BarryinIN

It's a .223 "Scout" rifle. Jeff Cooper is spinning in his grave. http://www.ruger.com/news/2014-09-08.html

Your wife sounds similar to mine. She doesn't hate guns or anything, but sorta delegates it to me. Probably for the best, since she can't keep up with her cellphone or coffee cup. But I digress. I have a couple of pump shotguns and pistol caliber lever action rifles around she can use if needed. Anyone who has seen a movie or TV show in the last 50 years can operate either. Yes, the recoil from a shotgun will be rough, but it's not like she has to shoot a couple rounds of trap. I've thought about a 10/22 with 25 round magazine. That could be handled by my wife or kids. Like you say, it's only a .22, but 25 .22s into the face sucks for anyone. I probably should equip her with a handgun. Maybe one of the HK P7s. The grip is slim, and once she knew how it operated it would be natural to use. Grip it and you cock it. Release and it decocks. Sadly IMO, the first thing she has reached for in the past was a snubby revolver. I wholeheartedly disagree with those who suggest snubbies for women. It's the hardest gun to shoot well, so why arm your wife with one? Some argue that it's best for women because it's simple to operate, but I think that's wrong in addition to just plain insulting. A Glock/XD/M&P is at least as simple in operation when loaded, and easier to load and make ready if starting from empty. The only advantage I see to a snubby is retention in a struggle. It's a little harder to take away because there is less to grab.

I saw one of those early Shield owners Thursday and forgot to ask about it. He brought a new Rem 700 and we got all excited over that. To be honest, be buys often and carries seldom, so I don't know what he could have told us anyway. Congrats. I would have gone with 9mm too.

Very strange announcement from Ruger. https://www.ruger.com/dataProcess/newProductSweeps/?r=y In addition to having a "new unannounced product", they have a contest to win one. The odd things are you have only a two day window to enter (Sep 2-4) and they have a bunch of requirements basically saying you have to pick it up the day it's announced (Sep 8 ) and post a picture of you with it by 9pm. If I read the following right, you have to enter now, and if you get picked Monday morning, somehow you are going to get an FFL sent to them and they get the gun to your gun shop in under 12 hours. PRIZE CONDITIONS: The potential winners will each be required to complete, sign, and return an Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability/Publicity Release (collectively, “Winner Documents”) within twenty-four (24) hours of written notification from the Administrator, or the prize may be forfeited and an alternate winner selected. The potential Grand Prize winner will be required to provide a copy of a valid government-issued driver’s license or identification card with return of the completed Winner Documents. If any information provided in the Winner Documents is incorrect, the winner in question may be disqualified (in Sponsor’s sole discretion). If a prize or prize notification is returned as unclaimed or undeliverable to a potential winner, if a potential winner cannot be reached within one (1) hour of the first notification attempt, if a potential winner fails to return Winner Documents within the specified time period, or if a potential winner is not in compliance with these Official Rules, then such person may be disqualified and an alternate winner may be selected. If the selected Grand Prize winner is disqualified for any reason, the Second Prize winner will receive the Grand Prize (upon further verification) and the Third Prize winner will receive the Second Prize. All taxes, if applicable, are the sole responsibility of the winners. The Grand Prize winner will be required to complete a tax form in which he or she must provide his or her Social Security Number. The Winner Documents and tax form are subject to verification by Sponsor. In addition, as a final condition of accepting the Grand Prize, the Grand Prize winner must take possession of their prize at their local firearms dealer on Monday, September 8, 2014 AND must provide the Sponsor with a photo of themselves with their prize by 9:00 p.m. EDT on the same day of prize pick up. The Sponsor will ship the Grand Prize to a valid Federal Firearms Licensee in the U.S. selected by the winner. The Grand Prize winner is responsible for providing Sponsor with a copy of the Federal Firearm Licensee’s license to which he or she would like the prize shipped. By the way, my guess is it's a pump or semiauto shotgun. The same guess I make whenever Ruger has something new coming. Eventually I'll be right. Somewhere in the rules it gives a retail value of $800-1200, so I doubt it's another polymer framed pistol.

I know a couple of people owning them. They got theirs when they came out, but I haven't seen or heard much about them since. I'll ask their experiences when I see them. Probably this week.

Two year assessment: Yesterday was the SCAR's second birthday. I slacked off this past year and shot it about half as much as the previous year (I haven't made any 3-gun or carbine matches) so the total round count stands at 3,966. Yes, it bugs me I didn't get another 34 rounds off when shooting this week. I still like it. It is my favorite rifle, and I have a few. For me at least, it's the ideal universal rifle. It's light and handy, accurate, has had zero malfunctions, and hasn't bent or broken anything except the scope. Except for one .308 Garand, I can count on one hand how many times I've taken my other .308 semiautos out in the past two years. The only change I've made in the last year was to swap out the Magpul MS2 sling I installed "temporarily" when I got it for a Blue Force Gear Vickers sling. The only change I might make in the future would be to get a VLTOR stock section (replaces only the sliding section). That would mostly be to get the larger storage compartment. I've been planning to get another QD mount to mount a larger scope to this and other rifles for certain uses, but haven't done it yet. It seems like the first thing people do when they get a SCAR is to start making changes. That's OK, but most of these changes seem counterproductive to me. One of it's best features is the light weight, and people start hanging heavy stuff all over it like 22X scopes. My guess is the most common change is an aftermarket trigger, but the trigger seems to be similar to a good factory AR trigger. I think some are trying to make the SCAR something it isn't. What it is is a .308 battle carbine that works, and does so while weighing only a few ounces more than a 16" AR. That is quite a feat. EDIT: I remember now. I did have some malfunctions. However... A friend gave me one of the MLI polymer 25-rd magazines. I used it one time. At the end of those 25 rounds, eight gouged and bent cartridges lay on the ground after clearing them.

I have a couple of the BX-25s. They are good mags in all respects. They even feel better than other because of the rounded edges. The only reason we could come up with for the inclusion of a 10-rd and a 1-rd mag is maybe, maybe if you bought the rifle for a junior shooter and wanted to start them out with the 1-rd mag. Then, after they've shown the necessary responsibility, you could. "issue" the 10-rd mag. That's pretty doubtful (Why not just sell the 1-rd mag as an accessory?) but the best we can come up with.

Our club raffled one off last month and a good friend won it. It was an NRA edition with a camo finish and special NRA markings on the gun and case. He likes it so far, and shot it in the Club Champion Challenge match in July. I particularly like the case. What we can't figure out is why does it come with one 10-rd mag and one 1-rd mag? Trying real hard, we still can't come up with a reason for a 1-rd mag that's big enough to include one.

I think it's just part of life as a revolver shooter. I think a lot of the crud is from the bullet lube melting and carrying junk with it out the barrel/cylinder gap.

I gave it a while because I haven't done a big serious accuracy work up in .38 Spl in a long time, and was hoping someone had. All I can tell you is what I've been using. 3.5 grains of TiteGroup with a 158 cast SWC (Saeco 382). It gets around 780 fps from a 4" barrel S&W 19. My 148 wadcutters are cast from an H&G #50 mold. Although 2.7 grains of Bullseye has been the standard forever, I use a lot more Win 231 in other calibers, so use 3.0 grains of Win 231 with those. It only gets about 680 fps.

No more Russian AK imports in any form. I'd post a link, but it's all over the web and you can't swing a dead cat without hitting it. Maybe you don't want one so don't care. Well... Two weeks ago it was Steyr 9mm AUG conversions, now it's Russian AKs. Next week?

And yes, I've done my share of gun work on the stovetop too. Those nice raised edges help catch loose crews from falling off!

I've started to change over to Picatinny rails whenever I can. They give a nice shoulder for rings to bear against under recoil, there are countless ring options, and the rails offer all those ring positions. I expect the Redfield/Leupold base design that is pretty much the standard now will be uncommon to see ten years from now.

First, welcome to the forum! I'm sorry yours broke like that. That's pretty odd of think. I'm sure Leupold will have it fixed in no time, though. I'm still happy with mine. It's on the AR I keep in my SUV, so I have faith in it's longevity and abilities. I'm pretty well set for close range optics, but I'd probably buy another if I found a deal like you did.

I wouldn't say I was close, and don't know if anyone was except for his long time girlfriend Leigh. I'm probably being presumptuous by calling him a friend. I've had several classes from him and shared some meals. He was the odd combination of being probably the most closed off person I've known, yet one of the most helpful. He'd do anything for you at the drop of a hat except talk about himself. Louis was the most gifted teacher I've known or heard of. And I mean gifted. He had all the required attributes plus some extra abilities that were almost eerie. His was known for his diagnosis skills, and he could indeed spot the smallest things immediately. I've used the example before that he'd give a command like "fire 2 to 6 rounds to either head or body", give the command to shoot, and by the first shots fired he would give at least three corrections. "Bill, that safety came off a little early; Tom, you got a sloppy grip on your pistol in the holster, didn't you; George, you're about to mash that trigger..." I can't see things happen a that fast. He could see it, analyze it, get the words out, even while calling people by name (when I couldn't remember the name of the guy next to me). And I'm describing things happening all across a line of 12 shooters, not three people standing together. People said he had eyes in the back of his head, and he must have. He'd see things while looking the other way. I don't know how many times I've heard people ask "How the F did he see that?". I heard a good story in that realm this week. It happened at a Gunsite rifle class. Louis was walking away and heard someone run their rifle's bolt. He stopped, turned, and said "You short stroked that one. Better check the chamber." Sure enough, the chamber was empty. He knew from the sound, and he hadn't even been listening for it. That came from his knowledge of weapons. He didn't just know the 1911, Glock, AR, and 870. I don't think I ever came to his class with a very common gun, but he was always familiar with them and taught me things about using them. And his mindset/tactics/procedures were almost so simple and straightforward they would leave you feeling stupid if you hadn't thought of it before. He had the remarkable ability to say a lot with very few words. Any correction he made was done with only a few words but told you everything. His mind was always working. "Devious" is a word I often heard applied to him. He forced you to think. He could come up with the simplest drill to get you rattled. He'd get super secret ice-in-the-veins "operators" so shook up they'd freeze, and do it with nothing more than a steel target or a plastic coke bottle stuck in the ground. The point was always to make you think. You never expended a ton of ammo in his class, but each shot had a specific purpose. He could discuss the 1911 vs Glock vs XD vs whatever, the tactics used in the tank battle of Kursk, quote Shakespeare or classic literature, or tell you the history behind a symphony. Jeff Cooper was like that, but he came from money and much of these things were part of his formal education. Louis just picked it up out of the desire to learn. All the while, this skinny little 130 lb, graying man was probably the last person on earth I'd want to fight. His steely glare was enough to make one realize they'd done something stupid and prevent it from happening again. I don't know a lot about his past. He was born in South Africa and served in the South African Defense Force in a Special Services battalion, which I take it is sort of a special forces like unit. I believe he fought in that country's Border Wars in the 70s. I know he saw combat. He came to the US around 79 or 80, and attended Gunsite. He became an instructor at Gunsite and eventually Rangemaster there. Gunsite' shotgun program is basically Louis' program. He loved dogs, motorcycles, and 12 gauge slugs. He was a US citizen. He had no living relatives. In the last couple of days, people have said there aren't many like him. That's a massive understatement. I don't think there is anyone like him.

My friend and favorite instructor is dead. Louis Awerbuck left the hospital this afternoon, came home, went in the backyard and shot himself. It is unknown at this time why he was at the hospital or if it even had any bearing.

I just realized I missed a milestone. Last Thursday marked 30 years of AR-15 ownership for me! On June 20, 1984, it arrived. I had saved up the $412.90 (plus shipping) from working farm jobs, and had my closest gun shop order one from a distributor in PA. This was the model known now as an SP1, but at the time was just "an AR-15". You only had two choices then: a 20" Colt or a 16" Colt. Colt had introduced the A2 style in the AR-15s by then, but I hadn't seen any yet. I wanted the Vietnam-era style anyway, so tried to hurry up and get one while I had the chance. I had to order it because they weren't around then. There were some Mini-14s around and some M1 Carbines, but I knew of nobody owning an AR. I had seen three in gun shops- ever. All were big shops that could afford to leave one sitting on the rack untouched for months or even years. The shop that ordered mine wasn't that thrilled about it, but he did it because I was a regular customer. He didn't like the looks of them. When I went to pick it up, he told me to get it out if there before someone saw it, and he was only half joking. It didn't bother me then because that was how it was at the time. Anybody around here who bought a new centerfire rifle bought a Remington 788 for $250. If they wanted something nicer or with more caliber choices, they bought a Rem 700 or Win 70. There might be a Remington pump or even a 742 around, but their owners were radicals. A hardcore gun crank would have a rebarreled Mauser. And like I said, maybe a Mini or an M1 Carbine for a behind the truck seat gun. An AR? No way. None of the rifles I just listed cost more than maybe $350, so anyone buying a $400 AR was unheard of. At least not by me. However, I didn't know any serious shooters like now. Some reloaded shotgun shells, but I can't think of any metallic cartridge reloaders. Maybe they were around and had an AR or two among them, but I didn't know it. It sure wasn't a common rifle at the time. People who saw it were amazed that anybody would buy such a thing, although they usually got my rationale once I explained it (for rough and dusty use on the farm, keeping it handy for surprise groundhogs). They were surprised such a thing was even available. Most didn't know what caliber it was, and for whatever reason ".243" was a common guess. When I'd say "No, it's a .223", that brought blank looks. If I remember right, although brand new in the box, the serial number on mine dates to two years before I got it. I assume it sat in a warehouse for those two years. How times have changed.

This event is ON again for this year. Sept 27-28. Same place- Rockcastle shooting range in Cave City, KY (near the Mammoth Cave entrance). I missed last year's, but plan on making this one. I'm trying to act as middleman to maybe get some bullpup-centric training to be held at the same place.

One thing we discussed at the little bugout match last fall was the need for a GOOD multi-section cleaning rod. Something of a Dewey level. Bore snakes are handy, but a rigid rod is nice to poke something from the bore or to clean the chamber. The problem is the multi-piece ones are usually junky things that don't line up well at the sections or are made of bendy aluminum. A solid rod is a pain to take to the range, let alone hanging on a pack or stashing in a shooting bag or a BoB. I saw a rare gap in the gun product world. I mentioned this to anyone in that industry at the NRA convention who would listen (not many). The Pro-Shot guy listened, and said they had such a rod coming out this year. They had been making nice rods already, and had the best multi-piece rods I knew of except they weren't coated like I prefer. They started making coated rods this year and planned on combining them and making nice takedown coated rods soon. I checked their website today, and they are out. If interested: http://www.proshotproducts.com

The microbus made me chuckle. The big Magpul bus made me gasp in awe.

This is a big deal. From today's Shooting Wire: The buzz around the industry early yesterday was that Advanced Armament Corp was being closed down and relocated. Before the end of business yesterday, employees at six Remington properties along with two production lines in Ilion, New York, were told their companies- and jobs- were relocating to Huntsville, Alabama. Here's the official company statement from spokesperson Teddy Novin: "Earlier today we announced the consolidation of multiple company plants into our Huntsville, Alabama facility. This was a strategic business decision to concentrate our resources into fewer locations and improve manufacturing efficiency and quality. We are working hard to retain as many from the affected facilities as possible." The companies being relocated and their current locations are: Advanced Armament Corp, Lawrenceville, Georgia; Montana Rifleman, Kalispell, Montana; TAPCO, Kennesaw, Georgia; LAR Manufacturing, West Jordan, Utah; Para-Ordnance, Pineville, North Carolina; and DPMS, St. Cloud, Minnesota. Additionally, the Bushmaster production and Remington 1911 production lines will also be relocating from Ilion, New York. A Remington source tells The Outdoor Wire Digital Network the company will be offering relocation opportunities but an attractions of modern state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities like the one in Huntsville, Alabama is their innate ability to eliminate head count without negatively impacting production outputs. We'll keep you posted

I always wanted one of these. I had a S&W 77A pump .22 pellet rifle when I was a kid, and wanted the 78G to go along with it. It's a CO2 .22 pellet pistol that resembles the S&W 41 .22 target pistol. I got a 41 before I got the 78G. 78G on top, 41 below: This one was in an antique mall. It had been there a year or more and I've stopped to look at it through the glass a dozen times. I did some more research recently and found the early S&W 78G and 79G (.177) were a little more desirable because they had adjustable triggers, better finish, etc. The price on this one was about the going rate on Gunbroker, so I decided to have another look and if it was an early model I'd buy it. It was, and I did. I couldn't find any .22 pellets when I got home, so can't tell you how it shoots.

Just a reminder- It's that day again.

I talked to a Vortex rep at the NRA Convention this weekend, and I'm glad to say two of my biggest complaints have been addressed on the SPARC II. 1-They have changed the switch so the on/off button is not sticking out where it can be so easily turned on by accident. 2-They have gone to a more standard CR2032 battery. They've also added lens caps. I think the 2x magnifier is gone. I'd use the caps more than the magnifier. MSRP remains the same. Real world price????

Welcome!