rob a bank with it.  And if they do, they’re sure to get caught because they are an idiot.

Here are some more pictures for those of you that are interested.  You don’t see these every day.  I found it a new home this week.  And line my pocket a little. 😉

Mike, Oscar, Hotel….out.