The Gun Counter

Jered wrote:
In Pale Rider he carried an 1858 cartridge conversion

Indeed!

New addition to the stable. NAA mini .22lr 1 5/8 inch barrel.

Do I name it Nancy or Mini Me?

Necropost, arise!

Guess the last post was also mine. Are we slowly dying in favor of FaceTube? Anyhow, they told me it was used:

Frankingun wrote:Are we slowly dying in favor of FaceTube?

Nobody left but us diehards.

I've always worked on the theory that one cannot have too many .45 caliber handguns, so when a co-worker offered this one for sale at an extremely reasonable price, I took him up on his offer before he changed his mind or came to his senses. The .45 ACP cylinder is just a bonus, and it's the large-frame version of the Blackhawk, so it handles my favorite handload quite well, although the base pin has a tendency to jump under recoil, but a Belt Mountain pin is en route to fix that minor problem.

LEO trade in Sig P226 .40 S&W. I had read hit or miss reviews on Reddit about the condition of these so I was worried a bit. The lower priced versions looked pretty beat up. I paid extra for the select grade and threw another $10 for hand picked (best of 5).

Looks like it paid off.

The good: Condition is excellent. It looks practically new on the outside and internals are virtually pristine. The holes for the barrel and guide rod in the slide, where the Sig coating didn't quite reach, do show some heat discoloration. It also has the cheater night sights. They quickly charge in daylight or with a flashlight and glow brightly. Background glow from my phone's screen is enough to get them glowing. The fit in the hand rivals my Beagle. It's that good. The one magazine it came with is phosphated and holds 12 rounds. I have three new Mec-Gar 15 rnd mags on the way. .357 Sig is just a barrel change. There's some debate on 9mm requiring a new slide and 9mm magazines, but I'm in no hurry. Bar-Sto apparently makes a barrel that is semi fit and doesn't require the new slide.

The meh: DAK trigger. I knew this when I bought it, but it seems it is widely hated and the sole reason for the >50% price slashing. For those unfamiliar, picture a DAO trigger with a half cock. Short reset to the half cock after firing = 6.5 lb trigger pull. Full length reset = 4.5 lb trigger pull. The DAK trigger will allow further tries for a round that fails to fire though.

I took it out the first day and ran a box of Blazer Brass through it. I'd forgotten the oomph of .40 as compared to 9mm. Accuracy at 7 yards was excellent. At 25 yards it became clear that my trigger discipline and the DAK trigger are going to take some effort from me. Ejection is "vigorous."

Overall, I'm very pleased with it. Even if I did go for a Sig factory refit to Da/SA ($200) it still comes in well under retail. No real plans to do that as of yet, but you never can tell.

I'd do it again for sure.

Someday I am going to have to get my hands on a SIG. Everyone that has one seems to love it.

I appraised this for a gun shop. Astra 3003 made in 1953. Supposedly for a Mexican General. Valued at 3500 to 4000 dollars. Still working on getting details.

My piston AR handgun and an update.

Since I last posted a pic of it, I've added the SD PDW brace and removed a Magpul flip up rear sight. I have another 10.5" upper that needed it. I'll probably pick up another next time I'm at the MoD. A flaming Pig made it's way onto the upper as well.

The Adams Arms piston upper just keeps chugging along. This thing has been perfect in function. My only complaint is the Samson forearm isn't my favorite example ever, but it does what it needs to do. I didn't want to put a fixed rear sight back on this one to clutter up the Vortex, so I went into my box o' parts and found an LMT rear sight and DD rear sight. I'd remembered an old pic where an Oper8tor had moved the carry handle to the bottom rail so it wouldn't get lost and didn't clutter up the optic. The DD fixed rear sight makes a nearly perfect handstop. The ears protect the peeps, and other than that, it's basically a solid piece of aluminium. I may let this ride for a while and see how it goes.

If it's stupid and it works, it isn't stupid, right???

I also added a Noveske KX5 slim Flaming Pig. Other than the printing on the can being weird (upside down?) the function of the thing is damned impressive. This rig has become a joy to shoot, for the shooter and bystanders. Looks funny, works great. It also seems that I'm building quite a collection of A2 flash hiders and stock AR grips.

The SD PDW not a stock is great. I'd get more if they weren't so damned expensive. As it was, it took 6 weeks for this one to ship after I ordered it because there was a run on them after the ATF has a momentary lapse of silliness where these were concerned.

Sorry for the blur on one side. My phone is a refurb.

Netpackrat wrote:

JustinR wrote:Oh, and when you install sights yourself, it's always good to test things before you use them for social work, like anything else. I followed the YouTube (professional gunsmith's) advice and didn't put so much Loctite on the front sight bolt that it would drip down when it got hot and seize the barrel to the slide (as he had done once.) But, after shooting the Osprey the first time and cleaning the weapon, I realized the bolt had backed out 1/8 of a turn or so, enough for it to be loose. It still took some effort to break it loose with the Glock front sight tool, and clean the threads of the remaining Loctite, but this time I used enough it won't come loose for a good while.

Perhaps next time use Rocksett instead?

Apply a soldering iron to any screws that have been locktited that you want to remove, the heat will break the bond.