New Member? Introduce yourself here (just intros, questions get answered elsewhere)

[rem22long40x]

Hi , my name is David and I am 46 and have been shooting allmy life . My dad is a retierd Texas Ranger and US Marshel and he was a T.DPS firearms instucter so we shoot all the time ,I shoot from 50 - 100 rounds of 22 a day in pistel or rifle , and a wide rang of other hand guns weekly , and long rang shooting in 223,308,30-06,6.5x55 sweedish 3-5 days a week .and lots of 22long rifel bench rest witch is one of my faveret tings these days. the 1911 is my constent companion in one form or another . we reload every cinter fire we shoot as well as shotgun in all but 10&28 gadge . I was A CLASS SHOOTER in IPSIC but that was befor they chaged the name from combat sooters , my wife and i have 4 kids one merried one in collage and two in High school. I was a mechanic from 14 till I went offshore in 94 as a motorman and was medicly retierd in 2003 with a rair nurropithy that will one day take me from this world but untill then I will shoot & shoot !!!! I hope I havent bored you . thanks for reading.

[VernSmalley]

xxx

[LPhoenix98]

Hi my name is Lee. I am a novice firearm enthusiast that really enjoys punching paper and studying older firearms ie, shotguns from the 30's and 40's, rare pistols and new models, and "assault type weapons". My favorite weapon is my commonwealth pattern FAL, I have performed much of the work on it transforming the weapon from the classic C1A1 to a much more accurate and updated version getting 2 inch patterns out to 500yds. I also enjoy my Romanian M59/66. I cut the grenade launcher and threaded the barrel to accept a KDS stabilization system. This was more necessity than practicality as the gunsmith I asked to perform this torched the grenade launcher off and then threaded the barrel so the birdcage type compensator was listing to port. But with the help of an excellent Pennsylvania gunsmith she now is holding the same grouping as my FAL. My eye site is deteriorating so I I have a lot of fun just shooting my old Glock 17. I enjoy cleaning friends firearms and helping them figure out how it works and is broken down and re-assembled. I thank you for allowing me to join your group and look forward to meeting all of you. Keep your powder dry and give em' the cold steel!

[rexesq]

Hello, just thought I would introduce myself. I was born and raised not far from the Mexican border, on the US side, in the State of Arizona, with the 'Estado de Sonora, Mexico' and what is now the largest port of entry in the State of Arizona just a couple dozen miles away. I grew up in a small town which afforded me plenty of opportunity for target practice, and I learned firearms skills and safety from my father, a former Sgt. in the U.S. Army from 1969 - 1975. His father was a Navy Leuitenant JG aboard a Destroyer, which was sunk in the Pacific theatre during the Second World War, sadly I do not know the name of his vessel, or the information reguarding it's sinking, my father seems to not recall the details, or they just never spoke about it, I just know he survived but somehow hurt his back in the sinking of the ship and had back problems for the rest of his life. He was also a Doctor, even whilst in the Navy. I keep his Naval ID card with me, issued in 1942 I believe, it lists his CO but nothing about the vessel.

Anyhow, I love living in the great Sonoran Desert, and I love taking photographs of the beautiful Hawks and Bobcats, and all the other unique and amazing wildlife, such as Gila Monsters, many people live here their entire lives never seeing one in the wild... I saw three different ones last year alone!!! heh, one was a baby, well a juvenile, about 6-8 inches long, very cute, the other two adults, one quite large.... and I haven't gone a year without seeing at least one Western Diamondback Rattlesnake in as long as I can remember, hummingbirds nest under my porch some years, I have documented hummingbird babies from the day the first egg was laid, to the day the second egg was laid, and then from when they hatched to when they flew the nest(mama hummingbird built a fairly low hanging nest in the Ivy that year) so the wildlife is plentiful and diverse.

I never much cared for killing animals unless I had to, and I only ever went bird hunting several times, I enjoyed it, and enjoyed eating the dove as well, tasty but not my thing, I would rather shoot targets.
I do have quite a few firearms, I carry a Smith and Wesson model 669 as my everyday regular concealed carry weapon. I have some great old rifles and pistols that belonged to my grandfather, heirloom type stuff, all still in great firing condition however.I have also since (over the past 10 years or so) bought myself a Ruger 10/22 Carbine, an AK47, as well as most recently, a German GSG-5 (HK MP5 look-a-like in .22 LR.) I am thinking about purchasing an M1 carbine and have some questions about that and magazines and such but will save that for a more suitable forum.

I figure some local wildlife pictures will make a good introduction, as long as viewed in fullsize of course
I include one of my favorite Snake Shots, An angry Western Diamondback Rattler, about 5 ft in length, and somehow I managed to snap the shot right as he flickered his tongue, so his tongue is sticking out in the photo if you enlarge it and look closely, note the. Note the pattern along his back, as well as the classic Pit Viper shaped head, with the large venom glands behind the eyes. Now an indicator for a Western Diamondback is that black and white alternating striping at the tip of the tail right before the base of the rattle (growing up here means I still freeze immediately whenever I see something that mimics that black and white striping in nature, subconscious survival instinct I suppose), and contrary to some people's beliefs' one cannot tell the age of the snake by counting the rattles.... the snake will get a new 'button' or section to the rattle each time it sheds it's skin, and also in this rough desert terrain, sections of the rattle break off all the time.... in fact the largest rattle I have ever seen, was on a snake not much longer than 2 - 2.5 feet, and I have seen FAT 6 foot snakes with tiny little rattles. I include also a picture of a very very large rattle on a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake that was about 3 ft. I have chickens and the coop and food within attracts rodents which attracts snakes.... we have alot of King snakes and other predators of the Rattlesnake here as well.

I was hoping to be able to create a Gallery or Personal Album on this site for photos of my firearms only (no animal shots without permission, I promise )

That is all, just saying 'Hi'. Please pardon my rambling.

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1st pic: Western Diamondback Rattlesnake in defensive position, a bit pissed, with it's tongue out, in mid-flicker.
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2nd and 3rd pics: Very Large rattle on a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake I caught and removed from my chicken coop (gently and slowly) and released far away from people in a Huge National Monument.
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-rexesq (AJ)

[frogstomper]

Frogstomper checking in...my first post

I have been reading some of the threads on this forum site because I have been on a total loco gun buying spree...came into a little money recently. The first three acquisitions have been a Beretta 92S, compact Springfield HD, and my trusty conceal carry Taurus 9mm revolver (yep, we can carry concealed, loaded in Arizona -- no CCW.

That was five or six months ago. Somehow the bug bit me again when I saw a boss Sig Sauer 223, but I couldn't afford it. So I invested in a Saiga .223 long barrel...it's a workhorse jewel.....couldn't resist. Having succumbed to more of my impulses I picked up a Ruger Charger, and Ruger Target SS black laminate bull barrel. Shoulda stopped there, but when I saw the ridiculously low price at Bud's on a Russian Mosin-Nagant 91/30 I just couldn't pass it up. I want to kick around that gun a bit before I close this discussion.............

Coming by UPS this week is a beautiful CZ-455 in .22mag. Hopefully that's it for awhile. Before this spree I already had 7 handguns and rifles, including my trusty Daisy Red Ryder BB gun (pigeon chaser).

About the MN.....it came all glopped up with cosmoline which actually seems to have been a great preservative. The gun is in excellent shape (barrel), very little rust, and the nicks and scratches can be cosmetically treated. My great fear was the cosmoline; I had heard lots of stories about how it just keeps leaking out after years of cleaning. Well, having earned a minor in chemistry at the UofArizona I determined that Simple Green, Gasoline, Mineral spirits and other products suggested by friends just wasn't going to be a quick and simple solution to purging that cosmoline barrier coat. So, I went to my secluded stash of diluents and concluded that the chemical structure of MEK, Acetone, Lacquer thinner were likely to be the correct solvents to use on this gun. I quickly discovered that I was right. I doused a rag in lacquer thinner and it easily dissolved the cosmoline totally from the outer surfaces of the rifle....including the stock. Next I poured some MEK (MethylEthylKetone) into the action and magazine. Cosmoline came gushing out like a dam had burst. It dries quickly and I could see that the metal had become decently clean. Next I force sprayed some brake parts cleaner (Walmart) over and through the iron parts to further remove any remaining MEK/cosmoline residue....also thru the barrel. The barrel took about 16 or 20 passes with Hoppe's 9 and Sweet's conditioner, along with some more brake parts cleaner. A bore light showed the bore to have become very clean, only bare metal showed inside, rifling was perfect. Ya just gotta get all that lead out that has been in there so long. So I oiled it up profusely with a few cotton patches soaked in a quality gun oil.

The gun is completely disassembled now, and the parts are shiny clean, no cosmoline is evident. The MEK also lifted the cosmoline out of the pores in the wood, and the total hue lightened up a bit showing the real wood color. Russians used very poor grade lumber back in those years. Sanding it down more and then wiping with a wet, water soaked rag made the good looking grain stand up. I sanded the grain down smooth again and then applied some Red Oak (Min-Wax) stain. After it dried I sprayed three coats of polyurathane gloss over the entire wood stock, let dry for three days, lightly brushed with fine steel wool, cleaned the dust off with mineral spirits, and applied another three coats of polyurathane gloss (hold the spray can about 12-18 inches away from the wood).

It came out beautiful...a nice reddish hue that the Russians seem to be fond of. After letting dry another three days I rubbed it hard with a dry corduroy cloth, and applied an automotive sealer and glaze. That was shiny enough, but when I added my expensive carnauba wax as a finishing coat and rubbed it to a brilliant gloss, it looks like the 'lacquer' is still wet and ready to drip off the wooden stock. The Mosin now hangs proudly in my living room as a tribute to a WWII relic that has been restored to a real showpiece.

During the war the Russians didn't take the time to make the 91/30 look nice...they just threw a coat of varnish over the wood and got them out to the troops ASAP. It doesn't take much to turn it into a beauty. In the near future I will take it apart again and sand down (emory) the black iron and replace it with some bluing by heating the iron and applying the blue. I will also polish the trigger mechanism some. I'm almost afraid to shoot it now -- it looks so good -- but I'm gonna.

Well, that's it. I'm a newbie to all this, but I have had a little experience in refinishing wood products. My main concern was the cosmoline, but the MEK and Lacquer thinner did a thorough and excellent job with no fuss, no muss. I tried gasoline at first...what a joke...!!!

FS

[NickW]

Howdy, names Nick, I'm on th back side of 50 and have been employed working with explosives and weapons since I was 18, nice folks here, thanks for the invite. Cheers.

[JLawson]

Good evening, Ladies & Gents.

My name is John and, as others have done before, I've been lurking around here for quite some time. I'm the quiet type... would much rather do more listening than talking. Texas is home for my wife and me. My first gun was a Daisy lever-action and the targets were crackers... or tin cans... or occasionally the little plastic Army man that got separated from the others. Since then there have been pistols, revolvers, rifles, more pistols, shotguns, more pistols, and then a few more pistols. I would have to say that handguns are my favorite - particularly modern duty or defensive semi-automatic pistols.

The shooting is fun, the cleaning is cathartic, and the collecting is gosh-darn expensive but worth every penny. Do you have one of those guns that you just like to sit and hold? You know the one... shiny blue steel, deeply figured wood grips, the unmistakeable aroma of Hoppes... the one that you turn over and over in your hands just so you can marvel at the craftsmanship, the engineering, the near perfect blend of form and function. You rack the slide, slowly press the trigger, and then... yep - it still breaks just like a glass rod. What is it about these things that have such a hold on us? I don't know... but it makes me smile.

Well, I fear I've said too much. Y'all probably think I'm either a fool or a nut - maybe both. So be it... I am what I am. God bless and stay safe.

[frogstomper]

Hi, John

My favorite to just stare at is my Henry Big Boy .357. What a nice weapon to behold! However, coming in a close second is my CZ 455 USA...these guys do a real bang-up job with their expert craftsmanship. I keep both on my display rack in the living room.

And to put things into perspective; his guns, to a man, is like her jewelry, to a woman. Once you get her to understand that you award yourself a lot less nagging when you spot a weapon you just can't pass up. However, now you've automatically committed to take her shopping for a new trinket (and an expensive one).

I am just a little bit heavier into the long guns moreso than the handguns, though I have a good array of pistols and revolvers. Just added the new Ruger Charger .22 to my arsenal. It's kinda in between with that 10+ inch barrel and the bi-pod.

Glad you joined............

FS

[Sonic82]

Hi all from Minnesota. I'm in my early 50's and enjoy target shooting and firearms in general. I've visited this site many times over the years for info and to pass the time. Great forum and good folks here. Thanks to admin for providing this resource. Look forward to participating! -Sonic

[WitchDoctor]

I have been retired from active military duty for 6 months now and can play with my beautiful daughter. I have shot everything from revolvers in all calibers, semi's, and all types of amazing rifles and shotguns. My favorite is the P226 and the 870. These choices are based on years using them as tools and nothing else.
Looking to meet a good group of folks who are ready to share their stories and some advice as nobody knows everything.
Thank you for reading this.
WitchDoctor

[Marcus Aurelius]

Hello All!

My name is Mark. I'm 28, I am a new dad and a security officer. I live in Indiana.

Since becoming a new father I've been thinking more proactively and decided to procure a weapon for home defense... After all, the possessions inside your home are merely monetary but family is irreplaceable. I purchased a Mossberg 500 Cruiser 12ga. w/ door breacher. Since obtaining the aforementioned firearm, I've rekindled my affinity for firearms.

Thank you for your time.
Happy (and safe) Shooting.

[Dutchman195]

Hey fellow gun enthusiasts!
I just joined up on the forum tonight and thought I should introduce myself.

I am a student at a local university in Tucson, Arizona. I shoot Competitive Shotgun sports (Trap, Skeet, Doubles, Intl Trap, etc...) I am in fact a starving college student due to the fact that the University doesn't support anything other then the football team and everyone here knows how expensive our hobby is!

I really enjoy shooting rifles and handguns as well. We have alot of desert wilderness area on the outskirts of town and i go out about once a month and blow up beer bottles and whatever else I don't need around the apartment. And believe it or not I do pick up after myself

I joined because I have read a ton of reviews on this website about guns I have looked at buying and there are a lot of members, so I decided to join and every now and then I can give my two cents on something

Hope everyone is having a good halloween weekend! Tiny picture of myself is posted below (not sure if that was required or not)

"A bad day at the range is better then a good day in the office"

[lathedog]

Hello.

Stand by for flames re: shooting of glass bottles. I'll let others focus on that.

Ever go to El Guero Canelo? Or BK's? I have not been there for months and am experiencing the jones.

[Dutchman195]

Thanks for the welcome. I assumed I would attract the normal amount of people that will "freak out."

I live about 5 min away from BK's. bean and Cheese burrito at least once a week. Never been to the other place. I'll have to check out the other place that you mentioned.

[lathedog]

I was down there a few months ago. GC is about a long block south of BK.

I also went to see "the THING" outside of Benson. That made me feel like I was in a David Lynch movie for 20 minutes. Who knew the old carnival freakshow was alive and well and living in a Dairy Queen?

There is a pretty cool gun shop in Benson, BTW. I forget the name but it is on the main street to the East of the train station; on a side street next to the saddle store.

[Biggs19]

This is some thread! New member here from Northeast Florida. Love all disciplines of shooting and shooting sports, and trying to stay involved in as many as I can. Looking forward to learning from you all!

[rduchateau2954]

Hi all, my name is Ryan. I am from Wisconsin. I have been a member over at shootingworld and shotgunworld for a while now and stumbled upon this site.

My collection so far:

[devans0]

I am devans0, and live in the mid west USA. I like Sigs and Glock handguns, 9mm and 22 cal. My current shooting favorites are a Glock 17L and a Glock 19 22 cal. I keep ammunition costs low so I can shoot a lot.

[tnxdshooter]

Hello,

I am new to the sight from TN. I look forward to posting on here.

Sent with Droid Incredible using Tapatalk.

[loadedround]

Welcome to the THR site from an Oldie.

[SleazyRider]

This is a good place. I've learned a lot from the collectivized wisdom here, as I hope you will, too. Welcome!

[303tom]

Welcome to the highroad from your neighbor in Missouri, this is a pretty cool site, most of the guys here are alright you just got to watch out for some of the Moderators. (LOL) Just kidding all in all it`s a right decent site welcome aboard.

[Remllez]

Welcome!

We look forward to your participation. It's a good place to learn.

[pksqd]

hey everyone...

my name is darryl... prior navy and i was an af military brat. grew up mostly on bases in guam and the philippines.

i've always been interested in firearms, but my first purchase wasn't until feb of this year. (glock 23)

i'm interested in several platforms... the 1911, ar-15 5.56 and the saiga 12

also hoping to become a leo armorer/gunsmith

[AK Gun Man 88]

Hey what's up? A buddy of mine got me into guns about 9 months ago. Since then I have accumulated 10 of them. Really into gunsmithing (not much experience other than rebluing a German Single Action Army .22 and assembling a Muzzleloader kit) Really into US Military weapons from all time periods.