Step 1: Read this.
Step 2: Buy this:
Step 3: 15 minutes after opening the box (click to embiggen)…
Yeah, I probably had two minutes of flight before getting it stuck in the tree. The first time. Happened two more times after that before the battery died. Luckily I was smart enough to not get enough altitude that retrieving it would require more than a stick.
Tactical Dog Approved (TM)
Looks like the bill that legalizes buying/owning/possessing switchblades and carrying knives over 4″ has been signed and is now law. Well, not immediately. The law will take effect July 1st.
Looks like I’ve got a few months to figure out what auto knife I’m going to be buying.
On 3/22/14, James (he of Bidet Shoot Fame) and I went to the AR-15.com Tennessee Hometown Forum Spring Shoot put on by Precision Multigun in Cookeville, TN.
It was fantastic, problems with my new Remington 700 notwithstanding.
There are actually several ranges on the property. The first one we went to had a 230 yard position and an 1100-ish yard position. We didn’t stick around long enough to go out to 1100 yards there, but here are some pics from the 230:
Next we were off to “Massa” which was more geared towards precision. The “warm up” target was I believe an 8″ plate at 344 yards. There were several dozen steel targets at various ranges out to (and past?) 900. Most of them could not be seen with the naked eye.
James and I got brave enough out to one of the 650’s. I think we took a couple of 700 yard shots but weren’t connecting.
Fun times. There was a lot of serious gear out there. I look forward to the next one.
Most of the camping hammock equipment I own is made by ENO. One thing I like about them is the warning label they put on their products. The full warning reads as follows:
“Using any hammock carries an inherent risk. ACCIDENTS HAPPEN, USE WITH CAUTION.” (emphasis theirs)
Yup… I think that covers it.
Looks like I’m going to be going the the NRA convention. I guess the big question is to pack the kilts or not.
Alternate title: Why you need BUIS 😀
This rifle was one of the ones at the ARFCOM TN shoot.
Pretty, ain’t she? Slidefire
But there’s a problem.
The EOTech (either an XPS2
That’s a bad day. I think the same gentleman also had a BCG lock up inside a rifle. Really, really bad day.
The very first time I ever went shooting with Oleg, two very embarrassing things happened.
I also didn’t have backup irons on that rifle. I pretty quickly was able to repair the EOTech (replacement parts are cheap) and within a couple of weeks had put on an MBUS rear sight
There is an argument to be made about not putting backup sights on all your rifles, but two is one and one is none. You can do what this guy did, though: Bring lots of rifles 😀
In one of the irc channels I hang out in, one of my local friends asked me for some clarification on the knife bill that’s currently sitting on Gov. Haslam’s desk waiting for his signature. Specifically, he was asking about the legality of carrying the sword cane he owns. He knew that soon to be law would clear it as far as length of blade goes, but was thinking that there might have been an issue due to it being a hidden or disguised blade.
I assured him that, as far as I’ve been able to find, there’s nothing on the books in TN stating that a knife has to look like a knife. I then went on to tell him that, oddly enough, if a cop decided that he was carrying it “with the intent to go armed,” he might be more in trouble for carrying the cane than the blade hidden inside. See, TN requires you to be certified with the state if you want to carry a cane/baton/stick/etc with the intent to go armed.
The fun part of that is that it’s actually non-trivial for the average Joe to get such a certification. The way things are written, pretty much the only people that can get certified to teach the baton certification classes are security guard schools. Often times, these schools will require you to go through all their training courses to get the baton certification, and those that don’t run classes sporadically. So, in practice, it’s easier to get a permit to carry a gun (I have a hard time not tripping over ads for those classes) than it is to carry a stick.
So… at current time, I can legally carry a knife under 4″ (soon to just be “carry a knife”) without permit, I have a permit to carry a gun, but I can’t legally carry a freaking stick for self protection (since I have no permit for that). How does that make sense?
Oh, there is a slight loop hole that I told the guy. Since it’s a cane, he can claim that he needs it as a medical device. Which, considering he’s already had a couple knee surgeries, isn’t too hard a sell.
If you’ve ever been interested in picking up a camping hammock, Sport.Woot is selling some for cheap today. I bought some of the ones with the built in mosquito netting for my nephews who are in the Boy Scouts (and one for me for… uh… “testing”). The one with the netting works for me at 6’3″, but is a little too short for me to properly lay diagonally in one. The double sized one should work great for you if you’re tall like me, but doesn’t have the bug net.
I will warn that these are like most camping hammocks and do not come with straps or ropes to actually tie them to a tree, and if you’re wanting them for actually camping, you’ll probably also want a rain fly, which is also not included. I’ll try to be a good blogger and to a post on my set up later.
That bill to repeal the ban on buying/owning/selling switchblades and carrying blades larger than 4″ here in TN? It’s passed the State House!
So… now it’s off to the Governor’s desk to sign, and it passed with more than enough votes in both houses of the state legislature that they could override a veto if Haslam decides to veto it for some reason.
Now to start shopping for switchblades…
When I made my initial post about the ARFCOM Hometown shoot, I realized that I hadn’t posted any updates about what I did to the Remington 700 AAC-SD I bought in January, despite having taken several rounds of pictures.
Bad blogger. No cookie!
So here goes:
The first thing I did was get an EGW HD 20 MOA scope base
Next up was the YHM Muzzle Brake that fits my suppressor:
Fun Fact: I called three gunsmiths to try to have one install this for me. Each one said a version of “Really? Any idiot can install these. Why would you pay me do to this?” (Hint: Because YHM says to have a qualified gunsmith do the install)
Then came the scope and rings. My original plan was to get something in the $600 range for the scope, and about $100 for the rings. The money didn’t end up working out, so I got a Millett TRS-1
For the rings…. well, due to the aforementioned budgetary problems, I wasn’t going to have rings by the time the ARFCOM shoot was scheduled so my friend James lent me some Warne 214M rings
Now, when mounting a scope the idea is to get it as low as possible. With a 50mm objective that’s still going to be pretty high. The idea was to take the Warne rings, mount the scope, take some measurements, and then order some lower rings. When I mounted it all up, I got this:
Ignore that there’s only one ring.
The distance between the bell and the barrel is about 6mm.
But the distance between the rail and the magnification ring is, well, the ring actually sits lower than the rail. That means that this is as far forward as the scope can go with these rings. I didn’t think that was going to be a problem based on some measurements I took, but the first time I fired the gun i got scope to the forehead. More on that at a later date.
After I got the scope loosely mounted, I did the same procedure to raise the comb that I did on my 10/22 (using another Allen Company Buttstock Shell Holder and Pouch), minus drilling holes in the stock. Not doing that ended up biting me at the ARFCOM shoot. After that I tightened down the scope mounts, added the rail from the cheap chinese bipod
Wait. Something’s missing:
Ah. That’s better.
I titled this post “finished” because as we all know a rifle is never, ever, actually complete. It’s a continuous improvement process. Because of the dismal performance last weekend (which, again, I’ll post more on later) at least one part between the barrel and my eyes is probably going to need to be replaced. That bipod is completely temporary until I get a Harris HBLS
