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BarryinIN

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Everything posted by BarryinIN

  1. Nice looking rifle. And I know it's nice shooting from the Stalingrad results. I can't tell you much history, since the one I bought was rough as a cob and not restoration worthy so I headed straight to tearing into it without digging too deep into the history. There is some info out there on the M48 Yugos, but not so much on these. I think (that's think) the 24/47s were older models that were rebuilt to the specs of the soon-to-be-adopted M48, but I may have that all wrong. I know their actions are a little shorter than standard K98 Mauser actions. Parts like new stocks for normal Large Ring Mausers don't fit. I thought it would make a good .308 action, so rebarreled mine with a .308 barrel from a Spanish FR8 and turned it into an international melting pot.
  2. Nice looking K31. I had to refresh my memory, but mine was indeed made the same year as yours. S/N 985,4xx. They sure are neat rifles. The Swiss were, and still are, passionate about accuracy. When they were testing pistols to replace the Luger, they debated long and hard about switching to 9mm from the 7.65 Luger cartridge because of the slight accuracy difference. If they did so much hand wringing and agonizing over a slight edge in pistol cartridge mechanical accuracy, you can guess how obsessed they are with rifles. I love looking at the metal work on these. They are like Swedish Mausers in that the steel looks like artwork. Some people have questioned if the tight tolerances might hamper function in bad conditions, but I don't care. It's fascinating to look at. It's also interesting how the metal is so beautiful but the wood...uh...usually isn't. I know the stocks got a beating when the rifle was used for ladder rungs and everything else, but I think the majority of them were far from pretty to start with. One of the places (now closed) where I used to shoot Highpower held a Vintage Rifle match every October. Anything WWII or older was allowed. I loved that match for all the odd rifles that came crawling out of safes. Two guys always brought K31s, and even then (early-mid 90s) they were almost exotic rifles because you just didn't see them. They have started to dry up now, so I'm afraid they will soon be back to that status. I sure wish I had bought more K31s when they were more plentiful in the surplus racks at shops.
  3. That is a nice P210 setup. You could whip up almost every variation but a .22. Nice K31 writeup. I must have joined soon after you put that up, as I never saw it. Nice looking K31 too. Good job on the stock. I'll have to look again, but mine might have made the same year. They are neat rifles just to operate them and watch, aren't they? If you get bored with that, you can pull the bolt and marvel at the metal work on it. I just wish they had put peep sights on the rear. Even a simple one like on late Enfields would make a huge difference or me. I now wish I had bought at least one more when they had racks of them for sale. If I had more than one, I might be more willing to modify one and permanently scope or turn into a semi-Scout rifle. If you hadn't heard, the Swiss keeping their rifles at home is in jeopardy. Vote coming on the 13th in Switzerland. Look at the Swiss Rifles forum for more info if you didn't know.
  4. There is another thing I was reminded of when I looked at yesterday's mail and saw a catalog from a place called Hidalgo's. They sell a zillion different types of shooting glasses, prescription or not. They have a "try-on" program where you get a kit sent to your home to try different frame options. That reminded me of... I don't think it was Hidalgo's, but I know there is a company that will send a kit of shooting glasses with various lens strengths if you send a deposit or use a credit card number to secure it. You can then sit at home trying different lenses as you sight over your guns to see what works best. Then you send it back with an order. I've never done it, and can't remember the name of this place. I don't think it's Hidalgo's but I'm not sure. I want to say they are in Dallas. Obviously this won't replace an eye exam, but might suffice for minor corrections for those of us who need a little help for shooting only. I don't know- maybe they require a prescription, and they send some lenses in the range you require. If I remember of find the company name I'll post it.
  5. I need either a scope or some sights I can see on my K31. They are super accurate rifles...too bad I can't find out. I figure one of the Swiss Products clamp-on scope mounts will happen sometime. Did yours have the address under the buttplate (mine did not).
  6. More teasing for you Cam (I never thought I'd own one either, then DS Arms sold off those surplus ones)- Want to clean or inspect the fire control parts? Just pull 'em out the top of the frame: Notice how steep the feedramp is. When I first saw that, I thought there was no way anything but FMJ would feed in this gun. After all, it was designed and built 30 years before you could hardly find anything but FMJ in 9mm. I was wrong. I shot all sorts of JHP, cast bullets of all shapes including SWC and even a lot from an old Lyman mould that makes a wadcutter for 9mm (#356472) and never had a bobble. I sure wish I could get some more magazines. When I see them, they run $140-150. Even if I wanted to pay that, I only see about one a month on Gunbroker. Yes, I know: Don't buy the gun if you can't afford the mags, but I can see why the gun costs so much. Not so with the mags. The mags are no better or more involved than P225 mags and should cost no more. But I suppose they don't sell P210 mags by the truckload either. That's one reason I'm glad the new one is coming- I hope they sell several thousand to get more mags in circulation! I don't know what they will cost, but hear they will work with the old ones in spite of the different retention system. The floorplate has to be thinned so the old catch can hook over it. ProMag makes some mags for them, and I got a couple. Being typical ProMag, they need some help. After working them over, they feed OK but won't lock the slide open. At $25 each, I can buy six more for the going rate of a Sig mag. I'm still checking online sources for new Sig 210 mags to get in stock though.
  7. That's been the big question from the Sig fans. Since the new 210 won't even be made in the same country, and in what is supposed to be a brand new factory, will it be as well made and finished as the Neuhausen Switzerland guns? I doubt it will be better, as that would be tough to do. Reports coming from those who saw the new examples at the SHOT Show are saying it looks as well finished as the old ones (From what they could see- I doubt they got to tear into one). Some of those SigBoys are still reluctant because with it not being Swiss made, it takes some of the "aura" away from it. I can sorta see their point. It is the quintessential Swiss 9mm service pistol. A Romanian-made Luger or Argentinian-made Enfield would lack something too. This new factory is said to be only a few miles from the Swiss border inside Germany, but I doubt that would help with those who almost seem offended when a Sig-Sauer is referred to as a Sig (they quickly point out the P210 is the only "Sig" pistol). If the beavertail and side mag catch were not that important to me, I would probably go for an older one. The price of the service models is in the same ballpark as the new one, and it's not like the things ever wear out from use. I would assume the Swiss gun would increase in or hold value better. Even if those two things were important, they can be done to an old one. There are a few sources of beavertails that I know of. For a non-permanent type, Nill-Griffe grips makes them in screw-on or glue-on, and RoCo sells similar versions. Novak's and other smiths can weld one on. Novak's also does a side mag catch button conversion for $250. I want a glue-on beavertail for mine. Some have a screw to retain the hammer/fire control unit and some do not. If they have the screw, it can be used to secure the beavertail. Mine does not have the screw, so I'm stuck with glue or drilling. I'll take glue. As it is right now, I have "enhanced" this piece of Swiss precision with a beavertail cut from the bottom of a 2-liter Diet Coke bottle: Fancy stuff. Makes it bearable though.
  8. Sig announced last year they were bringing back the P-210. If you don't know what a P-210 is, look here: http://www.p210.com/ Or if you really want details, here: http://larvatus.livejournal.com/182532.html#ftn.id04 In short, it was the Swiss service pistol after the Luger and before the P220. It is put together like a Rolls Royce (or a Swiss watch), and a lot of people say it is the finest service pistol in the world. And some say it is the most overrated and overpriced. They may be expensive and yet still have some shortcomings, but they are incredible pistols. The Swiss still shoot them in matches- often just plain old service models- and shoot ridiculous scores with them. But they cost so dang much money! They've always been at least twice what a Colt Government Model cost. I have a flyer from Mandall Shooting Supplies, the US importer at the time, and they are listed at over $1,000 for the cheapest model. This flyer is from 1980 or 1981. I can see how and why they cost what they do. People always say the inside is nicer finished than the outside of most pistols, and they really are. Work the slide and the only word that comes to mind is "smooth". I've never felt a smoother operating gun. The trigger feel is excellent. Accuracy is amazing. But while I can see where the extra expense goes, it's not necessarily worth it to everyone. It's cool and everything to rack the slide and giggle at how smooth it is, or look inside and see dark inner corners that have nothing rubbing on them have been polished, but is it something you want to pay for? It may be worth every penny, but you would have to be a freaking idiot to buy one. Here's mine: Mine is actually an ex-Danish Army M/49, which is a Sig P210 made for the Danes. It was, for a while, the cheapest way into a P210. About 10-12 years ago, they sold a bunch back to Hammerli (then under the same umbrella with Sig) who checked them out and graded them, then sold them to DS Arms the FAL makers. They imported them and sold them off in the USA. The new P210 Legend corrects at least two shortcomings of the older ones. A beavertail should end the hammer bite, and a side located magazine catch will be easier to use. RoCo, a place specializing in Swiss pistols, is taking pre-orders for new ones. http://www.rocosystem.com/SIGP210Legendfixedsight/ For a mere $2,055. To be honest, I was surprised the new P210 Legend didn't run more. The lowest grade 210 was $3K ten years ago, and the last one announced (but made only by the handful) with a beavertail and side mag catch listed for over $5K maybe five years ago. A new one built on the heavy frame with a beavertail and mag catch (striking two negatives from the list) for a little over $2K is something I never thought I'd see. I was going to make a write-up on the P210 here, but wanted to wait until I could shoot a fresh bunch of targets with mine for pretty pictures. Then I saw these new ones were (allegedly) on the way and wanted to let everyone know so they could get their orders in before they were all snapped up. Yeah. Actually we are all stuck at home in the ice storm and I needed something to do. If I may, I want to brag a bit on my 60 year old relic of a service pistol. Mine has a lot of honest exterior wear but is still as tight as any match pistol I've seen. When I test ammo in my gee-whiz custom Hi-Power, I'll shoot it in the my worn old P210 also and it always shoots smaller groups. Often they are half the size or less. It takes less effort to get them too. It would almost, but not quite, be worth buying a P210 then reselling it to get to look it over for a while. The P210's hammer will bite the living [censored] out of most hands, the safety is clumsy to reach, and it's big for an 8+1 9mm (otherwise, I'd be carrying it). On the other hand, I know of no smoother operating pistol, the trigger would be nice to have on a rifle, and they can shoot like crazy. I have to remind myself it's a service pistol. Some of the custom IPSC pistols I've looked at were as tight and smooth as the P210, but none were smoother or tighter. It's almost funny this was an issue pistol.
  9. Welcome to my world. I've worn glasses since about 18. It was about like for other people except maybe it happened quicker: I could see to shoot OK for a while, then it got harder in my 30s. I found an eye doctor that works with shooters. That's probably not very common. This guy was 50 miles away from me, but known by shooters around here as "the guy". He lets people bring their guns to his office (but not inside) and you go around to the back door and sight at a fire hydrant while he does the better or worse lens thing. I found it was a lot better having the actual gun to get the exact focus distance. He's also the guy that spotted my Glaucoma early and got it treated before it did enough damage to matter. Sadly, I got a letter just yesterday from him saying he had sold his practice and is leaving the state to "pursue other interests". If you can't find a gun-friendly eye Dr, I have heard of people using peel and stick temporary reading lenses for shooting by sticking them on their shooting glasses. They get them at drug stores, and they come in a package with a few lenses inside. You buy a certain strength after trying on the reading glasses in the store. Sometimes they say it only takes a small change (+0.25 for example) to really sharpen up the sights. I never could find the stupid things myself, but I haven't looked since finding that eye Dr. I might be looking again soon, though. Lastly is the Merit adjustable eyepiece I saw someone mention on here in a recent post. It has a suction cup to stick on my glasses, and I use it to sharpen up the sight picture when testing handloads for accuracy. I don't know that it will do what a correct glasses prescription will do, but it should compensate some for a blurred sight picture.
  10. Believe it or not, in some cases, there isn't much difference between a long gun and handgun there. I never would have thought that until it was demonstrated for me. If you hold a handgun at arms's length and note where the muzzle is, then shoulder a carbine and do the same, and compare the two, the handgun might even be sticking out farther. Of course, the handgun can be pulled in close at any time. Then again, there are tricks to draw a rifle in tight also.
  11. I heard the Rossis can be a bit rough. I've handled a couple that were OK- not terrible, not great, but OK- so they must vary. I cannot explain it, but I want one of the Rossi Ranch Hands. I make fun of the .410 revolver craze, yet I want a Ranch Hand- go figure. I had a Browning B-92 for a while. Mine was a .357 Mag. Now that was a slick operating rifle. I bought it at the Lafayette Louisiana gun show in the winter of 1985-86 for $280. I shot it a few years, made one of the more spectacular rabbit kills I've ever made with it (125 jhp that sent him straight up about eight feet high) then eventually traded it off. When I traded it, they weren't bringing much. This was about a year before Cowboy Action Shooting took off and people were going nuts over them for a while. Sigh. I never was overly thrilled with it's accuracy. It was OK but not great. It didn't like cast bullets much, as it had pretty shallow rifling. I wasn't shooting a lot of cast then, but I wanted the alternative. The front sight had to be filed down a little to raise the POI enough. I hear that's common on the Brownings. About two years later I bought an old Winchester 92 that had been rebored/converted to .357 many moons ago. It is also pretty smooth, but I don't know how much of that is from plain old wear!
  12. The early Colt DAs were the 1877 and 1878 (plus variants like the 1902). The 1877 was nicknamed "Lightning" in .38 Colt and the .41 was called the "Thunderer". The 1878 had a larger frame, and was made in several calibers like the SAA, including .44-40. The 1878 was roughly SAA size (and I think Colt used the same cylinders at some point, and maybe barrels). People called them the "Double Action Army", or sometimes the "Frontier", which is confusing with the .44-40 SAAs being marked "Frontier Six-Shooter". The 1877 was a little smaller, and sized to match it's cartridges. They didn't sell an incredible number of either, but sold maybe three times as many more 1877s than 1878s. Both were gone by 1910, I think. I always heard the inner workings broke often, but I don't know if they meant the 1877, the 1878, or both...or if it was true at all. I always heard they had terribly heavy DA trigger pulls, but don't know. I know my Colt New Service, which is a different animal but made not much later (1917), has a really heavy DA pull and I'm told it's because Colt wanted to ensure 100% reliable ignition by having a strong hammer fall. I wouldn't think they would operate under a different theory when the 1877/1878s were made. The 1877/78s were made in a variety of barrel lengths, but when I see 1877s for sale they often have short ones. I don't know if that is how sales went or if it's just what survived or what.
  13. Sometimes I'm slow to get started, but it's nice to see the completed pile isn't it?
  14. I found moly coated bullets to be smoky too. It was enough that other shooters at an IDPA match commented on it and laughed at my so-called "black powder" loads. This was when I using Win 231 powder, which is smoky anyway, so the two together added up I guess. I don't remember any cast loads smoking as much.
  15. Wow. I've never heard of it. I'd say it almost looks too small for a 20mm...at least one I'd like to shoot. You know a gun is neat if there is a fifth wheel mount available. I always wanted a Lahti L39. http://www.thegunzone.com/people/lahti.html But you could buy maybe three Anzios for the price of a Lahti now. Hey, a Lahti would be cheaper than a Solothurn. It would be like settling!
  16. I have heard the Scottsdale Gun Club mentioned many times. It must be an impressive place if I've heard of it so much. I was only in the area once, and had not heard of the place at that time. I did hear of a restaurant in a strip near ASU and somewhat close to Scottsdale that was said to make a good steak. While I missed SGC, I was only there a week but managed to hit that steak place at least twice!
  17. Congratulations, you did do well. On the front sight drifting, aside from the obvious hammer and brass punch method, some have made sight drifting tools by buying a hardware store nut buster and re-grinding the V-shaped "buster" into a punch shape. The ring of the nut buster fits around the sight base, and the newly ground punch gets cranked tight against the sight dovetail. You then put a wrench on the tool and turn the appropriate amount. By counting the tool's threads per inch and dividing that into 1, you can figure out how far the sight will move with a turn, or half turn, quarter turn, etc. One of the AK/SKS tools might be adaptable, but I don't know.
  18. This may or may not be useful to you, but I will pass it along anyway. Just in the last week or two, I heard from a guy who has one of the smaller GunVaults; one of the handgun case sized ones like you are supposed to keep by the bed. He tried to open it electronically and couldn't, and had to use the key backup. The electronics had failed somehow. He contacted GunVault, and they were aware of some problems when his was made (I don't know when that was- last month or ten years ago), had him send it back and they sent a new one. There was something about not having any in stock, so maybe they would have sent one immediately, before his got back to them, I don't know. While I think the customer service was good, I would have reservations about buying one IF using it as a quick access safe. As a regular safe, I suppose it wouldn't matter, but if choosing one based on the quick access finger pads...I wouldn't. Anything can have problems, I understand that. A key lock could maybe just as easily failed. The thing that gets me is that GunVault said they were aware of it and had done nothing. That cost them a lot of points in my book. If you sell a safe on the basis of being quickly accessible without keys in an emergency, and the thing doesn't work, AND you know about it....I don't like that. Now... Whenever safes come up, I always offer this suggestion, although it's not an easy solution because you aren't going to walk into any old shop and buy one: If you can, try looking around for a real-deal business type safe. I have seen then listed in the "Business Equipment- Other" section of the local ad paper. They don't show up that often, but they do show up. We have a pretty big ad paper here, and I see a safe that's big enough for long guns listed in it maybe four-five times a year. So they aren't exactly growing on trees, but if you can get one, you'll have a much beefier safe than any "gun safe" I've seen, and they don't cost any more than a Ft Knox or Browning level safe. They won't have a nice carpeted interior with gun holder racks, and an exterior paint job like a show car, but will probably be a lot stronger built than a "gun safe". Mine has walls around 5/8" thick and the door is made of two layers that total well over an inch. There are some thick doors on gun safes, but I've yet to see any walls that come close. I admit didn't look all that hard for mine. My best friend's dad found it. He is a safe nut, who buys them and fixes them up. He finds safes in the craziest places. I think he can smell them. And he knows where every old building is with an old safe in it, so when they start to remodel or tear the building down, he is there, asking if they want to get that safe out of their way. They often give them to him to get them out of the way. He found this one in a supermarket in another state, and called to see if I wanted it. I did. But I have seen similar ones in ads since. Another option if you only want or need one for handguns: A few years ago, some surplus stores around here had ex-Army safes for sale. (My friend's dad told me about this too.) They were cubes about 15-18" on all sides, making them a good size for handguns. I bought one for $100. It's not quite as heavy built as my big one, but still pretty stout. I don't know if there are still any of these in surplus stores, but if you run across an ad for an "Army safe" it might be one of these and not some small letter safe or lockbox, and worth looking at.
  19. Hopefully, for the sake of your budget, it will mostly be birdshot. In the last shotgun class I had (Louis Awerbuck), we shot maybe 10-15 slugs (confirming zeroes and checking drop at various distance)and perhaps five buckshot shells (patterning) over three days. The rest, maybe 300 rounds or so, was all birdshot, banging steel plates around.
  20. Wow, that's pretty good! When I shot Highpower, everybody was pretty much used to shooting the standard distances (200, 300, and 600) so they had the zeroes down. But at the 3-gun matches when they started using the 300 yd range, people weren't used to it and didn't have good zeroes for it. That can play havoc, even at "only" 300.
  21. OK. I was going where G-man went if the answer was different.
  22. That's about how my 225 was. Maybe that is how they are. I don't know why though, as every other Sig I owned had a DA trigger that was at least decent (for DA) if not good (for DA), with the P239 being especially good. That 225's DA trigger was more PPK-like than Sig-like. You don't plan on carrying your P225?
  23. I didn't know they were bringing P225s in. I truthfully didn't think they ever would, the P239 more or less replacing it. And now with the new P290 coming in, I'd think Sig would feel they had the single stack nine area covered. But I'm glad, because I kinda like 'em. Since you've handled at least two P225s lately: How is the DA trigger pull? I'm asking because the DA trigger on the P225 I had was pretty heavy and stiff- much heavier than the other Sigs I had then (I still have two). I was told that P225s are just that way, but I never knew if that was really the case.
  24. Come to think of it, I can't remember the last time I've seen a convertible in the local gun shop (aside from Single Sixes). Blackhawks, yes, but no convertibles. Ruger seems to make things in waves. I know manufacturers do that- run one line for a while, then another- but Ruger seems to do it a lot more obviously. The shop can't get a certain type of Ruger for a while, like model 77 rifles, then gets plenty of those and can't get SP101s for six months. But the convertible thing is odd. If they are making Blackhawks, they should be able to make extra cylinders. Ruger does things funny sometimes.
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